As the month ends, the Nets have a run of pretty winnable games.  Over the next 8 games they play the Clippers twice, the Warriors, the Wizards, the Sixers, and the Pistons.  That is 6 games the Nets have a decent shot of winning going in.  However, we have seen how the Nets play when they come in thinking they have a shot (The last Bucks game comes to mind).  The Nets need to come out and play like they did against the Hornets, they need to challenge teams early, and they need to keep the score close as the games go on.  If they keep the game close into the 4th, the Nets have a chance to come away with the win (remember the Chicago game?).  Anyway, onto the lineups!

Devin Harris vs. Baron Davis

Guys like Baron Davis are the ones who give Devin Harris trouble.  He is a big guy who knows how to use his body well.  He isn't afraid to take a defender into the post and play with his back to the basket.  He also has the quickness to stay with Devin on the defensive end.  Though Devin Harris is coming off a very good game (22 and 9), so maybe Harris will be able to keep it going.

Advantage:  Baron Davis

Courtney Lee vs. Eric Gordon

Eric Gordon is a smallish-quick guard who is a great scorer.  He has a very quick release that prevents him from getting his shot blocked.  Courtney Lee should be able to use his size to contain him.  I also think Gordon's size will allow for Lee to have a good game offensively.  Courtney Lee should be able to get to his spot on the court and comfortably get shots off.

Advantage:  Push

Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Rasual Butler

CDR and Rasul Butler are similar body types but not they do not have the same playing style.  Butler is a defensive stopper who is a very effective shooter from the outside.  Chris Douglas-Roberts isn't the best defender in the world, and he doesn't usually settle for jumpers.  He likes to attack the dribble and draw fouls.  It is going to be fun to watch these two guys go at it.

Advantage:  Push

Yi vs. Marcus Camby

Yi vs. Camby is another interesting clash of styles.  Camby is a force on the inside, while Yi likes to float around on the outside and attack the basket.  You could be seeing a lot of jumpers from Yi today because Camby probably isn't going to follow him on the outside unless he starts hitting some jumpers.

Advantage:  Push

Brook Lopez vs. DeAndre Jordan

Chris Kaman is questionable for today, and that is a shame, because it would have been fun to watch him and Brook Lopez go at it.  Instead Brook will probably be going up against DeAndre Jordan.  Jordan is a big kid who is pretty athletic for his size.  He is very raw though, and I think Brook Lopez should be able to take advantage on both ends.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Sebastian Pruiti

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Last week, when asked about his the recent decline of his offensive production, Chris Douglas-Roberts cryptically talked about how he was playing within "the system." What system is CDR talking about? One theory is the "system" in question is the one designed by coach Kiki Vandeweghe that seemingly favors Yi Jianlian anchoring the offense.

This is fact. Of the six primary rotational players used by the Nets - Yi, Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, CDR and Keyon Dooling - Yi Jianlian is leading the team in field goal attempts with 14.09 per game since he returned from injury in December. So clearly, these field goal attempts are coming at the expense of somebody else's shots. Earlier this month, we looked at Yi's affect on Brook Lopez, but with CDR's recent talk of the "system," we thought it was better to look at all six players to determine who's shot total has been hindered the most by a Yi-centric offense.

For this analysis, we've broken the season into two parts, from 11/21/09 to 12/19/09 - the period where Devin Harris returned after missing three weeks with a groin injury, and then 12/23/09 to present, when Yi returned from his knee injury. Looking at shot selection before 11/21 would be futile, because the Nets were so decimated by injuries, so many players who otherwise would be buried on the end of the bench were getting playing time, skewing the overall numbers.

Also consider during these periods, CDR missed a few games with assorted injuries, and Courtney Lee was buried on Lawrence Frank's bench until he was fired and replaced with Kiki.

Here's the tally:

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Mark Ginocchio

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The Nets were outscored by 19 points (24-5 in total) during the final six minutes on Friday night?  Why?  Well it is because they failed to execute on both ends of the court:

Sebastian Pruiti

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Howard Beck of the New York Times compares the Nets fortunes with the 72-73 Philadelphia 76ers.

