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Gerald Green wants to stay, would give Brooklyn Nets discount

Posted on: April 18th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 8 Comments

 

“Here, definitely with the Nets,” Green said when asked for his preference. “I have a strong feeling I’m going to be with the Nets. I don’t feel like I’m going to be anywhere else. I know I’m not getting any feedback now from anybody. I can’t. Can’t talk to anybody. So I have a strong feeling about here. They want me here I want to be here. It’s not like I have to weigh my options. I really don’t have any options.”

He would even take less money to stay.

“Most definitely I would,” Green said without pause. “I’m about loyalty and this team was the first team to pick me up for the year. They gave me an opportunity. They gave me a shot. Look what they’re doing. Our record doesn’t speak for itself. We’re a lot better team than our record says.

"I strongly feel that and everybody on this team does too. So I think this season was a season where we can kind of see where we’re at and I would love to be a part of what’s going on in the future.”

More: Fred Kerber, New York Post -- Green says he'd give Nets hometown discount

These sound like the words of someone you'll see in a Brooklyn Nets uniform next season.

D-Will, She-Will out, Crash a game-time decision

Posted on: April 18th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 2 Comments

 

Deron Williams and Shelden Williams will both sit out tonight against the New York Knicks, D-Will to rest his sore right calf and Shelden to rest a hyper-extended right knee. Gerald Wallace, despite running through a rigorous test yesterday to see if he'd be able to play tonight or get shut down for the season, is a game-time decision.

The only reason Crash might play tonight is if the Nets have a strong desire of stopping Carmelo Anthony in front of all his fans. If he's at risk of serious injury, I can't imagine the Nets playing him. Of course, the team also can't desire a blowout loss in their last New Jersey game against the Knicks, but without Deron playing, that may not even be a question.

For what it's worth, Jeremy Lin also won't play tonight, as he's recovering from season-ending surgery on his left knee.

Around the Nets: Wednesday Edition

Posted on: April 18th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian No Comments

 

  • Deron Williams will miss tonight's game to rest that sore left calf, and the way Colin Stephenson makes it sound, he may not play for the Nets again this season -- and thus may not play for them ever again.

  • What's that? You still want to watch tonight's game? It'll be on My9. Go, baseball season!

  • Avery Johnson is trying his damndest to pump up tonight's Nets-Knicks game. Without Deron Williams and Jeremy Lin, though, luster lacks.

  • More from that article: "The Nets hope to have Gerald Wallace, who has missed the last four games with a strained hamstring, in the lineup. Johnson said the coaches would work Wallace out hard yesterday and if he came through that, and another workout this morning, okay, then he might play. The coach warned though, that 'if there’s any sort of setback, (Wallace) won’t play.'"

  • If Anthony Morrow wants a shot at the free throw crown, he should start getting fouled a lot more -- and quickly.

  • Your New Jersey Nets do rank well somewhere: they've got the the third-highest StubHub ticket sales in the NBA. Anyone that's bought $2 lower-level seats understands why.

  • More from Avery: "I think early in the year (Jeremy) Lin kind of comes out and catches fire and then you have the 'Linsanity' stuff and everybody's going crazy. Then Deron put the kibosh on that in the Garden."

  • Easily my favorite tweet from the Nets photo shoot.

  • You'll never guess what game Jake Simpson points to as LeBron's case for cementing his MVP award.

  • Dom Valentino, a broadcaster for the Nets in 1975, has passed away at the age of 83.

  • Some nice words on Dennis Horner's Springfield Armor stint. The closing ones, well, from himself. Horner will also be a summer league Nets invitee.

    • Around the Nets: Tuesday Edition

    Posted on: April 17th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 2 Comments

     

  • DeShawn Stevenson asks Deron Williams on a daily basis if D-Will is staying, and D-Will says the same thing every day. DeShawn later notes that he envisions a short shelf life on his career.

  • The Nets are planning a ceremony for Monday night's Nets-Sixers game, the last professional basketball game ever in New Jersey. Fun game: look at the players Billy King mentions as integral to the franchise's history. Then look at who's attending.

  • Could Tupac play the Barclays Center?

  • 1010 WINS does a photo tour of the Barclays Center.

  • Gerald Wallace's workout to determine his status for the rest of the season? That's today.

  • Also today: the Nets' last team photo shoot in New Jersey.

  • A writer for the Toronto Sun is not particularly optimistic about the Nets going forward, and the issues start at the top.

  • A bit of old news, but the Atlantic Yards project needs additional study to determine its environmental impact.

