SB Nation - Josh Boone

Mavericks Vs Nets: Game 19 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:23:41 -0000

The Match-ups:

Point Guard

Jason Kidd: The time has come once again for the trade partners to face off against one another. In the previous battles Harris has won the match up with relative ease, does this one go to Harris as well? or does Kidd finally prove that the Mavs made a good trade? Who knows, what I will say is that Kidd has been excellent this year and Harris has been... well not to good.

vs.

Devin Harris: I think I can speak for most everyone when I say that I really like Devin Harris, and have wished that he was still here. However he has been just another mediocre player on an awful team this year. As bad as the Nets are I never would have suspected that of the TWO players on the team with a +/- above zero one of them would NOT be Devin Harris.

Edge: Mavericks (did I really just say that?)

Shooting Guard

Rodrigue Beaubois: Roddy gets the face time as being the starter, but the PT will surely go to JJ and JT. Not real sure what the Mavs plans are for Roddy but the guy should get more than 9 minutes a game, in my opinion, but then again who am I to decide what the Mavericks guard rotation should be? This is one game however that the guard rotation should be irrelevant (I said SHOULD BE)

vs.

Chris Douglas - Roberts: Well the first thing that I saw with Chris is that he has the worst +/- on the team (if he played for the Lakers this would not be such a big deal, but when you are the worst +/- on a hideous team it is a huge deal). However with that in mind he has been much more productive as the teams PG than at any other position. Chris does lead the Eastern Conference sophomore class in scoring at 16.4 per, he will turn the ball over though and the Mavs should be able to capitalize on his poor handling skills.

Edge: Even

Forward

Shawn Marion: Defense, Defense, Defense these are apparently the orders given to Shawn before every Mavs game. This has worked out pretty well so far but I would like to see the Mavs try to get him more involved on the offensive end rather than defering to the heavily over used three guard system.

vs.

Trenton Hassell: Since coming into the league in 2001 Trenton's production has neither gone up nor down, however when your production is less than 1 rebound per 10 minutes and 1 point every 5 minutes, does it really matter that you are consistent?

Edge: Mavericks

Power Forward

Dirk Nowitzki: The best Power Forward in the game. Nuff said

vs.

Josh Boone: Once again a former number one draft pick that has failed miserably for the Nets. Josh would be a decent offensive rebounder off the bench, anything past that is not going to be good. The Nets are asking a marginal player to be a starter in the NBA, no wonder this team has yet to win a game.

Edge:

Center

Drew Gooden: While Erick Dampier was sidelined with an unknown Vaginal disease, Drew was absolutely sensational but has now apparently lost his starting spot back to Dampier? This was a bad mistake by Carlisle and a move that may cost the Mavs later on. Erick Dampier is likely to start but should not, therefore he is not in my starting lineup.

vs.

Brook Lopez: He is the lone bright spot on a miserable team. All of Brook's numbers have improved over his rookie campaign. He is a solid scoring option for the Nets and does a nice job on the boards, the Nets offense should and will flow through Lopez.

Edge: Mavericks

Injuries/Suspensions

New Jersey Nets

OUT - Yi Jianlian

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - Josh Howard

Prediction: On paper this game is not even close. On paper the Mavs should win this game by 20. On paper this game should not even be played due to the shear destruction that the Mavs would bring upon the Nets. These games however are not played on paper, they are played on the court, and the Mavs have showed over the course of their first 18 games that they tend to play to the level of their competition (excluding the Cavs game), and frankly this game scares me. Since I have been well... not so good with the prediction this yearit will not matter if I am wrong because you are all used to that by now. So my prediction is (drum roll please)

Mavericks: 104

Nets: 86

Kings Hold Off Nets 109-96

Ziller — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:38:10 -0000

More photos » by Steve Yeater - AP

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When Lawrence Frank went to the Hack-a-Jew strategy, intentionally putting Omri Casspi on the free throw line late in the fourth quarter with the winless Nets down by three possessions, I knew this game had ended.

It was spooky until then, with New Jersey quickly erasing Sacramento's 17-point halftime lead to get the game within two possessions in the third quarter. The Nets hung around, allowing the Kings a few spurts but always answering. It was just as nerve-wracking as that Parcheesi game I mentioned Friday. Basketball is a crazy game (cliche!), and when you get into a close game, it doesn't matter what your record is. Anything can happen.

But Frank, still coaching his ass off, decided to put the game in Casspi's hands. Omri has shot three-pointers about as well as free throws. But when Frank put him on the line, Casspi nailed 3-4 and ended that strategy quickly. And, oddly, though Omri has had his struggles from the stripe, I had a great feeling about each of those shots. There's something about Omri, some burgeoning swagger that leaks out in grimaces and chest pounds, but still somehow feels like it's being kept in check by an invisible lid. All this spirit we see from Casspi, and it's just the surface. This well runs deep.

