Sunday, January 27, 2008

Game 44 - We now know who the worst team in the NBA is

It is Lawrence Frank's New Jersey Nets!

With 1:18 to go the Nets have a 7 point lead on the team with the worst record in the NBA.

Let me repeat that:

With 1:18 to go the Nets have a 7 point lead on the team with the worst record in the NBA.

My prediction for this road trip was 1-5. Coming into tonite they were 0-5.

They give up a three. They now have a 4 point lead.

Jason Collins is a Stanford alumnus. I went to Stanford. I want to like him. He took a charge at the end, to his credit, and it is THE only thing he can do.

Nets get the ball and Kidd finds a guy right under the basket. The guy is fouled with 58.6 seconds to go. Two free throws.

Unfortunately, that guy was Jason Collins.

Front rim. Air ball.

Question for the omniscient Lawrence Frank: Sirrah, you hoard all your precious timeouts for the end of the game so you can micromanage it. Why in THE world did you leave Mr. Collins in the game on the offensive end?

OK, so the Nets are back on defense. They just let Minnesota hit a 3. They just made it a 4 point game. One would think that the brilliant Lawrence Frank might somehow get his team to focus on guarding the 3.

TWolves hit a 3. One point game.

Timeout. Frank at least has the sense to take Jason Collins out of the game and not put in the other free throw embarrassment, Josh Boone. He puts in Sean Williams. Um, wouldn't it make more sense to put in a shooter?? Nets bring the ball down the court with 40 seconds left in the game. Carter takes a jumper which, of course, bounds off. Scramble for the ball, right in front of the ref. Clearly goes off the Twolves. Call?

You don't get calls when you are playing like crap.

So the Twolves bring the ball down, trailing by one. 21 seconds left. Nets play good defense, it seems. Wild shot. Rebound to... Al Jefferson and he is fouled!

Were it the Nets, they would have missed one of the pair, I swear...

Now we have 11 seconds left. Nets down one. The great and powerful Frank calls a play, bless him. Ball into RJ. Takes a shot. No one under. Front rims it. Twolves rebound. Who?

Al Jefferson drains both (of course) for his 39th and 40th point and the Twolves are up 3.

Timeout (of course). Nachbar put in for Williams. (Why wasn't he put in when he took Collins out?) Ball in to Carter. Attempted 3. Airball. Nets lose.

How many times have the Nets come up dry to end a game this season? How many times have they blown a lead with 2 minutes left? How come nothing changes?

I don't care how "well" the Twolves have been playing of late. They had 7 wins for the entire season. They outscored the Nets 10-0 to end the game, 34-21 for the 4th quarter.

This just in - Richard Jefferson is being interviewed on the postgame, and says "the game didn't come down to free throws" "free throws didn't factor in". I love RJ, but he is in serious denial. And what game was he watching??

I am tired of the Nets coming up short, blowing leads, missing free throws, failing to guard the three, failing to play defense. What has changed? Magic Johnson says it's Vince Carter's knees...

No. The problem is simply this, and everyone knows it but won't say it for some reason: The Nets are not listening, not reacting, not trusting their coaching.

They are thus now the worst team in the NBA. With Vince Carter, a scoring machine, Richard Jefferson, the fifth highest scorer in the league, and Jason Kidd, the best all around player in the game today, the Nets stink. How can that be?

How can every game play out like every other? How can a team time after time fail, irrespective of the competition, to finish a game? How can a team of professionals, against the worst fouling team in the NBA, not even break 70% from the line?

0-9 with none of the big 3 injured. 1-10 with none of the big 3 injured. The Nets have gone from a 9-6 team on the road to a 9-12 team on the road. Three blowouts, three collapses.

How does this clown keep his job?

How does this clown keep his job?

How does this clown keep his job?

Friday, January 25, 2008

Behold the shimmering brilliance of Lawrence Frank!

So here we are, 57 seconds left in the 5th game of an abysmal road trip, and the Nets are down by 10, by TEN, and the Great and Powerful Lawrence Frank calls timeout.

