Posts Tagged ‘Deron Williams’

< Older Entries
Newer Entries >

Nets’ Offensive Sputters Might Require ‘Last-Resort Guy’ Brooks

April 26, 2013  ·  8:20PM

a

a
CHICAGO – MarShon Brooks, the Brooklyn Nets’ second-year shooting guard and deep reserve, was on the floor for the entire fourth quarter of their Game 3 loss to the Chicago Bulls Thursday night at United Center. It wasn’t a bad 12 minutes in what otherwise was a clunker: Down 17 points with 8:35 left, the Nets outscored their hosts 20-6 the rest of the way.

Brooks (two points, two rebounds) was part of that in a stint that coach P.J. Carlesimo said was better than his individual numbers. He even was in the middle of Brooklyn’s last gasp, passing up a 3-pointer contested by Chicago’s Luol Deng to set up C.J. Watson, open in the right corner, for one that missed.

So maybe Brooks – who got more opportunities on a bad Nets teams as a rookie (29.4 mpg, 12.6 ppg) than on this season’s upgraded squad (12.5, 5.4) – could be an “X” factor for a team struggling to score.

“To be thrown into the fourth quarter, that’s probably the most intense part of the game,” the 24-year-old product of Providence said Friday at the team’s hotel. “I would like to play more and if I play more, I feel like I would contribute more. Especially when we have a hard time scoring – that’s kind of what I do.”

To a fault, frequently. Brooks is considered a liability on defense and he can frustrate teammates with his black-hole tendencies. He benefits from “backup quarterback syndrome,” with a segment of Brooklyn fans clamoring for him, wanting increased minutes and scoring chances because he has so much, y’know, potential.

But even Brooks knows that isn’t likely to happen.

“Honestly this year, it is what it is,” he said before the Nets’ video session and meeting. “I’ve been kind of a last-resort guy. If it’s not working for everybody else, that’s when they throw me out there. That’s just the way it’s been. … Down by 10, we need a spark, throw me out there.”

Guess what? The Nets are down by 10 figuratively, trailing in a series 2-1, home-court advantage gone and showing no sustainable offensive breakthroughs. They have shot 34.9 percent in the two losses (21.4 percent from the arc). In a span of 13:45 across the first and second quarters Thursday, Brooklyn took 25 shots, missed 24 and got outscored 28-4.

Sure, Chicago’s halfcourt defense is stifling. That’s a given. It still is on Carlesimo, his staff and the players too to add wrinkles to their attack and iron out ones that don’t belong.

One issue has been the high number of pipefitters and bricklayers on the Brooklyn roster. Reggie Evans, Gerald Wallace, Keith Bogans, Kris Humphries and aging Jerry Stackhouse aren’t exactly lithe offensive thoroughbreds – they’re relative Clydesdales and they have largely been neglected by Bulls defenders, who instead load up on Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez. Yet those guys, coming free, haven’t made Chicago pay with put-backs and second chances.

“If they are going to load up,” Carlesimo said, “we have to get offensive rebounds and take better care of the ball.”

Anything else? “We can set better screens,” the Brooklyn coach said. “Spacing, too. … When our bail-out spots are what they’re supposed to be, we should be able to move the ball. Because they load so much to the strong side of the floor, there’s usually at least one extra guy there. If you position yourself where you’re supposed to be, there should at least be a pass available.

“When you don’t space it well, when you don’t set solid screens, when you don’t set sides of the floor against them, you don’t score. Against other teams, you can not do those things and still overcome it. You can’t overcome it against a really good defensive team, which they obviously are.”

Carlesimo said he would alter his starting lineup only if Johnson, battling plantar fasciitis in his left foot, were unable to play. But he did say he would go to his bench sooner or tinker with player combinations if points continue to trickle in. Brooklyn can’t simply wait and hope it replicates its offense from the series opener (55.8 percent shooting, 106 points in the Game 1 victory). Too much unpredictability.

“We’re not unique but we’re at times our own worst enemy and at times it’s refreshing,” Carlesimo said, “the fact that there’s not always a correlation between what we’re going to do tomorrow and what we did yesterday.”

