Despite the team's struggles, Devin Harris told reporters that he's standing by the Nets, unlike what happened with the organization's last point guard: "Right now I'm the leader on this team," Harris said. "My job is getting guys to come out and compete every night. That's my job at the moment. Everything else will take care of itself."

Jazz forward, and Russian native, Andrei Kirilenko continues his praise of prospective Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who was formally approved yesterday by Bruce Ratner and now awaits NBA league approval before he can take control of the team: "He’s really going to turn around the team,’’ Kirilenko said. "It’s not like he’s going to get the team and they’ll play a little better. They’re not playing that well right now.

John Brennan of The Record writes, if the Nets still want to move to Newark, they are going to have to pony up the $7.5 million fine for breaking their lease at the Izod Center.

Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger sees an improvement in Josh Boone's numbers: He’s averaging only 5.0 points (.509 shooting from the field), 6.0 rebounds, and 0.84 blocks in 20.7 minutes this year as a token starter who rarely gets to finish. But over the last 11 games, with just a short increase in minutes (23.4), Boone has hiked his numbers in every area: 6.3 ppg (.529), 6.8 rpg. He has also had 11 blocks in the last seven games.

Another lawsuit by opponents of the Nets' Brooklyn move was dismissed by the courts.

Mark Ginocchio

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Outside of the first quarter where they were outscored by the Jazz 26-24, an overall poor effort by the Nets (2-24) tonight as they drop their fifth straight, falling to Utah (15-10) 108-92 at the Izod Center.

• The Nets started the game shooting 67 percent from the field in the first quarter, but shot 43.2 percent overall, including 2-13 from the three-point.
• Despite getting to the free throw line 29 times, the Nets only shot 69 percent from the charity stripe.
• Another 20-10 night for Brook Lopez as he finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, on 9-18 shooting. He had 10 points in the first quarter.
• Terrence Williams had one of his best games in a while, scoring 17 points on 6-10 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench. TWill was taking the ball to the hoop early and often, and only attempted a pair of jumpers outside of 15-feet.
• Awful night for Devin Harris as he finished with 9 points and 6 assists on 1-9 shooting. Making matters worse, Utah's PG, reigning Western Conference Player of the Week Deron Williams, finished with 20 points and 14 assists on 7-12 shooting.
• Carlos Boozer controlled the lane all night, finishing with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
• Josh Boone with 6 points and 11 rebounds tonight. Two of his points came on a 17-foot jumper in the first quarter. No joke.

Mark Ginocchio

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Barely 24 hours after the Nets organization got good news about the sale of bonds for the Barclays Arena in Brooklyn, talks to temporarily move the Nets from the Izod Center to the Prudential Center in Newark have apparently unraveled, according to a report in the Star-Ledger this afternoon:

"I don’t know that it’s dead, but from what I’m hearing, any sort of activity ... will have to await the next administration," conceded Jerold L. Zaro, who had been working to broker the deal on behalf of the Corzine administration.

The proposed plan had the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the New Jersey Devils working together to book events at both arenas and share revenues, while allowing the Nets to break their lease at the Izod Center and move to the more modern Prudential Center. The Nets would move again when the Barclays Arena opened in Brooklyn. But the Sports and Exposition Authority has apparently pulled out of talks, and is not looking to negotiate the lease for the Nets at this time, according to the Star-Ledger.

Brett Yormark told reporters that the organization is not giving up just yet on its proposed plans:

"We continue to be encouraged about the prospect of making an interim move to the Pru Center," said Brett Yormark, the president and chief executive of Nets Sports and Entertainment.

Meanwhile, in related news, Bruce Ratner finalized the proposed deal to sell an 80 percent stake in the team to Mikhail Prokhorov. Russian's richest man must be approved by the NBA before he can take control of the team.

This report is a total bummer.  While the move to Newark would have only been temporary, it would have helped breathe some new life in this organization while they waited for their official new start to begin in Brooklyn in a few years (potentially). If all sides can't come back to the table, the Nets will likely continue to languish at the Izod Center in front of sparse, disinterested crowds, who are only going to grow more bitter and angry as the team starts packing up for greener pastures in Brooklyn. The city of Newark proved at the two preseason games in October that they were eager for a chance to host a basketball team, and while there was certainly no guarantee of nightly sellouts at the Prudential Center if the Nets moved there, between the passionate city population and the arena's accessibility to mass transit, I would have to guess they were going to be a better draw than at the Meadowlands. If this is politically motivated because Corzine lost the election in November, then shame on everyone.

