One of the biggest stories to come out of practice yesterday, besides the fact that Avery Johnson has yet to get "mean," was that Terrence Williams said he woke up and felt 100 percent healthy. He admitted he came back a little prematurely last week, and Avery was right to get him right back on the bench:

And Williams admitted Avery Johnson was right when the coach assessed that he didn’t see a “burst” of energy or quickness from the player in Utah.

“Yeah, I would say that. especially running up the court,” said Williams, who played in two of the four west-coast games.

Despite playing well (and mostly losing) since he's been out, this team has missed TWill, no question. He offers, perhaps, the most unique skillset on this roster, and when you have one player that can do so many different things and help the team in an assortment of ways, it hurts when he can't get himself out on the court. I hope he is truly healthy, and Avery gets him in the rotation pretty quickly, because playing TWill allows Devin Harris to be more of a scorer and he seemed to have been developing a nice little rapport with Derrick Favors in the pick and roll game.

Mark Ginocchio

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It's a storyline that's going to follow the Nets at least through February at the trade deadline. While in Denver, Billy King naturally talked up Denver's front office about the availability of Carmelo Anthony, according to Al Iannazzone:

Favors had to impress Denver's hierarchy with his career-best 14-point, eight-rebound performance. But the Nets' 107-103 loss is the latest example of why their brain trust has put a priority on acquiring Anthony.

The Nets (4-9) lack a consistent go-to player and someone who can help them through scoring droughts.

This road trip was a bit of an eye opener for me as a Nets fan about this team's inability to score. I wasn't as concerned earlier in the season because they played a bunch of good defensive teams like Orlando and Miami multiple times, but the offense completely fell apart in Sacramento and couldn't get the job done in Denver. Still, I think trading Derrick Favors for 'Melo will be a mistake and of course, it's still unclear whether he would even sign an extension with the Nets. But it is becoming apparent that this group of players is not going to be able to take the next step without a legitimate scorer.

Mark Ginocchio

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Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

The New Jersey Nets came close to a win once more, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. At the end of the night, the loss was a loss, and the Denver Nuggets came out victorious, 107-103, in the Pepsi Center. As a result, the Nets (4-8) finished their 4-game West road trip 1-3, dropping the final three games of the span. Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets (7-6) with 28 points, and Brook Lopez paced the Nets with 20.

First of all, it has become clear that motivation and resilience are not going to be problems with this year's Nets team. While Kiki Vandeweghe might have been more or less indifferent to keeping his players in the games last year, Avery Johnson has had no such concerns. He has infused this team with a hunger to win, which is of the utmost importance. The on-court performance will come with time, but the mental mindset of ruthlessly pursuing a win is something that a team can't acquire — it either has it or it doesn't.

Unfortunately, that tendency to hang in there means a lot more heartbreak for the fans of the team; last night's game against the Nuggets was no exception. Denver flirted throughout with putting the game out of reach, but the Nets continually crawled back in with effort plays and timely runs. In this game, it was frustratingly poor execution down the stretch (specifically, a giant blunder by Lopez with 14 seconds to play) that cost the Nets a chance at this game.

With the Nets down 2 points, Lopez found himself with the ball at point-blank range with an open look at the rim. He promptly tried to lay it in, and the ball bricked off the rim into the hands of a Nuggets defender. This comment in the pregame open thread tells the story of what every fan watching this game was thinking:

Brook you have to dunk that bleeping ball. Use your bleeping brain. Have you forgotten how to dunk? Come on!!!

— Joe

It was truly a regrettable blunder for the star center, who put this season's sudden passivity on center stage by missing the layup. While the layup might have been the easier course of action, going up strong for the hammer and either putting it down or getting fouled was the right choice. That's the transition that Lopez needs to make to become a truly great center in the league: being assertive and converting those key plays down the stretch. Unsurprisingly, Anthony, the true closer in this game, promptly hit the resulting two free throws to effectively ice the game.

Still, the Nets did not play bad basketball. While they only shot 40 percent from the field for the game, they only turned the ball over seven times and hauled down 45 rebounds. Players who were struggling also stepped up down the stretch.

Travis Outlaw and Jordan Farmar drained key threes toward the end of the fourth quarter to keep the Nets breathing, and Harris, who shot just 3-of-9 in 30 minutes, tapped a rebound away from the Nuggets and took it in transition for an easy layup to bring the Nets within two before Lopez's brain fart. This is a major component of the newfound never-say-die attitude. Even when the Nets are struggling, the players find a way to help the team stay in the game with the clock winding down.