That might offer a glimmer of hope even for the last-resort guy.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 NBA Playoffs / Comments (4) /

Nets Extend King, Who Has More Work To Do

April 26, 2013  ·  5:16PM

BOSTON – The Brooklyn Nets announced Friday that they’ve signed general manager Billy King to a contract extension. NetsDaily reports that the deal is for three years.

The timing is interesting, given how anemic the roster King has assembled has looked in its last two games against the Chicago Bulls. But Brooklyn was the most improved team in the league this season, and in his time with the Nets, King has turned Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow and Travis Outlaw into Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace.

Most improved teams, 2011-12 to 2012-13, NetRtg

Team OffRtg Rk DefRtg Rk NetRtg
Brooklyn +5.3 4 -3.4 3 +8.7
Charlotte +6.0 3 +1.2 14 +4.8
Golden State +1.2 16 -3.5 2 +4.6
L.A. Clippers +2.5 12 -2.0 5 +4.5
Oklahoma City +3.0 9 -0.8 9 +3.8

OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions

The problem is that King gave up a Lottery pick for Wallace, who has really regressed this season and is owed over $30 million over the next three years. And he’s the fifth-highest paid player on the team. Given the restrictions of the new collective bargaining agreement, the Nets are mostly stuck with the roster they have, a roster that had no major injuries this season and finished fourth in the weaker conference.

They do hope that they have one card to play: trading Kris Humphries‘ contract (which expires next season) to upgrade one of the forward positions. In one of King’s more interesting moves last summer, Humphries was essentially re-signed to be traded. The Nets didn’t necessarily want to bring the power forward back, but if they let him go, they didn’t have the cap space to replace him with anything but a minimum-salary player. Re-signing Humphries gave them the opportunity to eventually deal him for someone who makes similar money, but they might not have the add-ins (young players with potential or potentially high draft picks) to entice another team to trade them a real difference maker.

A(nother) coaching change could also make a difference. Multiple reports indicate that interim coach P.J. Carlesimo probably won’t be retained at the end of the Nets’ playoff run. Carlesimo has stuck with vanilla lineups despite his team’s struggles against quality opponents, and the Nets could move up a couple of spots both offensively and defensively next season with a little more innovation from the bench.

So while his roster is mostly set, King still has some work to do. He has to try to find a taker for Humphries, and he has to (likely) hire a new coach.

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (2) /

Nets Might Need A Bigger Boat

April 23, 2013  ·  2:05AM

h

BROOKLYN – As P.J. Carlesimo, the Brooklyn Nets’ coach, talked about the Chicago Bulls’ halfcourt defense early in the evening Monday night, his tone gradually morphed from respect to reverence to … something darker. Suddenly, he was Robert Shaw as Quint in “Jaws,” scaring the hell out of Brody and Hooper with his tale of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, 1100 men into the water, 316 coming out and those black, lifeless eyes.

The Bulls brought the black, lifeless eyes of their defense at its best to the Barclays Center for Game 2 of the teams’ first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

Eleven Nets players checked into the game, only a few came out unscathed.

Bulls center Joakim Noah will get more of the headlines in the Windy City for his courageous-slash-reckless performance in helping Chicago even the best-of-seven series 1-1. Noah reached double figures in points (11) and rebounds (10) while going single figures in feet, running and jumping – trying to, anyway – on a nasty case of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Plantar fasciitis being Latin, of course, for “hot needles jammed into the sole of one’s foot.”

If Noah played a familiar, vital role as the Bulls’ heart — pumping blood into their bounce-back game for the first victory by a road team in these 2013 playoffs — the Chicago defense handled the predator end of it, draining the lifeblood right out of Brooklyn’s attack.

Forty-eight hours after the Nets hung 89 points on the Bulls through three quarters, they needed all four to reach 82. Two days earlier, Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace had combined to score 36 points on 14-for-22 shooting, with Brooklyn hitting nearly 56 percent overall. This time, Williams and Wallace went 2-for-16 and the Nets shot 35 percent.

“Their defense was very good,” Carlesimo said afterward, “But our execution was not as good as it needs to be. … When they made an adjustment or when they increased their defensive pressure, we didn’t handle it or react as well as we needed to. … Their interior defense was better, they contested a lot better and they didn’t let [Williams] turn the corner.”

