Joe Netsfan Game x Game 32 - Pistons 83, Nets 75

Pistons rock like Kid Rock after Pammy

Pistons 83, Nets 75
Game 32 File
Losing Vince Carter to ejection early after VC takes exception to something the ref said, the Nets battle back from a horrid first half to put a scare into the Pistons at the Palace. But, once again, the Nets don't have the stones to throw the knockout punch, and the Pistons roll to the victory in this last day of 2008.
• Box Score

Nets Record: 15 - 17
Home Record: 5 - 12
Away Record: 10 - 5
Division Record: 3 - 2
Conf. Record: 9 - 12
Other Game Reviews

Nets High Men:
• Points: Brook Lopez, 23.
• Assists: Devin Harris, 9.
• Rebounds: Brook Lopez, 12.
• Steals: Eduardo Najera, 3.
• Turnovers: Devin Harris, 4.
• Blocks: Lopez and Douglas Roberts each had 2.
• FG Percentage: Brook Lopez, 61.5%.(8 - 13).

Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 37.3%
• FT Percentage: 76.2%
• Rebounds: 36
• Rebound Differential: -6
• Turnovers: 10
• Opposing Team's Turnovers: 18
• Bench points: 14
• Bench points Differential:-8
• Steals: 8
• Blocks: 4
• Points in the Paint: 40
• Double-Doubles: 1 (Brook Lopez: 23 points, 12 rebounds)
• Triple-Doubles: 0

The Harris Report:
• Nets Players in Double Digit Scoring: 4
• Nets Fast Break Points: 11
•Devin Harris' FG Percentage: 42.9%
• Scoring Differential Harris in the game: +1
• Scoring Differential Harris out: -9 (Douglas Roberts, Hassell, others)

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

Pistons Media:
Detroit Free Press | Pistons
Detroit News | Pistons

Game 32: Pistons 83, Nets 75 – December 31 , 2008
Rejected, Ejected, Dejected
Imagine trying to win in Detroit against the Bad Boy Pistons without Vince Carter and playing as poor a first half as you can. Think 29 points worth of poor. But with the Pistons doing some hurting of their own, the Nets were somehow able to climb back into this one and make a game of it, if only to succumb to the same old, same old at the end. It comes down to playing defense and making shots, and the Nets lately can't do enough of either. And so, after being rejected early, watching VC get ejected, and winding up dejected, the Nets find themselves two games on the wrong side of .500, and more trouble in sight, as the Hawks and the Heat are next up this weekend.

I don't think I could find words to adequately describe the travesty that the first half became for New Jersey even before Carter was ejected. A sludge-fest on both sides full of missed shots and bad shot selection, the Nets went more than seven minutes without scoring a point and missed 8 straight shots, with 4 turnovers thrown in for good measure. And to top that all off, Carter disagreed with an out of bounds call, said something to the ref, became incensed and was tossed for good measure. Hey, we didn't want to watch this one either...And for all of that nonsense, the Pistons only took an 11 point lead into the break.

Without Carter, someone had to step up and get the Nets back into this one, and it's no surprise that it was Brook Lopez leading the charge (hey wait, that is a surprise). Going up against the depleted front court of the Pistons (no Rip Hamilton, no Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace was injured in that poor first half), Lopez was able to use size and skill to bring the Nets slowly back. Again without Keyon Dooling, the Nets subs actually helped keep the Nets afloat and get Devin Harris a breather, and they just kept coming at the Pistons. Down 15 with 9 minutes to play, the Nets actually made one last run and cut the Detroit lead down to three with just over three minutes to play. But at that point, rejection loomed, as the wizard named Allen Iverson took over and iced this one for the Pistons.

Vince Carter getting ejected? Bizarre. The Nets actually mounting a comeback based on their first half play. More bizarre. Losing a game on the road? Well, we're surprised at that, but these are the Detroit Pistons...

Do's And Don't's
Subjected To Rejection - We're pretty sure that even with Vince Carter, the Nets would have struggled to beat these Pistons tonight. But to see Vince so incensed over the call (and later we find out that it was over the use of the word "boy" by Ref Derrick Stafford) and get himself worked up to the point of ejection is just one of the strangest sights we've seen in Netsfanland in quite some time. Carter was already struggling against a Piston defense geared up to stop him and force others to beat them, but you have to think they would have found a way to get VC on track in that second half, perhaps playing off Lopez of all people. Let's hope that doesn't happen again, because with Keyon Dooling out with injury, the Nets are short on ballhandlers. The sight of Mo Ager and Chris Douglas Roberts taking a turn bringing the ball up court makes no one happy...
Respected - You have to love what Brook Lopez brought tonight to pick up the offensive slack, showing a variety of post moves and a soft touch around the basket. He's no Jason Collins, but between all the offensive upside and the fact that he can both rebound and block shots, well, there's a lot to like (in fact, so much that the Nets let Nenad Krstic go without matching the OKC offer for him...). Tonight was 23 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks, plus 3 turnovers (which as a rookie he gets some slack on, but he has to learn to guard the ball better and not allow himself to get tied up by those around him...), and we're grateful someone not named Carter or Harris could step up in a time of need.
Defensive Rejections - Guess that zone defense is the Nets' best friend right now...at times the Nets were good defensively, but there are still too many possessions where they couldn't stop third graders from scoring. That needs to be addressed (we know, it's a work in progress).
Miscellaneous Post-Game Analysis - Was that some sign of life we saw tonight from Yi? He's been in the Twilight Zone for what seems like a month. Tell me again about the upside...? The Nets need a backup to the backup point guard. Sacrifice Mo Ager if you must, but they need a third wheel. The Nets end the 2008 portion of their schedule at 15 - 17, which is better than expected (much better, actually), but December turns out to be a down month at 6 - 10 (and losing 3 of their last 4 games). Eduardo Najera managed to be - 14 in about 15 minutes of playing time. That's not a good sign for future playing time, is it? The Nets managed only 29 first half points - they scored more than that in about 15 minutes the second half...

Down Way To End A Down Day (or Year)
We admit we still don't know what to make of Vince Carter's rejection, but what a story it would have been if the Nets could have pulled off the upset after the poor first half. Thanks to Allen Iverson, Tayshaun Prince and the rest of the motley crew in Detroit, the Nets don't have that story to tell as we end 2008. Let's hope that the Nets regain some of that mojo that had working earlier, when the road was their friend and Devin Harris and Carter were taking turns making everyone look like geniuses. It's been a long strange calender year of 2008 for Netsfans, with the Kidd nonsense and the big trade, the revamping of the entire roster including the trade of Richard Jefferson and the drafting of Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson and Chris Douglas Roberts, and all the rest of the stuff that happened. Time to put it behind us and look forward to a fresh start in 2009.
- Joe