Author Archive

As being reported by Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner of the LA Times, it appears that the trade talks that have included sending Lakers center Andrew Bynum to Orlando for Dwight Howard haven't been discussed in "a while."

The Lakers and Orlando haven't had trade talks in "a while," according to a person familiar with the teams' thinking, putting a damper on proponents of a Bynum-for-Howard deal.

The trade deadline isn't until March 15, but for now there's no momentum on a deal between the Lakers and Magic.

Kobe Bryant has had at least one in-depth phone conversation with Howard recently, even discussing how Howard might fit in with the Lakers' scheme.

One person with knowledge of the conversation said Howard came away feeling as if he wouldn't be the Lakers' top option, for obvious reasons. It's Bryant's team.

Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner - LA Times

It's highly unlikely that the Lakers would take themselves out of the running for Howard come the March 15 trade deadline, but for now, Nets fans can rest easy knowing that it appears a trade to the Lakers isn't happening anytime soon. It's known that Howard's four preferred destinations are New Jersey/Brooklyn, Dallas and the two teams from Los Angeles.

The biggest takeaway here is the report that Howard and Bryant have spoken regarding a trade to the Lakers. It's been thought that one of the reasons the Lakers have fallen off Howard's destination list was a fear of following the same career path as All-Star Magic and Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, as well as playing second fiddle to Kobe Bryant. It appears from the LA Times' column that Bryant practically confirmed those beliefs.

Despite being a lifelong Nets fan, I don't think it's bias to say that New Jersey is Dwight's best option. Being "the guy," with a superstar point guard, in Brooklyn, New York, is an enticing situation. The problem is that this trade hinders on Otis Smith's willingness to see his franchise center go. The article doesn't mean that the Lakers offer is off the table, and nothing is official until Dwight signs a new contract with whichever team he chooses.

Oh, what a difference a season makes... The last time the New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets faced off, Nets Nation was preparing to watch their future Brooklyn-led superstar.  Now, we get to see two completely different teams who made major trades at 2011 trade deadline.  Following a winless home stretch, the Nets are back on the road where they've found a little more success. New Jersey will be without DeShawn Stevenson and Damion James, and Mehmet Okur is listed as a game time decision.

Joining Justin and I in the pregame conversation is Jeremy Wagner, from ESPN TrueHoop's Denver Nuggets blog Roundball Mining Company. Let's take it away.

1. What's the most intriguing matchup tonight?

Chris Hooker: Nets front court versus the Nuggets front court. Kris Humphries is averaging more rebounds than either Al Harrington or Nenê. I think it will be interesting to see how Denver handles Humphries' rebounding dominance tonight. The Nuggets have a much more refined offense that is tight and in sync with each other--which has been the key to their success so far this season. If the Nets can win the battle on the glass, it could help them hang with a much more competent Denver Nuggets squad.

Justin DeFeo: Matchup of styles. Denver plays at one of the league's fastest paces while the Nets are one of the league's slowest. Denver also has one of the league's more efficient offenses while the Nets offense may be just starting to click. It will be interesting to see who can impose their style on the game more and if the Nets can keep the game in the 90's.

Jeremy Wagner, Roundball Mining Company: Ty Lawson’s speed against Deron Williams’ strength and skill. Lawson has made a significant step forward playing with more confidence and more consistency. Williams has the size, strength and skill advantage. It should make for some entertaining hoops. Of course, Lawson may sit out with an injured foot and ankle, but I expect him to play.

A bonus second matchup would be MarShon Brooks and Arron Afflalo. Afflalo cut his teeth as a defensive stopper, but seems to have slipped in that department. It will be interesting to see if he can shut down the rookie who has already had a few impressive performances.

What do the Nets have to do to get a road win over the Nuggets?

CH: How about score points? The Nets were on the right track on Monday, shooting 46% from the field. Everybody but Deron Williams shot the ball well and if the Nets expect to beat the Nuggets, they absolutely have to shoot at or above 40%. They aren't going to sneak out a win shooting the ball poorly like they did in Toronto. Deron needs to take less shots and distribute the ball more to his scorers. Let guys like Anthony Morrow, MarShon Brooks and even Shawne Williams get hot early or the Nets may find themselves trying to comeback in the second half... again.

