Nets New Year's Resolutions...

Good riddance to 2009 and the 2009 New Jersey Nets. Welcome 2010, the 2010 draft in June, the 2010 free agency period over the summer, and the start of the 2010-2011 season with the new revamped New Jersey(soon to be Brooklyn) Nets. As we enter the new decade, the Nets are going to quit smoking, go to the gym every day, clean out the garage, and pick up a new hobby(maybe winning?). While they work on those, here are some of my New Year's resolutions for the Nets:

Finish the 09-10 season strong

I, of course, mean finish strong for the Nets. They aren't going to make the playoffs or even win 30 games, but they can (better) avoid being the worst team in history by getting more than 10 wins. Also, since the Nets have already much shit the bed on the season they can win a bunch of games without doing much damage to their lottery hopes. What's that you say? I am just rationalizing? Hell yes I am. I wouldn't (couldn't) be a Nets fan without my handy defense mechanisms.

See the Bigs Develop

Brook Lopez seems well on his way to being an all star center with a well rounded game. What he needs to do now is work on dealing with double teams and keeping his focus after calls don't go his way. I would have given up on Yi JianLian, but he has come back so strong from his injury that maybe he can turn out to be a solid starting power forward. Yi obviously needs to work on strength and defensive toughness, but those will always be short comings for him. Where he has truly been disappointing is where most of his promise was supposed to be: on the offensive end. A seven footer with an adept shooting touch, if he can learn to be aggresive and smart on offense, he could become a poor man's Dirk Nowitzky. You don't think Lebron would at least be tempted by a developed Brook, the all-star Devin Harris, a possible young Nowitzky and a high lottery pick?

Draft

The Nets are going to get a good draft pick, hopefully number 1 but a top pick regardless. T-Williams has been a bust so far, but the Nets did a stellar job in the previous draft picking up Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson(traded along with Vince Carter to Orlando), and CDR. Brook looks like a future all star, Anderson is a key part of the Magic's rotation, and CDR looks like he could be a valuable change of pace gaurd off the bench for a good team. Hopefully the Nets can be as wise with a high pick this June.

Free Agency

I thought there was no chance of getting Lebron, but who knows? All these pundits pontificate about what he will or won't do, but the truth is only Lebron knows. The move to Brooklyn being finalized and the possible solid core of Lopez, Yi, Harris and ? from the draft might be enough to entice Lebron. Regardless of what happens with King James, I would like to see the Nets be smart with their league leading 23 million dollars under the salary cap. Get a good free agent like Lebron, Wade, Bosh etc. but if you don't, be smart and wait til next year. I'd rather endure another crappy year for future success rather than assured mediocrity.

Thoughts from Section 126

So I finally made it out to the Izod Center for the second time this year. Unlike last time, however, my 65% Irish heritage didn't bring about any lucky results with the Nets falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-89. Some thoughts from the game:

-If you ignore the final 17 minutes of the game and focus on the first 31 minutes, the Nets actually won 72-70!

-But there are 48 minutes in a National Basketball Association contest (...damn it), and the OKC Thunder outscored the Nets 25-17 in the final 17 minutes(including a 1-14 shooting stretch by the Nets...ouch). The empty Nets looked absolutely lost on offense in this period, with no consistent game plan, low percentage shots and lots of curses that stayed in my head because there was a family with two small children seated in front of me.

-Kevin Durant is a freak. The guy scores more points than he has eaten meals in the past year(40 tonight, 4th in the league at 27.8 ppg). Besides his innate offensive sense, he is virtually impossible to matchup with, being too quick for forwards and far too tall and long for gaurds. This 21 year old young fella may be all that he is cracked up to be.

-Yi had another strong outing in his comeback from injury, tying his career high with 29 points on 10-16 shooting. He was a little less aggressive in the second half, but part of that may be him getting back into game shape. Once Brook breaks out of his slump(only 10 points tonight, 5-11 shooting but only 1 Free Throw attempt), the Nets should be in much better shape. Devo only had 11 points, but he did also have 11 assists. If Yi and Brook can be consistent scorers with Courtney Lee and CDR as compliments, Devin may be more valuable as a distributor than the main scoring option.

-The Nets have been outrebounded in 19 straight games, tying the second longest streak since 1986-1987. Sure other teams are better than the Nets, but alot of this has to do with concentration. They do after all have big bodies who should be able to box out and rebound (Lopez, Boone, Yi). On a side note, Boone was actually out for hte first time last night.

-In terms of views of the game, a lower level corner section like Section 126 is quite nice. The corner gives you the best view of fast breaks and how teams defensive schemes are setup. Also, I got some unintentional comedy from the newlyweds next to me: when the husband said he would take his wife(who was quite hot actually) for a slice after the game, she questioned whether she could get more than one slice and if he was insinuating that she was fat, prompting the man to reiterate his confidence in her beauty and that getting "a" slice is just an expression, that she could get as many slices as she wanted (and there was no sarcasm or irony in this interaction).

Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

After seven weeks of inactivity with a sprained MCL, Jersey's favorite seven foot asian Power Forward played last night; and played well. Yi JianLian had 22 points on 7/12 shooting (4/6 from three) in 30 minutes of action against the lowly Timberwolves.