What in the world is he possibly thinking?

Did he call a play? Did the Nets have a chance? No, of course not, but the formidable Frank was the only person in the arena or the viewing audience who didn't know that.

So he had them foul, which a) slowed down the game to a crawl, prolonging the agony, b) allowed the Nuggets to score from the foul line, and c) made things worse. And allowed a team, for the 6th game in a row, to score more than 100 points against you. While they were shooting 36%.

The Nets had 85 points at that point. When the final buzzer sounded, they had 85 points. What was accomplished?

The best thing that could have happened was to allow the Nets to get off the court as soon as absolutely possible, get them on the plane to Minneapolis, let them get some rest and get out of the building ASAP.

No. Use up your hoarded, precious (my precious!) timeouts, tell your humiliated troops to undergo more humiliation and dig the hole deeper.

If he is trying to make a point, what could it be?

No, he's way over his head. He relies on a formula, win or lose, irrespective of the deficit. OH! 57 seconds left! CALL TIME, CALL TIME! Foul them right away!

Hey brain boy - your team is dead. They stopped responding to you a couple of years ago. They don't respect you or your judgement. You have one ace in the hole - and owner who could give two whits about "his" team, "your" team. You think Rod actually believes that stuff about you as a coach?

Game 43 - 0-5, 0-8

Score with 2 mins to go in 1st - 14-11 Denver.
Score at end of qtr - 19-11 Denver.

Nets down to a team shooting 29% at the half. By 16 points.

What does a guy gotta do in this leauge to get fired?

And the refs in the NBA are the worst in all of professional sports. Case in point: A technical is called on Darryl Armstrong. AI shoots. Misses. Pounds ball into the floor so hard it goes up 20 feet. Should be a technical right? If so, Iverson is gone for the game. The refs don't react, they don't even conference. They leave him in the game.

A coupla minutes later, Nachbar, who is not even dressed for the game, gets a technical for standing on the court.

C'mon, Stern. Now more than ever you need good refs...

Not that it would make any difference to this sleep walking team.

The Nets score 31 point in the entire 1st half, and needed a three in the last minute to get that high. Miraculously, at the end of 3 they're down only 6 points. But Denver is allowed to reel off the first 12 points of the quarter, and the game is over. The Nets don't score until there is only 7:10 left in the game. They're outshooting Denver 41-36% and they're losing by 16.

I have seen some bad Nets basketball over the years, some really, really awful basketball. But those teams had no talent, no chance, lots of injuries and legitimate teams like the Knicks, Celtics, 76ers and Bulls in their division and conference.

This team has no excuse. They are the worst team in the NBA, and they are about to prove it against Minnesota on Sunday.

Rod, either trade them all or fire Frank.

Or resign.

Game 42 - Warriors 121, Generals 119

What? You didn't hear? The Nets are now the Washington Generals of the NBA.

Sure, they're based in Jersey, but to call them the New Jersey Generals would be an insult to the USFL team that at least was competitive.

Those Generals featured a star player who just recently admitted to having multiple personality disorder. At least the Nets don't have that problem. Despite their protestations every year under Frank that they "are searching for their personality", they need search no more. They have a single personality - they are the foil to every other team's feel good story. They are the team you play to break a losing streak, to turn your season around, to play that guy who has missed 6 weeks to injury. They are the team you play to get it going. They are the Washington Generals to everybody else's Harlem Globetrotters.

The Generals are not supposed to win. Their very purpose is to lose, and to allow the Globetrotters to make astounding plays, and to be the fall guys in all the Globetrotters zany, funny routines. They're the guys who always say "Who's there?" when the other guys say "Knock, knock".

"Knock, knock"

"Who's there?"

"Josh Boone."

"Josh Boone who?"

"Josh Boone who couldn't make a foul shot if his life depended on it. Josh Boone who we're gonna foul possession after possession to kill your rally and kill your momentum and kill your confidence. Josh Boone who your coach won't take out despite having at least 3 other options sitting on the bench."

