[17-29] Redemption :: Mid Dec. + Jan. :: Going sporadic

[kibaxx7]

Nets outscore Nuggets 30-14 on the paint
HARRIS, DOUGLAS-ROBERTS POST SOLID WIN OVER DENVER
Preview | Recap | Best Performances: New Jersey -- Denver | Full Play-by-Play | Team Stats | Watch Highlights

DENVER, November 24, 2009 -- Some nights it just ain’t happening, folks. Sorry Nuggets fans... it’s hard to know what to say after a game like this. The pictures are appropriate, though, like Brook Lopez's circus shot against Nené and Kenyon Martin. The first thing I began to think of after about half of the first quarter was a Denver team getting totally handled. The Nets came out and really really lit up the scoreboard in the first, 16-18 from the field and 4-5 from deep and dropped 34 on the Nuggets for a 8-point lead into the second quarter. It’s not like Denver wasn’t hitting their shots (10-17, 58%), we were just getting all of the offensive boards and hitting threes. But, the threes wouldn’t fall for us the other three periods: 1-of-12. Time after time, we had open looks from beyond the arc and they wouldn’t go down. We focused on points in the paint: 30-14 advantage for the Nets. I also must admit the Nets played an effective defense. Yeah, impressive. It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t always foolproof, but I think at every position from the first guy to the last, the Nets' defensive aspects were really good.

And I have to say: I know the Nets aren't an elite team, but if it wasn’t for Carmelo Anthony, who kept Denver on the game, New Jersey would have won by 40 points. The rest of the team looked horrible offensively. But I don’t want to scold, some nights the Nets just don’t have it either. Look at the Nets loss at Washington, for example. The Nuggets tried to get the game back to a single digit deficit, they were effective with a lineup of Chauncey Billups (17 points), Arron Afflalo (6), Anthony, Martin (7, 7 boards) and Chris Andersen, and even Afflalo was guarding Lopez in the post a couple of times and doing well. That unit pulled the team to within 8 points before Nets coach Thierry Tirieux put back in his big guns, Devin Harris (26 points), Chris Douglas-Roberts (21) and Bobby Simmons (10 points, six boards, four assists; two key 3-pointers). But the damage the Nets did in the second quarter essentially put the game away dropping 27 to Denver's 11.

A couple of quick bullets, without being too hard on some guys. Talking about the coach, I'm sure he read this blog. HE STARTED HUMPHRIES AND LEFT THE CHINESE ON THE BENCH! The Chinese did even worst from the bench, 3 points. Kris Humphries did a lot of good things in the post, 7 points, but if he is only going to get us 1 rebound in 22 minutes, then I don't know what's happening. Same to you, Josh Boone. 15 minutes, 1 point, 1 board. Come again, are you a center? Simmons had 6 playing at small forward! This was our first game on a four-game West road trip, at Portland, Sacramento and the LA Lakers.

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[Rta]

good game man you have on that team alot of potential.

[kibaxx7]

not so good start but im wishing you luck in the future

good game man you have on that team alot of potential.

Thanks for the replies, man. Yeah the team has a lot of potential, but at least 9 of this 14 players are leaving on the offseason

I'll keep Lopez, Lee (both 2, team options), and CDR (resign him) if I can.

[kibaxx7]

[The X]

You were a bit premature on the UNICEF thing. Haiti earthquake was only about a month ago, not in late November/early December. I guess in your Association it happened earlier

[Lamrock]

Its very cool that the patch put Haiti adverts into the game.

[kibaxx7]

:lol: You were a bit premature on the UNICEF thing. Haiti earthquake was only about a month ago, not in late November/early December. I guess in your Association it happened earlier

Its very cool that the patch put Haiti adverts into the game.

Yeah I know Didn't know what to post. Will do something different with the next website; I'm doing the monthly recap now!

What patch Lamrock?

[cavs4872]

Sweet layout for the website, but I say don't do the trade. I'm a Yi fan.