  • From Tim Bontemps, some interesting quotes from Anthony Morrow. The league-wide narrative will assuredly focus on LeBron, but the Nets feel (perhaps rightfully so) that game's outcome rested on their failures, not Miami's successes.

  • From the other side: on LeBron James turning back the clock last night.

    • Here We Go

    Posted on: April 17th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 34 Comments

     


    Thanks, Google Images

    For the past two years, I've watched from afar a wonderful scene develop in Sacramento. Led by bloggers and fans, "Here We Stay" is an evolving movement, currently Sacramento's plea to the Maloof family to keep the Kings in Sacramento, despite George Maloof's seemingly imminent intent to gut Sacramento, move the team to Anaheim, and potentially turn a profit in a market with two other NBA franchises.

    The contingency is staggering. James Ham and Blake Ellington co-produced a documentary, Small Market, Big Heart. The "Here We Stay" Facebook page has nearly 5,000 Likes, the Twitter page well over 2,000 followers. The group organized sellout crowds and arena-wide chants. A beautiful movement cropped up, out of the very notion that a city cared about its team and didn't want to see it leave for purely financial reasons. The unique connection between team and city is normally a difficult one to sever, and Kings fans have no interest in taking it lightly.

    To give you an idea of how much they care, I sent Kings bloggers Akis Yerocostas and James Ham an e-mail asking for some quick background info on the Here We Stay movement. Akis immediately sent me over 1,000 words and about 30 links to words, video, pictures, and stories, and James offered to give me a first-hand account and show me the documentary as soon as they finished production. They've built a movement that's made a difference, counter to the actions of NBA ownership. And it matters.

    Last night, when the New Jersey Nets played the Miami Heat, in Newark, New Jersey, the crowd appeared transplanted from somewhere between Miami and reality television. As I walked past the gate, the LeBron James jerseys outnumbered Nets jerseys by about ten-to-one, and I'm being generous. The cheers for Victor Cruz, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Justin Tuck, and seemingly every other football player that makes his living in East Rutherford, New Jersey for a New York-branded franchise, well outlasted and drowned out the cheers for the Nets' starting five. Fans, per usual, screamed louder for free t-shirts than MarShon Brooks, who put up an efficient 24-7-6 line on just 17 shots.

    But the two loudest chants from last night's game, without question, are the two that'll ring in my head for days, as the game wound down, and the Heat began a late push.

    LET'S. GO. HEAT! LET'S. GO. HEAT! LET'S. GO. HEAT!

    Then, as LeBron paused at the free throw line, shortly after dropping an and-1 as part of his 17-point barrage that buried the hometown New Jersey Nets.

    M.V.P.! M.V.P.! M.V.P.!

    After a barrage of Bron buckets elicited more raucous cheers, the PA announcer actually had to remind fans where they were, calling out each player's name on the floor and imploring the crowd to root for the hometown New Jersey Nets.

    It failed.

    Isn't this the Heat? Isn't this the franchise everyone's been so excited to watch falter? I understand there's a certain panache to watching LeBron James eschew the ridiculous narrative that he's somehow pieced together with faulty parts that begin an inevitable rust once the game's on the line, but Nets fans shouldn't root for that. Let it happen somewhere else. You should want your team to succeed, especially in such an intense game with such a successful team.

    LET'S GO HEAT!

    Last night's showing, no matter who you blame or how you frame it, was a disgrace. This is not a reaction to one-game occurrence. Cheering louder for the opponent than the home team is hardly unprecedented or unrivaled in Nets history. It's recognition of a culture of no culture. New Jersey, unfathomably, sustained a basketball team for 35 years, mostly on the strength of its opponents; now at the height of basketball's boom, Nets games routinely fill with fans who don't seem quite sure when to cheer.

    Since Bruce Ratner announced his intentions to move the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn, the only serious opposition came in response to the Atlantic Yards project, not in response to an ownership group uprooting its team. "Here We Stay" never would have worked here, for every reason that it's had some success in Sacramento: the owner's finances are bulletproof, the current fanbase dominated by apathy, and the roster itself has whirled through a revolving door for the past four years.

    Kings fans tout DeMarcus Cousins' success and low-post abilities to death, as a marker that Cousins can change the future of their franchise. Nets fans pump up Brook Lopez, the longest tenured Nets player, in the hopes that Dwight Howard can. The Nets aren't selling out on their own strength in New Jersey, they didn't even sell out Finals games. After last night's game, one Nets player said (and I'm admittedly taking his quote out of context) "this arena is cursed." Purport be damned, he's absolutely right. Because the fact remains: outside of a select few, most people in New Jersey don't give a damn about the New Jersey Nets.