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Lawrence Frank"

"Lawrence Frank who?"

"Lawrence Frank who has a set script from which he will not vary. Lawrence Frank who could be replaced by a computer. Lawrence Frank who is the only man in the building who doesn't get that Don Nelson is going to exploit Frank's team's weak point all night, daring him to do something about it. Lawrence Frank who doesn't even get that he's being dared."

Cheryl Miller interviewed none other than Rod Thorn in the first half last night. So Rod, with your team struggling so bad, is Coach Frank in danger? No, he's doing a good job. Our players are just underperforming for some reason, but hey, despite how poorly we're playing, we're only percentage points out of a playoff berth. Ok, so what about a possible player move? Well, we've gotten a lot of calls and there's nothing that we're remotely interested in.

Rod Thorn, along with Jason Kidd, turned an absolutely moribund franchise into an NBA Finals team in one year. I have never seen anything like it in the history of pro sports that I have been watching. Sure, I've seen Tim Duncan and Magic Johnson help their teams turn around and go to the finals, and even win, but we're talking the Spurs, who, due to the Admiral being out, had exactly one losing season at that time after having just had seasons of 59, 62, 55, 49, 47, 55 and 56 wins; and the Lakers. Enough said. Rod Thorn, who was the GM of the Bulls during the Jordan years, who engineered the Jordan years.

Rod Thorn, who showed passion and intensity and intelligence during the Nets brief finals run, who pulled out the Vince Carter deal after the twin debacles of Alonzo Mourning and the bonehead decision by ownership to let Kenyon Martin walk. Rod Thorn, who knew enough to fire Byron Scott when he needed to be fired.

Thorn basically says to Miller, well, what can I do? I can't fire the coach, and I can't make a deal. What can I do?

The Nets, who until this year, dominated their cross river rivals in the Jason Kidd era, are now becoming them. The Dolans are not stupid; they're just not motivated. Ok, maybe they ARE stupid, but either way they clearly are not motivated. Every night, no matter how many actually show, the Garden is sold out. Perhaps if the World's Most Famous Arena were as empty as the Meadowlands, they might be motivated to fire Isiah, as the crowd chants. No, the Dolans aren't stupid.

And neither is Rod Thorn. He has an owner, a boss, who could CARE LESS about how that supposed basketball team in Jersey is doing. To him it's not a team, it's a big pawn in a real estate development scheme. Ratner was a client of mine in the 90s, and even 10 years ago Forest City Ratner had been trying to get the redevelopment of the Brooklyn rail yards for a decade, with no success and no momentum. Bringing Brooklyn its first professional sports franchise since the Dodgers left town in 1957 could be just the ticket to get the project going again, and done.

And so he buys the Nets who, for the first time in their ragged history, were catching fire, who, if it weren't for JKidd's bum knee, would have gone to the finals 3 years in a row and could well have knocked off a Laker team wracked with dissention. He buys them, in 2004, and says Hey - in 5 years I'm moving the team to Brooklyn.

Zo hears this and freaks. Kenyon is let go. Kittles is not re-upped. Kidd goes under the knife.

If the owner doesn't care about basketball, what can Thorn do? What leverage does he have with the coach? Can he go to Ratner, flush from the latter's courtroom victory against those who would stop the development project, and say, Hey boss, we need a new coach? What can he say to Ratner who would be on the hook for one and a half years' salary? Especially when they are a few percentage points out of a playoff berth? I mean, the owner has done everything but drive a stake thru the heart of this team, and yet they make the playoffs every year. What can Thorn say?

And do you think Frank doesn't know he's golden? What motivation does he have to change? Even if he had the creativity to do so, what motivation does he have?

So if the stubborn coach is not going anywhere, what motivation do the players have to play better?

Pride. That's it. And there is exactly one player who, night in and night out, plays with pride.

The Generals, when they play the Trotters, always have one guy who can play, who can drain a 3 or drive the basket and make it look a little like a basketball game. This team that "plays" in the Izod Center, they are the Generals.

