Nets 103 Clippers 87; Nets win! The state of the union is strong!

That's right lady and gentlemen, the Nets avoided the first ever 3-41 start in NBA history; so hats off to them for that. Some thoughts from the game(and maybe a political comment or two...why? Because I can)

-The Kris Humphries trade looks mighty good right now. Not only did the Nets get rid of...wait who was it they got rid of? Eduardo Najera? Really? That rotting corpse is still in the league? Anyway, Humphries has shown a firey motor off the bench since the trade, capping it off with a career high 25 points and 8 rebounds tonight.

-Terence Williams finally showed some of that promise that led to the Nets selecting the athletic swingman 11th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. He only scored 7 points, but he filled out the box score with 8 assists and 9 rebounds. Not only that, he played great defense leading to a game high +11 +/- differential.

-Devin Harris(wrist) and Courtney Lee (oral surgery) were out for the game, leading to Keyon Dooling and Chris Douglas-Roberts taking over the starting backcourt duties. This turned out not to be such a bad thing, allowing Chris Quinn to get a little playing time and T-Will to play extended minutes. Did I forget to mention they won?!

-The Nets had their first double digit lead in 2010 (ouch) when they went up by 10 in the second quarter. Obama used the line "struggling, but encouraged" in the State of the Union. This is kind of how I feel about the Nets tonight. Struggling might be a bit of an understatement right now, but after tonight I am at least a bit encouraged. Not only because the Nets temporarily stemmed their downward spiral into the abyss of NBA worst record infamy, but also because of the future for this team. A potential trade for Amar'e Stoudemire is being discussed(though who knows how realistic it is), they have tons of cap space this summer, and they have two first round draft picks in the next two drafts, including the best statistical chance of anyone to land John Wall this summer.

Nets vs Suns recap; Suns 118 Nets 94

So with 5 minutes left and the Nets down 18, I'm going to go ahead and make the bold conclusion that the Nets have lost this game(update: the game is over, the Nets did in fact lose...shocking). With that said, here are some notes from the game, mostly not basketball related, as that is just depressing.

-The Nets are now officially half way through the infamous 2009-2010 season, clocking in at a whopping 3-38. The pessimist will look at the season as half way to possibly the worst record ever, the optimist will look at the season as half way to possibly obtaining John Wall.

-The Nets looked great when Steve Nash was on the bench in the second quarter, coming back from a 10 point deficit to take the lead. But then Nash came back in and took control of the game. The man may be a defensive liability and his 2 MVPs may be suspect, but damn is he a wizard on the offensive end.

-Twins Brook and Robin Lopez started against each other for the first time(Robin's second career start), leading to Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel wondering if it is the first time identical twins jumped the opening tip against each other. Certainly not the first pair of identical Stanford twin centers to play against each other, as former Net Jason Collins played against his brother Jarron multiple times.

-Speaking of Eagle and Spanarkel, as per the usual, they were left searching for diversionary anecdocts to keep fans distracted from the trainwreck that is the Nets. They settled on Robin complaining about Brook cheating in monopoly growing up. They also went through a list of famous Robins, including the superhero Robin, Robin Williams and Robin Yount.

- Brook and Robin's mother was also in the stands, showing "equal" love for the twins with a Robin jersey and Nets hat. She calls that equal? Wouldn't equal be a split jersey a la Brady Quinn's sister . The jersey has Robin's name and number, the hat has nothing to do with the older son(Brook was born 1 minute before Robin) other than his team. Also, she praised Title IX when talking about being a college athlete before the landmark legislation. I don't like Title IX, so that is a point against her in my book. But then again, I am a misogynist.

-Leandro Barbosa hugged and high fived the same ref during the game. Maybe the ref is on the Brazilian's payroll. Yeah, THAT explains the loss. Not the Nets' lack of talent or focus.