The first quarter was a rather brilliant span of basketball for Sacramento, resulting in a 33-20 lead. The Kings defended well, holding N.J. to those 20 points over 25 possessions. A key was keeping the Nets off the offensive boards -- the Kings gave up two N.J. offensive rebounds in 14 opportunities in the first. That was the biggest difference between the first and the third, where New Jersey tallied nine offensive rebounds in 17 opportunities -- just a ridiculous number. One other second half problem was that the Kings didn't grab a single offensive rebound in the third or fourth quarters, a shocking finish given how good the Kings have been on the offensive glass this season. (Jason Thompson didn't have a single offensive rebound all game. Only Spencer Hawes -- with two -- had more than one among all Kings. Josh Boone had five, Chris Douglas-Roberts had three.)

Speaking of Douglas-Roberts: he's the reason Donte Greene received only six minutes in the second half. Greene didn't play poorly -- he's just not quick enough to guard two-guards like CD-R, and that seemed like a real problem with this particular starting line-up once Devin Harris warmed up his engine. (Harris was awful in the first half, great in the third, OK in the fourth.) Tyreke Evans (another great game, with 21 points on 18 shooting possessions, and eight rebounds) had trouble staying in front of the lightning quick Harris on a few consecutive possessions, and with Lopez demanding attention in the paint, CD-R was able to go one-on-one with The Show, and CD-R won. That resulted in a second half full of two- and three-PG line-ups. Thankfully, both Beno Udrih (21 on 12) and Sergio Rodriguez (six points, three assists, one turnover) played well. In the paint, Kenny Thomas eventually got his shot (after Sean May stunk up the joint in relief of the sore Hawes) at Lopez, and K-9 did fantastic work.

None of that good work matters, of course, if Omri misses a couple free throws to validate Frank's strategy. But the kid has swag, and it showed.

Preview: Nets at Kings

Ziller — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:00:20 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

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"No mas! No mas!"

THE OPPONENT

Holy crap. Where to start? OK, for one, I don't know if you have heard this, but the Nets have not won a game since, like, April. 0-15. Zero wins, fifteen freaking losses. No team is really that bad, though I remember the awful 1998-99 Clippers, the team that got it's first win against the Kings in Game No. 18 of a 50-game season. That team was this bad. The Nets, though, aren't. Injury has played such a massive role in this bad start. Everyone has that excuse -- even the Lakers and Cavs and Magic and Mavericks have dealt with missing players. But for the Nets, it has been exceptionally rough. Devin Harris is the motor of the team, and he just came back. (Tonight will be his first start since October.) Courtney Lee missed lots of time. Yi Jianlian -- I have no idea what's gone on with him. Chris Douglas-Roberts had the swine flu! Brook Lopez and Terrence Williams are the only two good players on that team that have been in action throughout, and one of them is an apositional rookie. ROUGH.

As I said, Harris is back, as is Lee. Harris-Lopez might be the best young inside-out combination in the league, with the possible exception of Roy-Oden, Rose-Noah and Gordon-Griffin. (We'll see on that last one, as well as Evans-Thompson or Evans-Hawes.) Harris should have some rust, I'd think, but adrenaline might counteract those limitations, and I wouldn't be surprised if he plays as hard as he ever has. If a well (hopefully) Beno Udrih is guarding him, let's hope our Slovenian can funnel him into help defense, because Harris is lightning quick and smart with the rock.

Lopez went for 32/14 in Portland. Aack!

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Brook Lopez	15	35.3	6.8	14.5	47.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.9	4.9	78.4	2.9	5.8	8.7	1.5	2.7	0.4	2.6	3.7	17.5
Chris Douglas-Roberts	12	35.5	6.3	13.5	46.3	0.3	1.3	25.0	4.1	4.7	87.5	1.4	3.7	5.1	1.7	1.9	1.1	0.4	1.9	16.9
Devin Harris	5	28.8	4.4	12.8	34.4	0.0	1.6	0.0	4.6	6.4	71.9	0.6	3.2	3.8	6.2	2.6	2.0	0.2	2.6	13.4
Terrence Williams	15	28.1	4.3	11.9	36.0	0.8	2.8	28.6	1.4	2.1	65.6	0.5	5.1	5.6	2.0	2.1	0.6	0.0	1.7	10.7
Rafer Alston	15	34.2	3.7	10.6	34.6	1.1	3.3	34.0	1.9	2.3	82.9	0.3	2.6	2.9	4.8	2.8	0.9	0.2	2.0	10.4
Yi Jianlian	4	29.5	3.3	8.0	40.6	0.0	0.3	0.0	3.3	3.8	86.7	1.3	6.3	7.5	0.5	2.3	0.5	1.3	3.0	9.8
Courtney Lee	8	30.9	3.0	9.8	30.8	0.4	2.1	17.6	3.4	3.9	87.1	0.6	1.6	2.3	1.8	1.0	2.4	0.5	2.0	9.8
Trenton Hassell	11	35.9	3.5	8.1	43.8	0.0	0.2	0.0	1.8	2.3	80.0	1.9	3.4	5.3	1.0	1.5	0.4	0.2	2.7	8.9
Bobby Simmons	13	19.7	2.1	5.9	35.1	0.9	3.2	28.6	0.6	0.6	100.0	0.4	2.8	3.2	0.6	1.0	0.4	0.2	2.6	5.7
Eduardo Najera	8	16.5	1.9	4.8	39.5	0.3	1.4	18.2	0.8	1.0	75.0	1.1	2.5	3.6	1.8	1.0	0.8	0.3	2.6	4.8
Josh Boone	15	17.9	1.9	4.1	46.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.9	38.5	2.0	3.7	5.7	0.6	1.0	0.5	0.6	2.0	4.2
Sean Williams	11	12.9	1.4	2.8	48.4	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.5	1.0	45.5	1.6	1.1	2.7	0.0	1.3	0.5	0.9	2.6	3.2
Jarvis Hayes	1	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0

