- NEW JERSEY, July 11 -- Nets first round draft picks Derrick Favors and Damion James, along with second year player Terrence Williams, headline the Nets’ 2010 summer league squad, which will participate in this year NBA Summer League, to start July 14. Prior to the start of the games, the Nets held a five-day training camp at the PNY Center in East Rutherford, NJ, from Monday, July 5 to Friday, July 9. By the end of Tuesday, Terrence Williams was reminding every observer on the Nets practice facilities just how far he'd come since first stepping on an NBA court one year ago. As an intra-squad scrimmage wound down, Williams played half an hour at the point. One point to go and the loser set for sprints, he took a pass at the right elbow, crossed the lane in only one dribble, probed the defense with a second, stepped back and hopped to laser an overhand pass to center Pops Mensah-Bonsu for a wide-open game-winning layup.
Assistant coach Thierry Tirieux, who’ll be running the team's summer league this year, praised Williams for positioning himself to take control, labeling it a sign of the sophomore applying his NBA experience. Williams -- who was the most vocal presence on the floor -- agreed. “I feel like as far as basketball, going through 82 games and practices, you bring a different perspective to the team,” Williams said. “Especially with young guys; guys that are the same age as me that are asking me help for what to do: ‘How many seconds can we be in the key?’ or ‘What should I do off the pick-and-roll?’ I feel like the veteran, even though I’m not one yet. Just the veteran out here, compared to them.” After running through the practice, Williams kept chugging right through full-court conditioning, looking fit as ever as he gradually increased the height and velocity of his dunks at the end of each end-to-end sprint. He knows that an improved sophomore season begins not with training camp, but maximized effort in these practices and next week’s games against the other summer league squads.
The new staff has told the swingman they’re aware of what he can when the offense is flowing through him, and they’d like him to focus on becoming the lockdown defender they envision. Williams is thusly committed to defense and staying in shape, believing the rest will take care of itself. Williams has already begun friendly chirping with rookie forward James, whom Williams knows from college, as he joked that James fancies himself a guard and needles the rookie by constantly calling him “a big man, a 4, a 5.” During most of the scrimmage, James matched up with Williams on the perimeter, and held his own defensively, though Williams often denied James the ball and notably forced him into a tough turnaround jumper. That missed J turned into one of the session’s highlights, as No. 3 overall pick Favors fell out of the sky, in an attempt to slam the loose ball home. Had it went down, it’s likely the players would have just agreed to end things there. We had to settle at the ridiculousness of Favors “nearly hitting the shot clock” (James’ words) but missing the putback.
- NEW JERSEY, July 14 -- Terrence Williams had one of those stretches that shooters dream about. “The basket seemed like it was getting bigger and bigger,” Williams said after scoring 25 points as the New Jersey Nets survived a late rally for a 93-89 victory Wednesday night over the Memphis Grizzlies, in the Summer League opener for both teams. “The guys were able to get me the ball and I was able to make a lot of open shots, something I did later in the second half when I was under a lot of defense.” Williams scored 10 of his 25 points in the first quarter, including a pair of long 3-pointers, when the Nets seemed to take control of the game, 31-20 after the first 12 minutes. “Terrence played a great game,” said Nets assistant coach Thierry Tirieux, whose team is trying to forget the disastrous 12-70 record of last year. “He showed his ability to get inside the defense with some curls and some mid-range shots, and that really opened up his 3-point game.”
Rookies Derrick Favors and Damion James added 23 and 14 points, respectively, for the Nets; Favors also had 10 points in the first quarter, and added 6 rebounds. James also contributed with 4 boards and four assists. “Derrick has been a factor for us today,” Tirieux said. “When we keep him in the game and he stays out of foul trouble, he clogs the middle, rebounds the ball, and gives us a shot at winning some games.” Favors also did a fantastic job of defending Grizzlies big Darrell Arthur -- for three quarters. New Jersey led 85-72 with 6:40 left before Arthur got untracked and Memphis used a 12-2 run to get behind by only 3 points, 87-84 with 2:04 left. But Sam Young missed an open 3-pointer that could have tied the games at 87, before the Williams and guard Gabe Pruitt iced the game from the charity stripe; Pruitt had a game-high 14 assists. Young led Memphis with 20 points while point guard Greivis Vasquez added 17 off the bench in 16 minutes; Arthur and rookie Xavier Henry added 12 each for the Grizzlies, which only had an advantage in bench points. Memphis' summer league squad also featured free agents Rashad McCants, Richard Hendrix and Robert Swift.
- NEW JERSEY, July 15 -- Ben Uzoh and Brian Zoubek earned extra attention from the assembled media after a mid-practice announcement that the duo were signed to non-guaranteed contracts. “Both have had great college careers,” said Tirieux. “Ben's a big point guard. He can defend, but now we've got to see if he can run an NBA team; we’re trying to teach him that, know the guys you’re on the court with, where they like the ball. Then Brian; you can never have enough physical players on your team. He’s a physical presence in the paint. We want to see if he can protect the paint defensively, if he can finish around the rim offensively.” Uzoh scored 4 points and 3 assists, while Zoubek had 2 points but 7 rebounds for New Jersey in the triumph over the Grizzlies. Both will play again today, against the Detroit Pistons.