JD: The Nets must play their style and control the Nuggets transition attack. Turnovers and missed shots will only help create offense for Denver so the Nets need to get a handle on that and knock down open jumpers that present themselves.

JW: Outwork Denver in the paint and do not turn the ball over. In Denver’s recent loss to New Orleans the Hornets bullied Denver in the lane and because of that they were able to control the tempo. New Jersey may not have the scorers the Hornets do on the block, but they can still pack the lane on defense and play physically on offense. It is important to have a decent shooting night and not turn the ball over to limit Denver’s abilities to run.

What are the chances the Nets win this game?

CH: 20%. I think the Nets are improving despite not winning. New Jersey looks more in sync and like they are starting to find a recognizable offense. However, it's still not completely right and with DeShawn Stevenson out again, I don't know if they are going to be able to stop Denver's offense.

JD: 15%. Each team has had a day of rest, but the Nuggets are playing at home and are in the upper tier of teams in the Western Conference. It will take almost a flawless game from the Nets to win.

JW: 20%, maybe even less. With the Nuggets coming off a horrible performance against New Orleans and finally having a couple of days off in the same week I expect to see them play very well. Even if Lawson and/or Nenê, who is fighting a bruised heel, sit out, you can expect Denver to play with a lot of energy and determination.

Atlanta Hawks	106	Final Recap | Box score	101	New Jersey Nets

Deron Williams   6-17 FG | 2 REB | 14 AST | 15 PTS | -12 Fourteen assists? Fine. Six-for-seventeen shooting and six turnovers? Not fine. Not fine at all. Sorry Deron, you’re the leader, our obvious best player. We need you to shoot the ball better. You’ve shot 34% this season and that is unacceptable. Remember when you dropped 50 in Turkey? Yeah, do that more. You create great looks and make your teammates better. But you can’t be the best player on the team and shoot six-for-seventeen.
Anthony Morrow   6-11 FG | 4 REB | 2 AST | 20 PTS | -4  Morrow has definitely found his shot again. He hit a couple of key shots in the fourth quarter, but his blown defensive rotations seriously kill the Nets night in and night out. But the one thing he is really good at, he did well tonight.
Kris Humphries   4-7 FG | 7 REB | 1 AST | 13 PTS | +13  I think I’m just going to come out with it: Kris Humphries has been the Nets best player this season. He doesn’t always have the best stats (he didn’t tonight), but Hump and Brooks are really the only guys who are hustling all over the floor and playing tough, aggressive basketball. Tonight, Humphries wasn’t his usual self in terms of rebounding (going up against Horford and Smith will do that), but he still played good, physical basketball for 26 minutes. He is clearly playing angry, and you know what happens when Hump is angry...
Johan Petro   4-8 FG | 5 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS | +/- Missing layups, bobbling great Deron Williams passes and failing to rebound is what Johan Petro did tonight. This guy is so frustrating and he played as many minutes as Humphries. I’m giving Petro an “F”, but I don’t even know if he actually deserves it or I just hate watching him play basketball and I’m now stuck wearing “Anti-Petro” blinders. Ugh.
Shelden Williams   3-6 FG | 3 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS | -2 Statistically, Shelden Williams did no better than Johan Petro, but I would just rather see him in the starting lineup while we wait for Mehmet Okur to come back. He’s just tougher in the paint and less of an offensive liability.
Shawne Williams   4-10 FG | 5 REB | 0 AST | 11 PTS | +2 He had his first meaningful game in a Net uniform. Shawne displayed some nice range, shooting 50% from behind the arc which is always great to see. A good energy guy of the bench and certainly helped the Nets get out of their shooting slump this season.
MarShon Brooks   7-14 FG | 10 REB | 0 AST | 19 PTS | -8 A fine performance in his second start, but was a huge liability on defense. MarShon shot the ball well all night, and surpisingly, led the team in rebounds. Brooks and Humphries were all over the floor--the former especially. I appreciate his hustle, determination and his first career double-double. Only knock against him was blown defensive rotations. He left Radmanovic open all night and was lucky he didn’t make more threes.
Brook Lopez We miss you Brook. Please come back to us. Please.