    Those of you that will inevitably critique me for caring too much about fair-weather fans are missing the point. This franchise, in this state, is predicated on a culture of indifference. I'm happy there are those die-hards (shout-out, NetsDaily), but die-hards are the vast minority at games, and those fans seem rightfully glad that the team's moving. No matter how flawed, a team deserves better from its off-court representation. Certainly in a game like last night's.

    By this time next week, NBA basketball in New Jersey will be dead. Given how little the majority of the crowd seems to care, it's the proper logical, practical, and emotional thing to do. With fans that only serve to cater to the whims of star opponents, a re-branding seems mandatory.

    When the Sonics left Seattle, fans mourned. When the Kings' departure seemed imminent, fans fought. When the Nets move to Brooklyn, it'll be widely viewed as a day of victory.

    You earned it, New Jersey.

    Heat 101, Nets 98: Postgame Quotes

    Posted on: April 16th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 2 Comments

     

    (LeBron) is so big and strong, we attempted to double-team him twice, and he just overpowered our guys. And then when the third defender came, he beat the third defender, then when we fouled him he still scored. I am at a loss for words.

    -Avery Johnson
     

    We got a little discombobulated, and in that situation I probably needed four or five more timeouts just to try to keep our guys organized before we got out of sorts there. But I am so proud of our team tonight. This is probably as proud as I have been of them all year.

    -Avery Johnson
     

    We competed, we battled. They're a pretty good team. They executed offensively and defensively down the stretch. ... I think we took some quick shots, I know I did, in the fourth. I had a shot where I had Mike Miller off balalnce and I rushed that. We had a rebound that we should've got and LeBron got it, got the and-one. Just little plays like that that killed us.

    -Gerald Green
     

    LeBron's a great player. He stepped up in the fourth. That's why he's one of the best.

    -Jordan Williams
     

    (LeBron is as) good as I thought. good as a video game.

    -Gerald Green
     

    I give a lot of thanks to all the Heat fans that we have, and all the Nets fans that rooted for us as well. Like I said at one point last year, I never thought I would hear "Let's Go Heat" on someone else'e floor, so I'm happy to be a part of it, and thanks to the fans, it was great.

    -LeBron James
     

    Where were those (Heat) fans earlier when we were up? They should've been screaming the whole game. Don't just show up when they get on top. If you're a Heat fan, you should be screaming the whole game for them, not just when they're up.

    -Kris Humphries
     

    I mean, we lost. I don't feel good. I'm frustrated that I feel like we could've won. We played great leading up to the last few minutes. We had to move the ball and take better shots. Miami's a playoff team. Everyone's got experience out there. They're used to these kind of situations, and just running up and shooting's wasn't going to work down the stretch. We put ourselves in the position, but I think only a loser would be happy.

    -Kris Humphries
     

    I don't take pride in losing.

    -Gerald Green
     

    He told me he's very happy for me. He's happy that I'm back in the league, he told me just cherish the moment, you're doing a really good job, that I'm playing good and he's happy for me. I told him thank you, and good luck in the playoffs. I think he'll go far.

    -Gerald Green, on what LeBron said to him after the game.
     

    They're a really smart team and well-coached. They're able to spread the floor with their guys. You've gotta stay home on their shooters. Typically we were handling the pick-and-roll with a center and a point guard, and they were taking advantage of that situation.

    -Kris Humphries
     

    The team effort was a positive thing, but you learn from things like losing. ... The offense is not very... Coach tried to simplify it for me. When I first got here, I asked for film. Even though I'm not involved in the film, I try to watch it to figure out where guys are supposed to be in the offense.

    -Armon Johnson

    Net Worth: Heat 101, Nets 98

    Posted on: April 16th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 4 Comments

     

    Miami Heat 101 Final
    Recap | Box Score    		 98 New Jersey Nets
    DeShawn Stevenson, SG 11 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 3 PTS | -2

    Damnit.
    Kris Humphries, PF 40 MIN | 12-16 FG | 5-8 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 29 PTS | -4

    Handily outplayed Udonis Haslem, getting to the rim for easy dunks on numerous occasions in the first. Scored 14 points in the first 11 minutes alone, and all on easy looks. Low rebound totals aside, this is the Humphries you love to see offensively -- cutting to the basket, using the threat of his jumper to throw defenders off-balance, and dunking on fools. Chris Bosh exploited Humphries' biggest weakness -- his inability to properly defend pick-and-pop big men -- and took full advantage of the matchup the fourth quarter, but Humphries fired right back with some surprisingly balanced post moves and rack attacks. The best Net on the court tonight. Just wasn't enough.
    Sundiata Gaines, G 33 MIN | 4-10 FG | 2-4 FT | 4 REB | 7 AST | 11 PTS | -2

