POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Brooklyn Nets

@nbadebates25 I think the #Nets are very overrated. They're going to be a good team in the East--by default. They're not that special
— Felipe M (@pathological_h8) October 23, 2012

@nbadebates25 Lopez is weak in the middle on D. Johnson is a weak perimeter player. Wallace's best days are behind him. All big names #hype
— Felipe M (@pathological_h8) October 23, 2012

Felipe M

Check out our take on the Philadelphia 76ers.

Hasan R. and I now look at the future prospects of the Brooklyn Nets for next season.  

Felipe: I thought the Nets were a very overrated, overhyped team coming into this season and I definitely think the Nets are in deep trouble after their disappointing, first round loss at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. This team looks like a perpetual, average team if they decide to bring everybody back.  The only coach that can fix their problems, Phil Jackson, doesn't want to coach that team.  Ownership has created a high-pressured environment to the club, but a veteran team with very little upside does not bring championships. 

Hasan: Nets are definitely in a bad space.  Ownership just spent without thinking what was best for the future, which probably leads to the Brooklyn Nets possibly missing out of next season’s playoffs or coming in as 7th/8th seed. 

Felipe: Let’s not forget the situation in Brooklyn was magnified because of Deron Williams.  His play and conditioning at the beginning of the year was inexcusable.  You can tell that he started taking things more serious when Avery Johnson was fired.  Not only did his play improved, but he started losing weight as well.  Nevertheless, your franchise player has to show commitment from day one, not when the coach gets fired.  I think investing all of this money and energy for D-Will to be the focal point of that team may have been a mistake. 

Hasan: Can’t argue with that statement on Williams.  D-Will earned himself the title of a “coach killer,” so best of luck to whoever the Nets hire to coach this wreck.  Deron needs to learn to play with this team and that is the key to their success. They are lucky to have Brook Lopez and if they can figure out schemes that maximize his potential and build a successful offense that utilizes him, they can eke out a bunch of victories.  

Felipe: And I know I referred to Lopez as soft at the beginning of the year, but I tip my hat off to him for making the All-Star team and showing more heart in the paint area, on both sides of the ball, than in years past.  The Bulls were still able to bully him at times, but held his own and even stepped up his production in certain statistical categories (especially blocks and rebounds) in the series vs. the gritty Bulls. 

On the downside, one of the players getting credit for helping to add toughness to Lopez’s game, Andray Blatche will probably not re-sign with the team as he played well enough to get a bigger contract than the one-year deal Brooklyn gave him this season. 

Hasan: Unfortunately, they have no choice but to reload in the free agent market and D-Will better get out there and start recruiting.  Then again, it’s hard to utilize that strategy when they are pretty cash-strapped and only time will tell who they can afford this offseason.  Other teams are better prepared for this current free agent market and the Nets may not have what it takes to create a better team to make it out of round 1 of the playoffs next season either. 

Felipe: And that’s what happens when you try to build a club in a rushed manner like the Brooklyn Nets did in the last couple of seasons.  

More NBA content is available here. 

AN IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS' SEASON: Part II

Dan Plotsky

(Plotsky continues his assessment of the Los Angeles Lakers by offering more advise in terms of philosophical changes on offense, defense, and possible future trades. It is worth reiterating that Plotsky is not a Lakers' fan).

“Kirk Hinrich!” These were the only words Marv Albert and Steve Kerr could manage to spew out last night, as Captain Kirk effectively destroyed Steve Nash's ankles on every pick and roll situation.  It would be a disservice if I didn't touch on defense when talking about the L.A. Lakers.  Remember, the Lakers were supposed to be the better team; whereas, we found out, the Chicago Bulls were the better team.  

The chain reaction is simple: Nash jumps the pick over the top and as Hinrich drives the lane, Dwight Howard steps up to defend.  If Hinrich does his job right, he looks to the weak side under the hoop first behind Howard and then to the weak side wing as he penetrates.  The Bulls dominated the Lakers on this simple, offensive strategy using a combination of superior speed and floor spacing by taking Howard out of the play and scoring on the slow, Lakers’ defensive rotations.  

Next time, watch the Bulls frontcourt rotate under the basket.  Someone is always helping the helper and forces the opposing offense to take a bad shot or kick the ball back to the top of the key.  It's no mere coincidence the Lakers’ defense has taken a huge hit this year as Nash has been ineffective at stopping the ball around the three point line and it only gets worse when the Lakers play more athletic point guards like—oh, I don’t know--Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul.  

To combat this predicament, the Lakers have stuck Kobe on Nash's man when the match up is too one-sided for Nash to handle.  This defensive modification results in Kobe exerting more energy than normal and leaving less for the offensive side of the ball, which has led to his recent offensive struggles despite his most efficient season ever.  Throw in a coach who seldom plays a bench and this team is wearing down against athletic teams on a nightly basis.  