Five thoughts on the game

• 1. Let's start with a positive. Drumroll: for the first time this season, the Nets shot above 40% from the field! What? Above 45%? The Nets? Yes, it's true. The Nets had a solid day shooting the basketball. They even continued the trend of the last few games of shooting well behind the arc (50% tonight). Shockingly, the only Net that didn't shoot well tonight was Deron Williams--the guy who was lights out from the field just a few months ago in Turkey. I'm not sure what is going on with his jumper, but the other seven players shot just fine today.
• 2. 46% shooting is great and all, but it's tough to win when your opponent shoots 53%. The Nets are absolutely clueless on defense. They don't rotate, they leave guys (like
  Vladimir Radmanovic and Jeff Teague) open and they were completely dominated on the defensive glass. Perimeter rotation is especially bad. Brooks is lucky that Radmanovic only went four-for-eleven behind the arc because he could have had made much more. It's getting increasingly frustrating to watch the Nets get burned on defense by the simplest of ball movements on offense.
• 3. Lack of depth. The Nets looked pretty winded tonight, and I'm not sure why Avery didn't give Gaines, JWill or Horner any minutes at all. It's tough to beat an aggressive and defensively dominant Hawks team with only eight guys. JWill could have been used in the paint tonight, especially with the lack of talent in Petro and, to a degree, Shelden Williams.
• 4. Going off that, I missed Brook. Yup. Brook Lopez was certainly missed, right from the moment they re-aired his goofy interview from Saturday on YES. The Nets are missing a low-post threat. Ian Eagle made a great point--having that guy in the paint who can put up points is useful, even if all he does is make some baskets. The Nets needed his toughness and even his rebounding. Humphries has had a solid season, no doubt. But he simply isn't "big" enough (in every sense of the word) to handle Horford and Smith by himself.
• 5. On to the next one. It's obvious that despite losing the last two games, the Nets have gotten better--especially since the last time they played Atlanta. They are shooting better and playing well together. The problem is, they don't have a ton of talent to work with. Deron is in a shooting slump, Brook is hurt, MarShon--despite his numbers so far this season--is only a rookie, and Humphries simply isn't talented enough to make up for all the poor play. The Nets need someone to step up or get somebody who can.

Despite calling Rochester, New York home, I've been a New Jersey Nets fan since I was in single digits and my brother has been a Toronto Raptors fan just as long. Every year since I got my license, the two of us have taken our annual trek to Toronto for the Raptors/Nets game, usually finding seats just above the players tunnel at the Air Canada Centre. This year, the Nets finally beat the Raptors at home and we were witnesses to a show put on by Deron Williams, Kris Humphries and several heckles directed towards my #8 red Nets jersey. Because of the belatedness of this reaction, we've opted not to do player grades and instead give my five thoughts on the game. If you'd like some more specific reactions to players performances, hit me up on Twitter @chrishooker9.

The Deron Williams Show. After six games of "Is Deron Williams grumpy?", we got to see a completely dominant performance from the point guard. Like, completely dominant. D-Will displayed some ridiculous handles and looks and I actually thought his 24-9 performance was better than his stats indicated. He could have had fifteen assists, easy. Despite a great offensive performance, the Nets still shot 39% from the field and missed a lot of wide open looks and low-post buckets. Jose Calderon had no answer for him yesterday.

The Rebirth of Anthony Morrow. Sometime during the fourth quarter, some Raptors fan wearing a #4 jersey with a dirty slang taped next to "BOSH", whispered to his girlfriend: "This guy [Morrow] is killing us? Who is he?" Another fan in front of him said something about Morrow coming to Jersey from Golden State, where he was drafted and about being notable for being a three-point shooter. "Still," Bosh**** said. "This guy is a scrub." Anthony Morrow certainly silenced some critics tonight, hitting completely wide-open threes (first time this year), and just tearing apart the Raptors defense.