THE KEY BATTLE

Lopez vs. Spencer Hawes. Goofy lottery big white dude vs. goofy lottery big white dude. Lopez has certainly started his career off in more bombastic fashion, though obviously Hawes has been no slouch, and these two are effectively the same age. Hawes would do well to pull Lopez away from the rim to open up lanes for the slashers and elbow room for Jason Thompson. On the other end, expect early help, especially if Lopez is going strong in the post.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

The crowd at ARCO is going to be really interesting. I mean, can anything good come of this game for Kings fans? I haven't been this nervous about a game since that time I played strip Parcheesi with Keira Knightley and Fran Drescher. Mix in the holiday weekend, the lack of a pre-game buffet and the anonymity of the opponent, and ... hmm.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Lawrence Frank is going to yell at someone. Not necessarily a Net.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Kings by 13.

DETAILS

Game at 7. Game thread at 7. Post-game thread at 9:45. Recap at Boreal.

New Jersey Nets 103, Orlando Magic 93

Ben Q Rock — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:07:59 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

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The Orlando Magic lost their third game in four nights against the New Jersey Nets on Saturday, 103-93, due to a poor defensive effort and little-to-no offensive flow. Worse still, they lost Hedo Turkoglu with what appeared to be a rather serious sprained ankle in the 4th quarter. J.J. Redick also left the game after playing one fourth-quarter minute due to back spasms. The loss locks Orlando into the Eastern Conference's third playoff seed.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	87	106.7	50.0%	20.8	29.3	14.9
Nets	87	118.4	62.1%	22.9	17.9	16.1

First, the offense: Orlando had nothing doing. Second-leading scorer Rashard Lewis sat out for the first time this season due to knee tendinitis, leaving more work for Dwight Howard and Turkoglu. Howard was not up to the task, managing a mere 7 points on 2-of-7 shooting against Brook Lopez, the Nets' brick wall of a rookie center. Stan Van Gundy left him in the game for only 26 minutes. Turkoglu, meanwhile, looked fairly sharp and routinely drove to the basket, but it wasn't enough. He tallied 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting and appeared to be working himself into a groove until he injured his ankle trying to turn the corner on Yi Jianlian. Tony Battie, making his first start of the season, scored all 14 of his points in the first half. Brian Hill, the Nets assistant who coached the Magic two seasons ago, must have felt pretty good about that, seeing as though he started Battie ahead of Darko Milicic in all 82 games that season.

Defense is the real point of concern here. The Nets--playing without All-Star point guard Devin Harris--were able to get into the lane at will and create easy baskets for their bigs. Lopez and his backup, Josh Boone, combined for 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Even when the Magic took away the interior passing, the Nets moved the ball well enough to get open three-point looks, converting 11 treys in 20 attempts. Vince Carter, who led all scorers with 27 effortless points, had 4 triples and Bobby Simmons added 3 off the bench. New Jersey tallied assists on 27 of its 38 field goals. It's April. The Magic cannot, and should not, be having defensive breakdowns against anyone, especially not a lottery team missing its best playmaker. There really aren't any excuses, and Van Gundy said as much:

"I don't know what to tell you, it's bad and it's getting worse and we don't seem very determined to change it. I'm not making any excuses, pre-playoff blues are any of that crap. We're playing awful basketball."

Awful indeed. Van Gundy now faces a somewhat difficult decision: does he cut his starters' minutes to rest them for the playoffs? Or does he try to play them regular minutes in light of their recent poor play, trying to get them into the playoffs on a high note?

Today's Washington Wizards-related trade deadline links

Mike Prada — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:38:04 -0000

UPDATE: CNNSI is reporting Cleveland is showing interest in Antawn Jamison, dangling Wally Sczcerbiak's expiring contract. Predictable. Now, let's try to get them to give us J.J. Hickson back as well.

No, I'm not back permanently. I'm just on break and have some time to post. -PM.

As you've probably noticed from my comments recently, I firmly believe we've reached the point where we can't afford to be picky with trade offers for Antawn Jamison. The economy is tanking and nobody is willing to trade too much to take on salary past 2010. Meanwhile, among the sellers out there, we're in about as bad shape as you can be. The luxury tax problem we identified a month ago has been picked up elsewhere and it's now common knowledge that we need to cut costs. To put it bluntly, the franchise's ability to compete long-term is at stake right now.