The dorsal fins showed up in full in the third quarter. With Chicago crowding Nets center Brook Lopez some, staying aggressive on Williams’ attempts at pick-and-rolls and zealously patrolling the defensive glass, Brooklyn scored only 11 points and missed 17 of its 19 shots, including the last 10. What resumed after halftime as a one-point game pushed out to 12 by the end of the third quarter, 69-57. (more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (12) /

Lopez Thrives In Bulls’ Middle Mismatch

April 22, 2013  ·  12:45PM

a

NEW YORK – The way Joakim Noah sounded at 10 a.m. Monday, half awake and with nagging soreness in his right foot, the thought of the Brooklyn Nets’ Brook Lopez banging into, past and through him right then, right there was cringe-worthy. Good thing for the Chicago Bulls center it was only his team’s morning shootaround in an opponent-free gym on Manhattan’s west side.

The challenge posed by Lopez, both to a hobbled Noah individually and to the Bulls’ hopes of advancing beyond this first-round series, still was 12 hours away.

The idea of him and the havoc he can wreak in the heart of Chicago’s defense, though, was ever present.

“It’s not only his back-to-the-basket game,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Lopez, who scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half of an easy Brooklyn victory in Game 1 Saturday. “It’s what he gets off pick-and-rolls and spotting up. The first quarter, I think he was 3-for-7, but he got seven free throws.”

Lopez drew fouls on three different Bulls big men, sending Taj Gibson back to the bench after barely four minutes. Noah, limited by his plantar-fascia tear, stuck around for only 6:25, which left Nazr Mohammed, Carlos Boozer and gang tactics to cope, poorly, with Lopez.

Noah, while reporting less discomfort in his foot Monday, still will likely be held to restricted minutes.That means more gang work, again, in trying to keep Lopez from too much early impact.

Said Thibodeau: “You have to play him on the perimeter, play him to put it on the floor and play him back-to-the-basket. We allowed him to get some easy ones, too, which got his confidence going.”

Exactly, said the Nets. Brooklyn guard Deron Williams said after Game 1 that he’s been urging Lopez to follow his lead when the playmaker penetrates the paint. “I’ve been on Brook all year that when we get two [defenders] on the ball on my penetration, just trun to the front of the rim, because he’s going to get easy baskets,” Williams said.

Lopez seems to be learning. Williams’ play improved after the All-Star break and Lopez has benefited. The big man’s field-goal percentage in the opening quarter of games in February was 40.0 percent. That bumped to 56.3 percent in March and 62.0 percent in April as he and Williams built their on-court chemistry.

That’s what Noah and the Bulls, aching or not, will have to thwart, especially in the first 12 minutes after tipoff.

Said Noah, who has tried just about everything – ice, stretching, massage, acupuncture – to ease his foot pain: “We’ve got to try to find a way to slow him down. It’ll take a team effort. Can’t let him get [to his spots] on the floor.”

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized / Comments (2) /

Brooklyn Peaks At Right Time, Based On Opener Vs. Bulls

April 21, 2013  ·  1:40AM


.
BROOKLYN – The last postseason game played in this borough, the guys from Brooklyn didn’t even score (Johnny Kucks and the New York Yankees shut out the Dodgers 9-0 in Game 7 of the 1956 World Series at Ebbets Field).

So things already were looking up when Brook Lopez turned teammate Reggie Evans‘ offensive rebound into a layup 62 seconds into Game 1 of the Nets’ best-of-seven series against the Chicago Bulls Saturday night at Barclays Center.

The thing is, it only got better from there. Everything got better. The Nets’ offense purred under the direction of Deron Williams. The Brooklyn defense clamped down hard on a Bulls team with a reputation for clamping down (“I think we’re better,” Nets forward Gerald Wallace said).

Lopez played so well – 19 of his 21 points by halftime – that it might not have mattered if Chicago center Joakim Noah had had three good feet, never mind two. Brooklyn scored in the second quarter alone (35 points) what it took the Bulls a whole half to post and needed only three quarters to do (89 points) what took the visitors the entire game.

NBA playoff series are all about game-to-game adjustments, holding home court and never, ever getting out front of one’s self in excitement or assumptions. The Nets expect nothing less than a resurgence by Chicago’s players, properly chewed, spit out and told to do better by coach Tom Thibodeau.

