For a second round draft pick who’s not known as a shooter or for his defense, there’s just something oddly fascinating about the downward spiral of Chris Douglas-Robert’s 2009-10 NBA season.

He certainly showed flashes of being a rotation player late last season and earlier this season. While the roster was decimated by injury in November, CDR appeared to be riding shotgun with Brook Lopez as the only consistent offensive performers on the team, averaging 17.3 points points per game. But in the following months, CDR’s role on offense diminished greatly. Last month, he was replaced in the starting lineup by Jarvis Hayes, and rumors of him “falling out of favor” with coach Kiki Vandeweghe seemed to have put a further crimp on his playing time. On Sunday, he earned the dreaded, DNP-CD against the Memphis Grizzlies, and an unnamed team executive said Douglas-Roberts was late for a practice, as the reasoning. CDR disputed that claim on his Twitter page, a tool he often uses, rumor has it, much to the chagrin of Kiki and other members on the Nets front office.

Both Sebastian and I have spent a lot of time breaking down and analyzing CDR’s season from both a basketball-sense – which is obviously more objective – and from a more philosophical, subjective perspective. And it seems like many of the team’s beat writers take this approach with CDR as well. Because what’s not to like about a guy who always seems willing to talk candidly when a microphone or a notebook is shoved in front of his face. CDR has told the world in one way or another, that his team is soft, has no heart and has developed a new “system” of which he plays less of a role. He’s Tweeted about loving his “Memphis People” after trade rumors regarding sending him to the Grizzlies surfaced, and then emphatically denied he was pining for a trade after the fact.

And all of these factors have created a gravitational pull around CDR whether you love him or hate him. Has anyone questioned why Trenton Hassell hasn’t received playing time from Kiki Vandeweghe recently, despite playing above expectations earlier this season? How about Bobby Simmons who was one of the better shooting SFs in all of the NBA last season? Simmons hasn’t played in months.

CDR hasn’t been a factor in a Nets game in more than a month.  He plays a position where the Nets actually have some decent depth on the roster, and stand to acquire more depth giving the high profile names on this summer’s free agent list. Maybe it’s time for us all to collectively stop wringing our hands and obsessing over what CDR is doing, the good and the bad. If he’s truly falling out of favor with the organization, that will be demonstrated in due time when he is either traded this summer or released.  It just seems like a lot of ink has been spent rehashing something that seems to only be affecting one player who may or may not even be in the league a year from now.

Mark Ginocchio

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And we're back....

The story of the day out of Nets practice yesterday was Brook Lopez and his lack of touches in the second half of Sunday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. In the Star-Ledger, Kiki Vandeweghe explains: “Defenses aren’t stupid,’’ coach/GM Kiki Vandeweghe said when asked why Lopez seems to have so many hot starts/cold finishes. “They’re going to load everyone around him and when he catches they’re running guys at him.

Lopez, sounding a little more frustrated than usual, told Al Iannazzone: "I just think when a player’s playing well, when a player’s hot, we need to get that guy the ball," Lopez said after practice Monday. "But we just need to play team basketball."

Fred Keber says: Brook Lopez may have to go a little Norman Bates if the Nets are going to avoid the infamy of the worst record in NBA history.

Mark Ginocchio

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Advanced Box Score | 3 Shades Of Blue | Straight Outta Vancouver

I am fairly confident in saying that the Nets' first half last night against the Grizzlies was the best half of basketball that they have played all year.  I mean their attack was perfect.  They were running very opportunistically, pushing the ball, but if there wasn't anything there, they would slow things down and hit Brook Lopez in the post.  I have been saying all year this is the Nets best chance to win, and they proved that when they play like that they can hang in (and take a double digit lead) with some of the best teams in the NBA.  The problem is, for whatever reason they just stop doing what works, and I don't really know why.  Is it because that they tense up when a game is within reach because of what happened this season?  Could be.  Is it because they just aren't good enough offensively to maintain a consistent offensive attack?  Possibly.  Every time a team makes a run on the Nets it's almost like they just throw their hands up and say, "you know what?  That's it, we lost."  The thing that really bothers me is that the Nets have one of the best slump-breakers on their team, Brook Lopez.

