Joe Netsfan Round 2 Game 6 - Cavs 88, Nets 72

The Nets surrender the 2006 - 2007 season, but not before J. Kidd takes one last bite

Nets 83, Cavs 72
Round 2, Game 5 File
And so, Netsfans, the season comes to a screeching halt, as the Nets lose their final game of the season on the home court with nothing but inconsistency to show for it. A horrible start, a rush of a comeback led by Jason Kidd, and then a collapse in the fourth quarter dooms the Nets to yet another second round exit. Changes to come?
• Box Score

Series Record: 2 - 4
Nets High Men:
• Points: Jason Kidd, 19.
• Assists: Vince Carter, 8.
• Rebounds: Jason Kidd, 12.
• Steals: Kidd and Moore each had 2.
• Turnovers: Vince Carter, 5.
• Blocks: Carter and Jefferson each had 1.
• FG Percentage: Mikki Moore (4 -8) and Antoine Wright (2- 4) each shot 50.0%.

Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 37.7%
• FT Percentage: 68.0%
• Rebounds: 42
• Rebound Differential: +1
• Turnovers: 16
• Opposing Team's Turnovers: 12
• Bench points: 10
• Bench points Differential:-25
• Steals:6
• Blocks: 2
• Points in the Paint: 30
• Double-Doubles: 1 (Jason Kidd: 19 points, 12 rebounds)
• Triple-Doubles: 0

The Kidd Effect:
• Nets Players in Double Digit Scoring: 4
• Nets Fast Break Points: 6
• Kidd's FG Percentage: 35.0% (7 - 20).
• Scoring Differential Kidd in the game: +1
• Scoring Differential Kidd out: -17 (Carter, Williams)
• Double-Doubles this Season: 33
• Triple Doubles this Season: 12
• Career Triple Doubles: 87
• Double-Doubles playoffs: 6
• Triple Doubles playoffs: 2
• Career Playoff Triple Doubles:11

Nets Media
Bergen Record | Nets
Newark Star-Ledger | Nets
Newsday | Nets
NY Daily News | NBA
NY Post | Nets
NY Times | Pro Basketball
YES Network | Nets

Nets Team Pages
CNNSI.com | Nets
ESPN.com | Nets
FoxSports | Nets
NBA.com | Nets
Sportsline.com | Nets

Cavs Media:
Cleveland Plain Dealer | Cavs

Round 2, Game 6: Cavs 88, Nets 72 – May 18, 2007
Death Of A Salesman
Your best salesman, trying to close the deal with a miraculous performance, ran out of elegant negotiables in the fourth quarter, and with that, another season closes on Jason Kidd short of his one remaining Hall of Fame goal: an NBA title.

This year will be remembered as Vince Carter's disappearing act, as he came up small once again in this final deal-breaker of a Game 6. The man with all the goods but not enough will to win, was backed into a corner by suffocating Cavalier defense. And overall, a really horrific first half for just about every Net, plus yet one more insult-to-injury fourth quarter in which the Nets (really, Kidd) were riding on fumes, with nothing left in the tank to battle LeBron (who had his own nice rest in the 3Q Net comeback thanks to a stupid offensive foul), who managed an easy closeout thanks to contributions from players who shouldn't beat the Nets Big Three, but did. It was a fitting end to a season that never really got started, nor got it together until arguably, it was too late.

And still, the Nets master salesman almost convinced us this that group had the goods to get to the Eastern Conference Finals. A stunning Game 5 win in Cleveland in inexplicably couldn't translate on the home court, and despite an early run from Richard Jefferson, the Nets watched, almost helplessly, as the more aggressive Cavs went on a 23 -4 quarter closing run, and the first quarter ended 32 - 15 Cavs. Hardly the stuff that legends are made of, as Carter was shut down, and that LeBron creature took off to score 14 points on a variety of run-outs, back-ins, and jumpers.

And when Donyell "couldn't make a three for the entire series" Marshall canned 2 straight threes early in the second quarter, the Nets were staring at a 22 point deficit with the game not quite 15 minutes old. The Nets were being pushed around, run around and just flat outplayed, as if someone forgot to tell them it was do or die.

This is the kind of stuff that motivates the captain, and indeed, he started chipping away with his salesmen's techniques as a mini-run of sorts, capped by a buzzer beating three from Boki Nachbar (his only contribution of the evening) got them to within 15 points at the half. Kidd, however, was saving the best for the third quarter.

At this point realizing that he was the best chance the Nets had to get back in the game, Kidd came out firing away, finding seams and hitting jumpers, as the Nets started working down the deficit in the third quarter. A huge break as LeBron James picked up his fourth personal foul (on a silly offensive foul call in which he practically shoved Mikki Moore into the stands) with 6:50 to play in the quarter, with the Cavs already suffering a case of the drought (LeBron had not scored a single point in the second or third quarters). Having already cut the lead down to 11 and with LBJ out of the way, Kidd started selling his secrets, leading the Nets on the comeback trail. With a horrible offensive performance by the Cavs, the Nets followed Kidd's 13 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists and capped the quarter with a Mikki Moore jumper to finish down a point and complete a 14 - 2 run without LBJ.