    For long stretches, Gaines controlled the tempo well, didn't force unnecessary passes (though a few shots on LeBron in isolation were probably ill-conceived), and played more floor general than momentum killer tonight. For shorter, somewhat important stretches, he became the split-shooter (what he does isn't jumping), buried in himself, the basket, and an isolation opportunity that helped scorch the Nets, not the nets. More on him below.
    MarShon Brooks, G 37 MIN | 10-17 FG | 4-4 FT | 7 REB | 6 AST | 24 PTS | +4

    It's nice to see this MarShon Brooks again. Yes, Terrel Harris was his primary defender and not Dwayne Wade, Wade sitting out the game with a case of the pointlessgame. Brooks, on the other hand, played like a man possessed early, getting to the bucket as he pleased and finding himself for open looks. Another solid all-around game indicating his mid-season slump is behind him.
    Gerald Green, SG 35 MIN | 6-17 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 15 PTS | +7

    Missed his first six shots before catching fire in the third quarter, hitting three threes and another long two to help extend the Nets' lead to nine by quarter's end, punctuated by a ridiculous fallaway three-pointer in the corner as the buzzer expired. Almost had an opportunity to make this blog famous yet again with an alley-oop from MarShon Brooks that Green nearly picked out of Section 223, but the ball slipped out of his hands and into the stratosphere, never to be seen again.
    Armon Johnson, G 11 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | -1

    Until some weird possessions in the third which called for AJ to shoot isolation jumpers over LeBron James, Johnson showed a surprising ability to create off the dribble for himself and others in extended minutes. He's done a little of this before, but exclusively in garbage time; tonight he sliced hard off picks and kicked passes to open teammates on the perimeter. Also, didn't record a turnover.

    Five Things We Saw

    1. LeBron James is the MVP. Let's leave it at that and let everyone else tell the story of how he dropped the final 17 Heat points on the Nets, including an 11-0 self-run to close the game, with about 35,000 celebrities including Jay-Z in attendance, as DeShawn Stevenson -- he of the infamous LeBron run-ins -- screwed up the final inbounds play by getting called for a five-second violation with the Nets' last chance at tying the game hanging in the balance. You'll get enough of those stories in the next two weeks. I'll let writers more talented than I at those types of narrative tell how LeBron is suddenly a robotic crunch-time demolition man.
    2. I hope everyone, when writing those stories, remembers that while the Heat were down Dwyane Wade, the Nets were down their three best players: Deron Williams , Gerald Wallace, and Brook Lopez. But weird facts: the Nets point guards, unlike Deron Williams, didn't make turning the ball over a habit, swung the ball, allowed creators to create (with the exception of some odd moments when both Sundiata Gaines and Armon Johnson hero balled for no good reason), and kept a frantic offensive pace -- perhaps in spite of not having D-Will.

      ...Or perhaps because of it. The Nets aren't better with Deron Williams out, but let's imagine the game tonight: Deron tries to create over and over again, runs into the brick wall that is Joel Anthony and LeBron James, turns the ball over four times in the first half, and despite a 23-point, 7-assist effort, the Nets lose by 15. Instead, the Nets get plays from all over tonight, play stellar defense down the stretch (something Deron's not exactly known for), and nearly come up with a ridiculous victory against an immensely superior team. Maybe I'm crazy, or overreaching. I'm known to do that. Just wondering out loud.
    3. The Nets put on an impressive fireworks display during pre game introductions, presumably to impress the many fans that attended the game in honor of LeBron and Co. coming to town. It was kind of cool, until an eerie post-firework smoke loomed over the floor, slowly descending until the game was played in smoke. It looked like the old-timey 70's games in NBA 2K12. It was actually kind of cool, until you remembered what you were inhaling. I guess Baron Davis won't mind on Wednesday.
    4. Sundiata Gaines is the ultimate paradox; his best asset is only useful when it's complemented with his biggest weakness. He's best suited to play in quick bursts, when his defensive franticity (don't care that that's not a word) can wreak havoc on point guards as they advance the ball up the floor. But when he only plays in short bursts, he tries to do way too much, both on and off the ball. When he plays a solid stretch of minutes, he's much stronger in the half-court game, but that frantic energy is lost. Granted, that lack of franticity (again, mid-coining here) resulted in a highly effective half-court game in which the Nets didn't turn the ball over for almost nineteen minutes.
    5. Some figures from those first 19 turnoverless minutes: with 0 turnovers and 4 offensive rebounds to the Heat's 7 and 2, respectively, the Nets outshot Miami 37-27 in the first 19 minutes. Miami shot a better percentage, making 17 of their 27 field goals, but pure production allowed the Nets to take a 45-40 lead at that point. Granted, the Nets turned the ball over three times in those final five minutes and couldn't extend that lead. But given both who they are (a turnover-happy franchise), what they were missing (their three best players) and who they were facing (one of the best defenses in the league), the fact that they swung the ball well and didn't fall into the prey of double-teams and corner traps was a startlingly positive sight.