Mark Ginocchio

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The Jazz will likely be looking to exact some revenge tonight, after being stunned by the lowly Minnesota Timerbwolves at home Monday night 110-108. The Jazz have actually taken down some big-time teams the past 10 days, beating the Spurs, Magic and Lakers. However, they continue to struggle on the road, going 3-6 there this season. They are a solid offensive unit, currently placing 8th in the league with an offensive efficiency of 106.9. They rank 19th in defensive efficiency, giving up 105.3 points per 100 posessions. Currently, they're trying to figure out how to get some fresh blood back in the rotation as Kyle Krover, Andrei Kirilenko and  Kyrylo Fesnko have all returned from early-season injury.

The Nets, meanwhile, are playing their 7th back-to-back this season, and need to figure out how to get two solid halves from Brook Lopez, instead of one great half, and one terrible one like last night in Cleveland. Good news, on the Devin Harris front: he won't be facing any additional sanctions or fines from the NBA after his flagrant foul on Jamario Moon last night, according to ESPN.

The Nets and Jazz split their two games last season, with each team winning on the road.

Devin Harris vs. Deron Williams

Devin looked to be getting his stop and pop stroke back last night but he's got a tall order facing off against Deron Williams, one of the best PGs in the league. Williams has been especially hot lately, scoring 38 points with 13 assists Monday against Minnesota, along with a 21 point, 11 assist performance against the Lakers and a 32 point, 15 assist game against the Magic last week.

Advantage: Williams

Wesley Matthews vs. Courtney Lee

Matthews, a rookie out of Marquette, has started 16 games for the Jazz this year. He's a solid 32 percent from three-point land, but he's not a prolific scorer by any stretch, though he did go for 19 points and 6 assists last week against the Lakers. Sounds like the kind of guy who ends up having a big night against the Nets, but Lee has been looking better defensively lately and if he can just get his shot going somewhat, he could really get the edge in this matchup.

Advantage: Lee

Ronnie Brewer vs. Trenton Hassell

While not a great three-point shooter, Brewer has averaged more than 50 percent from the field in each of his three previous NBA seasons and is averaging 50 percent even this year. He's aggressive to the hoop and has a great free throw rate, so the Nets have to watch where he's cutting in Utah's motion offense. I'm assuming Hassell gets the nod tonight, and he'll have his hands full keeping an eye on Brewer.

Advantage: Brewer

Carlos Boozer vs. Josh Boone

Boozer, another member of the heralded 2010 free agent class is truly singing for his supper this season, averaging 20 points and 11 boards. He's been less impressive offensively his past two games, scoring 14 and 12 points respectively, while battling foul trouble. Still, after battling injuries last season, Boozer appears to be back in a big way. The Nets could use somebody like this in their front court. As for Josh Boone, let's just say I'm assuming I'm with the majority of Nets fans who are actually looking forward to Yi Jianlian returning to the starting lineup, a scary proposition.

Advantage: Boozer

Mehmet Okur vs Brook Lopez

This is an interesting match-up for Lopez. Okur is a big guy who can shoot the three. He's a mediocre rebounder, and can't block shots, but most considering him a decent post defender because he likes to play physical. However, Lopez can't shy away from the inside here and the Nets are going to have to help Brook out on the perimeter if Okur is looking to shoot tonight. If Lopez can play his game, he might finally put together four good quarters of offensive basketball.

Advantage: Lopez

And remember folks, as always, don't be afraid to use this as your open thread. The comments section has been a little quiet the past few nights. I know you guys are out there.

Mark Ginocchio

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With the Utah Jazz making their annual trip to New Jersey tonight, we thought it would be a good opportunity to get some insight from the great Salt Lake. So here's Spencer Hall from the fantastic TrueHoop Jazz site, Salt City Hoops to talk about Utah's inconsistent, but overall solid start to the season.

NAS: The Jazz are coming off a big week, having beaten the Lakers, Spurs and Magic. Any thoughts on what's bringing this team together and helping them play better?

The addendum to that list is the bizarre loss at home to the Timberwolves on Monday. Two of Minnesota's four wins have come at the expense of the Jazz. It's frustrating as a fan, but the identity of this Jazz team is talented inconsistency. Some nights, especially games on national television or against a strong opponent, they'll play spectacular ball. On other nights they'll miss 11 of 12 free throws through three quarters and end up losing by two.

On the good side, they're almost always fun to watch. Deron Williams has been out of his mind lately, and last week's WC Player of the Week award was well deserved. Carlos Boozer is on a tear. The rookies Wesley Matthews and Eric Maynor have been fun to watch and seem to have a very positive effect on the team chemistry. I almost feel like the short bench due to injuries to Kyle Korver, CJ Miles, Ronnie Price, and Andrei Kirilenko (among others) resolved a lot of playing time issues and forced everyone to come together as a team and share the ball.