Unfortunately, the Nets still lost. But, if Yi establishes himself as a legitimate third scoring option, this team may see more than single digit wins this season. Yi's "raw" potential and "upside" as a "long" (are you proud of me Jay Bilas?) athletic seven footer are undeniable. In his first few years in the league, however, this potential has not materialized due to a noticeable deficiency on the defensive end and a timidity when on offense. Hopefully he is turning a corner in regards to both, as he looked tough pulling in 8 rebounds against a very strong Minnesota frontcourt (Love and Jefferson) and had a chest bumping swagger on offense that he has been sorely lacking. Only time will tell how Yi will turn out, but I think we can all agree we would rather see him manning the 4 spot instead of the likes of Josh Boone, Eduardo Najera and Tony Battie.

Nets Lakers Postgame

What's that you say? The game isn't over, yet? Well that's how depressing the Nets are, I am writing a postgame wrapup before the game is "officially" over. Final score Lakers - alot, Nets - not alot. Update: The game is over. Lakers 103, Nets 84.

The first half actually had some very promising signs and finished with the Nets LEADING by 2 at the half. CDR proved once again that he has an uncanny ability to score at the rim with a series of awkward herky jerky moves. D-Harris scored 17 in the second after a slow start, and the Nets showed some resolve coming from as many as 14 down to take the aformentioned lead by the time the buzzer sounded.

But then the second half happened...and so did Kobe Bryant. Kobe finished the game with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists as the Lakers took a commanding lead in the third quarter and never looked back. Once again, the Nets showed an inability to maintain momentum through the intermission, scoring only 16 points in the third. Kobe would not be stopped, even with good defense by Trenton Hassell and a broken figer on his shooting hand. At least the Nets showed some heart and stayed competitive up until the fourth...sigh

By the middle of the fourth you knew it was over when Nets GM and new coach Kiki Vandeweghe put in the Williams twins(not actually twins). Terrence and Sean certainly haven't

inspired hope in the coaching staff, but at this point in the season shouldn't they be getting more playing time?

I am not knocking Trenton Hassell, Bobby Simmons or Eduardo Najera, but come on!(ok, I lied, I am knocking

them...they suck) The Williams brothers(again...not really brothers) are hyperathletic talents that haven't lived up to their potential, but it is hard

to work on becoming more consistent on the bench.

Anyway, up next are the hapless T-Wolves on December 23rd at the Izod Center. If the Nets can't win this one...well, let's not think that way.

Nets vs Lakers Preview

So Kobe Bryant and co. roll into the Jerzee swamps tonight to wack(sorry I've been watching Sopranos re-runs) the haphazard Harris led Nets. Just for fun, let's pretend the Nets and Lakers records aren't 2-25 and 20-4, respectively, and do a position by position breakdown of the starting lineups.

Center
Andrew Bynum vs Brook Lopez
Edge: Lopez
We will give the edge to Brook as he scores more, rebounds more, blocks more, and has a higher PER than Bynum. Also, somehow Bynum has been in the league three more years than Brook but is only 6 months older...oh that's right, while Brook was studying at one of the preeminent colleges in the universe(Stanford), Bynum jumped to the NBA where he was called a "juvenile delinquent" by Dr.Shaq. Also, I'm just a bitter Nets fan...let's move on


Power Forward
Pao Gasol vs Josh Boone
Edge: Seriously, you have to ask?
Pao Gasol is an all-star F/C and Josh Boone is...Josh Boone...let's move on

Small Forward
Ron Artest vs Chris Douglas-Roberts
Edge: Artest
Artest wins this matchup handily though CDR does beat him out for number of names within his name...so that's something right? But then again, Artest counters that with handily beating the crafty southpaw in size, talent and number of fans assaulted in his career.

Shooting Guard
Kobe Bryant vs Courtney Lee
Edge: Black Mamba
Kobe wins this matchup. If you don't know why, you have never seen a basketball game in your life. Courtney Lee has cooler tats though. And he went to college. But it was Western Kentucky, so I guess that doesn't count.

Point Guard
Derek Fisher vs Devin Harris
Edge: Harris
Woo woo! One where the Nets are the clearcut winner...at least, in theory. Fisher's stats are not pretty, but he is a veteran leader and hustler on a team that doesn't need him to do much. Still, I think either team would rather have Harris, a first time all-star in 2009.

Losing by 37 at halftime....

As I watch (begrudgingly) my beloved(ugh...begrudingly) Nets fall to 37 down(in the FIRST HALF) to the Toronto Raptors, all while scoring 33 points in the FIRST HALF to a team that gives up 109 points a game, I wonder how the Jersey boys will crawl out of their 2-24(soon to be 2-25) hole.

Well, they won't. That being said, I am left to wonder how they will turn things around next year with their league high 25 mil to spend in free agency. The summer of 2010 free agent class is stacked and with Lebron seeming to be a pipe dream, here are the(ok probably also pipe dreams) scenarios I came up with(yes I hate "what if'" sports scenarios as much as you...but my team is 2-24, so just deal). Since the Nets are extremely,highly, better eff'n be likely to get one of the top two picks(John Wall or Derrick Favors) we will come up with two scenarios.

Scenario 1
Starting lineup
C Brook Lopez(under contract)
PF Chris Bosh ( Nets have the money to get him)
SF Stephen Jackson (or another sf that you could get in a trade for Courtney Lee/Yi/draft picks)
G Devin Harris (under contract)
G John Wall (will be first or second pick in draft)

This scenario would leave you with a little money to get a veteran exception F/C to backup Brook and the core of Terrence Williams/CDR/Keyon Dooling to be your bench. If Harris can return to form/Wall turns out to be all they say he is, this would be an extremely dangerous duo. The trade for Stephen Jackson would be predicated on Lee showing a better touch on the floor and Yi coming back healthy from his MCL injury, but these things are not out of the question.

Scenario 2 coming...