[Martti.]

Get rid of Yi. But get Warrick. Also, you're overachieving.

[kibaxx7]

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[kibaxx7]

Sweet layout for the website, but I say don't do the trade. I'm a Yi fan.

Thanks bro, but I'm afraid Yi's gone asap.

Get rid of Yi. But get Warrick. Also, you're overachieving.

Yeah Warrick is a nice move. Might do it later. I know I'm overachieving, Harris has been posting some sick games

[kibaxx7]

Dallas bench key in win
HOWARD, MAVERICKS BEAT NETS IN THRILLER
Preview | Recap | Best Performances: Dallas -- New Jersey | Full Play-by-Play | Team Stats | Watch Highlights

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., December 2, 2009 -- No surprises here. The Nets lost to the Mavericks, despite Dallas' 5-13 record, as Devin Harris got outplayed and we allowed too many dribble-penetrations, that set up clean looks for Dallas' on-the-mark shooters. Josh Howard scored a whooping 30 points off the bench in 19 minutes, 10-of-14 from the field. Some rumors pointed him as a target for the Nets, taking into consideration his $10.8M team option. I really can’t point to too many tactical things that went wrong in this contest; it was a matter of them having better, more talented and athletic players than us on the field. There’s no magical scheme that we could’ve executed to win. We counted on Harris to have a big game -- season-low 13 points, 5-of-20 shooting -- Chris Douglas-Roberts to hit his jumpers -- also didn't have his groove, 6-of-15 -- and another player or two like Brook Lopez -- acceptable, 15 and 11 boards -- or Courtney Lee to provide some offensive punch -- also acceptable, 13 points. When only 1 of all those things happen, you’re hard-pressed to keep the game close, let alone win it. The key factor was Dallas' bench, led by Howard's 30, who outscored New Jersey's bench, 49-22. The Mavs improved to 6-13.

I gotta give props to Lopez; he didn't have any trouble driving in on Dirk Nowitzki from 16 feet out and also scored with ease by creating space using his shoulders. His pump-fakes and finishes were timed precisely around his defender, leaving their feet and the icing on a cake is a soft jumper that is only used if the defense is sagging. The Nets even started off displaying the a great defensive energy, starting the game with a 12-2 run. But coach Rick Carlisle switched the lineup often, and recovered fast with a 10-0 run of his own. It was an 10-point lead by Dallas at the start of the fourth quarter and New Jersey needed to make an immediate run to get to within striking distance. Keyon Dooling started the fourth and had a horrid stretch where he took a bad shot, turned the ball over and couldn’t get any sort of offense. The Nets failed to score on the first six possessions of the quarter. The Mavs didn’t either, and that’s what made this key stretch a lost opportunity. If we had managed to slice that lead down to 3 or 4, it would’ve been tight all the way till the end; at one point, both teams got in the business of trading baskets. We host Gerald Wallace and the Charlotte Bobcats this Friday; let’s try to beat them again and feel good about ourselves.

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[Fresh8]

You're getting through this pretty quick.

[kibaxx7]

Trenton Hassell to join the Chicago Bulls for a second stint
NETS ACQUIRE JEROME JAMES

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., December 3, 2009 -- The New Jersey Nets have acquired center Jerome James today from the Chicago Bulls, in exchange for swingman Trenton Hassell, it was announced today by owner Rod Thorn. “Trenton's numbers with us have been great and he had a significant upside in his career with our team. We wish him nothing but success in his future with Chicago,” said Thorn. “This trade also will provide us with a huge help for the incoming free agent class of June and flexibility to improve our roster when the offseason comes.”