Chris Douglas-Roberts is getting a radio show.

Any trades coming this week?:  "Nobody’s safe," Devin Harris said. "But that’s the way the business goes."

Brian Lewis, of the NY Post, writes about Devin Harris, who's still trying to recapture his all-star magic from a year ago: "My wrist was bothering me, my shot wasn't going," said Harris, whom the Nets might be willing to deal according to a recent ESPN report. "But I'm still going to attack the rim, get to the free throw line the way I did. I'm going to try and see if it works better for the team and if we play better.

Julian Garcia is the latest report to talk about the Nets and John Wall.

Al Iannazzone on the Nets: It’s all the Nets’ approach, how they compete and the point in which they start to hang their heads and feel sorry for themselves. They're a mentally fragile team. Lately, it’s been the first half, but we’ve seen it happen in every quarter all year.

AK-47, the NBA's only Russian player, talks more about Mikhail Prokhorov's potential impact on Russian players.

Mark Ginocchio

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The Boston Globe calls Chris Douglas-Roberts the Michael Jordan of NBA Tweets for his usage of the Twitter platform.

Dave D'Alessandro reports that the Nets are happy with some of the early activity of Kris Humphries: “I’ve known him since college, and I always followed him in Toronto and Utah and Dallas,” fellow Big-10’er Devin Harris said. “He’s really a great guy. And he’s going to surprise people — he’s strong, solid, and aggressive, which any team needs. You play him a lot, he gets you double-digits.”

It's amazing how at 3-36, the Nets are still trying to determine why they can't find any consistency: "I think we get frustrated on offense and it affects our defense sometimes," Hassell said. "When shots aren't falling we need to play tougher defense. We get down on ourselves offensively when they're not falling, and then the lapse happens on defense."

A profile of Marco Glorious, who has the unfortunate job title of being the hype man for the Nets.

More Atlantic Yards protests at Freddy's Bar.

Does Yi Jianlian = Andreas Bargnani?

Mark Ginocchio

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Advanced Box Score | Eight Points Nine Seconds | Indy Cornrows

During the final six minutes of the first half, the Nets were outscored 24 to 5.  That equals minus 19 for those six minutes.  For the other 42 minutes, the Nets were +3.  Six minutes is all it takes to make a close game a blowout, a game where the Nets had a chance to win to another 15+ point loss.  During this stretch, the Pacers were able to shoot 8 for 10 from the field (80%) and 6 for 7 from the line.  That is just way too easy, even for the Nets who seemingly let all of their opponents shoot over 50%.  The Nets offense as it currently stands isn't going to outscore anyone, and there are going to be stretches (like this six minute one) where the Nets are going to just go cold and not score.  The Nets need to recognize when this is coming and dig their heels in the defensive end.  Also, the Nets need to attack the basket on the offensive end.  During this run the Nets settled for way too many jumpers and they lost the aggressiveness that kept them in the game up until that point.  The Nets got zero foul shots during that six minute stretch.  Getting to the foul line during opponent runs is so important not only because you get easy baskets with the clock stopped (the Nets are one of the better foul shooting teams in the league), but because it slows everything down as well.  When a team gets to the foul line, everything stops and the rhythm of the opponents run is broken.  Unfortunately the Nets didn't do any of this as they went cold, they just watched as the Pacers scored 24 points in 6 minutes.

I mentioned this briefly in the quick recap, but I wanted to talk about it some more.  Despite everyone getting on Devin Harris calling him soft, injury prone, and talking about how he isn't a leader just because he isn't bashing him teammates to the media day-in/day-out.  Devin Harris is leading this team, and he is doing it by example.  Devin Harris estimates his health at about 80%, and he is still out there.  Why?  Well he told the media on Tuesday:

"I owe it to them [the Nets].  I mean, we have a better chance to win when I play even if it's [the wrist] is only 80 or whatever.  We've been hurt all year long and this is the first opportunity that we have had everyone healthy and everybody in full uniform."