Rod Thorn: Knock, Knock!

Cheryl Miller: Who's there?

Rod Thorn: Beats the heck outta me!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Game 41 - Um....

...so much for the team that "plays much better on the road"...

Margin of loss on this road trip:
LAC - 13 (in OT!!)
PHX - 24
SAC - 34

The Nets have just lost 7 of 8 after winning 7 of 8.

Sum of point differential in winning 7 of 8:
+9 (Avg margin of victory - 1.2)

Sum of point differential in losing 7 of 8:
-117 (Avg margin of loss - 14.7)

Losing streaks in the JKidd era:

Lost 6 or more Longest losing streak Losing record?
2002 0 4 N
2003 0 4 N
2004 0 5 N
2005 1 9 (with Jkidd out) N
2006 0 4 N
2007 1 6 N (.500)
2008 2 6 (so far) ???

The Nets are now 9-9 on the road, facing Golden State (25-18, 11-8 at home, 6-4 last 10) and Denver (24-16, 17-5 at home, 6-4 last 10) next before Minnesota, a team that has managed only 6 victories all season, 4 of them at home, and now on a 2-8 skein.

They will come back for ONE game vs Milwaukee who, bad as they are playing, could have a better record than the Nets on that date.

OH - did I mention? ONE HALF OF THE SEASON IS OVER, and the Nets are 5 games UNDER .500.

2002 +15
2003 +15
2004 +1 (which got Scott fired that day)
2005 -11 (with JKidd out most of the first half, and this is with that 9 game losing streak)
2006 +3
2007 -1
2008 -5

Finally I heard an announcer on the radio (Tony Paige) speculate about Frank's job status.

Ya think?

Monday, January 21, 2008

Game 40 - Mailing it in

I did not watch this game. I was watching the Giants game. I flicked to it a few times, particularly in the 1st Quarter.

It was getting away from them very early. End of one, and they're already down 15. They never recovered, as bad teams do not.

As I flicked back and forth I saw the Nets be down by 11 several times, but they never made a serious run at the Suns.

They mailed it in. They are now 18-22, and have ensured themselves a losing record by the mid point. They're 9-8 on the road, still miraculously over .500. Too bad their home record is an embarrassing 9-14.

They've lost 5 in a row. Sacramento is next, their best shot at a win before they play at Minnesota, with games at Golden State and Denver intervening, both several games over .500. The best they can realistically hope for is a split of those 4 games. That would put them at 20-24. However, it is more likely they'll be 19-25.

What did we say?

Game 39 - An L is an L

I did not watch this game. My wife did.

Her report - the Nets had a 7 point lead and collapsed. A clutch 3 by Kidd sent a game that should never have gone into overtime into overtime.

Overtime scoring - Nets 6, Clippers 19.

According to my wife, LFrank once again used his timeouts too late.

18-21. Phoenix next. Great start to a long road trip.

Not.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Game 38 - This Season Is DONE

Three bad losses in a row.

The Knicks are the laughing stock of the NBA no more. They have a 3-0 record against the vomitous Nets, including 2 at the Istink Center.

The Nets shot 52% for the game, had ALL starters in double figures, had a 15 point lead after one, and STILL LOSE, to an 11-26 team.

With two minutes to go in the 2nd they had an 8 point lead. End of quarter - 3 point lead. -5 net.

With two minutes to go in the 3rd they were down 3. End of quarter - down 10. -7 net.

With two minutes to go in the game they were down by 1. Lost by 6. -5 net.

Home record: 9-14.

Remember a few posts back? The Nets had a chance to go on the road 20-18, 21-17. Nope. 18-20.

The Nets are 9-6 on the road. Bodes well, right?

No, I don't think so. Prediction: 1-5 on the road trip. They'll come back for ONE game 19-25. Then off on the road for 4 out of the next 5. They'll go 2-4 over that stretch. 20-29.

Last year? 22-27.

Nine games under. That's my prediction for Feb 10 when they host Dallas, a team they couldn't beat when they were playing well years ago. And its a home game, remember that. 20-30.