I offer three solutions:

·     Mike D'Antoni ditches his offense and commits to Pau Gasol and Howard both playing down low with both players passing out of the post and Nash running less penetration offense and spotting up to shoot more.  This is the most unlikely solution to happen as the Lakers would have to play Nash/Chris Duhon/Kobe/Gasol/Howard lineup.  They would need Steve Blake to come back from injury in order to do this.
·     They trade Gasol for a combination of athleticism and shooting which was the first rumored deal of Gasol for Josh Smith/Kyle Korver.  This would have been perfect if D'Antoni didn't crush Gasol's trade value (also, don’t take away the fact that Howard is from Georgia and the Hawks, albeit, would be hesitant to give up J-Smoove, have shown interest in bringing back Howard to his home state—Ed).  
·         They keep Gasol, move him back to center and deal Howard. This is the most intriguing idea because I know teams would very much love to roll the dice on Howard and leave the Lakers with good salary cap space when Gasol comes off the books next year.  The rumor would be Howard to the Brooklyn Nets, Brook Lopez to the Minnesota T’Wolves, and Kevin Love to the Lakers.  This gives the Lakers a younger rebounder who can also stretch the floor with 3-point range, while allowing Gasol to operate down low.  

 

I love it!  That is to say, if I were actually a Lakers’ fan.  

To read Part I of the Lakers' saga, click here.

NBA LESSONS: v1.1

Felipe M

New Year, new name for our Random NBA Thoughts posts as we review and explain what we learned in the games that were played on January 8, 2013. 

Reggie, Reggie, Reggie: Power forward, Reggie Evans did what he has done best throughout his NBA career--REBOUND. However, in last night's victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, Evans set a new career high with 23 rebounds.  More impressive was that on most rebounds, he barely had to jump for the ball.  Evans can be best described as a big boulder--when he stands in one spot, it's almost impossible to move.

• To look at it a different way, Philly's big men Lavoy Allen and Spencer Hawes grabbed a combined seven rebounds--Hawes only grabbed ONE!
• Philly, as a team, grabbed 32 rebounds.
• The Brooklyn Nets grabbed 50 as a team. That means that Evans, by himself, accounted for 46% of his team's rebounding totals.  

He might lack skill, but Evans makes up for it in heart, hustle, and hard-work.

Taking a Wrong Turn at the Crossroad: We discussed Kris Humphries fantasy stock early in the NBA season and concluded that he would be a player entering the "Crossroads" of his career. We warned that Nets' management doesn't think highly of him and proved it by acquiring Evans and Andray Blatche in the offseason. Well, both of those players have sucked away at Humphries' minutes and production as the former Kardashian is seeing a decrease in average across all of his counting stats and a dip in FG%. 

While Humphries has struggled, Evans and Blatche have been given credit for helping franchise center, Brook Lopez become tougher as he has seen an increase in rebounding (as he tries to shed his reputation as a big man who can't rebound) and is finally averaging over 2 blocks per game for the first time in his young career. Lopez is also shooting over 50% for the first time since his rookie season. 

At this rate, Humphries will get more air time (as opposed to playing time) on NBATV's THE ASSOCIATION. And can we start a countdown towards the day the Nets finally get rid of the reality star?

Speaking of Rebounding: When I watched the Miami Heat host the Chicago Bulls last week, I didn't think the Bulls would be able to beat the supposed best team in the East, let alone beat them at their court. What I soon realized (as well as everybody in the NBA) is that what they have in skilled, perimeter players, they lack players who are willing to do dirty work inside the paint. The Bulls not only out-rebounded the Heat in that game, but they accumulated a lot of offensive rebounds and second-chance points. The Heat shot the ball better, shot more free-throws, and committed less turnovers. The Bulls had no business in winning that game, but they simply worked harder on the boards than the Heat--the Bulls grabbed 19 offensive rebounds in that game while the Heat accumulated 28 total rebounds. 

Let that sink in for a bit.

Fast forward to last night's game at Indiana and what do we get?

• Heat shot the ball better than the Pacers from the field and 3-point range.
• Heat shot better from the FT line.
• Pacers grabbed 22 offensive rebounds while the Heat grabbed 29 defensive rebounds!
• Heat ended the night with a total rebound differential of  -19.

Yet many "experts" believe that the Heat are still the best team in the East and have a really good chance of repeating as championships.  However, I just cited two examples where two Central Division teams, who are playing without their best players (Derrick Rose for the Bulls; Danny Granger for the Pacers--although, Granger might be relegated to 4th best with the Pacers' other talent stepping up, big time. Especially Paul George) are just man-handling, playing tougher defense, and working harder than the Heat. Yes, it's only the regular season, I guess, but even poor, rebounding teams get exposed in the playoffs too. 