Still, if a series opener could count double or at least set a tone for what’s likely to follow, this one would shoot to the front of the pack. This was one of the Nets’ most complete victories of their inaugural season at Barclays and it came precisely at the right time.

“Fresh start. New season. Playoffs are totally different,” said Wallace, who has seen performances by his squad similar to Saturday’s but only for partial credit.

“We’ve been doing that in the regular season against them but we’d give it away in the fourth quarter,” Wallace said, referring to Brooklyn’s 1-3 record against Chicago in the regular season. “We just been really inconsistent at times – we got comfortable during the regular season when we got leads as well as we did tonight. Tonight our focus was for 48 minutes.”

Funny how the urgency takes hold when the wiggle room vanishes. “You’ve just got to know that it’s win or go home,” said Wallace, whose 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks mattered less than the aggressiveness he showed, particularly on defense (his counterpart, Luol Deng, got sideways with just six points on 3-of-11 shooting).

“There’s no, ‘Well, OK, we’ll just chalk this one and come back tomorrow.’ We don’t have 82 games to kind of fix things. Four losses and we’re at home. And all the little nick-nack things and petty things that you had to deal with during the regular season have to be thrown out the window now.”

Swapping East Rutherford, N.J., for their fancy new digs, the Nets brought to their new home an almost entirely new team. That bunch got off to an unrealistically perky start – 11-4 through November for East Coach of the Month Avery Johnson, who was gone before their full reversal in December (5-11) was complete.

The parts didn’t always fit, especially with Williams out of shape, aching in his ankles and generally cranky about it all. Interim coach P.J. Carlesimo steered the Nets to the best winning percentage in franchise history (.648) but there still were hiccups late in the regular season, including a loss to Toronto and a scare against Indiana.

But Williams shed some weight, got specialized treatment on his ankles and came back from a getaway All-Star break in Miami looking like a new player, as in, the old D-Will. Guys around him got healthier and more comfortable playing with him, even as Williams’ bursts and jump shots improved.

The Nets’ attention to detail picked up. They have made it routine to get Lopez active early, because of the good things that usually follow. Just run to the rim, big fella. As forward Reggie Evans said: “I have so much confidence up to the point where I know he’s gonna bring it every night. I won’t worry about him … we’ve already been talking about this moment and stuff. Typical Lope – here early, ready to roll, and he did what he did. You can’t really argue, one of the top two big men in the league by far.”

There was hardly a thing to dislike, as “Brooklyn basketball” played to an identity Saturday rather than just a marketing slogan. Highlights abounded, from vet Jerry Stackhouse singing the anthem to Williams swiping the ball and racing downcourt for a reverse dunk.

Chicago was the team in off-day disarray, with a lot of its fans wondering if Noah’s sore right foot (plantar fasciitis) can heal enough again to allow him on the court. Failing that, some who noticed All-Star guard Derrick Rose on the visitors’ bench might be wondering if Noah’s heart could be transplanted into Rose’s chest. The healthiest guy on Chicago’s roster might be the one who hasn’t played since last April 28.

Still, this one was about Brooklyn, so much so that some were bemoaning the Nets’ failure to chase down the No. 3 seed, considering the second-round showdown it might have set up with the Knicks.

For now, though, one Brooklyn postseason game that went right nearly 57 years after the last one went wrong was cause enough for anticipation.

Williams, touting “ball movement, defensively being attentive and helping each other out,” called it “really unselfish basketball.” And “fun basketball.”

“We’ve had ups and downs all season,” the point guard said. “But I think we always expected to be in the playoffs. and hopefully [we're] clicking at the right time.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized / Comments (18) /

The Numbers On The East Playoffs

April 19, 2013  ·  12:17PM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – The playoffs are here. And to get you ready, we’ve got statistical nuggets for each series, courtesy of NBA.com/Stats.

Eastern Conference basketball was slower and less efficient than Western Conference hoops. Five of the eight East playoff teams ranked in the bottom eight in pace, while four of the eight ranked in the top seven in defensive efficiency.

Yet, a couple of these series (Knicks-Celtics and Nets-Bulls) can be seen as offense vs. defense.