Devin Harris goes out every game and takes a lot of hits (yesterday he had Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert wrestling on one of his legs) and he just gets up and keeps playing.  That is a great example for our young players.

Kris Humphries got 27 minutes yesterday, and he rewarded Kiki's trust by playing very very well.  He was a threat on the offensive end when he caught it, and he was setting a lot of good picks then making himself available on the rolls.  He was 5-7 from the field (including 5-6 from the line) and he finishes with 15 points.  Humphries also played well on the defensive end, he had a big block on Roy Hibbert, and he even "pulled the chair" on him at one point in the second half.  He just looks comfortable out there, and I can see Humphries finding a home (and some playing time) in New Jersey.  Some final bullets after the jump.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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Well, we now know why Shawne Williams was waived yesterday.  He was charged by police yesterday with four counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture/deliver/sell and four counts of conspiracy to manufacture/deliver/sell a controlled substance, a codeine-based syrup. Both are Class E felonies and carry standard sentences of 1-2 years, on conviction.

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop talks about Chris Quinn, who's still trying to relocate himself since the trade with Miami earlier this month: But he was frank that this is not a glamorous phase of life. In Miami the weather and wins were nice and plentiful. In New Jersey ... "I heard that I was traded, and packed pretty much the biggest bag I had with any kind of winter clothes I could find," he says. "And on the road trip, I bought a coat, so at least I'd have a coat when I got up here."

Those who say Devin Harris isn't a vocal leader didn't hear him Wednesday night in the locker room: "Since I’ve been here, that was the first time he’s actually been upset like that," Chris Douglas-Roberts said of Harris. "He wasn’t pointing fingers at anybody. He was upset with himself. He knows it starts with him, and that’s where the emotion came from."

Chris Douglas-Roberts fights back some more yesterday, telling beat writers he's not selfish and that he doesn't appreciate what some Nets "fans" are saying to him: “Nets fans have been all right,” he said. “But it’s just been love-hate since I’ve been here. That’s just how I feel. Earlier on, I wasn’t going to be anything. Then as the season started I was loved. Now that they hear or read a story that they really don’t know what’s true or not – now it’s get rid of him.

With trade rumors swirling, the best a lot of these guys can do right now is talk to their agents to find out what's what.

Brook Lopez, CDR and Courtney Lee all make ESPN's top 20 sophomores list.

The Brooklyn Paper questions what security will be like at the new Barclays Arena in Brooklyn.

Mark Ginocchio

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Sigh.  6 minutes.  6 minutes is all it takes to make a close game and put it out of reach.  The Nets were competitive for all of 6 minutes, but boy were those 6 minutes bad.  The Pacers scored 41 points in the second quarter, and never really looked back.  The Nets were able to cut it to 15 a couple of times, but the Pacers hit a few shots and the lead stretched back to 20.  The Pacers hit 13 threes and most of them were uncontested.

• People like to get on Devin Harris because he isn't the vocal leader.  I don't care about that, he leads this team by example.  He takes more shots than anyone I have seen play this year, and he always pops up after them.  He played very well tonight going for 22 on 7-15 shooting (including 7-10 from the line).
• Brook Lopez finally shook his demons against Roy Hibbert.  Brook went for 27 on 9-16 shooting (including 9-9 from the line).
• CDR and Courtney Lee really struggled tonight, and they just didn't look aggressive except a few plays here and there.  3-13 combined for 11 points.
• The craziest thing about these past few games is that the Nets are taking care of the ball (only 8 turnovers tonight), they just miss way too many shots to make that meaningful.
• Kris Humphries looks good, and he looks like he is trying to make the most of this opportunity.  15 points on 5-7 shooting.  He had a tremendous block of Roy Hibbert, and he showed his basketball IQ on a play by "pulling the chair on Hibbert" forcing the turnover.  He looked real good.
• Six minutes...