I call Brook a slump-breaker because whenever a team can't hit a shot from the outside (or get an open look), they tend to just toss it inside, and let their big man work.  Brook was on some kind of roll in the first half of last night's game.  He was hitting open jumpers, working well off the ball (getting a good amount of lobs), and when he got the ball in the post, he just flat-out abused his defender (the one play where he spinned inside and hit a nice little step back jumper being his nicest move).  However, Brook picked up 2 offensive fouls late in the first half (after already having one), giving him 3 and it really killed his momentum.  As he walked off the court with a little over 2 minutes in the first half, Brook had 22 points.  He finished with just 26.  Brook was getting such a consistent amount of touches inside in the first half, it is just really hard to comprehend how he only took 3 shots in the second half (he was 9-11 in the first half, and finished going 11-14).  This schizophrenic play by the Nets is what may keep them from getting 5 more wins to avoid the worst record in the NBA.  Some more thoughts after the jump.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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Guys, as you may have known, the site was down for a little over 24 hours starting Sunday morning.  The issue was server where our domain was being hosted at got attacked.  We are back up and running now, but I just wanted to apologize for the inconvenience that this may have caused.  I will have a Thoughts on the Game up for last night's game soon, and starting tomorrow, we will be back on our regular schedule of content.  Sorry again.

Sebastian Pruiti

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NBAE Getty Image

Hoopdata Box Score - Raptors Republic - View from the Couch

At 5 wins and 50 losses, it's easy to say the New Jersey Nets don't match up well with most teams in the NBA. But there's something about the way the Toronto Raptors play basketball that really exposes the most damning flaws for the Nets, as was seen in last night's 106-89 loss at the Izod Center.

Even without Chris Bosh, who missed last night's game with an injury, the Raptors were totally content to make the Nets stop them from the perimeter, mixing in some back door cuts to get some points at the rim. The Nets are notorious for poor perimeter defense because they just don't seem capable of ever rotating to the ball effectively. Meanwhile, because of the collective low basketball IQ of the Nets' frontcourt, they are often befuddled by teams that run a lot of backdoor screens. Guys like Yi Jianlian, Kris Humphries, and yes, even Brook Lopez lose track of either the players their guarding, or where the ball is going, leading to all too easy buckets at the rim.

Two plays that stand out for me that truly bring home the Nets interior and perimeter defensive deficiencies both came in the third quarter - interestingly enough the only period where the Nets outscored the Raptors, making this game look somewhat closer at points than it actually was.

At the 3:05 mark DeMar DeRozan made a back door cut and was able to blow by Devin Harris on the right to get a wide open path to the basket along the strong side baseline. Josh Boone, Yi Jianlian, Terrence Williams and Keyon Dooling, the other four Nets players on the court at the time, all had their backs to DeRozan and seemed completely unaware that the play was either developing. It was such a shocking development for me that I rewatched the play a few more times and saw the same thing - outside of Devin Harris, who was able to foul DeRozan to prevent the dunk, I don't think a single Net knew where the ball was - and if they did know where it was, they seemed completely disinterested in trying to be a help defender and either attempt to block the shot, draw a charge, or take DeRozan down to prevent the easy bucket. Four NBA players should not look so clueless on a play.

As for perimeter defense, at the end of the third quarter the Nets got punished for going with a small lineup of Boone-TWill-Dooling-Hayes and Devin Harris while the Raptors still had Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson - two big men, on the floor. On two occasions earlier in the quarter, Bargnani found his way into the post matched up with Terrence Williams and was able to score at ease. In the final seconds of the third, Bargnani found his way into the post against Williams again, and this time Hayes, who was guarding Calderon at the top of the key, left his man to double. Calderon naturally got the ball and Jarvis was in too deep to get back to him, leaving Josh Boone to desperately jump at him. Calderon calmly pump faked to get Boone out of the picture, and drilled the three.