Pace: Possessions per 48 minutes (League Rank)
OffRtg: Points scored per 100 possessions (League Rank)
DefRtg: Points allowed per 100 possessions (League Rank)
NetRtg: Point differential per 100 possessions (League Rank)
The league averaged 94.4 possessions (per team) per 48 minutes and 103.1 points scored per 100 possessions.

Miami (1) vs. Milwaukee (8)

Miami Heat (66-16)
Pace: 93.0 (23)
OffRtg: 110.3 (1)
DefRtg: 100.5 (7)
NetRtg: +9.9 (2)

Overall: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups
vs. Milwaukee: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups

Milwaukee Bucks (38-44)
Pace: 97.3 (3)
OffRtg: 100.9 (21)
DefRtg: 102.3 (12)
NetRtg: -1.4 (18)

Overall: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups
vs. Miami: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups

Five notes:

New York (2) vs. Boston (7)

New York Knicks (54-28)
Pace: 92.0 (26)
OffRtg: 108.6 (3)
DefRtg: 103.5 (17)
NetRtg: +5.1 (6)

Overall: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups
vs. Boston: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups

Boston Celtics (41-40)
Pace: 94.0 (17)
OffRtg: 101.1 (20)
DefRtg: 100.4 (6)
NetRtg: +0.7 (14)

Overall: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups
vs. New York: Team stats | Player stats | Lineups

Five notes:

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 NBA Playoffs, NBA.com/Stats / Comments (17) /

Cuban Takes Blame For Mavs’ Fall

April 13, 2013  ·  8:20PM

DALLAS – For the first time since he bought the Dallas Mavericks in the middle of the 1999-2000 season, owner Mark Cuban won’t be able to harass officials in the playoffs.

Two nights after the Mavs were eliminated from playoff contention, snapping the franchise’s record run of 12 consecutive postseason appearances, Cuban fell on the sword, taking the blame for a season that remains one game under .500 with three to play. On Wednesday, Cuban contended that had Dirk Nowitzki not missed the first 27 games of the season after knee surgery, and a career-high 29 in all, that his club would be fighting for a fifth or sixth seed.

On Friday he said he failed to put a good enough team around his 7-foot star who led the franchise to two NBA Finals and the 2011 championship.

“Look, it didn’t work out the way we planned. It’s all on me and [president of basketball operations] Donnie [Nelson],” Cuban said prior to Friday night’s overtime win over the Denver Nuggets. “It’s our job to put people in position to succeed. We didn’t do enough of it. It’s not an apology. It’s just the nature of the beast. I bust my ass to do as best as we can. No one hates losing more than me, so I’ll keep on busting my ass and hopefully it will change.”

Cuban opted not to re-sign key players from the 2011 championship, in particular last season’s Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler, in order to create cap space under the altered rules of the new collective bargaining agreement.

The club chased Deron Williams last season but failed to lure him, setting in motion a run at players on the final year of their contracts or signing players to one-year contracts to keep salary cap room wide open for this summer.

While Cuban acknowledged that the franchise is now in a rebuild mode, he said it will be a quick job.

“It’s not a four-year rebuild cycle,” Cuban said. “I guess when you miss the playoffs, by definition you’re rebuilding. So we’ve got to get better.”

After striking out on Williams, Cuban and Nelson quickly went to work to construct a team. They felt confident about pieces acquired, namely O.J. Mayo and Darren Collison to replace Jason Terry and Jason Kidd, plus center Chris Kaman, easily the most offensively gifted big man the Mavs have had, and Elton Brand.

But, with Nowitzki out of the lineup, Dallas skidded to a 13-23 start. And while coach Rick Carlisle shuffled through starting lineups like a deck of cards, the Mavs still managed to make things a bit interesting over the last few weeks in the race for the eighth spot, but ultimately they were never able to fully recover.

With three chances in the past two weeks to get back to .500 for the first time since December, they lost by double-digits in each game, the last coming Wednesday to the last-place Suns.

The loss sealed the Mavs’ fate as an unfamiliar participant in the upcoming draft lottery.