This is where Antawn Jamison comes in. Much has changed since Jamison signed a four year, 50-million dollar contract extension this summer. The economy has tanked, making it more difficult to justify paying the luxury tax. The team has also tanked, further making it more difficult to expect Abe to pay the tax. Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, our young pivot duo of the future, have both developed to the point where we may actually be able to replace Jamison's contributions. Finally, we're heading to a lottery pick that we can no longer afford unless we either get under the cap or hope Abe pays the tax.

Without any of these developments, you could justify Antawn's new contract and his status on the team. Sure, he's a bit old, but we were ready to compete with a healthy roster. Sure, his contract was a bit much, but we could still make upgrades because you'd think Abe would pay the tax for a contender. And while we'd certainly have more flexibility if we let him go, how could we use that flexibility to get someone better than Jamison? Unfortunately, times have changed. We aren't competing, we can't rely on Abe paying the tax two straight years and we are in position to replace Jamison long-term with some combination of Blatche, McGee and a top-five pick.

Ergo, trading Jamison in a straight salary dump is not only appealing, but it's also essential. It is no longer a question of whether Jamison's veteran leadership and consistent production is worth his cost. It is now a question of whether keeping Jamison is preferable to keeping our draft pick, keeping Brendan Haywood in 2010 and/or hoping Abe pays the tax for two years. In some ways, you can add keeping Caron Butler to that list. Jamison's good, but he's not good enough to justify all the ways we may have to sacrifice elsewhere to keep his salary.

Now, Ernie Grunfeld is going to get killed for dumping Jamison in a straight salary dump, so I doubt it'll actually happen. But Ernie needs to heed the lesson of Marcus Camby. Camby was jettisoned for nothing, and everyone killed the Nuggets for being cheap. In point of fact, it made the team better, because it allowed Nene to shine, it put them under the tax and it gave them more flexibility to add Chauncey Billups' long-term contract to the mix. A short-term loss led to long-term gain. Denver wasn't afraid of a short-term loss. Neither should we.

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Alright, your links of the day.

-Ivan Carter comes through with a must-read about our current situation. The title? A Plan Gone Awry. There are tons of relevant segments, but this is the big one.

However, because the Wizards already have such huge financial commitments, there is a decent chance Grunfeld will consider trading the pick.

The team has about $75.9 million committed to contracts for next season, which would put them over the luxury-tax threshold (it typically rises slightly each year but may not go up next year, depending upon league revenue) before signing a lottery pick.

First-year salaries for players taken at the top of the lottery are between $2.7 million and $4.2 million, and that would place the Wizards significantly over the threshold, something Pollin has avoided in the past. Teams that go over the threshold must pay a dollar-for-dollar tax after the season.

But there are other reasons Grunfeld might try to trade the pick. It could allow him to shed an otherwise difficult-to-trade player -- such as Thomas, who is on the books for $7.4 million next season, or James, who holds a player option for $6.5 million next season -- while adding a valuable veteran.

This is really disappointing and exactly what I was trying to hit on up above. It's bad business to consistently trade away a top-five pick for veterans help, but it's even worse business to not use the pick just to cut costs. Top draft picks are the cheapest of labor. You can get an impact player if you do things right, all for the cost of less than Darius Songaila. The relative weakness of the draft this year is irrelevant because you never really know. Everyone thought the 2008 draft was weaker than the 2007 draft, but you'd be hard-pressed to make that argument now that so many rookies are performing so well. The bottom line is the draft offers you the chance to get a franchise player, or at least an impact player, cheapely. Any veteran that is any good makes significantly more than a top-five pick, so that doesn't help you cut costs at all. And if you're cutting the costs of the pick itself, well, that's just silly, because the draft pick doesn't make much money.

You want to cut costs? Trade your 32-year old all-star power forward making eight figures through 2012 for cap relief.

Anyway, this quote was so predictable it's not even worth predicting it.

"I like our players," Grunfeld said. "If you look at our players on paper: Gilbert, Antawn, Caron, DeShawn, Brendan and the collection of other players like Darius, Mike James, Blatche and the young guys, I think we can compete with most teams in the league. But, you have to have the group together for a while so they can develop some chemistry and get a sense of what their roles are. Once we get our group together, there's a solid foundation."

Again, Ernie can't be paralyzed like this and let chances to improve the club long-term slip away.

-You all probably noticed that New Orleans dumped Tyson Chandler for cap relief today. This is what we shouldn't do with Caron Butler. New Orleans dumped one of their productive players because they were impatient instead of waiting to see if anyone would take someone else with a long-term deal. Now, Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson are way more untradeable than Jamison, but the point still stands. Chandler was paid fairly and was productive. Butler's paid more than fairly and is more productive. Don't trade Butler to solve this problem.

-A Jamison salary dump is among Chad Ford's five trades that should happen by the trade deadline.

