As if watching the Nets chase all-time infamy wasn’t bad enough for fans, those working in the front office appear to be emulating the comically inept and embarrassing play on the hardwood – to the point that the resignation of an interim assistant coach has seemingly exposed the complete and utter chaos that has swallowed this organization.

The recent and unexpected resignation of Del Harris as assistant coach has produced somewhat conflicting stories regarding the circumstances behind his departure. The Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Alessandro reported earlier this week that Harris’s agent asked team President Rod Thorn about Del becoming the next head coach, returning Kiki Vandeweghe to the GM spot, an idea which Thorn rejected. A Peter Vescey report from Tuesday, says that Kiki, Harris and Harris’ agent allegedly concocted a plan behind unbeknownst to Thorn where Harris was promised the head coaching spot later this season, moving Kiki back to GM, where he could hypothetically prove his worth before the house cleaning that is certain to commence when Mikhail Prokhorov takes over as owner.

This morning, Al Iannazzone reported that Thorn is now investigating the details from the Vescey report. If a side deal was made behind Thorn's back, Kki could get the axe.

All of these stories contain elements that are both plausible and outrageous.  Regardless of who’s got the story right here, what ties all of these accounts together is the reported lack of cohesion in the front office.

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Mark Ginocchio

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When looking at a few Nets' shot locations for yesterday's post, I was surprised to see that Devin's shot attempts at the rim are higher than the average PG.  This is surprising, because you would think that more attempts at the rim would mean easier shots, meaning more points.  However, this isn't the case.  Devin's numbers (both in terms of PPG and APG) have dropped considerably from last year's all-star season to this year.  Why has this drop-off happened?  Well, let's take a look at some numbers that can help explain the drop-off.

Once again, all of these numbers are from the great Hoopdata.com.

% Of FGs Assisted

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Sebastian Pruiti

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Cavs the Blog - Fear the Sword

If there was a way to stop all Nets-Cavs games after the first quarter, the Nets might be the team looking like the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.

For the second consecutive match-up for these two teams, the undisputed worst team in the east took it to the best team. The Nets jumped out to an early 8-point lead in Cleveland last night, with Jarvis Hayes and Courtney Lee combining for 19 points in the first quarter. Hayes was especially sharp, drilling three treys in the first, while LeBron James was more methodical, waiting until the second half to erupt for his eventual game high 32 points.

But like the previous games against Cleveland, once the Cavs were able to get ahead, there never was any doubt that they were going to have to look back. A common analogy used in sports is the "switch" a championship level team is able to turn on and off, especially during the regular season against lesser opponents. The Nets-Cavs dynamic this season embodies the "switch" comparison to a "T." In this case, Shaquille O'Neal jammed home two points at the 9:52 mark in the second quarter, putting Cleveland up 32-31. From there, Cleveland's lead was as high as 17, though the Nets were able to chip away down to 5 a few times, and managed to keep the final score within seven points.

On the surface, you could say the Nets have laid Cleveland surprisingly well this season - in their three games they've lost by 10, 10 and 7. But in all of these games, Cleveland's lead in the second half just felt so much more insurmountable.  The Nets were down 6 going into half when I realized that LeBron James had only scored 9 points. How could anyone reasonably expected the game's leading scorer to have such pedestrian numbers for the entire game. Naturally, he didn't. He scored on five of the team's first eight possessions in the third quarter. At that point, I realized: there was no way the Nets were going to win this game. It was all about whether or not LeBron or the Cavs were interested in keeping it close or not.

To the Nets credit, they got some overall good performances from Courtney Lee (24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), who's starting to bunch more of the positive games together than bad, and Brook Lopez (23 points, 14 rebounds), who I was relieved to see smiling a bit during the fourth quarter's final minutes. While some fans may bristle at their star player looking at ease when the team is about to lose its 47th game of the season, I've become so accustomed to the look of dejection and frustration on Brook's face at the end of games, I'll take a smile at this stage of the season. If we were charting the 7 stages of grief here, I think Lopez is finally at acceptance, or at the very least, he's becoming more functional.