-Fun "It was over before it began" fact of the game. The Suns average almost 110 points a game for the season and the Nets have never scored more than 107 in a game.

the 15th man

So first the Nets cut Sean Williams, their troubled but talented 17th pick in the 2007 draft. Then they used that roster spot on Shawne Williams from Dallas, the troubled but talented 17th pick in the 2006 draft. It was speculated they would cut Williams as he was in the trade mostly for logistical reasons, but then the Nets announced they would take a free look at him.

A few days later, however, they announced they cut Williams. Turns out he was running his own little pharmacy and the Feds didn't like it(his mugshot from the arrest is the picture in this post). Before the news broke of Williams codeine concotions some people speculated that perhaps he was cut to make room for another trade. That was exciting. Then the real reason came out. That was realistic and sobering. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009-2010 New Jersey Nets!

So that leaves the Nets with 14 players. If I had it my way, the league would pass a temporary rule that allows the Nets to play all 14 at once on the court. Admit it, you thought for a second, "They'll still lose!" Probably. Regardless, that's not going to happen, so we'll just focus on signing and/or trading for a 15th player.

But what are the options? Other than trading, we could call up a D-Leauger. That may not be a bad idea. A hungry young player who hasn't been around the culture of losing and is excited to just be in the league might be a shot in the arm. And before you say there is no talent in the D-Leauge, remember that Chris Anderson aka Birdman and Chuck Hayes, the 6'6" starting center(that's right 6 foot 6 center), were D-League callups. So yeah, if the Nets can get an effective white, overly tattooed energy forward with a bad mohawk or a midget center from the D-League, by all means, they should do so.

The other option is to sign a free agent. Perhaps an over the hill star who is hoping for one last chance at NBA glory. The Bucks filled the vacancy left by Michael Redd's faberge legs with two time all star Jerry Stackhouse. Who is avaible for the Nets? Well it would be fitting for this season if they reunited with troubled former Net Stephon Marbury, but he just signed a contract to play in China(yes that's right...China). I am not sure if it is possible, but perhaps the Nets could lure Josh Childress back to the states. Whatever they do, the Nets will still be 3-37 tomorrow morning. tear.

Worst Team Ever?

For most basketball fans and casual Nets fan, the only interest in the 2009-2010 season lies in whether the Nets will overtake the 72-73 Sixers for the dubious distinction of worst team ever.

For us diehard fans this is obviously not our only concern (though still a main one). We want to see Brook's post up game develop and learn to handle double teams, we want to see Devin exploit his speed on both ends of the court, we want to see Terrence Williams learn how to act and play like a professional and finally get some good minutes, etc. and so on.

Other than the worst team ever talk, the only thing that garners interest from the rest of the basketball world is the Nets' salary cap space and the chance to land Lebron, or another superstar. Unfortunately the two are intimately related as the shedding of VC's contract both plunged this team into the abyss talentwise and also freed up salary space that will be used to woo free agents.

But if you have no talent, will anyone come? As has been discussed here among other places, the keys to the Nets sales pitch are Brook and Devin, budding stars at the two hardest positions to fill in the game. Brook has looked pretty good and is "untouchable" but Devin's shaky, oft injured season has made him "touchable". It is still unlikely they will move him, but it is good to know that Kiki and Rod Thorn are willing to do whatever it takes to make this team better going forward.

Speaking of which, it is also nice to see some fight from the front office for this season. They took on a bit of extra salary in the Eduardo Najera for Kris Humprhies/Shawne Williams swap, but it is only about 700k so it shouldn't damage their chances of landing a top flight free agent. Furthermore, Humphries has to be an infinite upgrade from Najera, the "energy" guy that never panned out...at all. Apparently more moves are in the works, as the front office is willing to do anything that will help this team moving forward. They may even take a risk and trade for a big name free agent to be now, so they can take advantage of the "Bird Rule" when free agency hits. For an explanation of the Bird rule, and any other Salary Cap questions you may have, check out this great site.