Cavs trade Wally Szczerbiak to the Wizards for Antawn Jamison and Etan Thomas.

Why should the Cavs do it?
The team wants to win a title now and could use an upgrade at the 4. Adding Jamison would give the Cavs another dynamic scorer and veteran.

Why should the Wizards do it?
Because they are paying a huge amount of money for one of the worst teams in basketball. When Gilbert Arenas returns, they'll be better, but by how much? This deal would put them slightly below the cap next year.

Will it happen?
The Cavs are looking at potential Szczerbiak deals and Jamison isn't the only guy they covet. Mike Miller and Vince Carter have also been mentioned.

Yes, it sucks that Jamison gets dumped for nothing. Yes, it sucks that we may give Cleveland the title. But this trade saves us 17 million dollars this offseason. That's enough to keep our pick and even have enough money left over to be a part of the free agent market without going over the tax. I want J.J. Hickson back too, but we're not dealing in a position of strength.

-Speaking of Ford, as expected, he reports that Portland is looking at Caron Butler.

The focus for the Blazers right now appears to be at the small forward position. It appears that three players -- Gerald Wallace, Caron Butler and Richard Jefferson -- are on Pritchard's radar screen.

(snip)

Butler might be the best player of the group when he's healthy. He was an All-Star last year and is excellent in the mid-range game. He too has a reasonable contract, with just two years and $21 million left on his deal. But it's unclear what the Wizards would want in return and whether they'll ultimately opt to keep Butler and reevaluate the team when Gilbert Arenas returns. If the Wizards are to make such a deal, certainly they'll want the Blazers to take back Etan Thomas' contract, and they'll likely also demand one or two young players from the Blazers. That price might be too high for Portland.

I doubt anything happens. For me to even think about it, we'd need Raef LaFrentz's contract, Rudy Fernandez and Travis Outlaw to come back to us. I doubt Portland wants Butler that badly.

-Houston seems to want Vince Carter and is thinking of giving back Ron Artest, Carl Landry and Luther Head. It seems to me Antawn Jamison is a better fit there than Vince, and he's just as productive and less expensive. If Houston is offering that much for Vince, they would probably offer a similar amount for Jamison. Ernie, make it happen!

-DC Pro Sports Report, disagreeing with me

There are those who think the team should be broken up and its players traded away for cap space and future draft picks. I think that's silly, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the Wizards won't get good deals right now. Teams are going to try to rob the Wizards, thinking the team is desperate to unload Butler and Jamison during this hellish season. It is very unlikely the Wizards will receive fair offers for either player. Secondly, I think it is silly to give up on this team when we still don't know how good it can be if it can ever be healthy -- and with a potential lottery pick added to the mix! That's why I think it is ridiculous to attack Ernie Grunfeld, as if he could have anticipated these injuries. Giving Arenas a $111 million contract with uncertain health is debatable, but it is better than letting Gil walk and getting nothing for him. As for the Jamison contract, it is very reasonable. Ten million dollars a year for a player with Jamison's production [no doubt he's been the best player on the team this year] is a good deal for the team.

The problem is that we can't look at these contracts in isolation. Jamison's contract isn't bad for his production, but it is when you place it in the context of the rest of the team. The only way we can keep everyone together and get a high draft pick is if Abe pays the tax. We can't rely on that.

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Drop any more links in the comments.

RECAP: Warriors 105, Nets 97 – Win #1

R Dizzle — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:17:36 -0000

Final Boxscore | Open Thread (504 Comments)

Yeah baby!

Alright, admit it. That game wasn't pretty nor was it that exciting to watch (go free league pass!). But we finally finished a game strong and came out with win #1.

Hit the jump to hear my thoughts about yesterday's game.

Back to back games do not fair well

It was pretty obvious that all of our guys were extremely tired off Friday night's loss. The energy in the IZOD Center was low and Maggette and Jackson both were slower and played with less energy than usual. Yet somehow they both pulled out 41 minutes and 20+ points. Good work guys, and something must have clicked last night cause they both finished the game strong.

The kids

Brandan Wright - 7 minutes, 0 points, 1 block, and 1 foul? This was supposed to equal J-Rich? Right...

CJ Watson - Nellie finally decided to give CJ some good burn, and he played decently. He still needs to work on the FTs (50% from the line?) but he's developing slowly but surely. Mad props for taking it strong to the hoop and drawing fouls. Just make sure to not get destroyed by Brook Lopez next time.

DeMarcus Nelson - I've been pretty critical of him to this point, but he put up some good numbers yesterday - 4 for 6, 9 points, and 3 assists. In a few more games we'll be able to tell if this guy's got what it takes to keep the starting PG. He's learning quickly and he deserves his props.

You deserve better Vince. You deserve better.

I thought we were young...

Where at the vets on the Nets? This team is YOUNG. Lotta talent, but no experience and it showed last night. Vince and Josh Boone played well, but what about the others? Yi? 18 mins and 0 points? Where you at man?

At least boy Eduardo Najera brought it hard. Right...