All that said, it is crucial that the Nets don't become regularly satisfied with close losses. While this season in no way resembles last year's disaster, the team is still only 4-8. While winning the championship this year obviously isn't the goal, the Nets still need to win games now. No, 4-8 isn't terrible, but exceeding expectations will help significantly in the long run. Combining the effort they put out tonight with avoiding shortcomings like Lopez's fail will mean the difference in key games upcoming.

Some other thoughts after the break:

... MORE →

Spencer

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The New Jersey Nets try to rebound from their Friday night loss against the Sacramento Kings on the second half of the back-to-back against the Denver Nuggets. Of course the underlying storyline for this game is the continuously up-in-the-air status of Carmelo Anthony. Evidently, the Nets are still suitors for the services of the Nuggets' small forward, and you can be sure he'll get his fair share of questions from the media today regarding his satisfaction with the Nuggets and his trade status in the future.

Meanwhile, the Nets will look to capitalize on a 6-6 Nuggets team that just dropped a game to the Portland Trail Blazers, who were without the services of their All-Star forward Brandon Roy. Compounded with the fact that the Nuggets only mustered 83 points on the contest, and this isn't exactly the worst time to take on Denver for the Nets.

A few opening  thoughts on the game:

• Kris Humphries' Anderson Varejao Impression: Over the past few weeks, Kris Humphries has been a huge shot in the arm for the Nets, picking up the slack of the team's other power forwards. He's scoring abundantly and efficiently, rebounding incredibly, and even playing very solid defense. But even more astounding than just the stats themselves is the way he has been accumulating them. Humphries has put on his Anderson Varejao cap of late, making all the hustle plays that make a team win, particularly on both the offensive and defensive boards. The value of such a player cannot be overstated, so hopefully Humphries can take advantage tonight with Kenyon Martin still out with an injury.
• Perimeter Shooting: The Nuggets pride themselves on good interior defense, even with both Martin and Chris Andersen out of the lineup. If the Nets can get hot from the perimeter and hit a few three-pointers, it will help them on the offensive end. Points in the paint will probably be hard to come by, especially considering Lopez's continued struggles to get good shots near the rim.
• Containing Carmelo: The Nets have been great on defense so far this season, but containing Carmelo Anthony will be a tough challenge in tonight's game. Travis Outlaw, who will start at the 3, will get the first shot at stopping him, but I don't foresee that matchup going very well for the Nets forward. Figure that Quinton Ross will get some minutes on him off the bench, as will Terrence Williams and Damion James if they're reactivated for tonight's game.

Spencer

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Photo by Don Smith/NBAE via Getty Images

Box Score - Cowbell Kingdom - SacTown Royalty

This will certainly go down as a game the Nets should have won. There is flat-out no reason they should have lost this game but in the end they didn't make enough plays to win, and they fell to the Sacramento Kings, 86-81. No that wasn't a misprint that you read. The Nets gave up just 86 points and still lost to one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA. I talked about the Nets lack of scoring before this game and it unfortunately reared its' ugly head again. To score just 81 points against a team like the Kings is utterly disgraceful and the Nets should have never lost this game.

For one of the first times this season both Travis Outlaw and Anthony Morrow played well...and the team still lost. Mark wrote a good article about Tranthony Morrlaw the other day and the two really did produce tonight. A combined 30 points on 11 of 22 shooting is something the Nets would sign up for every night. In the second quarter the Nets shooting guard hit plenty of big shots that seemed to give the Nets a solid edge going into halftime. But as has been the problem throughout this season, they could not preserve the lead.

Perhaps the biggest negative in this game tonight was Brook Lopez. I wrote about the Nets center before the game but he did not live up to his previous expectations. The Nets starting center played 38 minutes and took just 9 shots, making three of them. I know for a fact that 2 of those shots were dunks, which doesn't bode well for his shot selection. I came into this game thinking that Brook had regained his confidence and was ready for another solid performance, but he was just very unimpressive tonight. Your starting center needs to take more than 9 shots when he plays 38 minutes, and Brook just made no impact tonight. To say I was disappointed in his effort would be an understatement.