Uzoh said the Nets are looking for him to defend, be a leader and run the point. Uzoh, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound combo guard, played four years at Tulsa averaging 15.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists while shooting .343 from three-point range and .457 overall. He feels capable, though he knows there’s a lot of information coming the new guys' way as they try to learn the foundations of new head coach Avery Johnson’s offensive and defensive plays. Glad to have earned an extended opportunity to showcase his talents, Uzoh’s focusing on directing and getting players the ball in proper position, describing his game as steady, but aggressive. He is aware of all the recent moves made by the Nets organization, and is excited by the direction in which the franchise is headed. “It’s a building process. They are clearly rebuilding,” Uzoh said. “They want to do something good. They’ve started bringing in pieces and planning for the future, and I want to be part of that. Good things are gonna happen here.”
The 7-1, 260 lbs. Zoubek also holds high hopes for his future contributions, ready to defend and rebound aggressively, with an eye on serving as a competent sub for starting center Brook Lopez. Also a four-year senior, he won the NCAA national championship with Duke last season while posting a nightly line of 5.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in just 18.7 minutes. He is committed to improving on offense, but feels most confident in his ability to set screens for perimeter guys making plays. “I’ve been doing that my whole career,” Zoubek said. “I had three guys on the perimeter that I was setting screens for all day, and if I wasn’t good at it, I wasn’t going to play. I had to develop that skill, be aware off the pick-and-roll and had to set a good screen. I think our guards will like that.”
- NEW JERSEY, July 15 -- The New Jersey Nets were patiently waiting for a monster performance from their highly-touted No. 3 draft pick. They didn't have to wait long. In the second game of the Summer League, the scene repeated itself often: one of them would make a layup, then wink at his fellow rookie teammate. Derrick Favors scored 20 and grabbed 12 rebounds and Damion James added a game-high 23 points in 9/12 shooting as the Nets defeated the Detroit Pistons, 95-82, at The Palace of Auburn Hills. “I'm beyond disappointed in our team,” Pistons assistant coach Brian Hill said; Hill's coaching the Pistons summer league squad. Terrence Williams had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists, flirting with a triple-double (most of his 37 minutes playing point guard, directing traffic on both ends), while centers Josh Boone and Pops Mensah-Bonsu added 12 points each for New Jersey.
“A lot of people are doubting this team and underestimating our ability to go out there and perform at a high level after last season,” Boone said. “But we continue to prove doubters wrong. We're going to go out there and leave it all on the court every game.” Darius Miles and Ben Uzoh scored 8 points each for the Nets. “I can't explain it,” said Pistons forward Jonas Jerebko, very angry. He finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds. “There's no excuses. There are none. I have none. We didn't hardly even try.” Pistons rookie Greg Monroe had 23 points, 7 boards and 5 assists in his best game so far, while free agent Damien Wilkins and rookie Terrico White added 12 each. Austin Daye finished with only five points on 3/9 shooting in 32 minutes. Detroit got within five points three times, every time on scores by Monroe, in the final period, only to see New Jersey answer before the margin got any smaller. And eventually, the Nets put Detroit away. James delivered the dagger with 1:55 left: a long 3-pointer that made it 90-80. The Nets also won the battle in the paint, 60-42. Detroit's summer league roster featured free agents Wilkins, Alex Acker, Maurice Ager, Marcus Haislip, Mike Sweetney, Oleksiy Pecherov and Patrick O'Bryant.
- NEW JERSEY, July 16 -- The flashes from a photographer's camera at the baseline kept popping while Derrick Favors pulled up for a jumper. Then again when Greg Monroe was taking free throws. Neither one flinched, neither complained; neither, really, seemed to notice the distracting flashes, not usually tolerated on the baseline in just their second pro outing. They might be ready for the big time yet, “but it was rough,” Monroe said. “When they flashed, my eyes went black. I couldn't see. It's something I have to get used to,” added, laughing. Welcome to the pros. The 3rd and 7th overall picks in this year's draft showed off their potential Friday night. In the most decorated matchup of young hopefuls at this week's NBA Summer League, Favors had 20 points to help the New Jersey Nets beat Monroe and the Detroit Pistons, 95-82; Monroe had 23 points, seven boards and five assists. “I just wanted to get my rhythm, flow and timing back,” said Favors, who added 12 rebounds. “I got them back sooner than I expected.” So far, Favors showed he might be worthy of the high selection by the Nets, who had the league's worst record last season but slipped to No. 3 in the draft lottery; he torched Memphis for 23 and 6.
“I was nervous at the beginning of the game, and I just wanted to get that all out of the way,” Favors (only 2 points in the first period) said. “I'm glad it is, and now I'll come back and be ready to go.” The college standouts are bringing big expectations to their struggling pro franchises. Favors, the 18-year-old forward from Georgia Tech and the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year, has an NBA body and tons of pro potential. Monroe, widely acknowledged as the best passing big man in college basketball, is a highly skilled frontcourt performer with an advanced feel for the game. The matchup was good enough to have the NBA move the game from the early afternoon to prime-time on NBA TV. The five-day, eight-team summer league is crammed daily with about 200 people -- mostly players, coaches, general managers and media -- but is not open to fans.
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