The game just felt SLOW. I thought we were down the whole time seeing as though The Dubs brought no energy. But hey, apparently the Nets didn't either.

Opening Night at the IZOD Center is like going to Urkel's Birthday Party

Where the heck was everyone?

Wasn't that supposed to be Opening Night in New Jersey? Where was the free giveaway? Where was the excitement? Man, I would hate to be a part of the New Jersey team with no one supporting them!

Where's Jay-Z at? Go talk to LeBron and start building that new stadium in Brooklyn man...

IZOD Center out, screamin' out money ain't a thang!

On the road again!

One more game to this road trip. The Grizzlies have another young and talented team and it'll be interesting to see how the Warriors match up to em. Hopefully the day off gives everyone some much needed energy.

Andris Biedrins. Hustled hard for the third game in the row and brought it with 23 points, 11 boards, and 2 blocks. I said it after Friday's game and I'll say it again, there is confidence in this kid this year. Three double-double's in a row? Good work.

Poll

How long do you think Andris will keep up the double-double streak?

All Season Long Baby!

544 votes

A few more games

119 votes

It's over

9 votes

672 votes | Poll has closed

Wizards Game 1 Blog: vs. New Jersey Nets

Truth About It — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:32:59 -0000

Back for another season of game blogs......this year, home games will be on Bullets Forever, away games on TruthAboutIt.net. Let's do this.

Last Year's History Against The Nets:

Game 4: Nets 87 - Wizards 85
Bostjan Nachbar killed the Wiz with 11 early 4th quarter points (three 3s). Gilbert Arenas took a terrible shot to end the game (let the Nets trap him in the corner and attempted a wild, one-legged two pointer). Jason Kidd talked to Gilbert about his knee after the buzzer sounded.

Game 20: Wizards 104 - Nets 89
Butler and Jamison combined for 50. Game blog highlight: Great float pass from AD to a cutting AJ for the floater. Yup, float for the floater..sounds like toilet humor.

Game 28: Nets 109 - Wizards 106
Richard Jefferson goes crazy to score 21 points in the 3rd...and didn't even score in the 4th (26 for the game). Down 109-106, the Wizards elect not to foul New Jersey with 30 seconds left....Nachbar misses a three and the Nets get an offensive board. Game over.

Free Darko Prediction: Oct 29 New Jersey @ Washington. Experience Unlimited sings the national anthem.

Allllllll-right.....the NBA season is here, I just took a 5-hour energy (considering that with the DVR, it takes me about five hours to watch a game....I know crazy/sad -- okay, maybe not that long), Kanye West's "Flashing Lights" is playing as the reserves are introduced, and being pumped about this NBA season just hit me. I love this game, I love this team.....and I'm a cautious believer. Let's start the show.

Q1

The first play is run for Jamison....it seems like this is always the case...but instead of a jumper, he gets in the lane and just misses this scoop/hook thingee.

11:11: Veteran Dirt: Vince Carter and Jamison hit the floor fighting for a loose ball and Etan Thomas dives right into the scrum. Gotta like that...Yi Jianlian and a couple of Nets just stand and watch it unfold. Etan earns and wins the jump ball.

10:34: First points of the season! Step up DeShawn Stevenson....AD drives right to the FT line and DeShawn is open from three on the wing....wish all of his shots could come that easy/unforced. 3-2 Wizards.

9:48: Caron Butler will not settle...pushing the ball up the side after a Nets miss, Caron sees Yi not protecting the rim and only Bobby Simmons between him and the basket. He hits Simmons with an in-and-out with the right, goes behind the back to the left, drives and draws the foul.....2 FTs....his Foul Draw Percentage is up 41%.

9:00: Uhhh guys? Protect the paint? Vince Carter splits an Etan/DeShawn double team off a pick at the 3-point line and AJ just watches Carter go around him and to the basket for a dunk.....Jamison's feet were in quick-sand. 7-6 Wizards.

8:28: Jarvis Hayes checks in to a light smattering of boos.

7:41: Etan Thomas just hit the best, most fluid shot I've ever seen him take....he had Boone in the post on the left block, Daniels cuts through on the baseline to the other side....ISO Etan.....jab step left, one dribble to the middle, reverse pivot baseline, fading jumper. Add that to the fact that Etan already has three boards and made two FTs earlier. 11-6 Wizards.

For some reason I keep thinking Devin Harris is Kerry Kittles.

6:06: Nets press a little....Butler receives the pass on the far left wing and drives it on an out-of-position Yi for the layup. Who says that Tuff Juice settles? 13-9 Wizards.

5:51: Damn Etan....don't get lazy. Boone sets a pick to Harris' left....Etan is kinda there, but not really....AD positions himself to get over the pick, but Harris, seeing the lane wide open to the right, turns down the screen and drives for a layup. Confusion by all.....Etan was yelling, AJ wasn't around to help either, Daniels shouldn't have given that much of a lane. 13-11 Wizards.

Phil Chenier comes back and diagrams an earlier instance where the Wizards did not defend a perimeter pick and roll well.