What was most concerning to me in this game was what a big fat flop the reserves were. With Keyon Dooling pushed into the first unit for the ailing Devin Harris, guys like Kris Humphries and Terrence Williams needed to step up their production, and they did just the opposite. While +/- numbers are not always the greatest indicators in small, 48 minute sample sizes, last night's differentials were very telling: Tony Battie (-19), Trenton Hassell (-14), Chris Quinn (-11), Kris Humphries (-22) and Terrence Williams (-23). The starters meanwhile, all had positive differentials. A strong showing from some of these guys could have been the difference in a 7-point game if you believed the Nets were capable of catching Cleveland napping. As for a curious development for the bench - an "available" Chris Douglas-Roberts earned the nefarious DNP-CD.

Some final thoughts after the jump.

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Mark Ginocchio

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Al Iannazzone rehashes more about the Del Harris resignation situation (read NAS's take on it later today).

Chris Douglas-Roberts was asked about his DNP-CD last night and he confirmed he was in fact ready to play if needed: “It is what it is,” he said.

Will Leitch, formerly of Deadspin fame, now of New York magazine, lets the Knicks know that it's okay: they could be the Nets.

Paul Jones of Sportsnet Canada wonders if Bryan Colangelo of the Raptors might jump ship to the Nets once Mikhail Prokhorov takes over.

Former Net Ed O'Bannon is making progress in his lawsuit against the NCAA.

Mark Ginocchio

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The Devin Harris-less Nets continued their string of keeping games close, hanging with the Cleveland Cavaliers for most of the game, but inevitably falling 104-97 in Cleveland tonight.

• The Nets, who actually led for parts of the first half, got quality performance from three of their starters tonight with Courtney Lee leading the way with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Brook Lopez had a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Jarvis Hayes recovered from his nasty collision on Saturday, scoring 19 points, including 3-6 from three.
• The Nets bench wasn't so hot, scoring only 9 points collectively, while the Cavs reserves pitched in with 37.
• Both teams shot over 50 percent for the game, with the Cavs hitting on 52.7 percent of their shots and the Nets on 51.4 percent.
• A typical night for the king, as LeBron finished with 32 points and 11 assists. Jawad Williams had a career high 17 points off the bench for Cleveland and Anderson Varejao continued to be a thorn in the Nets side with 15 points, 9 rebounds, and a bunch of disruptive hustle plays. Take note Kris Humphries.

Mark Ginocchio

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So the Nets have had two days to lick their wounds, and after playing a string of very winnable games (and only getting 1), they now have to deal with the Cleveland Cavs.  Not only that, but they are dealing with a Cavalier team who have won 11 in a row.  Oh yeah, LeBron scored 47 his last time out.  Onto the lineups...

Keyon Dooling vs. Delonte West

A good number of Nets fans (myself not included) are excited to see Keyon in the lineup instead of Devin (who will probably be out due to that collision Saturday).  I really don't understand this.  Now, we don't have the numbers to tell us who is playing better with the starting unit (too small of a sample size), but I am thinking just the fact that Dooling is a true point guard makes it look like he is being more productive.  The defensive end might have something to do with it too, though over the past two games, Devin's defense has been much improved.  To the point where I was working on a post talking about how Devin is finally turning to corner.  We will see what happens when he gets back.

Advantage:  Push

Courtney Lee vs. Anthony Parker

I think I said this last time the Nets played the Cavs, but I think Courtney Lee and Anthony Parker are similar type players right now.  Both are very good defenders who can knock down the open three.  Where I see Lee improving himself this year vs. last is his willingness to attack the rim.  He is very aggressive when attacking, and on nights where his shots are falling, he is very tough to defend.

Advantage:  Anthony Parker

Jarvis Hayes vs. LeBron James

LeBron James is a tough cover for everyone, especially for an older guy coming off of a badly bruised shin.  This could get bad real quick.

Advantage:  LeBron James

Kris Humphries vs. J.J. Hickson

Humphries is listed here because Yi is also questionable.  His shoulder (the one he looked like he dislocated last Tuesday) is still sore.  He tried playing through it, but the results were less than favorable.  My guess is that he sits out the next two, getting him to the All-Star break and getting him a good amount of rest.