NAS: What are your thoughts surrounding Carlos Boozer? He's off to another nice season, but he seems destined to leave Utah at the end of the year and is now getting criticized by Charles Barkley for not helping the Jazz win. Do you agree with Sir Charles?

First of all, a healthy, motivated, contract-year Booz is a sight to see. He's had some monster games this season and since October he's said all the right things. I had no shame in jumping back on the bandwagon, even after all the nonsense he said this summer as the contract situation was resolved.

NAS: Is this the year Deron Williams finally makes an all-star team?

The Cadaver of Tracy McGrady is poised to make the All-Star team, so obviously the process needs some work. But as it is, he's not even close in the voting. Production-wise he's having a brilliant year, but he has the misfortune of playing in the same conference as some very talented and popular guards. It has to happen sometime, though, but it's going to have to come from the benevolence of the coaches.

NAS: A Nets-centric question here: Andrei Kirilenko has been a vocal supporter of prospective new Nets owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov - so much so that there's been buzz that Prokhorov will see to it to get AK-47 on the Nets once he's approved as owner. Can you see this happening or do you think Kirilenko remains in Utah for the foreseeable future?

It will be interesting to see what becomes of Kirilenko. As much as I love watching him play, I've always wondered what an un-tethered Kirilenko might have done to the league. Can you imagine if he'd be running with those early Nash/D'Antoni Suns teams? Part of me feels like we've been robbed of the entire Kirilenko experience by forcing him to be a cog in a halfcourt system. Lately he's been reduced to standing around the perimeter and launching 20-foot jumpshots, doing his best Jeff Hornacek impersonation. It's sad, really, so hopefully we get a shot to see him in another system before he's done.

Mark Ginocchio

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Headed into this season, the Nets roster had two known quantities: Brook Lopez and Devin Harris. A quarter of a season in, Brook Lopez has more than held up his end of the deal as he’s on the verge of putting together a 20-10 season. Devin Harris on the other hand, is a bit of an enigma right now. After dealing with injuries in training camp and at the beginning of the regular season, Devo’s been back for the last 13 games and has struggled to find his shot, though there are some signs that he’s on the verge of turning it around.

After last night’s game against Cleveland where Harris had 22 points on 7-18 shooting, Devin has scored more than 20 points in back-to-back games for the first time this season. His performance Sunday, against the Hawks, was probably his finest all-around game to date, when he scored 23 points and made 9 assists in an otherwise irrelevant blowout loss. Against Cleveland, Devin struggled with his shot early, but went 5-8 in the second half, before committing a flagrant foul on Jamario Moon and getting ejected.

What’s been most concerning about Devo at the quarter-season mark is how his numbers seem to be regressing back to his days in Dallas when he wasn't the first option on offense like he is now in New Jersey. While the 2007-08 Devin Harris was a solid player and nice get for Rod Thorn when he dumped Jason Kidd that spring, he's not necessarily the kind of player you build your entire roster around.

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Mark Ginocchio

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Cavs The Blog, Devin Harris Interview, Kiki Vandeweghe Interview

This was definitely one of those games headed in where I thought expectations had to be managed. While Cleveland has not been the league's best team through the first quarter of this season, they're still part of the Eastern Conference's elite, and the Nets have been exceptionally lousy defensively recently, giving up 105, 107 and a ghastly 130 points  the past three games. There's no one on the Nets' roster that could even dream of matching up with LeBron James (I mean, few in this league can anyway), so I honestly thought if the Nets could keep things under 20, I would consider it a moral victory.

After the first quarter, I thought I wouldn't even get that satisfaction. The Nets, who were without Chris Douglas-Roberts, Tony Battie and Keyon Dooling, started the game cold from the field, and the Cavs came out scorching, paced by a quick 9 points for Shaquille O'Neal (16 points for the game) and Cleveland was off to a 30-22 start.

But the Nets managed to hang in this game throughout - even making a valiant comeback attempt in the game's final minute as Rafer Alston (20 points, 4-6 from three) drilled a three, stole the inbounds pass, and sank a second three, to cut the deficit to single digits as Cleveland was just looking to get off the floor with the win. There's no such thing as a moral victory, but a 99-89 loss to the Cavs when it could have been much, much worse, is better than nothing.

The Nets used the free throw line to great effect in the first half, going 18-23 from the line, compared with 8-13 for Cleveland. The also rode Brook Lopez, who was a force in the game's first 24 minutes with 20 points and 9 rebounds, and was staking his claim as the East's best center not named Dwight Howard. Unfortunately, Brook only scored 2 points and grabbed 6 rebounds the rest of the way, on just six field goal attempts. He only got two field goal attempts in the fourth quarter - TWO, when his team was down single digits and had a legit chance to steal a victory. I can't stress this enough - Brook Lopez has to get the ball as many times as possible, especially in crunch time.