“Look, we did the best we could,” Cuban said. “We obviously didn’t have what we thought we would have. We obviously should have had more. I don’t know if we could have, but we should have, and so it’s all on me. If that means I let Rick down, I let Rick down. People always give me (expletive) — why do you always put your email up on the screen and why are you always out front? This is why. So if someone’s got a shot to take, take it at me.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (70) /

Morning Shootaround — April 11

April 11, 2013  ·  7:28AM

Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.

The one recap to watch: You knowit was a great night in the NBA when our choices this morning are a triple-double game or a player scoring 47 points in 48 minutes. The triple-double performance? That came courtesy of Denver’s do-it-all star Andre Iguodala, who led the way in the Nuggets’ win over the Spurs. The 47-point effort — with eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals thrown in for good measure — came from Kobe Bryant in a close win against the Blazers. Which one do we pick? As great as Iguodala’s performance was, we’ve got to give it up for Bryant. It was a classic will-the-Lakers-to-a-win performance from the Black Mamba as he is doing everything he can down the stretch to make sure the Lakers keep hold of that No. 8 seed out West.

News of the morning

Williams dominates vs. Celtics | Hornets hope for best with Davis’ injury | Gortat may return before season’s end

Williams impresses in win over Celts — Over the last week or so, we’ve had plenty of posts praising Nets guard Deron Williams for the revival in his game (as well as news that he’s giving up cortisone shots on his ankle). If the Celtics were unaware of just how much better D-Will has been playing, though, they got an education last night. Williams toasted Boston for 29 points and 12 assists and in the process made Boston look silly on several occasions, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post:

Deron Williams looks ready for the playoffs to start.

Williams was spectacular against the Celtics last night, finishing with 29 points and 12 assists as the Nets came away with a 101-93 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 18,624 inside TD Garden.

With the win, the Nets moved closer to wrapping up fourth place in the Eastern Conference and clinching homecourt advantage in the first round. They own a 3 ¹/₂ -game edge over idle Chicago with four games left to play in the regular season.

…

Williams even was able to make Avery Bradley, one of the league’s elite on-ball defenders, look silly. Bradley, Boston’s starting point guard, managed to play just 10 minutes after Williams saddled him with four fouls, and none of Bradley’s teammates fared much better.

It’s the kind of virtuoso performance the Nets have come to expect from Williams in recent weeks, as he continued his dramatic resurgence since the All-Star break. Williams came into last night’s game averaging 22.5 points and 7.8 assists a night.

He did a large portion of his damage in the second quarter, when the Nets took control of the game for good after the two teams traded baskets for much of the first quarter.

Williams finished with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting and four assists in the second quarter alone, including a pair of slick passes to Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson, respectively, for buckets in the final minutes of the half to send the Nets into the locker room with a 53-43 lead, an advantage they basically maintained for the rest of the game.

Davis hurt vs. Kings; Hornets hope for best — Our own Scott Howard-Cooper was on the scene last night in Sacramento for a game between the lottery-bound Hornets and Kings. What should have been a good late-season assessment game for two young clubs took a nasty turn in the fourth quarter when the Hornets’ prized rookie, Anthony Davis, went down with a knee injury. The Hornets were a bit ambiguous in how Davis is doing, but are hoping for the best with his health:

But that gave way to the uncertainty of the centerpiece, Davis, limping out of the locker room and headed for the flight back to New Orleans and a likely MRI exam on his left knee.

The initial diagnosis was a sprain, the result of Sacramento’s Marcus Thornton landing hard on Davis’ knee when Davis was on the court after challenging a Thornton drive under the basket in the fourth quarter of the 121-110 Kings victory. Davis, walking under his own power, left the arena with security and was not talking.

“I think he’s OK,” coach Monty Williams said. “I don’t want to jump the gun. I didn’t see the play yet, but he said Marcus landed on his knee. He said he’s a little sore. I’m just glad it wasn’t a buckle or a ligament or anything like that. We don’t know that for sure. But usually when somebody lands on it, it could be a contusion. It’s probably more scary than anything else. We’ve got to let the doctors check him out and make sure. He’s walking around. He’s got ice on it.”

Williams added that “I’m pretty sure we’ll rush him right over to our people” after the team lands in New Orleans to get an MRI.