Hassell, a 6-5, 227-pound swingman, is in his eighth NBA season, but yet to play with the Nets this season under coach Thierry Tirieux. Selected out of Austin Peay with the 30th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by Chicago, Hassell has gone on to appear in 592 career games with Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas, and the Nets, with averages of 6.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Hassell, originally acquired by the Nets from the Dallas Mavericks on February 19, 2008 on the same trade that brought Devin Harris and sent Jason Kidd to Dallas, has averaged 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 18 career postseason contests. Hassell already played for the Bulls, the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, averaging 6.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 26.5 minutes, in 160 games.


James, 7-1, 285 pounds, has only appeared in one game this year, the ninth season of his career, November 1 at Miami, were he had 1 block in 5 minutes of play. He has missed all but that game this year, and will most likely miss the remainder of the season, because of a torn Achilles tendon. He wasn't going to see much time anyway as this is clearly a salary cap relief when June comes, as James' main value is in his $6.6M expiring contract -- against Hassell's $4.35M; the Nets are shredding an extra $2.25M -- which would allow to New Jersey to acquire an extra piece if the team needs it. During his 9-year career, James has enjoyed stints with Sacramento, Seattle, New York and the Bulls; Chicago originally acquired him from the Knicks on February 19, 2009, along forward Tim Thomas and guard Anthony Roberson in exchange for guard Larry Hughes.

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[dare]

You better thank Isiah for giving Jerome such a fat contract

[The X]

You do know that you are not shredding any extra money off cap by acquiring James, don't you?

For example, if your team's cap sits at $50m before the deal, once Hassell's contract comes off the cap the team's cap would sit at $45.65m. Adding Jerome James moves the team's cap up to $52.25m & once James' horrific contract comes off the cap, your team's cap will still only be $45.65m.

So given that this deal gets the

[kibaxx7]

You're getting through this pretty quick.

Yeah, I just want to get past this season

You better thank Isiah for giving Jerome such a fat contract

Yeah, a lot of money coming off the books

You do know that you are not shredding any extra money off cap by acquiring James, don't you?

For example, if your team's cap sits at $50m before the deal, once Hassell's contract comes off the cap the team's cap would sit at $45.65m. Adding Jerome James moves the team's cap up to $52.25m & once James' horrific contract comes off the cap, your team's cap will still only be $45.65m.

So given that this deal gets the

Yeah I know, but I don't like any Hassell or James... just to have James there sitting in the inactive list, it's ok In fact, they offered me the deal because the only SG they had was a D-Leaguer.

[Martti.]

Start Jerome over Yi!!!!!

[kibaxx7]

Start Jerome over Yi!!!!!

I might, lol. I'm doing an article on Yi because he had like 10 fouls in this last two simulated games (didn't post them yet) and it's just unacceptable. He'll surely get traded before you end reading this sentence.

[kibaxx7]

(7-11)
(7-12)

Nets prevail Cats' 2nd half rally thanks to Harris, Lopez
Preview | Recap | Best Performances: Charlotte -- New Jersey | Full Play-by-Play | Team Stats | Watch Highlights

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J,, December 4, 2009 -- The Nets put together another complete performance, this one against the Charlotte Bobcats, and I like what I saw. We all know, this New Jersey Nets outfit that has been miserable so far. Looking to the box score, it may seem like the Nets were absolutely grilled inside: Boris Diaw made shot after shot as he finished the night with 34 points and seven rebounds. This comes again as a fault by Yi Jianlian. He has not shown himself to be a capable one-on-one post defender, and tonight he was given the task of derailing Diaw with no help. That not let Diaw to make really easy shots, and it kept the ball out of the hands of Charlotte’s shooters, who tonight capitalized on Diaw’s ability to draw double teams, as he shot 15-of-23 -- even more, the Bobcats outscored the Nets in the paint, 36-24. But, when they had open looks, the Bobcats shooters were hearing footsteps by the Nets defenders, I could say. Raymond Felton, who was in rumors to be acquired by the Nets, had a season-low 6 points in 3-of-11 from the field. Nets' Yi had 8 points in 17 minutes, but had 5 fouls. Unacceptable.