But even if that star arrives before the trading deadline on February 19th, this is a lost season for any casual fans(and a frustrating one at the very least for diehards). So will they turn out to be the worst team ever? You can track their progress here .

Nets-Hornets Preview

The Nets (3-32) take on the New Orleans Hornets (17-16) down in Nola tonight. Below is a position by position matchup of the game (with Player Efficiency Ratings in parentheses; the higher the better, with league average being 15).

PG
Devin Harris(16.14) vs Chris Paul (26.4)
Last year this would have been an easy comparison, but this year it isn't even a comparison. While CP3 continues his path to being the greatest pg ever(or at least potentially) Devin has fallen from grace. He isn't bad, he just hasn't been close to the all-star that he was last year.
Edge: Paul

SG
Courtney Lee(11.55) vs Devin Brown(13.43)
Not much to write home about either of these guys, except that maybe Brown has been a little bit less terrible than Lee. So I guess we'll have to go with him. But at least the Nets win the matchup of the Devins, so that's something,right?....right?!
Edge: Brown

SF
Chris Douglas-Roberts (14.07) vs Peja Stojakovic (12.19)
Peja has been an abject failure in Nola since signing his big contract with the Hornets in 06 and Chris Douglas-Roberts has been a pleasant surprise since being taken in the second round of the 08 draft. Both of these guys belong coming off the bench, but for reverse expectations, we are going to give the edge to CDR.
Edge: CDR

PF
Yi Jianlian (16.19) vs David West (17.31)
This may be closer than you think, as Yi has looked very solid since coming back from injury. Still, West is a reigning two time all star and much more physical than Yi.
Edge: West

C
Brook Lopez (20.59) vs Emeka Okafor (17.51)
Lopez has not looked good since Yi came back, but is still one of the up and coming big men in the game. Emeka is a solid, but undersized center. I'd go(objectively) with Brook.
Edge: Lopez

Atlanta Hawks 119, New Jersey Nets 89

What does this picture have to do with the game? Absolutely nothing! But watching the Hawks dancers was about the only enjoyment I got out of this game, as the Hawks opened up a 17-3 lead and dominated throughout. Let me get some thoughts in before the tears break my keyboard...

Chris Quinn made his debut for the Nets tonight in garbage time. Quinn makes the team the most racially diverse worst team ever with black, hispanic, asian and now white players all getting their asses kicked in the Nets uniform. How proud I am...

Yi put in another solid effort with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but it is pretty clear he is a third banana. If Harris and Lopez aren't playing well, the Nets really have no shot. The team was designed this way. Devin and Brook are supposed to be the two integral pieces that are incentives for free agents to come here. Hopefully they can consistently show this off the rest of the season.

The Nets are still not ahead of the 72-73 sixers record losing season, so I guess that's a plus. To see the game by game recap of the Sixers woes, click here.

Nets vs Bucks recap: Bucks 98-Nets76

If this picture doesn't sum up the Nets' night specifically and season in general, I don't know what does...

Anyway some thoughts...

Before the game the Nets cut Rafer Alston and got Chris Quinn(finally a white guy!). Quinn went to Notre Dame at the same time as Brady Quinn, and I swore the two were related even though they looked nothing alike and Quinn is a common last name. Also, check out his NBA.com profile picture http://www.nba.com/playerfile/chris_quinn/ Oh, what's that you say? What about his basketball skills? Well ...umm...he can shoot.

Brook was bad, Courtney Lee was worse, and Devin Harris was terrible, scoring 5 points and not hitting a field goal for the first time as a Net.

Yi was the only starter that had a decent game, bouncing back from Saturday's off day with a 22 point game on 7-12 shooting.

Welcome back, Jarvis. Jarvis Hayes played in his first game since the opener loss against Minnesota, scoring 7 points and grabbing 6 boards. He will be a key piece off the bench if the Nets make a run at not being the worst team ever. What a goal for a season!