4:08: Wiz surprise the Nets with a press off a made FT and draw an 8 seconds call.

Dixon and Blatche check in for Daniels and Etan.

Dixon, caught on Lopez, shows great communication (Chenier loves this so much, he does a special diagram for it) and grabs Butler, who was following his cutting man, and forces the switch to Lopez while Dixon goes chasing Caron's man....Nick Young would not have done that....I'm just sayin'

3:06: And Juan nails his first jumper....wide-open open off a Jamison pick. 21-16 Wizards.

Nick Young checks in for Stevenson.

1:30: Nice work.....Dixon gets the ball from Young up top and waives to kid to cut like he's supposed to.....Nick does, goes off an Andray pick, ball moves right to left to Butler on the wing, and there you have it....Young receives the pass from Caron in good position on the baseline, and nails his first shot of the season, a fadeaway. 23-20 Wizards.

Dominic McGuire and Darius Songaila check in for Jamison and Butler to complete the substitution of the starters to the bench.

0:33: ANDRAY BLATCHE FOUL ALERT: Dooling gets an defensive board....clearly has complete control of the ball and starts to bring it up the court...and for SOME DAMN REASON, Andray decides to try to steal it from a point guard in the backcourt. Blatche picks up silly foul #2...the first one came on a loose ball foul that shouldn't have happened either. Terrible. So, the guy is in for about 3.5 minutes and picks up two fouls......it's not Eddie Jordan's fault that the kid doesn't play more, it's Andray Blatche's fault.

Tie game at 23. The Wiz shot 32% in the first, but only turned the ball over once.

Q2

11:44: Jarvis Hayes sneaks in the corner and hits a three....Steve Buckhantz says we saw him do that in DC....uhhh, not really.

11:30: Blatche makes a nice drive.....stops....Lopez goes right by him and he gets a nice inside bucket. 26-25 Nets.

10:39: Blatche hits a nice composed long jumper on the wing. 28-27 Nets.

9:07: Blatche backs down Lopez on a couple dribbles, then hits a step back fade from mid-range. 29-28 Wiz.

I like that Andray is displaying diverse offensive moves.....but I must add....way to pick on Lopez the rookie kiddo.

8:30: McGuire airballs his first shot of the season.....long deuce from the corner.

8:00: Uhhh...in the background, they're playing Journey as McGuire goes to the FT line....weird.

Butler comes back in for McGuire, Daniels for Dixon....Jamison set to return for Songaila. See? Eddie Jordan wasn't really going to neglect Young and Blatche.

6:17: Wiz get a defensive board....Nick Young goes streaking....Caron has court vision....long pass....and Monumental Air! 32-31 Wiz.

5:51: Songaila gets a deflection...Wiz get steal....Nick Young can't keep his clothes on....Caron still has court vision....long pass.....and Monumental Air! (except not a dunk.....a spinning layup for Young....didn't have the time/positioning for a dunk) 34-31 Wiz.

4:22: Jamison hits back to back jumpers. 38-35 Wiz.

Etan and Stevenson check back in for Young and Blatche....all starters back.

Yi Jianlian looks decent.....kid can stroke it. 6 points for Yi.

2:30: Jamison hits a trey, he's on fire....Chenier says the Wiz are now shooting over 57% in the 2nd and Steve says that the Nets have not gotten one offensive rebound in the game.

1:46: Yi hits a trey ball. 44-42 Wiz.

0:57: AJ does a good job defending him, but you can't always stop a Vince Carter Dr. J-like up and under from behind the basket. Tied at 44.

The half ends with the Wizards up 46-44. They played....okay. Defense was decent, considering no Haywood....didn't do the best job in keeping Harris out of the paint. Offense was sub-par, picked up a little in the second. We should be winning by more than two, hopefully they'll pick it up in the 2nd half. Gold Star goes to: Etan Thomas. He's been aggressive...hitting o-boards hard, great at getting inside position....6 points, 6 rebounds for Etan.

Q3

10:41: Still Not Settling: The Caron Butler Autobiography.....he gets around Yi and two other Nets for a sweet slicing reverse layup. 49-46 Wiz.

10:00: Etan Thomas is beastin' -- another offensive rebound (5) and trip to the line, makes 1 FT...8 points, 7 boards for Etan.

9:40: Yi answers with another jumper....12 points on 5-6 shooting....gotta start paying attention to him some time. This time, Carter drew Jamison's attention with a back-down and Yi was wide open at the 3-point line.

Vince Carter is starting to cause trouble for the Wiz on offense....and all of a sudden, the Nets are up 55-50.

The Nets are giving more double attention to Butler on D and the shots are not falling for the Wiz.

7:03: Carter blows by Jamison and hits a crazy, turning, spinning, hanging, reverse layup (with contract from Etan to boot)....And 1. 58-52 Nets.

The Nets have been posting up Carter on the left wing almost every time down the court.

5:30: Wizards run good offense that gets a nice open jumper for......Antonio Daniels? Well, ok then.....he makes it. Tied at 58.

