How do you grade guys who play mostly in garbage time? I know Plumlee played some in the first quarter, and got a blocked shot and a dunk or two, but this is a general thought for the bench: what does it matter what he did once the game was out of hand and the entire floor saw no energy from either side? Kidd threw the white flag once the Nets put the bench 5 (with Lopez instead of Plumlee) in to start the third. So sure, he was fine in that time. But considering what he was up against, he had to be.
If Paul Pierce tonight was a slice of New York pizza, he’d be Chicago-style pizza.
He’s lucky that he missed a shot — if he didn’t, he would’ve had a “12 trillion.” For those of you uninitiated to the definition of a “trillion,” it’s each minute you play without recording a shot, free throw, assist, block, steal, turnover, foul, or point. So, as you can tell, he didn’t do much tonight.
For someone who was billed as a “3 and D” guy, he didn’t do much of the latter.
Joe Cooled.
Returned to the lineup for the first time in two weeks to face Dwight Howard — not exactly the easiest matchup — and, for the most part, played well. Was ridiculously efficient around the basket as usual, and did a solid job contesting shots (particularly annoying Dwight Howard) around the rim. The Nets were demolished from outside the arc tonight, and you can’t put much of that on Lopez. But he — and they — need much more.
Remember how good Andray Blatche and Brook Lopez played together last year? Yeah, that didn’t happen.
The dream of Toko as a rotation player was fun while it lasted.
Put up decent numbers once the game was well out of hand, or as Ian Eagle called it, “window dressing.”
Again, how do you grade a guy who made most of his baskets when high school kids would’ve called the mercy rule and gone home? Sure, I’m glad he caught fire a bit in the fourth quarter and earned his first career double-double. No one else did that on the Nets, after all. But it’s not like he had a lot of competition. I guess hitting shots at all is a welcome sign…