Offensive Chemistry. I said this after the Indiana game--the Nets look better on offense. Maybe they don't make all their shots, maybe they get out-rebounded, whatever. But it's difficult to say that the Nets are still struggling in running plays and creating open looks. Much of this is due to Deron Williams' leadership on the floor and his ability to communicate to his players. I don't know if this showed up on TV or not, but at one point during the close second quarter, Deron brought the team into a huddle underneath the bucket and started coaching them through something, almost like he was a quarterback drawing up a player before the line of scrimmage. The Nets are more in sync with each other and it's starting to come through. Tonight versus Miami will be a huge test for a number of reasons--but how they answer their defense will be a huge one.

Lock-Down Defense. DeShawn Stevenson and co. completely shut down the Raptors on offense. DeRozen couldn't handle Stevenson's defense. DeRozen is an inconsistent shooter, but to eliminate him from the game is no easy feat. Doing that gave the Nets a chance to drive that lead up in the second half. I don't think there is any question on who should be the Nets starting small forward going into the season. What has Damion James done that shows he is a better player that Stevenson? Stevenson is only really great at two things, but it's better than being pretty mediocre at everything.

Net Fan Count In Toronto: 1. Not sure if this is something that carries over throughout all Nets away games this season, but I was literally the only fan I saw in a Nets jersey all night. I got a few jeers from Raptors fans and team store staff, but overall the Raptor fans were pretty nice. With the exception of Hump, who was booed with every touch of the ball, the Nets weren't really booed too much either. Seems like for the time being, the Nets aren't a team to draw any negativity from fans, or any popularity from road fans. Hopefully that'll change soon.

Atlanta Hawks	106	Final Recap | Box score	70	New Jersey Nets

Deron Williams   3-11 FG | 3 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS | -22 Is this what a “grumpy” Deron Williams looks like? This was not the same type performance that we saw last night. Yesterday, his assist numbers in the first half were down mainly because his teammates weren’t hitting his open looks. Tonight, Williams looked clumsy (6 turnovers) and he clearly couldn’t find his shot (3-11). I’m really hoping that his hand isn’t anything to worry about, but I really don’t have any other explanation for his performance tonight. Stay tuned with that.
Anthony Morrow   1-5 FG | 1 REB | 0 AST | 3 PTS | -13  You’d think that after a bad three quarters of basketball yesterday, Morrow would come out fired up and ready to roll. You’d be wrong. Instead, we watched a terrible shooting performance and typical (AKA also terrible) defensive performance from #22. Morrow was off all night and couldn’t really hit anything. This is another perplexing factor in the first two games of the season. In eight quarters so far, Anthony Morrow, usually a lights out shooter, has played well in one. This isn’t good for a team who is already treading water offensively with the loss of Brook Lopez.
Damion James   0-4 FG | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -24 Coming off a career game yesterday on the defensive side of the ball, Damion James was invisible all night. Aside from 3 defensive rebounds, James did nothing in over 23 minutes of floor time. James is supposed to be a player who is pretty good at everything. Yesterday, this was true. Tonight, it was the opposite.
Kris Humphries   4-8 FG | 6 REB | 0 AST | 11 PTS | -18  Comparing the stats from tonight and yesterday shows an obvious difference in level of play. However, there isn’t a statistic on hustle. Despite not dominating the glass or paint like I predicted he would, Humphries was the most invested player on the court (with the exception of the rook). This is one thing I love about Hump--even if he isn’t putting up a double-double performance, he’s always giving a complete effort. He dives and fights for loose balls, goes up aggressively in the paint, draws hard fouls and is always in play for a rebound. Tonight, it didn’t work out as well as it could have, but he still gets a B- for effort from me.
Johan Petro   0-2 FG | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -18 I’m not going to grade Mehmet Okur, but what’s frustrating about Petro is that he probably is the best healthy center on the Nets roster at this point. So basically, as much as this guy sucks, we have to watch him until someone (PLEASE DEAR GOD MEHMET OKUR) gets more in sync with the offense. Petro did so little that he was a detriment to the team. He missed open looks from Deron and couldn’t grab any offensive boards off his own misses in the paint. Bottom line: if you can’t score, can’t rebound and can’t guard any of the Hawks centers, then you shouldn’t be a starting center.
MarShon Brooks   5-12 FG | 3 REB | 1 AST | 17 PTS | -15 The one bright spot of the evening, MarShon Brooks played pretty great considering the circumstances. The numbers were there (17 points), but MarShon also played with great hustle, fighting for loose balls and taking hard fouls. He also had a couple of nice turn-around jumpers and had some pretty good shots in traffic. If Anthony Morrow can’t get it together son, I don’t think it would hurt to put the kid in for a few extra minutes a game. He’s only going up from here.