4:45: Ball movement gets Stevenson a three from the corner. 9-0 Wiz run, 61-58......gotta keep this offense up.

JaVale McGee checks in for Etan....uh oh, The Choppa is looking sweet with that cut part in his head.....looking like a member of an 80s all male R&B group....all he needs is a leather jacket over a turtle-neck and some jeans with creases ironed in them.

3:07: Jarvis Hayes nails a three....and gets booed. Yea, he was disappointing when in DC, but injured a lot.....not exactly something he can control. I don't think the boos are really necessary.

Dee Brown checks in.....joins Butler, AJ, McGee & Nick Young.

2:30: Jamison drives....gets it to McGee under the rim....he misses his first NBA shot at point blank range....hustles to get his own rebound with length over everyone....gets it to Nick Young in the corner.....he drives on Carter and hits an off-balanced runner in the lane. 64-63 Wizards....kids these days.

1:45: Brook Lopez uses his strength over McGee to get position and a bucket.

1:20: Keyon Dooling uses a screen to get separation from Brown....Jamison is not close enough to help....and Dooling hits the mid-range jumper. 67-65 Nets.

The 3rd ends with the Nets up 69-67.

Q4

Crunch time. Dee, Nick, Caron, JaVale and Andray to start the 4th.

11:41: Young gets penetration and hits a nice jumper on the first possession.....I'm getting more and more confident when the ball is in that guy's hands....on the other end Young plays great D to get a steal and draw a foul.

11:14: Dee Brown great pass with dribble penetration to a cutting Blatche for a dunk. 71-69 Wizards.

DeShawn comes in for Young....not sure I like that too much.

10:12: This Yi dude is sick....man that shot is so smooth. Nails a jumper. 74-71 Nets.

9:12: DeShawn hits his 4th trey of the game....hasn't forced too much so far. Good to know that stroke from last season is still around. Tied at 74.

9:07: Blatche picks up his 3rd foul....this one wasn't too bad, and somewhat questionable, as he was moving laterally to get through a screen.

Butler taks a rest.....Andray, Antawn, Dee, JaVale and DeShawn on the court.

8:55: That Andray Blatche blocking out problem again....Dooling misses a jumper.....Blatche moves almost right under the rim (not sure how you're going to rebound a jumper from there)....has his hands at his side....doesn't put a body on his man, Yi Jianlian.....and Yi is able to get a back-tap and a new shot clock for the Nets. Damn.....cannot have that.

B.S. Call: Both McGee and Lopez have a lane violation on a missed Jamison FT.....jump ball is the call. Ref calls a control violation on McGee on the tap, but the replay clearly shows this is not the case....a possession is taken away from the Wizards.

7:47: Blatche laziness. Stevenson swings the ball back to him at the top of the arc....Yi anticipates....but Andray doesn't secure the ball, rather casually waiting for it to get to him. Jianlian gets the steal and the break-away dunk. 78-75 Nets. Chenier agrees.....you gotta meet that ball.

Andray misses a three on the next possession.

7:11: Jarvis Hayes with back-to-back buckets. 80-75 Nets.

7:04: Caron misses his 2nd FT of the night....4-6 from the line. But he's leading the team in rebounding and assists at this point of the game.....huh?

The Wizards, to me, really aren't playing that bad.....but for some reason, I don't like the feel of this game....and being down 82-78 with just over 5 minutes left. Guess we're going to see what this team is really made of in this next five.

The lineup now: Young, Stevenson, Butler, Jamison, and Blatche. I'm down with Eddie Jordan's rotation tonight....he's had some creativity.

The Wizards have misses 8 free-throws tonight....Blatche just went 1-2 from the line (at least he got fouled trying to get an offensive board). 84-81 Nets.

3:40: Jarvis Hayes is draining every look he gets. 86-81 Nets. 14 points for Hayes and Nick Young can't answer on the other end.

Starters except Blatche for Etan working crunch time.

1:45: Devin Harris easily crosses up Daniels and hits a big jumper. 88-82 Nets. The Wizards just haven't been able to score.....don't know what it is, but they're shooting a terrible percentage, especially the Jamison-Butler duo.

Wiz can't get anything going.....Nets have the ball with about 1:15 left....fans are grumbling....and Vince Carter nails a long jumper. A minute left, Nets up 8, 90-82, and the crowd gets out of there as if someone just let out a huge stinker....and the Wizards dealt it.

There must be a lid on the rim....a short Blatche jumper goes in and out.

The Wizards have more turnovers (6) than field goals made (4) in the 4th quarter. These two teams aren't predicted to be on the same level in 08-09, but have looked on the same level tonight.....not good, at all.

This is not sitting well on my stomach.....not sure if it's good to pour pepto on top of a 5-hour energy, but I'm donig it anyway.

Yep, that's it...95-85 Wizards. Bad offense happens....but I'm still perplexed at this loss. Oh well, I'm sure it will be discussed and dissected over the next couple of days.

ESPN.com Box Score