The Nets well not make the playoffs this year. They are done.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Game 37 - Piteous and Hideous

After the Celtic collapse, where the Nets looked, played and were coached very badly, I couldn't believe the commentary in the press the day after - to the effect of 'The Nets played well' and 'The Nets just ran out of gas'. The Star Ledger had an article where Paul Pierce gave the Nets credit for being one of the top four teams in the East.

I'm saying to myself, What planet are these guys from?

Apparently I was not alone. My wife tells me that even tho it was a technical circus, on the post game show on the radio more than one fan complained that the Nets could go nowhere without a new coach. My son called me up to tell me he thought the 4th quarter was coached "horribly" and began to agree with my sentiments regarding Frank.

But for me it was more than just yet another bonehead coaching job. The Nets looked lost again, in that 4th quarter, a team that had no clue and no outside force to help them. Like Bruce's river, the Nets flow where they flow, without levees, without purpose, without sense, and when they take a wrong turn they just keep going.

The Nets were down against Portland tonite, a team they beat IN PORTLAND, 24-10 in the first quarter, with a little less than 3 minutes to go. A minute later it's 25-10. There's two minutes to go or so. Your team is already down 15. Given your team's history this year, particularly at home, it's important to mitigate the damage as much as possible.

So what does Frank do?

Pulls the team's leader, the coach on the floor, the guy who makes things happen, out of the game... I give up.

And so did the team.

And so did the fans.

The Nets play the Knicks at home next, on Wednesday. The Knicks are having a worse season than the Nets, with a worse coach, and a worse ownership problem.

They are also 2-0 against the Nets this year.

And they are coming off a truly big win.

The Nets are in total disarray. I am sure they are not unaware of Frank's incompetance. But nor are they unaware of their ownership situation, that Bruce Ratner cares not one whit for this team qua basketball, and that the last thing he is going to do is fire the coach and be on the hook for a buyout. They must live with him.

How do you get up for games in that kind of atmosphere? What happens if you find yourself once again down in the 1st, knowing your history? One thing is certain - you will find no answer from the bench. And any help you might get on the floor, from your leader, who puts out 100%, 100% of the time, who does not give up and always fights, is now ON the bench.

Then you're down 8, 10, 12, 15 points after 1. The game is now a 36 minute game, and one that you need to win by 8-15 points JUST TO TIE. Game after game, night after night...

Marv Albert and his sidekick said over and over that Frank was "trying everything", but in fact he has tried nothing to stop the 1st quarter massacre, or to stop opponents runs or stop his own teams frequent dry spells. Same strategy every game, same tactics every game.

The Nets are back to under .500 again, and it doesn't look good for the rest of the month...

Friday, January 11, 2008

Game 36 - BIG Game, BAD Loss

As the crowd was filing out of the Meadowlands Arena, the PA system played the rock anthem "Hold Your Head High".

The Nets had just lost, by 9 points, a game where they led going into the last quarter by 5. They had done it by scoring a mere 9 points for the ENTIRE quarter.

Hold your head high.

They scored the first goal of the final period six seconds in to lead 70-63. By the time they scored again, there were exactly 6 minutes left in the game and they TRAILED 76-73, a 13-3 run, altho a second earlier it had been a 13-0 run.

Hold your head high.

At one point in the fourth quarter the Nets were shooting better from the field than from the free throw line. And they were shooting 38% from the field.

Hold your head high.

If Jason Kidd, who well before the end of the 3rd was 8-9-8 but got only one more assist the entire game, didn't hit a 3, a THREE mind you, with 6 SECONDS left, the Nets would have scored only SIX POINTS in the entire fourth quarter and would have lost by double digits.

Hold your head high.

Lawrence Frank is a miserable in game coach. And if he actually believes the drivel he spews out to the media, he is a dolt as well.