Before the game I talked about Cousins vs. Favors Round 2. And frankly the matchup was a wash because of the ineffectiveness and utter irrelevance of both players. Sure D. Favors had a sick dunk that made Sportscenter's Top 10, but otherwise he was useless and had just 3 points and 2 rebounds on the night. Cousins wasn't much better, as he had 8 points on 2 of 8 shooting, but did add 10 rebounds. But as I said in this first matchup, getting the W is the most important thing, and Cousins' Kings got that this time.

Let's face it, the Nets biggest nemesis tonight was Beno Udrih. He hit big shots all night, most notably the three with under 5 seconds remaining in the game that iced it away. I can't fault Avery Johnson's strategy in the last few seconds. There was a clear 4 second difference between the game clock and shot clock, and if the Nets got a stop and Udrih missed that shot, the Nets could have called a timeout and gotten a chance to tie or win the game in the last second. But their inability to cover three point shooters ultimately cost them a chance to tie the game, and Beno Udrih had a lot to do with that.

This is one of those games that will stick with me as a Nets fan. They should not have lost and should be 5-7 right now instead of 4-8. They played very well throughout a good portion of this game, but again did not make enough offensive plays to get it done. So now they go into tonight's back-to-back with a 2-game losing streak. They will need a much better offensive effort if they're going to grab a victory in Denver.

Spencer

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After a 1-1 start to their Western Conference road trip, the Nets are back in action tonight against the Sacramento Kings. The first Western swing of the season got off to a strong start with a nice effort against the Clips, and despite losing to the Jazz two nights later, they competed and had a chance in the 4th quarter. Tonight is certainly a winnable game against the Kings, and is doubly important since the Nets have a back-to-back tomorrow in Denver.

Here are a few things to keep an eye on:

Brook Lopez From the Field. After struggling big-time shooting the ball for about a week, Brook Lopez has snapped out of his funk and put together a very solid last three games. He has shot over 50% in two of those three games and in the other (Wednesday night at Utah) he was 8 of 17 from the floor, and added 8 rebounds to go with his 17 points. He had a very strong game against the Kings in the first week of the season (29 points on 8 of 16 shooting) and despite the presence of shot blocker Samuel Dalembert in the middle, Brook should be prime for another solid performance tonight.

Matching Good Defense with Enough Offense. Take away 3 of the Nets losses this season to Miami and Orlando. In their 4 other losses, they have given up less than 100 points and in 3 of those 4 losses they gave up an average of just 89.6 points per game. Basically I'm saying that their defense has been solid enough that their record should be better. Scoring draughts and an inconsistent bench have been a few of their issues on offense. They also need to take better shots in crunch time and not settle for so many three pointers. The Kings are not what you would call a dominating defense so they should be able to hit the 100-point mark tonight, or at the very least score enough points to win.

Favors vs. Cousins Round 2. Before the first Nets-Kings matchup, there was a great deal of talk about the matchup of the two lottery picks, the Nets' Derrick Favors and the Kings' DeMarcus Cousins. The Kentucky product did his fair share of trash talking before the game, but it was Favors who outplayed Cousins. They had similar numbers (10 points and 7 rebounds vs. 12 points and 4 boards) but Favors shot a much better percentage from the field and most importantly, his team got the W. The sudden emergence of Kris Humphries has affected the rook's minutes a bit, but he should still see plenty of action tonight against the Kings' Cousins.

For more coverage of the Sacramento Kings, check out ESPN's TrueHoop affiliate CowbellKingdom.

Spencer

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1. Greg Oden is once again out for the season. Should he continue to try to come back to the NBA or take his various major surgeries/injuries as a sign and quit?

Mark: My word, can this guy or the Portland Trail Blazers catch a break? The thing is, of course he should come back, because there's going to be a team that takes a chance on him regaining at least some of his form after this third microfracture surgery. So why walk away when there's a potential contract out there waiting for him. But wherever he ends up, the expectations have to be remarkably low for what he can accomplish, and for how long. Keep in mind, Sam Bowie lasted 10 years in this league, so I guess there's a precedent of some sort.

Devin: The sad tale of Greg Oden seems to be spiraling out of control. It's no coincidence that a few days before the announcement of the surgery, The Onion ran this article. I still maintain that Oden's got a ton of talent - in those rare instances when he was on the floor he was a huge difference-maker for the Blazers. But this last injury is the 50th or 60th nail in the coffin for the Oden-vs.-Durant discussion. He's a truly nice guy, and I hope he makes it on the floor as an effective player one of these days, but for all sorts of unfortunate reasons it looks like he's the biggest #1 bust since Kwame Brown.