Here's some overall evidence of poor perimeter defense from the Nets. For the entire game, the Raptors shot 13-21 on their long twos (16-23 feet) good for 62 percent. Rasho Nesterovic was 6-6 on long twos just by himself. I guess there's an element of luck to hit such a high percentage of lower percentage shots, but again, you don't have to be a professional scout to know the Raptors like to shoot and shoot often. How the Nets were so ill prepared for this facet of Toronto's game is shocking.

More thoughts after the jump.
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Mark Ginocchio

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In a game that was closer than the score indicated, the Nets ended up losing to the Raptors 106 to 89.  The Nets were able to get the lead down to 7 at one point in the second half, but Jarvis Hayes missed a three and the Raptors responded with a bucket of their own, and that shut down any hopes the Nets had at winning.

• Jarvis Hayes had a night that he wants to forget.  He was 2-10 from the field and only finished with 5 points.  Hayes was only 1-8 from the three point line too.  He had like 4 shots go in and out, and just struggled all around.
• Other than Hayes, the Nets shot good from three.  T-Will went 2-2, Dooling went 2-3, Lee went 2-5, and Harris went 1-1.
• Yi was another one who struggled as he shot 2-13 from the field.  Hopefully the Nets end up giving him a rest.
• Devin Harris has had his like 6th or 7th straight good game, and I think this is because he is finally healthy.
• No one guy killed the Nets, but it was an all around team effort as 7 Raptors were in double-figures.

Sebastian Pruiti

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Before we get to the game tonight, I wanted to talk about a contest that the Nets are holding real quick.  There is a Jay-Z concert on March 6th at the Izod Center.  The Nets are giving away free tickets, and it is pretty easy to qualify for a chance to win.  According to the site:

All one has to do is follow the Nets on Twitter (@netsbasketball) or Become a Fan on Facebook by March 1st, and retweet a message (Twitter) or fill out a brief form (FB).

Just thought some Nets fans would be interested in this info.

As for the game, no Chris Bosh tonight for the Raptors.  Nets' fans shouldn't really be celebrating yet, because Bosh's great play isn't the reason why the Nets have been losing to the Raptors.  Don't get me wrong, he has been a factor, but the Raptors running and gunning is what has been giving the Nets problems.  We shall see if the Nets can keep this from happening tonight.  Onto the lineups...

Devin Harris vs. Jarrett Jack

Mark summed it up perfectly earlier today.  Devin Harris is back, and it isn't just because of the numbers either (I believe sometimes the numbers can lie to you), but if you watch him, he just looks better now.  He looks like the same player as last year, and that is important.

Advantage:  Devin Harris

Courtney Lee vs. DeMar DeRozan

Courtney Lee had a really good game in the Nets' win against Charlotte.  He then had a truly awful game against the Heat.  That seems to be Courtney's problem this year, consistency.  It is understandable though.  Last year, as the 5th or 6th option on that Magic team, Lee could afford to have a bad game here or there because the Magic weren't relying on him.  The Nets rely on him.  He is this team's third option, and he is going to have to be more consistent for the Nets.

Advantage:  Push

Jarvis Hayes vs. Hedo Turkoglu

Hedo Turkoglu is one of the biggest flops (in terms of Free Agent signings) this year so far, and part of it is the way that he plays on the Raptors.  Hedo is a guy who is at his best with the ball in his hands, he just seems more comfortable with that.  The Raptors have a true-point guard, and they like to run their sets (not saying it is a bad thing), but this kind of keeps Hedo out of the loop.

Advantage:  Hedo Turkoglu

Yi vs. Amir Johnson

I think Amir is going to be the guy who is going to replace Chris Bosh tonight, thought I am not really positive.  Johnson might end up being a nightmare match-up for Yi, because he is a very athletic guy, and those are the guys who seem to give him the most problems.

Advantage:  Push

Brook Lopez vs. Andrea Bargnani

Andrea Bargnani is going to present a unique problem for Brook Lopez.  Bargnani isn't going to bother him on the defensive end, but when on offense, Brook is going to have a tough time covering Bargnani.  He said it himself (via @netsbasketball):

Brook, on Bargs: "It’s tough b/c he can shoot the ball, he’s big and can play in the post. You’ve got to try to make him rely on counters."