Every fan who went to the game tonite knew it was a big game. All the players knew it was a big game. The refs, as embarrassing a job as they did tonite, knew it was a big game. Doc Rivers knew it was a big game. WFAN, who broadcast it, knew it was a big game. A cursory glance at the last few posts in this blog reveals how big this game was. A cursory glance at the schedule would reveal how big this game was.

Everyone, in short, knew how big this game was.

Everyone, of course, but the delusional Lawrence Frank.

This is just one of 82 on the schedule. Oh really? Well, coach, if you really believe that, you are so out of touch with reality it's not clear anything can reach you.

Your club has been scuffling FOR THE 4TH YEAR IN A ROW UNDER YOUR GUIDANCE the entire season. They needed to win 8 of the last 10 just to get a game over .500. They had already been embarrassed twice by a Celtics team that stole the phrase "Big Three" that your incompetence squandered. Your team faces a schedule that features 10 road games over the next 14, including a 6 game West Coast swing, and two of the home games are the next two. You next face one of the hottest teams in the NBA in Portland, a team you beat on the road who is itching to exact revenge, at home, which has been a house of horrors.

If you win you are 2 games over .500 for the first time since Nov 10, when you were similarly humiliated at home by these same Celtics. If you win your team had made a statement in humbling the team with the most buzz and best record in the NBA, to say nothing of your own division. If you win your team feels like Tuesday's thrashing by Charlotte was an aberration, that they are now coming into their own.

If you lose you are back to .500. You have lost the 3rd of 4 games to a division rival. If you lose badly all the old questions will arise, not just in the minds of the fans, of the media, but of your players themselves. They will take that doubt into a game against the buzzsaw that is Portland, against the Knicks who your own shoddy leadership has given them confidence against your team, and into a West Coast trip, the longest of the year.

A win and at the 41 game mark, the halfway point of the season, and you have a great shot to be 23-18 or 22-19, or back from the road at 28-19 or 27-20.

A loss, a bad loss, a characterless loss, and you are likely to go into a tailspin, be at 19-22 or 20-21 at the midpoint and 20-27 back from the road.

THAT'S A BIG DIFFERENCE.

Bear Bryant, who knew a thing or two about coaching, and that includes knowing how to coach in game, once said, When the team wins, it's 'they'. When the team loses, it's 'I'. But listening to your postgame pap one would swear you were the brother in law of the owner's estranged daughter. You put more distance between yourself and responsibility than the C's did from your team in the 4th.

If the Nets are irratic, it's because YOU haven't done what needs to be done to fix it. If they shoot 37% from the FOUL LINE it's because YOU haven't impressed on them how important it is. If they take bad shots and don't rebound when it counts, it's because YOU didn't have a sense of your team floundering. If your team experiences an 18-3 run by the other team TWICE in the same game, it's because you didn't have the brains enough to know when to call timeout to throw water on the run and set up a decent play.

Nobody, Lawrence, NOBODY I'VE EVER SEEN COACH IN THE NBA, has a substitution pattern like this:

4:33 Wright Substitution replaced by Nachbar
4:30 Jefferson Substitution replaced by Wright
3:21 Wright Substitution replaced by Jefferson

You hold onto your timeouts like they were gold, then call one when your team is down 10 with 1:36 to go.

THIS IS INANE! It is stupid. It is thrashing about. Full of sound and fury and signifying NOTHING.

You are responsible for a team that includes two sure fire hall of famers in Jason Kidd and Vince Carter and a budding superstar in Richard Jefferson. You've had them for nearly 4 years. Yet you've barely been able to guide them to more than a .500 record, in a pitifully weak Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.

You are incompetent as an in-game coach. You make the same mistakes over and over. You are numb to the nuances of the game.

You have a 5 point lead and your team is surging going into the 4th. Your captain, your leader, your coach on the floor knows how big this game is, even if you don't, you dolt. Yet you eviscerate any chance at winning the game by sitting him for the first 3 minutes of the fourth, a period where your team is sputtering, fouling, fawning and failing and is in desperate need of leadership, leadership that you yourself cannot provide.