Regardless of their poor use of Brook, the Nets showed some toughness last night, and even got physical with the Cavs. At the 3:48 mark in the fourth and the Cavaliers pulling away, Jamario Moon had a clear lane to the hoop and Devin Harris fouled him by grabbing him by the neck. The refs called a flagrant two and ejected Devin. Obviously, the league freaks out whenever someone gets grabbed by the neck on a layup/dunk attempt, but I thought it was a great, hard foul by Devin, the captain, who apparently dropped $1,500 the other night to take his teammates out to dinner in an effort to build camaraderie on the roster. You have to protect the basket in this league, though it was Devin's second flagrant foul called in the past week. I think the days of Chris Douglas-Roberts saying this team doesn't foul anyone hard are over.

It was bad timing for Harris too. After a poor shooting first half where he went 2-10 from the field, Devin starting hitting those stop and pops he perfected last year during his breakout season - shooting 5-8 the rest of the way and finishing with 22 points. Outside of Lopez's first half, and Alston's late fourth quarter surge, Harris didn't have much help offensively, as the fourth highest scorer was Courtney Lee, who finished with 8 points and another dreadful 3-14 shooting performance.

And as expected, the Nets had no answer for LeBron James, who actually looked like he was taking some plays off in the second and third quarters, en route to 23 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assist (and 6 turnovers). As the Nets were chipping away at the lead, cutting it as low as two points in the third quarter, LeBron always had an answer. At around the 3:17 mark in the third, Trenton Hassell had just missed a shot under the hoop and on the very next play, he fouled LeBron for the basket and the foul. Is there any better way to encapsulate this season? The plucky Nets player who probably has no business playing 35+ minutes a game, blows a chance to make the game closer, and the other's team superstar makes a killer play in response.

Check for some final thoughts after the jump.
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Mark Ginocchio

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Despite playing one of the East's elite teams on the road, the struggling Nets (2-23) hung tough for most of the game tonight, eventually falling to the Cavs (18-7) in Cleveland 99-89.

Overall, outside of the first quarter where the Nets gave up 30 points, the team played much better defense tonight, going against one of the league's better offensive teams and holding them to 22 points in the second quarter and 47 points in the second half. The Nets went to a zone defense after the first quarter, which seemed to be working for them.

Devin Harris was ejected at the 3:48 mark after committing a flagrant foul on a Jamario Moon layup attempt. He definitely swiped at Moon's neck, which is a no-no, but even after the replays, it looked like a nice hard foul on Moon. I can't kill Devin for that, and I hope the league doesn't penalize him beyond the ejection. As for the game, Devin overcame a rough shooting start (2-10 in the first half) and finished with 22 points on 7-18 shooting.

Nets hung around by going 18-23 from the free throw line in the first half, but only shot 6 more free throws in the second half.

Speaking of poor second halves, Brook Lopez was on pace for a monster game with 20 points and 9 rebounds at the end of the first half, but only scored 2 points in the second half and attempted just two shots in the fourth quarter. He did finish the game with 15 rebounds.

While e-mailing Sebastian in the third quarter, I was threatening Rafer Alston with bodily harm after he missed some jumpers in the third, but he got hot in the fourth, and finished with 20 points on 7-14 shooting and 4-7 from three.

Rough night for Terrence Williams who finished with 1 point and some botched defensive assignments.

LeBron James finished wit 23 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and managed to get up in Devin's face after the flagrant in the fourth. He also did his best Vince Carter impersonation crying to the officials after nearly every call and non-call.

Mark Ginocchio

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We get LeBron tonight, and this could get real ugly early.  The Nets could also keep up with the Cavs though if they do the things I have pointed out in our opponent scout.  You have to run on them, and the Nets need to run their pick and roll successfully (which has been difficult so far this year).  Not just Devin and Brook at the high post either.  You can have Brook set the screens at the high post, and use Courtney Lee and CDR to come off of them.  Both have been shooting well, and Shaq usually doesn't get over and help in time, so that will lead to open shots.  If Shaq does come up and try do defend the shot, both of these guys have the handle to get around him.  Onto the match-ups!

Devin Harris vs. Mo Williams

The Cavs use Mo Williams as the 2 guard when LeBron is in the game, because LeBron usually has the ball in his hands.  This is tough for defenders, because if they focus too much on LeBron, Williams will spot up and hit the open three.  Devin Harris has the quicks to get by Williams, so hopefully he can get in the lane and cause havoc.