Gortat healing up, eying return — It has been more than a month since the Suns have had the services of center Marcin Gortat, who has been out since severely spraining his foot in a game against the Raptors. But the Phoenix big man has been working out hard and has plans to get in at least one more game before the end of the season, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic:

Suns center Marcin Gortat has been all over the place on a possible return but has narrowed down the scenarios to the possibility of a comeback for the Suns home finale against Houston. He is with the team on the road for the first time since suffering a right foot sprain March 6.

“I’ve really been lifting hard,” Gortat said. “I started taking true jump shots. I’m coming back fast. I just need a little more time. I need to get in basketball shape. My jumper is so messed up. I don’t have a feel for the ball much. I’ll be back. I don’t know if it’s this year or next year. I’ll try to go against Houston at home on Monday. I need practice to see how I feel. I’d love to play. But if there is a little thing that doesn’t feel right, I’m not going to play. There’s no reason for me to risk it.”

Gortat acknowledged that he would receive a Nike contract bonus with one more appearance but he said the statistical portions of that bonus are now unattainable. Gortat averaged 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 61 games this season.

ICYMI of the night: Chris Anderson, formerly of the Nuggets, has just been getting victimized by his old teammates. The latest to slam on him? None other than Washington’s Nene … :

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News, Morning Shootaround / Comments (3) /

Have We Seen The Best Of The Nets?

April 5, 2013  ·  11:58AM

a

BROOKLYN – The Brooklyn Nets gave one away on Thursday, blowing an early 16-point lead and falling to the very undermanned Chicago Bulls, 92-90. Ultimately, the loss may not mean anything, because the Nets still have a 1 1/2 game lead on the Bulls for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and face Lottery teams, against whom they’re 29-6 this season, in five of their last seven games.

A fourth-place finish in the East would give the Nets home-court advantage in first round, likely against Atlanta or Chicago. A loss in that series would be a disappointment, especially when you consider Brooklyn’s payroll. A win would set them up to lose in four or five games to the Miami Heat.

Other than losing in the first round, there’s no avoiding that fate, which has basically been the path the Nets have been on for the last couple of weeks, since the Knicks and Pacers started playing well again.

I wrote about this yesterday. And maybe this is just who the Nets are. Maybe they’re just a good, but not great, basketball team.

But it’s hard not to wonder if we’ve ever really seen the best of the Nets this season. They currently rank ninth in offensive efficiency and 19th defensively. They could and, really, should be better.

Injuries have been an issue. Deron Williams has missed just three games this season, but was clearly not at his best for the first 50 games, dealing with sore ankles and other various ailments. He’s been much better since the All-Star break, but Joe Johnson has had a couple of different injuries since then. Brook Lopez‘s foot injury in late November is what really knocked the Nets off track after a strong start. And Gerald Wallace, in standard Gerald Wallace fashion, has been banged up too.

The Nets have looked like a great team at times. They have road wins in Boston, Oklahoma City, New York and Indiana. But, other than a 12-2 stretch after P.J. Carlesimo took over for Avery Johnson, success has always been rather fleeting.

Carlesimo made some minor changes, gave Mirza Teletovic a shot in the rotation after the break, and is now giving MarShon Brooks more consistent playing time than he’s had all season. But he has been pretty vanilla with his lineups, and that’s where the Nets may be leaving something on the table.

Of Lopez’s 2,079 minutes on the floor, 1,639 (79 percent) have been played with either Reggie Evans or Kris Humphries at power forward. Neither Evans nor Humphries, of course, spaces the floor very well.

Teletovic is very different from Evans or Humphries, in that he can shoot from beyond five feet. But he has played just 112 minutes at the four next to Lopez.

Andray Blatche has also shot the ball well out to 19 feet or so. But he has played just 86 minutes with Lopez. The Nets’ five best players are arguably Williams, Johnson, Wallace, Blatche and Lopez, a group that has played just 20 minutes together over four games this season.

One of the best lineups the Nets have had this season is a small one. Williams, Keith Bogans, Johnson, Wallace and Lopez have outscored their opponents by 18.3 points per 100 possessions in 107 minutes together. Now, those numbers are skewed somewhat by a couple of late-December games against the Bobcats and Cavs, but that lineup has played just seven minutes together since the All-Star break.

In total, Lopez has played just 242 minutes with someone other than Blatche, Evans, Humphries or Teletovic at power forward. And those minutes have been very good, especially defensively.