Sebastian Pruiti

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Tonight Brook Lopez is going up against his old nemesis Roy Hibbert.  I'm serious, Roy Hibbert gives Brook fits.  Hibbert is big enough to be able to push Brook around and on the offensive end, he seems to get pumped for this match-up and plays well.  Against the Nets, Hibbert has just plain dominated.  He has shot 60.7% from the field, scores 19.5 points, and gets 9.5 rebounds per game.  On the other hand, Brook Lopez's numbers are poor against the Pacers.  In 2 games Brook has only shot 36% from the field.  Ouch.  Anywho...onto the matchup!

Devin Harris vs. Earl Watson

Earl Watson is a favorable matchup for Devin, and I am hoping that Devin can use his speed to get into the lane and cause some problems.  You might get tired of reading this, because I say this a ton, but in my opinion getting to the middle of the lane is key for Devin.  He can draw fouls (which is something he is very good at), get easier attempts, and draw help (this leads to easy baskets for his teammates).

Advantage:  Devin Harris

Courtney Lee vs. Luther Head

Dahntey Jones seems to have fell off on the offensive end, which is why Luther Head has replaced him in the lineup.  Head is a very good shooter who can attack the basket as well.  I think Courtney should be able to contain Head because he has the size to keep him in check.

Advantage:  Push

Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Troy Murphy

CDR is in a no-win situation tonight.  If he takes a lot of shots and scores, he will be called a selfish player by the media.  If he plays within the offense, only takes a couple shots, and picks up a few assists, the media will talk about how he hates his teammates for not getting enough shots.  The only way this stuff will cool down is if the Nets get a win, I hope that happens.

Advantage:  Push

Yi vs. Danny Granger

Danny Granger is going to give Yi fits on the defensive end.  However, I expect Yi to make Granger work.  Granger is back and healthy, and will probably go off against the Nets tonight.  If he does, the Nets need to contain everyone else if they want a chance to win.

Advantage:  Danny Granger

Brook Lopez vs. Roy Hibbert

We already talked about this up top, but I wanted to talk about why Hibbert gives Brook trouble.  Hibbert is big enough to push Brook farther out than he wants to be.  This makes Brook catch it farther out, and when that happens, he either settles for the shot, or he makes a move too far away from the basket and he takes an awkward shot.

Advantage:  Push

Sebastian Pruiti

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The Indiana Pacers make their second and final visit to the Izod Center, so NAS is serving up our second and final Bloggers Talk with the fantastic Eight Points Nine Seconds site from the TrueHoop network. Tim Donahue, who helped us out earlier in the week by providing some insight on Shawne Williams, does the honors.

NAS: Are you more optimistic about where this season could end up for the Pacers now that Danny Granger has come back from injury?

Not particularly, at least in terms of the standings.  To have a shot at the playoffs, the Pacers would probably have to win a minimum of 26 or 27 of their remaining 45 games.  With Danny, they're probably a team that is .500, maaaaaaybe a little better, but I don't think they're capable of playing well enough to put together a stretch at 8 or 9 games above .500.

It really depends on how you look at things.  Some could view Danny's return would result in .500 ball the rest of the way, putting their win total in the low 30's, but likely moving their draft out of the top 5.  The fear is that we once again finish with a middling pick and get a middling player and don't really move forward.

Objectively, I understand the value of just being bad and getting a Top 5 pick.  The fan in me, however, hopes that Danny can play like he did last year (and for the last three quarters on Monday), the young guys can develop, and the Pacers can be competitive for the rest of the season.  It may be ill-fated, but I'll take a middling pick over the outright embarrassment I've felt over this team and it's play at times this season.

Three big reasons - two related to Lopez and the third towards your team's strategy.

First for Lopez, he takes too many jumpers.  In two games against us, he took a total of 16 shots from 16-23 feet.  He only hit 3 of them.  That doesn't put enough pressure on Hibbert, who will get in foul trouble if tested.