The Nets had somehow made a game of this mess, without much of anything from Carter and almost solely on the back of Kidd. Which of course, was the undoing as well, as the fourth quarter began and Kidd, already having too many miles on him this season, could not so much as grab a pen to close the deal. With no help from anyone else, the Cavs put James back in the game, and basically ran circles around the spent Nets. Oh, it was still a game as 6 minutes in, but Marshall hit a three to make the Cavs lead 9, and then James took it from there, hitting a two and a three, sandwiched in between Daniel Gibson's three, and the Nets hopes were dashed.

Losing the deal on the home court is bad enough, but not showing enough fire (or, as everyone always seems to say, not coming ready to play) in another must-win isn't the way to do things. But it is altogether too consistent for this edition of the Nets. We were certainly sold a bill of goods all season long, where injury and inconsistency only hinted at what could have been, and a disappointing year from Vince Carter should have had us understanding that this was the deal we had signed on for.

And so, we'll hang around to follow the rest of the playoffs, start setting up the draft possibilities, talk about your thoughts on what the Nets should do in the off-season and then wrap up the year with a look back at the season that was. Figure on July 1 being the date we cap things off, and start setting up for 2007 - 2008. It was a long, frustrating season for Joe on so many levels, so we'll need to recharge those batteries as well.

This concludes our comedy-tragedy, thanks for listening to us.

The Lights Go Out On The Meadowlands
Starring Role – As always, the guy who's getting too old and can't get it done was the hero of the season. Jason Kidd not only pulled these Nets away from their other distractions despite his own distractions, he willed these Nets to the second round, and winds up averaging a triple double for the playoffs (the numbers are 14 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists). Once again he didn't get enough help, and was forced to over-exert himself to get the Nets a chance at a win. And once again, the story is the lack of a strong-enough back up for Kidd (the rookie Marcus Williams was terribly overmatched in his first playoff season) leaves the Nets vulnerable and on the outside looking in. Will the Nets trade Kidd? Given what we know, probably not, although, if you do want to shuffle the deck, his value is clearly very high right now. Stay tuned for that off-season.
The Supporting Cast - What to do about Vince Carter? He sells tickets, makes the highlight reel, but doesn't seem willing or able to take over when it really matters. Clearly a supporting player and not the big dog, does he stay or go? Once again, he came up smaller than small in the biggest game of the year, seemingly willing to float around (we understand he was doubled and tripled far too often to do anything about it except pass), and not willing to take over the damned game. Game 4's last-second failing was probably the perfect summary of who he is - able to do things no human can in the first three quarters, but look out fourth. Does he stay or go? And what about Richard Jefferson, the third head of the three man Big Three deal? RJ made a great comeback from injury, was clearly more effective than Carter, and he gives you defense you don't get from VInce. Keep them together, or trade one for a big (if you can)? What an off-season to come.
Under the Bright Lights - Mikki Moore certainly earned a new contract from the Nets, and a place in the rotation. So too did Boki Nachbar, who was pretty good all season long, but flamed out big time against the Cavs. The rookies Williams and Josh Boone will be back, even though they too were overmatched in these playoffs. What about Antoine Wright? Eddie House? Cliff Robinson (who is almost certainly gone)? The Nets once again need to reconfigure the bench, maybe not in large ways but they need one more veteran big who can defend and block shots, and perhaps another veteran ball-handler.
The Director – So does Lawrence Frank return? As of now, yes, as he managed to take a mess and bring it further than it had a right to go (these guys didn't play defense until it was almost too late, so give him credit there). But there need to be some changes made on the staff as well, we would guess...I know many of you would like to see L. Frank gone, but if you look at things objectively, it wasn't his deal that this team failed (but what about the inconsistency, Joe?).
In Your Program - Have to say one last time that this is a pretty bad Cavs team (look at what the Nets did to poor Larry Hughes, and how bad this team shoots free throws, and how often the offense stagnates), and that the Nets should have been able to win this series. What that says about the Nets, then, speaks volumes, as they really underachieved and need to consider breaking up the Big Three. And, the Cavs will never beat the Pistons, so we're probably looking at a Spurs - Pistons Finals...

No Curtain Call
We were probably sold an empty bill of goods after their Game 5 victory, but in Game 6 the Nets (with the exception of Jason Kidd) came up horribly small to LeBron James, Drew Gooden and Donyell Marshall. This was not a pretty series to watch, but it serves as a telling reminder of that this season was truly all about - inconsistency. Too many turnovers at inopportune times, not enough stops, and a frightening inability to execute with a game on the line were the biggest of ills we saw. But we're also concerned that with VInce Carter, it's a good as it was going to get in the 2005 - 2006 season, and that it's all downhill from here. An aging Kidd, an inconsistent Carter and a supporting cast that may have also maxed out are just some of the concerns that Rod Thorn must have. The off-season will be an interesting one, as we're betting that some sort of shakeup occurs (primarily with the Big Three) as the Nets gear up to making things interesting before the move to Brooklyn...again, my thanks for sticking with us for 100 plus games in this wacky season that was...
-Joe