Is Deron Happy Now?: We've discussed how Deron Williams was missing the good, old days in Utah, running the pick-and-roll for head coach, Jerry Sloan (before he got Sloan to resign from his post). Well, now that the team is being coached by P.J. Carlesimo, Williams' numbers look different than under coach Avery Johnson:

• Under Johnson: 16.6 PPG, 8.0 APG, 3.1 RPG, 3.0 TPG, 39.8% FG%, 29.5 3-PT%
• Under Carlesimo: 17.4PPG, 6.4APG, 3.3 RPG, 1.7 TPG, 45%  FG%, 45% 3-PT%

And to top it off, Williams is shooting 96% from the Free-Throw line! So Williams has increased his scoring, cut back on turnovers, and is shooting lights out basketball.  More importantly, the Nets are 6-1 under P.J. and don't have to beg for another PJ (Phil Jackson) to coach the team--for the time being.

Play of the Night: Spencer Hawes got the ball in the high-post and looked to pass the ball to the wing, where teammate Dorrell Wright was rotating. Hawes was guarded by Evans, whom tried to anticipate the pass to the wing to trap Wright--except that Hawes faked the pass, started dribbling towards the net, and with no one blocking the lane to the basket, Hawes had a clear path for an easy dunk. (the play can be seen at the :43 second mark).

Buck Out: The Milwaukee Bucks and head coach Scott Skiles decided to part ways yesterday. Many fans joked that since Skiles is out, perhaps the Bucks' frontcourt would start seeing some consistent minutes and production. Here are the results:

• Ersan Ilyasova: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 5/10 shooting from the field
• Larry Sanders: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 6 blocks, 5/9 shooting.
• Luc Mbah a Moute: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5/11 shooting.
• John Henson: 12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 4/7 shooting. 

Suddenly, the Bucks have depth at forward.

Trade Rumors: Grizzles' forward Rudy Gay might be shipped to the Phoenix Suns. The Suns, however, are gun shy to be taking such a high salary and giving up 1st round picks to Memphis--and they might be hesitant to trade away Jared Dudley. Dudley must have heard about the trade speculation because he played better than usual:

• Dudley: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals--all above his season average!

Grizzlies' management simply don't believe they can honestly contend for a championship this season and they don't want to continue paying, approximately $15 million to keep Gay around. Real shame.

Fan Night: This was a real treat for Lakers Hater Nation as L.A. went to Houston, short-handed as Jordan Hill, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard are out indefinitely with injuries. The stage was set for a blow out loss and for Kobe Bryant to chuck up 40 shots only to make less than 50% and to see him get frustrated and yelling at his teammates to, "just get the rebound and pass me the damn ball!"

And then a funny thing happened:

• Right off the gate, the Lakers played with a lot of heart, high tempo, great ball movement, and draining 3s like their life depended on them. 
• The Lakers shot 45.2% from 3-Point range.
• Robert Sacre, the default starting center, played with a lot of energy and looked more like a linebacker than a center, but he was on a mission to not let the Rockets dominate the paint--from either side of the court. 

NBA fans started thinking that it took injuries to their star, big men to finally see head coach Mike D'Antoni's fast-paced, up-tempo style of offense to finally work in L.A. Lakers' fans were drinking Laker Kool-Aid and started seeing a near-future of scrappy, perimeter players gassing out other teams with their video game, style offense. And then Howard and Gasol would come back and solidify their playoff chances.

But then reality settled in as the Rockets, who play a similar offense showed that they were more talented, younger, faster, quicker, and stronger than the depleted Lakers. Yes, the Lakers scored 112 points...but they gave up 125 to the Rockets. 

Proving once again that even the best fantasies don't come to fruition in Hollywood.

Low Minutes, High Impact: We've discussed Dirk Nowitzki's and the Dallas Mavericks' playing with renewed energy (even though they're still losing with him) since he has come back into the lineup. The Mavs are playing tougher as a team, but with all the losing, Nowitzki has gone public in his desire to play for a winning team and would prefer to get traded than undergo a rebuilding process in Dallas.

Another player who is coming back from knee surgery is Ricky Rubio. We are seeing the same thing in Minnesota--even though they're still losing, the team plays differently and with more fervor whenever Rubio is on the court (we've even seen a slight improvement in Derrick Williams' play in the last few games with Rubio back on the court as well). The impact that Rubio has made is apparent and a quick look at his stats from last night's game can be used as a personification of his significance to the club:

• 4 points (all from the free-throw line), 8 assists, 4 steals in EIGHTEEN MINUTES!

He was dishing on offense and hawking on defense!  (The Vikings should have used Rubio as their quarterback on Saturday night!), With Kevin Love out with a fractured hand, Rubio coming back slowly, but surely is not only important for Rubio's individual performance and confidence, but also more paramount for a franchise and a fan-base that is just crying and begging for hope.  Rubio can provide that light at the end of the tunnel. 

Quote of the Night: Was watching an episode of NBATV's OPEN COURT and Charles Barkley gave us a gem (it's an oldie-but-goodie): 

"What do you call a power forward that only averages 6 rebounds per game? A small forward."

More basketball is available here.