The Nets offense just rolled and rolled like a snowball into a monster during the first half, as they regulated in the second. Chris Douglas-Roberts was aggressive early -- 10 of his 14 points in the first half -- but struggled a bit with his shot, and Courtney Lee was off the entire night -- 4 points. That didn’t stop New Jersey from claiming a 17-point lead at halftime, largely behind the efforts of Devin Harris (24 points, 8-14 shooting) and Brook Lopez (19 and 9 rebounds). Harris was the anchor during the tough stretches, and his work was rewarded by a supporting cast that came around and a defense that made life easier for every one of his teammates -- except Yi, of course. I also must confess I'm loving the play of Kris Humphries as of late, 13 points and seven boards. Next game this Sunday at MSG against the Knicks!

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(7-13)
(10-11)

Harrington, Knicks fly in second half, defeat New Jersey
Preview | Recap | Best Performances: New Jersey -- New York | Full Play-by-Play | Team Stats | Watch Highlights

NEW YORK, December 6, 2009 -- With this loss against the Knicks, the Nets have now lost two straight games on the road (Nov. 29, @ Lakers). For some reason, the Nets just can't win right now outside IZOD Center. I understand that there are nights where there is a lid on the basket, but effort and defense needs to be a constant. I am not saying the Nets did not play hard or want to win. New Jersey posted a decent defensive performance as New York only made 36% of their shots, but it was a great defensive game by the Knicks too as the Nets shot 39%: another lost opportunity for a great triumph. One unpleasant surprise was the return of switching screens by the Nets: at one point New York ran a three man weave and the Nets responded by switching, and the bigs also switched on down screens. The Knicks had a set where they had David Lee (6 points, 16 boards) set a down screen for Wilson Chandler. The Nets had Yi Jianlian stay out to prevent Chandler from getting an open look from three, but that left the seriously outmatched Toney Douglas on Brook Lopez (11 points, 13 rebounds), who was just too big. New York was led by Al Harrington, with a game-best 31 points.

At the following possession, the Knicks ran the exact same play and Yi fouled Chandler. Just like against Charlotte, Yi had 5 fouls in 18 minutes and I honestly hope he gets fined or suspended by the team. The guy really doesn't want to play here anymore. Yi was called for this fifth foul and I think it might have been the first time I saw coach Thierry Tirieux so angry. I was really angry as well. I hope he gets traded for a 2019 2nd round pick. But, I realize that no one was really playing well tonight -- Devin Harris, 21 points but on 23 shots -- but why on earth was Bobby Simmons of all people on the floor for 9 of the final 10 minutes of the game? Does his presence give us the best chance to win? I think not. I would do that with Chris Douglas-Roberts (11 points). The Nets now face three very difficult games, against the Warriors, and then trips to Indiana and Atlanta. I do not want to think about this game anymore. But, then again, I do not want to look forward to the Hawks or Pacers games either because bad things happen to the Nets on the road. If the Nets can win one of those two away from home, then I think we can make a run for the playoffs. But I hope not. I'm really looking forward to June.

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[Valor]

you're on a roll with this one man, keep it up

i don't like that trade though, you made one for the sake of making one....

[kibaxx7]

i don't like that trade though, you made one for the sake of making one....

I was just helping your beloved Bulls, man! They offered me James because they only had one shooting guard, and he was signed from the D-League team

[Rip32]

I think Jerome James' fat contract expires after the season so that's a really good deal actually.

[kibaxx7]

I think Jerome James' fat contract expires after the season so that's a really good deal actually.

Yeah, but Hassell expires after this season as well. That's why X ripped the trade off

Now, look what the Mavericks offered me, it's really a dream come true for a shredding contract team... I know I'm dealing Dooling, my backup point guard, maybe if I rework the deal with a third team so I can get a PG? (check the poll!)

Jae, you think you can edit the poll? You said "delete", but I just deleted the options and it's not working.

[dare]

Accept the trade man