Nets efficiency with Brook Lopez on the floor

Power forward MIN OffRtg DefRtg NetRtg +/-
Reggie Evans 1,125 105.6 103.2 +2.4 +69
Kris Humphries 514 106.1 105.1 +1.0 +14
Mirza Teletovic 112 115.8 110.4 +5.3 +19
Andray Blatche 86 104.8 100.3 +4.6 +17
Other (small lineups) 242 106.3 99.2 +7.1 +72
TOTAL 2,079 106.4 103.5 +2.9 +191

OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions

When asked about his lineups, Carlesimo has said that he goes with matchups. But he has obviously been leaning heavily on Evans of late, even using him on two crucial offensive possessions in the final minute of Thursday’s loss, thinking Evans might get the Nets a second chance with an offensive rebound.

The Nets have actually been better offensively with Evans on the floor (scoring 105.4 points per 100 possessions) than with him off the floor (103.8), but most of those off-floor minutes have come with Humphries, similarly limited offensively, at power forward.

This is why it’s hard to know if we’ve seen the best of the Nets this season. Those 242 minutes of small-ball aren’t a lot to go on. And neither are the 86 minutes Lopez has played with Blatche.

Lopez is Brooklyn’s most important player on both ends of the floor. And in the playoffs, his minutes should surely increase from the 30.7 per game he’s played in the regular season. Does that mean that Blatche will be limited to just 10-12 minutes, or will we actually see the two on the floor together? Is there a matchup (Josh Smith, perhaps) that will allow Carlesimo to play Wallace at the four?

In four games against Atlanta (all under Carlesimo), the Nets have played small a total of seven minutes. So the answer to that last question is probably “no.”

Now, it’s unfair to really condemn the coach for not taking more chances with his rotation. He took over in the middle of the season, with the Nets going through a serious rough patch. More than anything, they just needed to get their best players playing well. And obviously, Lopez and Williams are doing just that.

Still, we have to wonder if this team has reached its potential.

***

John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. Send him an e-mail or follow him on twitter.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in NBA.com/Stats / Comments (12) /

Leaner D-Will Looks Like His Old Self

April 4, 2013  ·  9:33AM



.

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Rarely has one dunk seemed like such a revelation.

But in the case of Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams, his first dunk of the season (above) is an indicator that he is ready to resume his elite point guard ways at just the right time for the Nets.

The playoffs are just a couple of weeks away and the Nets are getting their All-Star point guard back from the ankle issues that have plagued him since the summer.

If you need proof that the dunk (and what it signifies) was a big deal, just look at the reaction of the Nets’ bench. They went crazy when Williams used a crossover to break down the Cavs’ Wayne Ellington and slip past him for the one-handed jam. It reminded me why Williams has always occupied a spot alongside Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, Tony Parker, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook in the discussion of the best point guards in the league.

“When he’s right, he’s as good as anybody in the league,” a Western Conference scout said. “And there is no doubt he’s back in great shape and leaner and quicker than he was earlier this season. He’s looked great recently.”

The 20 pounds Williams has shed since the All-Star break helped rescue him from what was shaping up to be the worst of his eight seasons in the league. He went into All-Star weekend averaging 16.7 ppg and 7.6 apg while shooting 41 percent and 35 percent from 3-point range, all while laboring his way through his 36 minutes a night on those damaged ankles.

Cortisone shots that began in October didn’t help initially, but after combining those shots with platelet-rich plasma injections to both ankles, helped turn things around for the Nets’ catalyst and leader.

In the 21 games since the break, Williams is playing much better. He’s scoring at a higher clip (22.2 ppg) and shooting it much better overall (47 percent) and from deep (43 percent) as the Nets have stabilized things and ready for a first-round playoff challenge that could see them hosting the Atlanta Hawks.

“I think it’s a combination of everything,” Williams told Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News about his second half resurgence. “I’m able to do extra work now, things I wasn’t able to do before (because of the pain). All I could do is play games. I couldn’t put extra shots up. I just had to go home.”

The longer Williams keeps up his current play, the longer it’s going to take for someone to send the Nets home in the playoffs.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (18) /

< Older Entries
Newer Entries >