Advantage:  Push

Courtney Lee vs. Anthony Parker

Anthony Parker is a knock-down shooter who can play some defense.  I think he is a perfect fit in this offense, because he doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective.  With LeBron handling the ball, he gets ton of open looks.  I think Parker and Lee are comparable, but Parker will have the better game tonight.

Advantage:  Anthony Parker

CDR vs. LeBron James

Not sure if CDR is playing, but what he has been telling the media makes me think that he wants to (and will) play tonight.  This is a tough match-up for anyone, especially the smaller CDR.  CDR's best bet is to give him the shot and prevent the drive.  LeBron can hit the 3-ball, but I'd rather give him those instead of letting him get to the lane accumulate fouls and finish with big dunks.

Advantage:  LeBron James

Josh Boone vs. J.J. Hickson

The Cavs have moved Anderson Varejao to the bench and implemented J.J. Hickson to the starting lineup.  This move makes sense, Hickson is more offensive minded and more athletic, and that fits what the Cavs try to do to start games.  Josh Boone is...well...Josh Boone...

Advantage:  J.J. Hickson

Brook Lopez vs. Shaq

Going back to my opponent scout, you can get position on Shaq.  He tends to get lazy when the action is happening away from him, and when he does, you can get into him with a quick and hard post up.  The problem is the Nets are going to have to recognize this to get the ball to Brook.  I can see getting two good posts in, not getting the ball on either one, and then starting to float.  That being said, he will still put up his numbers.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Oh and on a non-basketball related note...Cliff Lee to the Mariners?  Awesome!

Sebastian Pruiti

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The Nets organization's dream of moving the franchise to Brooklyn moved another step closer to reality this afternoon as team owner Bruce Ratner and the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation were able to sell $511 million in tax exempt bonds this afternoon, according to a report in the New York Times. Ratner and his partners are expected to raise the rest of the money needed to finance the 18,000-seat Barclays Arena privately.

What was even better news for Ratner and co. is after six years of battling lawsuits and local property owners and politicians, the bonds sold rather quickly, according to the Times:

“There was a strong appetite for the bonds,” said Jay Abrams, a bond analyst at FMS Bonds. “The market was comfortable with the ratings the deal received and the security that was pledged.”

With this news in place, next week Ratner is expected to complete the "master closing"  of the project, including taking possession of the properties condemned by the New York State of Appeals last month. Ratner is also looking to finalize his deal to sell an 80 percent stake in the Nets to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, provided he is approved by the NBA.

In a show of just how divisive this project has been, check out these two comments from the Times' comments section:

This is great news. All of the NIMBY opposition and consequent increased costs have not stopped this beneficial economic development project from moving forward.

And:

“which is to include more than 6,000 apartments.”

Also to be included are magic unicorns and leprechauns.

The Atlantic Yards Report, which has followed this project exhaustively, notes in their reaction post:

Ratner couldn't sell tax-exempt bonds on his own. Let’s not forget the role of the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation, the questions that have been raised about it, and the curious (and reportedly abandoned) plan to issue $400 million more in infrastructure bonds.

Mark Ginocchio

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So it is becoming apparent that Brook seems to struggle (granted his struggle still leads to a 20/10 game - he takes too many shots though) a bit against centers who can push him out of the lane.  Roy Hibbert was able to do this against Brook successfully in two games against the Pacers.  Look where he caught the ball in Chicago (a game where he was very effective):

Now look where he catches it against the Pacers:

It's not that he is catching it out of the paint (you catch it directly out of the paint to avoid getting called for three seconds), but look how high he caught it against the Pacers than he did against the Bulls.  When you catch it along the baseline, it takes away an option from the defense.  They can't send a double that way, so Brook doesn't have to worry about it, and that makes his move simpler.

Look at where he caught it against the Pacers though.  The Pacers can send double teams from either direction, plus he is a little farther out, so he needs to take another dribble, and that throws his whole move off.

As I showed you in my scout of the Cavs, you can get position on Shaq by catching him off guard.  If Brook does that early, it is going to be up to his teammates to get him the ball.  If he doesn't get a catch in close early, get used to him taking jumpers, because that is when he starts floating.

Sebastian Pruiti

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So I watched the Grizzlies-Cavs game from last week, and clipped together a video showing some tendencies the Cavs have and what the Grizzlies did to get the win:

I chose the Grizzlies' game because what they did to beat the Cavs is what the Nets can do.  They ran and used the pick and roll.  The Nets have been running more, and the Brook/Devin pick and roll is tough to stop.

Sebastian Pruiti

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