To offset this, Brook really needs to get working in the post on the offensive end.  Hopefully the contact and all that will tire Bargnani out and that will end up leaving his shots short.  If not, this can happen.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Sebastian Pruiti

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Sam Holako of Raptors Republic returns to answer a couple of quick questions about the Toronto Raptors before tonight's game at the Izod Center.

NAS: Because exhibitions like the Slam Dunk Competition are what's really important (at least when you follow a team with 5 wins), how would you rate DeMar DeRozan's performance over All-Star weekend and do you have any ideas on how to improve on the dunk competition, which was universally panned this year?

I really thought DeMar had a great dunk off. The kid is a natural athlete, and has been putting down big dunks all year. It was good to see him get out there and get some attention on a national level. I'd do two things to improve the dunk competition: 1) Ban Nate Robinson from competing ever again 2) Transform it into a team competition where you have a dunkers and shot blockers, with regular NBA rules (fouls, travelling, etc), and see who wins. The dunk off has been lame since Vince Carter took things to the next level years ago, and will never be as good again.

NAS: How realistic of a goal is it for the Raptors and their fans to shoot for the #4 seed and overtake Boston in the East by season's end? And how would the Raptors fare in a first round match-up against Boston? We know what happened the last time the Raptors won a division and faced an aging, but battle tested former Division winner in the first round of the playoffs (please allow me to relive some semblance of Nets glory here).

For the Raptors to sneak into 4th in the East, they will have to win 6 more games than the Celtics do, since the Celtics have already won all the tiebreakers. Considering the Raptors have 28 games left, and the Celtics have 31...it's just impossible unless the stars align, and since we have Turkoglu running amok on the wing, I wont hold my breath. If you ask me, it doesn't even matter if we take 4th since we have no chance of beating the Celtics in a 7 game series. Boston OWNS the Raptors; we've beat them only once over the last two seasons, I don't see the playoffs being any different. I hate you for drudging up the past like that; sign of a guy who's supporting the worst team of all time in professional sports.

Mark Ginocchio

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I’m going to pull two sets of numbers on Devin Harris to help set the table for this post:

Points per game: 21.3

Field Goal %:  44%

Assists per game: 6.9

Free Throw Attempts Per Game: 8.8

and

Points:  19.9

Field Goal: 43%

Assists:  8.7

Free Throw Attempts: 7.0

Obviously, these two sets of numbers are not identical, but they are comparable, and that’s a good thing. The first set are Devin’s final season numbers from his breakout 2008-09 campaign, and the second set details Devin’s performance in the month of February, which includes seven games since he missed one due to injury.

Since the beginning of the season, where there was a noticeable decline in his numbers, I’ve been one of Harris’ harshest critics, questioning if last season was a fluke, or if he was capable of carrying a team offensively without another all-star backcourt-mate like Vince Carter.  He still has his flaws as a player, and his shot selection late in games could you leave you scratching your head, but the fact that he’s getting his scoring, field goal percentage and free throw attempts closer to last year’s levels is a good sign. What makes me most optimistic about this stretch of play is that the light seemed to go on after he missed four and a half games with his wrist injury.  Perhaps Devin’s finally starting to regain his touch now that he’s a little more healthy.

Adding a little more credence to the idea that Devin’s wrist injury was affecting his scoring ability is his field goal percentage on long twos and threes the past month. Harris is shooting 42 percent combined on all jump shots from 16-feet and out (including threes).  He’s shooting 32 percent on just his three pointers in February. Compare that to earlier this season, like in December, when Devo was atrocious from beyond the arc, shooting 22 percent on 11-50. A Devin Harris who can mix in an occasional jump shot with his usual attacking of the basket, is a dangerous offensive player.