Second, Lopez plays behind Roy too much defensively.  If you let Hibbert catch the ball, and work, he's going to be very effective.  He's not overly strong, but he does have size and a very, very nice set of post skills, when he's not rushed...which brings us to the team strategy:

When Smits played here, the teams that he struggled against were the teams that knew they were too small to play him straight up.  Essentially, they dug and doubled and harassed him so that he could never get into any rhythm.  On the other hand, he had a tendency to destroy centers that would seemingly be able to deal with him without help:  Ewing, Mutombo.  The same's going to be true with Roy.  It's been a while, but my impression was that NJ did very little in terms of helping Lopez.  Therefore, Hibbert had time to work, and if you let him do that, almost every Center in the league is going to be reduced to hoping he misses (or gets in foul trouble).

I'd have Lopez mix and match his positioning, and I'd send diggers.  The Knicks doubled aggressively a couple weeks ago, and Roy ended up with 7 assists, but that game was such a disaster, it's difficult to tell if that meant anything.  Also, you have to attack Hibbert, both on perimeter penetration and in the pick and roll.  He'll take himself out of games with fouls.

I like the idea of Jefferson, but I would not want him if it cost us Danny Granger.  The other problem is that playing Jefferson and Hibbert together results in two players who would get in each other's way offensively, while being disastrous defensively.  I suppose you could build a package around Hibbert, but, truth be told, I'm far from convinced that Al Jeff is the second foundation player we want to put next to Danny, and our assets are so sparse, that it' would be difficult to come up with a coherent offer that excludes Danny.

Tough call...I'd say it's really all or nothing.  I think O'Brien is implementing Bird's policies almost to a T.  I also think it's because they're pretty much in sync, worldview-wise, as opposed to Obie being a "yes" man.

Honestly, I don't expect there to be a shake up this summer.  It makes no fiscal sense, and probably only makes marginal basketball sense.  If there is one, I believe it will be Bird deciding to step down, because he simply doesn't want to deal with the crap, and his replacement possibly firing O'Brien.  However, David Morway is sure to succeed Bird, and I could easily see him staying with O'Brien for the last year of his contract (2010-2011).

Mark Ginocchio

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After it appeared like they were willing to give him a second chance in New Jersey, the Nets announced today that they have waived Shawne Williams, according to a team news release.

Williams was acquired along with Kris Humphries for Eduardo Najera earlier this week. Initial speculation was that the Nets were going to immediately waive Williams, who has been plagued with legal and character problems throughout his four-year career. However, the Nets then made it sound like they were going to keep him a give him a look. There could be 500 reasons for the about face, but perhaps a trade is in the works where the Nets need roster room (they're down to 14 players).

It also opens the roster to a D-League player. As Sundiata Gaines proved last night against the Cavs, a hungry D-Leaguer could be exactly what this team needs.

Mark Ginocchio

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After the blowout by the Celtics (which Mark does a great job examining), people are going to forget that the Nets actually had a chance at a win this past week.  Yes, I am talking about the Nets game vs. the Hornets.  The Hornets ran a simple pick and roll, but it was good execution more than bad defense that lead to the basket.

After getting the ball inbounds (which they failed at doing their last possession), the Hornets quickly go into a pick and roll. David West comes up and sets the screen, and Chris Paul uses it.

Late in games, teams usually switch every screen, and the Nets are no different.  Because the Hornets probably like to switch screens, they are anticipating the Nets doing the same.  The screen isn't designed to get Chris Paul to the basket or to get David West open on the roll.  The screen is set to get Jarvis Hayes defending Chris Paul.

After the Hornets get what they want, Paul then attacks. He quickly gets Jarvis Hayes on his hip, and he has a lane to the basket. You would like it if Devin Harris was closer to the middle of the lane, but that is the beauty of how the Hornets set this up. They put Peja (a knockdown shooter that you need to stay with) on the side Chris Paul was going to drive to. This means that Devin can't help.

Paul finishes the lay-up, and gets fouled, clinching the win for the Hornets.  The Nets set a "moving pick" on their final possession and the rest is history.

Sebastian Pruiti

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