Advantage:  Push

Brook Lopez vs. Shaq

Last time Brook went up against Shaq, he was able to use movement without the basketball to get him some looks.  Expect to see that.  Also, expect to see some more "long twos" unfortunately.  This is the type of center where Brook tends to float and settle for them, hopefully that doesn't happen tonight.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Sebastian Pruiti

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Shot selection.  I have been harping on this for a little while now, and I am going to talk about it some more.  It is such an important topic in my opinion, that it deserves being talked about this much.  When guys are taking the right type of shots it means they are scoring more, plain and simple.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the Nets' odd shot selection in the past few 4th quarters that got me thinking about this.  It was an old article I came across over at Hoopdata.com.  If you read this site daily, you know how much I love Hoopdata (we link to their advanced box scores after every game).  This article by Tom Haberstroh takes a look at a few players and how their shot locations don't really match up with their position.  I thought this would be fun to do with a few New Jersey Nets.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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Using the naked eye, I think most Nets fans would agree that the 2009-10 version of Yi Jianlian looks like a different player compared to his first two seasons in the NBA. Nets Are Scorching and other writers have noted Yi’s increased muscle mass, his aggressiveness in taking the ball to the rim, and how he’s more of a focal point on offense than ever before.  For better or worse, all of these things are different about Yi.

But that’s the funny thing about the naked eye. Sure, it tells you a lot, but it’s also deceiving. Because if you look strictly at Yi’s numbers for this season and exclude his off-the-chart play after returning from injury in December, what you’re left with is a player who’s statistically very similar to the Yi Jianlian of 2008-09, a player, who by most accounts, was a disappointment.

Let’s first establish what’s statistically different about Yi, because I believe when coupled with what’s statistically similar or worse, it paints a very ominous picture about the kind of player the Nets have here.  According to Hoopdata, about 44 percent of Yi’s total field goal attempts are coming at 10 feet or less, compared to 29 percent last year – which gives merit to the idea that Yi is taking the ball to the hoop more aggressively, rather than settling for jumpers. Meanwhile, Yi’s usage rate is 19.5 percent, up from 18.5 in 08-09, and his assist ratio is 4.6, way down from last year’s 8.8. In fact, out of 68 power forwards ranked by ESPN, Yi’s assist ratio ranks him 65^th.

Here’s what’s more or less the same:  Yi shot a putrid 38 percent from the field last season. Taking away his hot restart in December, Yi is shooting the ball at a 37 percent clip in January and February. And while he’s scoring more points and taking more shots than last year, he’s not necessarily doing it more efficiently. His points per 40 minutes last season was 14.8. In January and February, he’s averaging 15.6 points per 40. Here’s something else to keep in mind as the season progresses. His month-to-month field goal percentage and points per game averages look like this: December (4 games, 54 percent shooting, 22.5 ppg);  January (14 games, 39 percent shooting, 13.4 ppg); February (4 games, 30 percent shooting, 8.5 ppg). Obviously the small sample sizes of December and February skew those numbers considerably, but it’s not a good sign that Yi’s numbers are on a downward spiral this season considering his history of inconsistency.

Meanwhile, putting together all of the numbers, here are some things we do know about Yi. While he’s more aggressive and taking hypothetically “better” shots closer to the rim, he’s actually shooting the ball at a worse clip than last season.  How a player is shooting at a lower percentage despite taking a higher quantity of higher percentage shots is a bit mystifying, but that logic more or less sums up Yi’s career in the NBA.

The question remains what kind of player the Nets have in Yi. Obviously if he could regain his form from December and early January, the front office would likely consider keeping Yi around for the long-term for his offensive talent. But as many predicted, Yi is looking like he’s regressing back to the shoot-too-much, pass-too-little, no defense player of yesteryear. If his game continues in this downward direction, the front office and coach Kiki Vandeweghe have to consider meaningful change for Yi’s role with this team – a change that they should stick with in the long-term, because the polarizing Chinese import is running out of chances to prove he’s really all that different.

Mark Ginocchio

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In the latest from Al Iannazzone, he previews tonight's game against Cleveland, noting how the Nets are playing more competitive, but the Cavs have won 11 straight.

After his collision with Jarvis Hayes Saturday night, it sounds like Devin Harris won't be afraid to go after a loose ball again in the future: “Why not?’’ he said. “You’ve got to have it. Especially at that point in the game – we’ve got 25 seconds left, down five (95-90), I mean, we needed the ball.’’