What we now need to see is how much longer Devin can keep this play up for. It’s without a doubt, his most prolonged stretch of good offensive basketball this season. I’m still waiting to see if he’s capable of that transcendent game where he’s unstoppable.  He had his fair share of those last season, like his 47 point, 8 assist game against Phoenix on 11/30/08 or his 41 point, 13 assist performance against Dallas on 12/19/08. Harris looked capable of one of those nights early on during Wednesday’s game against Miami, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, but he sat an incredibly long stretch between the first and second quarters, and when he returned, he seemed to have lost that scoring touch. I think once Devin mixes in one of those “big” games where he’s the best offensive player on the floor, I can more safely conclude that the Harris of old is “back.”

Mark Ginocchio

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The Nets decided to stand pat at the trading deadline this year, but it seems like they were the only ones.  There were a lot of teams clearing space at the deadline, and now the Nets aren't the only ones with a lot of cap space available going into this offseason.  Now that the dust has settled, I think it is important to look at the teams with newly discovered capspace and compare their situations to the Nets.All numbers moving forward are based on an estimated salary cap of $53 million next year.

Sacramento Kings

Breakdown

By shipping Kevin Martin out, the Kings have freed up slightly less than $19 million (before taking into consideration the contract of a lottery pick).  This can make them a player for a a real good second tier guy.   It has long been a plan that if the Nets can't get a max contract guy (Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh), the Nets would end up "settling" for a second tier guy like Joe Jonson, Rudy Gay, or Carlos Boozer (this is if any of them are willing to take less than the max).  The Kings can now sneak in and take away one of these guys.

Advantage

So why would a player go to Sacramento over New Jersey?  There is a pretty special player named Tyreke Evans over there.  There has to be a shooting guard out there just salivating about the chance to play with him, plus they have another lottery pick coming this year.  A nice little core building in Sacramento.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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On Wednesday, the Nets couldn't beat Miami without Dwyane Wade. Can they beat the Raptors tonight without Chris Bosh?

The Record talks to Nets fans about why they're not showing up at the Izod Center. Money quote: "Obviously, the team and the crowds have gotten a lot worse over the seven years," Walters said. "I’m considering whether to come back. It’s discouraging to watch a team with five wins. I used to come to every game no matter what. Now I pick and choose. Part of me feels like I already wasted my money to come here, do I want to waste my time, too?"

After the trade deadlines, Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News is getting the Canyon of Heroes ready for the 2010-2011 Knicks. Seriously.

John Krolik, of Cavs the Blog fame, breaks down the potential summer spenders over at NBC Sports.

Mark Ginocchio

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As the trade deadline passed, there were no trades announced by the Nets. There was a pretty big move announced today though, as the Nets have made it known that they reached an agreement and will be playing their games in the Prudential Center soon.  The Star-Ledger has the details:

After months of speculation over whether the struggling NBA team would leave Izod Center in the Meadowlands for a two-year stay at the new Prudential Center in Newark, a deal was struck today to allow the Nets to break their lease for $4 million and move to Newark, according to officials involved in the negotiations.

The early termination fees could be offset in part by advertising, suite revenue and other credits.

The agreement came after the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority voted in secret to approve the deal at a special meeting this morning. A formal announcement is expected later today by Gov. Chris Christie.

This is a great move for the Nets.  While there is no word on when the games are going to start being played in Newark, I am guessing it will be next year.  I know the move is only temporary, but you know that Free Agents would rather play anywhere other than the Izod Center.  I have also been in the Prudential Center (not as a fan), and I can say the locker-rooms and facilities are very very nice.  This is a good place to play while waiting for Brooklyn to get done.  I am not saying that the Prudential Center will draw fans on it's own, but it is much more attractive than the Izod.

Plus, this is better for the fans.  The Prudential Center is just blocks away from a train station.  This means that there is finally a way to get to Nets' games using mass transit, something that wasn't all that possible for the Meadowlands.  In the article, there was one final interesting note:

Additionally, the Nets agreed that it would not stand in the way of another NBA coming to New Jersey in the future -- which leaves the door open to another team coming to the Prudential Center should the Nets finally move to Brooklyn.

Not sure that it would actually ever happen (in my opinion it all depends on how the Nets draw in the Prudential Center), but can you imagine having two New York teams and a team in New Jersey?  That could be interesting as a fan...

Sebastian Pruiti

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