    Miami Heat-New Jersey Nets: Pregame Thread

    Posted on: April 16th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 2 Comments

     

    Basic Advanced

    Offensive Rating: Nets 103.5 (19th), Heat 107.9 (5th)
    Defensive Rating: Nets 109.4 (28th), Heat 100.7 (5th)
    Pace: Nets 90.0 (20th), Heat 91.4 (14th)

    Four Factors

    eFG%: Nets .474 (24th), Heat .509 (4th)
    TOV%: Nets .143 (21st), Heat .141 (17th)
    ORB%: Nets .284 (10th), Heat .267 (19th)
    FT/FGA: Nets .212 (13th), Heat .242 (4th)

    Defensive Four Factors

    Opp. eFG%: Nets .513 (28th), Heat .479 (10th)
    Opp. TOV%: Nets .139 (13th), Heat .158 (3rd)
    DRB%: Nets .703 (28th), Heat .732 (13th)
    Opp. FT/FGA: Nets .207 (15th), Heat .205 (13th)

    From the other side: The Heat Index

    Starting Lineups: Sundiata Gaines, MarShon Brooks, Gerald Green, Kris Humphries, Jordan Williams; Mario Chalmers, Terrel Harris, LeBron James, Udonis Haslem, Chris Bosh

    Last time: Which one do you want? The Nets haven't beaten the new-look Heat since they became the new-look Heat, losing all five games by double digits and by an average of 18 points. Most recently, the Heat drubbed the Nets from start to finish, 108-78. Dwyane Wade left with an injury in the second quarter and the Heat didn't need him one bit.

    This time: Wade's sitting the entire night tonight, technically with a sprained right ankle, but mostly because what the hell do the Heat need Dwyane Wade for against a team that hasn't contended with them once in two years. (Eric Spoelstra calls this a "maintenance program.")

    Deron Williams will also sit to rest his sore calf, which bothered him for four games in March and apparently has cropped up again. (BTW: If anyone ever deciphers the Taman Shud code and learns that "sore calf" translates to "I'm sick of my perfect passes bouncing off my teammate's hands," shoot me an e-mail pronto.) Gerald Wallace is still out, leaving an opportunity for Gerald Green to finally start his first game this season.

    Despite nursing a strained ankle, LeBron James is also in uniform, which is fortunate for everyone in the world except the New Jersey Nets.

    #StartGeraldGreen Finally Pays Off — Gerald Green To Start Tonight

    Posted on: April 16th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 2 Comments

     

    You're welcome, America.

    UPDATE: LeBron in, D-Will out, Wade out

    Posted on: April 16th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 4 Comments

     

    via Brian Windhorst on Twitter:

    Around the Nets: Monday Edition

    Posted on: April 16th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian No Comments

     

  • Former Nets Center Dwayne Schintzius has passed away at the age of 43.

  • Mikhail Prokhorov wants to be clear on this subject: Kanye West's diss on "Theraflu" at Kris Humphries has no basis in fact, and Prokhorov will support Kris in what he calls an "epic battle."

  • Doc Rivers hardly recognizes Gerald Green.

  • That said, Green remembers the Celtics well, and though his preference is to re-sign with the Nets, one Celtics columnist reported that he wouldn't rule out returning to Boston.

  • One additional bonus from the Gerald Wallace trade: Shawne Williams, whose short stint in New Jersey was essentially a failure, is picking up his option for 2012-13 in Portland. That's $3.1 million.

  • Tonight, you'll see at least 30 very excited fans in the arena for Nets-Heat (well, hopefully more). Those are thanks to Anthony Morrow, who donated 30 tickets to youth in the Children for Cultural Differences program.

  • You'll never guess what sport Jordan Williams gave up to play basketball.

    • More Proof That Mere Gravity Cannot Contain Gerald Green

    Posted on: April 15th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 4 Comments

     

    This was perhaps the last good thing to come out of the Nets' 94-82 loss to the Celtics last night, but it serves as a wonderful reminder that Gerald Green, while he may be more than a dunker nowadays, is still one hell of a dunker.

    Additional major kudos to rookie Jordan Williams, who countered Paul Pierce's defensive drop-down by setting the push-out screen necessary to make the dunk possible.