Julian Garcia notes that the Nets have done very little this season to attract LeBron James to New Jersey this summer.

Hey look! Chris Douglas-Roberts is still upset by the losing: "A little bit. I'm just more cold. But all that stuff, I don't care one way or the other," said Douglas-Roberts. "Caring about winning? Absolutely. But everything else doesn't matter. All of this is because I want to win. I take losing bad. All of this, everything comes from me being a sore loser. I don't like losing."

Tomislav Pakrac of Slam Online talks about one of the best NBA players to never make an All-Star team, a personal favorite of mine as well, Drazen Petrovic.

Mark Ginocchio

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For the past couple of games the Nets have been pretty competitive.  Now that is great and all, but the Nets seem to abandon everything they do correctly in the first three quarters, and just fall apart in the 4th quarter.  In the past 4 games, the Nets have been out scored by a total of 14 points.  Surprisingly, it the Nets' defense isn't the culprit.  The most points that the Nets have given up in the fourth is 26 points.  However, the offense has been able to only match their opponents efforts, or under-perform, not scoring enough to get/hold the lead.  So what are the Nets doing wrong?  Well, it is a combination of things, and to examine it, we are going to look at the 4th quarter of last Tuesday's Nets-Pistons game.

While we are only looking at one game, rest assured that this has happened in each fourth quarter of the past 5 or 6 games.  This has been something that has been hurting the Nets for a little bit now.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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Something we didn't get to yesterday (apologies, that's what happens when you move from one end of New York City to the other), but Dave D'Alessandro and a few others are reporting that Del Harris left his spot as assistant to Kiki because Rod Thorn bluntly told the veteran coach he would not be considered for the head spot.

Well CDR might have to hold off from the idea of being reunited with his "Memphis People":  "We're not looking to trade Chris," Thorn said. "He's more guard than forward but through circumstance, has played forward and still had very good moments. I can understand why [teams] like him. He has talent and a small salary."

Mark Ginocchio

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Advanced Box Score | Piston Powered

Going into last night's game, the Pistons were the worst three point shooting team in the NBA.  Against the Nets last night, the Pistons hit their first 7 threes, including a 4-4 first half from Charlie Villanueva.  Now a few of them was due to defensive breakdowns, but 3 that Charlie Villanueva made were just plain silly fadeaway-with a hand in his face threes.  Of course he saves them for the Nets.  Someone else from the Pistons who was saving a big day was Jonas Jerebko.  He scored 20 points on 9-9 shooting, including 2 threes.  It was only in 24 minutes as well, he probably could have done more damage if he wasn't in foul trouble.  It looked like the Nets funneled things to Jerebko early on (which is a pretty sound strategy) but once he hit a few jumpers, the Nets couldn't stop him.

For most of the game, the Nets offense just looked out of sync, they never really all that aggressive, and they never really hit a high point (like in past games), until the end of the third/start of the fourth.  The Nets went on an 11-2 run, attacking the basket and playing some aggressive defense.  I really liked the lineup that was in there, and I think that Kiki will be going to this lineup when the Nets need to make up points from here on out.  The lineups was Terrence Williams,Devin Harris,Keyon Dooling,Kris Humphries, and Brook Lopez.  What I liked about this lineup was that the Nets have 3 guys who can handle the basketball, and you just create mismatches.

Halfway into the fourth quarter, it looked like the Nets were going to put their 4th quarter woes behind them.  They were attacking the basket and taking smart shots.  In fact, this style of play got them a 1 point lead late.  Then, for some reason, the Nets just reverted back to their old ways.  Here are the shots they took after taking the lead:

• Keyon Dooling Missed a 25 foot three
• Devin Harris got to the line and made 1 of 2
• Brook missed a 21 footer
• Courtney makes a three
• Hayes misses a 24 foot three (rushed)
• Kris Humphries misses a 14 footer

Those were the shots before the injury besides Devin getting to the line and Courtney's three (which was off of Devin's penetration), there was nothing going to the basket.  Here is what Kiki had to say of the Nets performance late, "Guys are playing hard, we need to play smarter late.  That will come with experience."  Some more thoughts after the jump.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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