Five thoughts on the game

• 1. The Nets are tired. I stand corrected. I thought the comeback win over the Wizards would build the Nets some momentum going into a (hopefully) rusty Hawks team. In fact, just the opposite happened. These Nets are burned out and don't have enough team chemistry to just go out and wing it right now. Unfortunately, the Hawks were completely ready for an exhausted Nets team and took full advantage of it. I don't think this is the team we are going to see all season, but the Nets need to start taking advantage of their days off if they want to keep up during this incredibly difficult schedule.
• 2. MarShon Brooks. It's tough to talk about bright spots after a game like this, but the rookie played some pretty good basketball tonight. A valiant effort from him. Brooks displayed a great jump shot from all over the court and in traffic. One thing you have to give MarShon credit for was his inability to become intimidated on the court. He played confidentially. Not every one of his shots went in, but it's pretty clear that Avery likes what Brooks brings and his field goal percentage is only going to get better from here. This could be a fun guy to watch in the coming months.
• 3. Speaking of improving field goal percentage, the Nets need to improve their field goal percentage! Look, I'm all for a breakout rookie performance, but when the #25 pick in a bad draft scores the most points on your team (by a pretty good margin considering who plays on the team), that's not a good sign for your offensive production. Anthony Morrow and Deron Williams especially need to start making their shots. Morrow, the teams designated sharp shooter, has had one redeeming-ly bad and one bad game, while Deron has had two below-average shooting percentage games. I don't care who the Nets are playing, shooting 31% from the field is completely unacceptable. This team has a lot of work cut out for them, but this should be priority number one.
• 4. Maybe the Rock should start to boo Kris Humphries? After a lights out performance last night from the Hump, he comes up short against Atlanta. Smith, Horford, even Radmoanovic and Pachulia proved to be too much for Humphries to handle. He wasn't grabbing boards and wasn't protecting the basket like he did yesterday. As I said in his player rating, he played hard and gave forth a lot of effort, but Kris Humphries is going to need a little more than boos to get him motivated. Until Brook Lopez comes back, he is going to have to put up huge games for the Nets every single night.
• 5. How worried should we be about Deron Williams' hand? We saw Deron's scoring go down last year when he injured his wrist. Just a game after grabbing his hand in pain, Deron puts up a pretty lousy day of shooting and passing. Not even a sold out Prudential Center could get him fired up, and I'm really hoping that this isn't going to be an issue with him. We clearly didn't get to see the same player we saw yesterday, and until he comes back with another A+ plus performance, I'm going to remain slightly worried. It's the nervous Nets fan in me.

Name: Mehmet Okur

Position: C/PF

Date of Birth: May 26, 1979

Hometown: Yalova, Turkey

Height: 6-11

Weight: 260

Experience: 9

Drafted: 2nd round, 37th overall by the Detroit Pistons in 2001

High School: Cem Sultan in Gazicilar Bursa, Turkey

Salary: $10,890,000

[table id=13 /]
[table id=14 /]
[table id=15 /]