You won't call a timeout to throw water on the other teams' runs, but you sure as hell will douse those of your own team with your mechanistic, insensitive and rigidly inane subsitution pattern, the same one you use for the Celtics and Timberwolves alike, whether up 10 or down 20 or even or surging or falling apart.

Your teams routinely fall behind double digits in the first quarter, yet you have no solutions. "We're still trying to find our identity" is the crap you try to peddle. IDENTITIES ARE FORMED IN THE PRESEASON, JERK. Not in GAME 36!

Jason Kidd said, at the beginning of the season, that this team was the most talented he had ever been on. Given that he's been to the finals twice and you have yet to get out of Round Two, I'd trust his judgement way more than yours. When he started playing you were a grad assistant.

So why, Lawrence Frank, does this team stumble out of the blocks every year under your tutelage? Why do they have to claw and scratch just to reach mediocrity every year under your tutelage? Why are so many games so alike, game after game, year after year, under your tutelage?

It's because, truth be told, you have really no idea of what to do.

Any NBA team with a modicum of talent could go .500 without a coach. You've accomplished the feat of taking great talent and achieving .500 over a 4 year period.

Pray tell, share with us your wisdom - How DO you do it?

Oh, pay no attention to this blog. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

Hold your head high...

Game 35 - Pokin' Over .500 Again

I was sick as a dog with the stomach bug, so I didn't go, and couldn't even watch TV, so I didn't see much of the game.

What I did see was a superior team exert its will on an inferior one, especially in the 2nd half. Good character win, especially one night after stepping in a hole.

Oddly enough, Charlotte went to Boston and beat the Celts at home!

18-17. Not where you want them to be after 35 games. A loss vs Boston makes them 18-18 with 2 more home games and then the longest road trip of the year, a West Coast swing, 6 games, with 4 of the subsequent 6 on the road as well.

They've been better on the road than at home, so that's the good news.

We'll see. The Boston game should tell us a lot.

Game 34 - All On the Players

I have been hammering Lawrence Frank all blog long, but even tho the Nets, once again, let the weaker opposition get up big on them in the 1st (which Frank still shows no signs of figuring out how to stop), you can't in all conscience blame him.

This one is all on the players. After the first, down 8, they mailed it in.

Charlotte is "improving", but not good. A team trying to break from the pack of mediocrity in the East (Nets are still in the middle of the playoff group!) would find a way to win. Instead, they didn't even look like they were trying.

Back to .500.

Hopefully they can regain some character vs Seattle at home, then we'll see what happens vs Boston...

Game 33 - One Nostril Above Water

I want to give credit where credit is due.

Atlanta has been hot, improving. The Nets had to go on the road. They won, Franks did not make any obvious coaching errors, has been sticking with the same starting rotation now for a while, bringing stability, JKidd racked up another 3-2. They came back from a 7 point half time deficit and 3 point deficit after 3 and won by 6. Character win.

They are now 17-16. Above water, but only by one nostril. Still, they have now won 5 in a row and 7 of 8.

Have they turned the corner?

They finish their mini-road trip at Charlotte, then come home to the House of Horrors to play Seattle.

Could they possibly have won 7 in a row, 9 of 10 by the time Boston rolls in?

Stay tuned...

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Game 32 - Mediocrity Achieved!

The Nets have now won 6 of 7. They have completed the second second half comeback victory in a row. They have an active rotation.

And they are 16-16. Mediocrity defined.

The two comeback victories are overshadowed by the fact that they were necessary. That they got down by double digits against Orlando on the road is understandable. That they got down to Charlotte at home is unforgivable.

31 points given up in the first quarter. Down 10. At home. During a streak. Ugh...

First half shooting - 33%. By my count, 11 missed layups. This is a game, ladies!

Second half shooting - 57%.

At least they are coming back in the second half. A month ago they would just stagnate.

6 of 7. And they needed that to get to .500...

Last year they finally got to .500 at 20-20. Then they went in the tank again.

Finished 41-41, and needed a 4 game season ending winning streak to get there.

