No Offense, But That Offense...
Stop the season, the Nets offense needs to get off...
If only that meant in a good way. Yes, kids, the Nets are struggling, no make that s-t-r-u-g-g-l-i-n-g, and put a capital S on it.
With Vince Carter out, it's gotten worse. The struggles are magnified, since Richard Jefferson is easy to defend, and Jason Kidd should be dishing and not scoring anyway. Everyone else seems not to have gotten the memo that these Nets were stronger because they were deeper. Seems like everyone collectively is in a shooting slump.
And of course we expected more from Nenad Krstic than we had a right to. He'll a half season or more before he's right again, or at least able to catch up to the flow of the game.
Losing Marcus Williams doesn't help, he's the best free lancer on the team besides Carter.
But none of this explains how the Nets haven't actually been able to run this "new" offense that L. Frank put in specifically to guard against the ball being in Carter's hands too often, and for others to get points within the flow of the offense. Hasn't worked out that way, has it?
Why hasn't it worked out? Well, for starters, having Jefferson freed up to score, and Kidd freed up to keep the ball moving and fast break wherever and whenever, only works if someone else besides RJ and Kidd can play that way. We've seen Carter's reluctance to play that way (although, to his credit, he's done more of it this year in the first few games than he did last year), and we can clearly see that no one else except for Sean Williams can play that way.
Boki Nachbar did last year - he was great with that foreign facial jam on the break. This year, he's a mess. Maybe Hollinger was right about him (and trust me, it pains me to write that). He's playing out of position, which is most of his trouble, but the Nets need more from him regardless. The assumption is he'll figure it out. But when, exactly? When it's too late?
And the frontline has been terrible - Krstic, Jamaal Magloire, Jason Collins and Josh Boone - there have been no exceptions except for Williams and what was perceived to be a strength (or at least less of a weakness) has turned out anything but.
I could go on and on about the offense - too often it resembles every other year where they seem to be too easy to guard - but it's early and we'll try not to preach doomsday a la Hollinger just yet.
We can also say that looking amateurish against the Celtics on a night in which they were beatable is just not the way we want to see the season go.
There are no excuses at the end of the day - the Nets need to find a way to get it done, even if it means ferocious defense and wins in the 70's. At least until Carter returns. Failure to do so will cause the Nets to fall into an early hole they won't likely climb out of.
And that, Netsfans, will probably lead to the breaking up of the team.
Let's see how they play this, starting tomorrow night against the Magic.
Oh, and before I forget, Al I. has Darrell Armstrong out 2 - 4 weeks with a thigh injury (suffered in his horrific collision with James Posey's shoulder, which I forget to mention in the game review), and he reports that Eddie Gill is on his way back into town. Good for Eddie. There was no other backup on the team with Carter and Marcus Williams out (and please, Antoine Wright should never be confused with a ball handler), and so our friend Eddie returns.
Joe
If only that meant in a good way. Yes, kids, the Nets are struggling, no make that s-t-r-u-g-g-l-i-n-g, and put a capital S on it.
With Vince Carter out, it's gotten worse. The struggles are magnified, since Richard Jefferson is easy to defend, and Jason Kidd should be dishing and not scoring anyway. Everyone else seems not to have gotten the memo that these Nets were stronger because they were deeper. Seems like everyone collectively is in a shooting slump.
And of course we expected more from Nenad Krstic than we had a right to. He'll a half season or more before he's right again, or at least able to catch up to the flow of the game.
Losing Marcus Williams doesn't help, he's the best free lancer on the team besides Carter.
But none of this explains how the Nets haven't actually been able to run this "new" offense that L. Frank put in specifically to guard against the ball being in Carter's hands too often, and for others to get points within the flow of the offense. Hasn't worked out that way, has it?
Why hasn't it worked out? Well, for starters, having Jefferson freed up to score, and Kidd freed up to keep the ball moving and fast break wherever and whenever, only works if someone else besides RJ and Kidd can play that way. We've seen Carter's reluctance to play that way (although, to his credit, he's done more of it this year in the first few games than he did last year), and we can clearly see that no one else except for Sean Williams can play that way.
Boki Nachbar did last year - he was great with that foreign facial jam on the break. This year, he's a mess. Maybe Hollinger was right about him (and trust me, it pains me to write that). He's playing out of position, which is most of his trouble, but the Nets need more from him regardless. The assumption is he'll figure it out. But when, exactly? When it's too late?
And the frontline has been terrible - Krstic, Jamaal Magloire, Jason Collins and Josh Boone - there have been no exceptions except for Williams and what was perceived to be a strength (or at least less of a weakness) has turned out anything but.
I could go on and on about the offense - too often it resembles every other year where they seem to be too easy to guard - but it's early and we'll try not to preach doomsday a la Hollinger just yet.
We can also say that looking amateurish against the Celtics on a night in which they were beatable is just not the way we want to see the season go.
There are no excuses at the end of the day - the Nets need to find a way to get it done, even if it means ferocious defense and wins in the 70's. At least until Carter returns. Failure to do so will cause the Nets to fall into an early hole they won't likely climb out of.
And that, Netsfans, will probably lead to the breaking up of the team.
Let's see how they play this, starting tomorrow night against the Magic.
Oh, and before I forget, Al I. has Darrell Armstrong out 2 - 4 weeks with a thigh injury (suffered in his horrific collision with James Posey's shoulder, which I forget to mention in the game review), and he reports that Eddie Gill is on his way back into town. Good for Eddie. There was no other backup on the team with Carter and Marcus Williams out (and please, Antoine Wright should never be confused with a ball handler), and so our friend Eddie returns.
Joe
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