Justin: If Greg can still get enjoyment after going through another surgery and a long rehab process, then I say go for it. At the end of the day he's not going to make more money doing anything else most likely and someone will be willing to pay for him, even if its the league minimum. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a good example of a center who constantly seemed to be injured and eventually managed to find a way to put together a pretty nice career, so there is still hope.

DV: I'd quit if I were Oden to save his knees and not be one of those former athletes in his 40s that can barely walk without pain. The dude is still young enough to go back to college, get his degree, and get a regular job. However, because he was a former elite athlete, I'm sure he'll have some doors open to him somewhere in the real world. And best of all, he has millions already in the bank (I hope) as a base for the rest of his days. This isn't about quitting on basketball, it's about building on life.... MORE →

Dennis Velasco

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Earlier this week, I think I spoke prematurely about Travis Outlaw emerging as the third option on offense for the Nets, when in reality, there’s another player who’s the definitive third amigo riding shotgun with Devin Harris and Brook Lopez. There wasn’t a lot of buzz about the acquisition of this player in the off-season, and the workings of his contract are still a bit murky. But his presence in this Nets lineup can no longer be ignored. That player is Tranthony Morrlaw.

The ability of Travis Outlaw and Anthony Morrow to never have a solid game simultaneously is uncanny. In fact, since the season began, there’s only been one game where neither player has reached double digits in scoring, the Halloween Massacre against the Miami Heat in Newark when Morrow topped the duo with 5 points. In every other game, the boxscore reads as if Morrow and Outlaw sat down in the locker room before hand and said: “Dude, I think I’m going to go for 20+ tonight?” “OK, good, because I’m only feeling like 4 points myself, so I won’t get in your way.”

With that said, when you combine the best efforts of Outlaw and Morrow, this Tranthony Morrlaw character is evolving into a heckuva offensive player for the Nets.  When scrolling through the schedule, if you take the better game between Morrow and Outlaw, this hybrid player is averaging 18.5 points per game on 56 percent shooting and 53 percent from three point land. I think the Nets would be more than happy if either Outlaw or Morrow could put up that kind of point production over the long haul of the season. But it’s imperative that when one player is up, the other steps it up just a little bit more, because if you take the worse game between the two, Tranthony Morrlaw, or better yet, Anvis Outrrow is averaging 5 points per game on 24 percent shooting and 21 percent shooting from three.  The Nets would be better off starting Stephen Graham if that’s all that Outrrow is going to be able to provide.

Mark Ginocchio

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Despite his benching on Wednesday night, Troy Murphy was not tipping his hand about his unhappiness with the situation. With the beat writers swarming him yesterday, here's what Murphy said:

Murphy wasn't biting. As he repeated over and over, "It is what it is," laughing with writers about his unflappable ability to deflect all questions with that one phrase, Murphy may be too savvy to criticize or complain about his situation as the $12 million 13th man, but that doesn't mean he has to play to every script.

In the report, the Daily News' Stefan Bondy suggests the best solution for Murphy is a trade for Carmelo Anthony - I guess assuming that would open up a spot in the rotation if Favors is moved, or perhaps Murphy is shipped out as well. I don't know if that's Troy's only option. He clearly needs to get into better playing shape, and there's no reason to believe Kris Humphries is going to be a double-double machine for the rest of the season. Let's see what happens in the next month before determining where Murphy is going to end up.

Mark Ginocchio

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Nets loss to Jazz in bullets:

• Initial thoughts on this game is that it's not a horrible loss for the Nets. As I stated earlier in the pregame thread, the Jazz beat the Heat, Magic and Hawks in a stretch last week, all locks to be playoff teams in the East, and when it's all said and done this year, the Jazz could be a top four team in the West and we were playing in their building.
• That being said, the Nets were within striking distance in the fourth quarter and had opportunities to bring the game to a tie. Late in the fourth, the Nets were getting stop after stop, yet it was on offense that the Nets couldn't seem to get that big basket.
• Only two field goals over the final six minutes of the fourth quarter. Tough to win games like that, but the Nets were getting open shots, just couldn't hit.
• The front court was a factor as the Nets get out rebounded, 57-44.
• The curious trend of Anthony Morrow and Travis Outlaw unable to both play good games on the same night continues: Morrow shoots 8-of-16 and finishes with 24 points while Outlaw shoots an awful 1-of-12 from the field, including two wide open three pointers late in the fourth which would have been momentum changers, and finishes the day with only three points.
• Tale of two halves for Brook Lopez. First half Brook scores 17 points and seemed poised to have a big night. Second half, Brook scores zero points and fouls out down the stretch on an offensive foul.
• Devin Harris played a good all-around floor game but I still hate the habit Devin has of feeling contact and anticipating a foul, so he begins his shooting motion, yet the whistle never comes and he ends up in mid air, not quite ready to shoot and sometimes with no one to pass to. I think I see Devin do this more so than any other player. Not something hugely critical, just a pet peeve that I've noticed in his game.
• All five Jazz starters score in double figures. Deron Williams bulled his way to the foul line 13 times where he sank 12. Our guy is good, but on nights like this you can see the clear superiority that an elite point guard like Deron Williams possesses.
• Good to see Terrence Williams back, though I think we're all waiting for him to make the impact on the season we were hoping he would.
• Whoever decided on going back to the green, yellow and white uniforms/color scheme for the Jazz deserves a raise, I like those so much better.
• I'll close with a quote from Avery Johnson which I think sums things up the best, “Our team — we’re not at a point, right now, mentally, where we really believe, deep down in our gut, that we can win these games." I think that speaks volumes to where this team is at right now. I think you definitely get a sense of that as well. You saw it down the stretch against Orlando at home.
• To a certain extent you can expect that from this team. They are young (for the most part), but they have guys who have won before and have experience. Hopefully as this team grows and matures, they'll start growing more confidence that they can win games against quality opponents.

The Nets look to rebound at Sacramento on Friday night at 10:00pm est.

Justin DeFeo

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When the Nets acquired Troy Murphy over the summer, there was talk that his expiring contract could make for worthwhile trade bait. But there was also talk that he would be able to help the Nets by averaging a double-double and draining three-pointers at a fantastic rate for a PF. Less than a month into the season, Murphy is seemingly out of Avery Johnson's rotation, leading Yannis Koutroupis from HoopsWorld to wonder when the Nets might move the PF:

There are plenty of teams that could stand to add a big man of Murphy's caliber like the Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns.

The Nets were originally hoping that Murphy could be a key contributor in their rise back to respectability, but their young guys are making him look expendable. Don't be surprised if they let him go sometime close to the February trade deadline once they come to terms with being out of the running for Carmelo Anthony's services.

While the play of Kris Humphries and Derrick Favors may make Murphy expendable, I really think Troy has to prove he's healthy and capable of playing before the Nets can consider trading him. Otherwise, he's just a very large expiring contract rotting on the sidelines. I'm personally a little shocked as to how bad he's looked, and believe there's no way he can be healthy yet. I hope Murphy gets a chance to redeem himself, otherwise the Nets dumped Courtney Lee - a potentially solid rotational piece - for absolutely nothing.

Mark Ginocchio

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On Monday night, the Nets snapped a 23 game road losing streak against the Clippers, now they're looking to actually start a road Western Conference winning streak. To do so, they'll have to be a formidable opponent the Utah Jazz. Last week the Jazz took care of the East's so called "elite" beating the Heat, Magic and Hawks in successive games.

Some things to look for:

• Front Court Defending - It's going to be big today. Utah gets a ton of production from their front court players Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. Combined they are averaging 37ppg and 17rpg. Defending them is not soley resting on the hands of our power rotation as Jefferson and Millsap are involved in Utah's offense in a multitude of ways, whethers it the pick and roll, pick and pop or just straight post ups. Therefore good team defense and solid rotations are going to be important, but it wouldn't be a bad thing if our bigs could contain them.
• Lopez/Jefferson Matchup - Should be a fun matchup from an offensive standpoint. Both of these guys are known a little more for their finesse games rather than their power games. Jefferson is regarded as one of the best "true" back to the basket players and I think we are all hoping Brook Lopez can become that someday. My guess is there will be a lot of up and unders between the two of them today.
• Troy Murphy Sighting - Will we see him? Murphy certainly has the talent to be a contributor for the Nets, but with the tandem of Kris Humphries and Derrick Favors providing energy, toughness and scoring, the minutes haven't been there for Murphy and he seems to be the odd man out, right now at least. I'm sure he will work his way back into the rotation, but today could be a day his experience and defense helps.

For more coverage of the Utah Jazz, head on over to our Truehoop affiliate Salt Lake City Hoops.

Justin DeFeo

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