Frank says, I think we're finally establishing our identity out there. Well, if 16-16 is their identity...

On to Atlanta. A road game. Whew! Away court advantage!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Game 31 - A character win

I thought I might avoid the negatives today, even as the game was progressing and it looked like the 13 point lead built in by the Magic in the first quarter (yet another end of quarter debacle - oops! Negative!) would never be eliminated. I turned on the game. It was 15-15. Soon it was Orlando by 5. Frank calls time out. Fine. Good. Right thing to do. Nonetheless, it was 31-18 at the end of the quarter, and came very close to being 34-18 as a 3 pointer bounded just off the back of the rim of Orlando.

In the 3rd the Nets were shooting 60%, but the lead did not shrink that much, because the Magic were shooting 64%.

Even 4 minutes into the 4th it still looked like the Magic had a lock on this game. Then came the defense, and the play of Darryl Armstrong and, of course J Kidd. But also, great selfless hustle by Vince Carter, and tough defense all around.

By mid 4th I was saying to myself, even if this results in a loss, for the Nets to come back and get it close, especially on the road, is quite an achievement.

As it turned out, Kidd, Armstrong and Carter, as well as Malik Allen and even Twin, played smart, aggressive basketball and took the game.

Frank used his whole bench, including Magloire, believe it or not. He called relevant well timed timeouts. He minimized his slavish adherence to a substitution pattern.

It was yet another gut check game, and as in the others of late, the Nets prevailed.

They are now 1 game under .500. They just beat a quality team, on their home court. They've won 5 out of 6, with a home game they should win on the horizon, where they could get even. Game 32, yeah, I know, but even is even. They're now 8-5 on the road. Perhaps that could be the foundation from which they get to 10 over or even 20 over.

That's how a fan thinks.

Okay, so now for reality...

True, the Nets have won 5 out of 6. But they won the last 3 by a total of 6 points (an average margin of victory of 2 points) and the 5 by a total of 15, an average of just 3 points a game. By contrast, the one game they lost during that stretch was by 18, so even in winning 5 of 6 they have been out scored.

How long this season can the Nets continue eking out wins?

They are now 15-16. Last year, after game 31, they were 13-18. Year before: 19-12. Year before: 11-20 with no JKidd.

In 2003-04 they were 17-14, less than 10 games away from having that record get Byron Scott fired.

Last year they got to .500 at Game 40, only to go on a West Coast swing where they lost 3 games in the last possession by 3 points. They finished the year at exactly .500. Won the first round over an overrated Toronto team. Nearly put out an equally overrated Cleveland team, which somehow made it to the finals only to be embarrassed.

This is the contemporary NBA. I'm a little surprised San Antonio doesn't win it every year. With all the hoopla about Boston they are not even remotely in the same league as the teams which had great seasons before. I expect the Celtics not to win the championship this year, and would lay even money that they don't win the East.

Nothing But Ability - That's the NBA today. No discipline, no smart play, no tenacious defense, no coaching. Except for San Antonio, and that's largely because the star allows himself to be coached, and, insodoing, sets the tone for the team.

A talented person is by nature somewhat schizophrenic - you can't rely on spleen night in, night out. Some nights you're gonna go 3-18. What makes up for this is coaching, and the willingness to be coached.

Frank aside, what you have in the league nowadays is just the erraticness of talent without discipline. The Nets are probably the best example of this. But look at Boston - are you telling me that after a decade of mediocre results at best, Doc Rivers has become a genius?

KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce together have won nothing. Not even a conference championship. They should be easily defeatable. But in a talent only league, with almost all players having no mental toughness or discipline, opponents get weak in the knees just reading the roster. They are defeated before they step out on the court.

Detroit and San Antonio are not thus intimidated. I would expect either one to prevail.

As for our team, the Nets have the ability, but the coach lacks the experience and humility to do what it takes to actually coach a team. He cannot help them when their talent fails them. He seems to be doing better now, but one, two and three point victories which are well in doubt into the final minute are not indications of a team that is clicking.