Up until about a week ago, I had this game eyed up as one the Nets had a chance at winning.  Since then however, the Pacers have been playing some really good basketball, winning four in a row, including a beat-down against Boston.  This game is going to be a lot tougher than what most Nets' fans expect.

It looks like coach Lawrence Frank is doing some tweaking of the line-up to try and match-up with the Pacers and their lineup including Danny Granger at the PF spot.  According to the great Ben Couch, the lineup tonight is Rafer Alston, CDR, T-Will, Trenton Hassell, and Brook Lopez (the same day I tell the world Terrence Williams is best at the SF, that is where he gets his start...coincidence?  Yeah, probably).

So essentially what Lawrence Frank is doing is going small to match-up against the Pacers' small lineup.  Normally I wouldn't be a fan of this.  If a team wants to go small, you keep your normal (and mostly likely bigger) lineup out there and see if they can defend you.  That's only an option if you have your best players available though.  With what Lawrence Frank has to do is match-up and try to prevent Indiana from scoring.  That is the Nets' only chance to win.

Nets' Projected Starting Lineup

1. PG - Rafer Alston
2. SG - Chris Douglas-Roberts
3. SF - Terrence Williams
4. PF - Trenton Hassell
5. C - Brook Lopez

Pacers' Projected Starting Lineup

1. PG - Earl Watson
2. SG - Brandon Rush
3. SF - Dahntay Jones
4. PF - Danny Granger
5. C - Roy Hibbert

Their Mismatches

Danny Granger vs. Trenton Hassell - You gotta feel for Trenton.  The past three games (including tonight's) he has been matched-up with the opposing team's best player.  He did fairly well against Vince Carter and Dwyane Wade, but I think Granger's size will end up giving Trenton fits.

Our Mismatches

Rafer Alston vs. Earl Watson - Earl is a solid defender who doesn't do much else.  Rafer has been playing really well as of late, and I think he will be able to have his way with Watson, a player who seems to get more and more exposed as his playing time increases during the game.

Matchup Of The Night

Brook Lopez vs. Roy Hibbert - Roy Hibbert has been using his big frame to his advantage this year, and he could be able to do it again, using it to try and keep Brook Lopez out of the post.  If he is successful and Brook ends up taking more jumpers than he should, this could be a long night.

Keys To Victory

Either - Let Granger get his and stop everyone else or focus on stopping Granger and let everybody else get theirs.  We can't have both.  Against the Heat, we allowed wade to get 22 and Haslem to get 28 (a career high).  If the Nets would have let one of those happen instead of both, they could have won that game.

Limit Turnovers - When you limit turnovers it does two things.  It gives you more opportunities to score, and it prevents the other team from getting easy baskets.  Both are very important to the Nets.  As they continue to struggle to score, they need as many chances at the hoop as they can get.  Also, they have been playing very well defensively, so you don't want to give teams easy buckets.  You want them to try to score on your half-court defense.

Get Their Bigs In Foul Trouble - 3 of the Pacers bigs who would be getting some playing time are out with injuries.  If the Nets can get Hibbert and Granger in foul trouble, the Nets will be going against the likes of Solomon Jones and Josh McRoberts.  Who would you rather go up against?

Prediction

Current Prediction Record: 6-4

I see the Nets keeping this one close (what else is new), but I think at some point in the second half Granger is going to reel off a big number, putting the Pacers ahead for good.  Hopefully, the Nets prove me wrong.

Sebastian Pruiti

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Game 11 vs. Indiana (4-3)

Projected Starting Lineup

1.  Earl Watson | 6'1" | 185 lbs | 28.4 MPG | 9.7 PPG |3 APG | 56.4% FG | 55.6% 3 |  82.5% FT

More of a defender than a guy who can create on the offensive end.  He is starting in the place of an injured T.J. Ford.  Tends to be over exposed as the game goes on, as he is more suited for a backup role.  Shooting much better than expected this year.  

2.  Brandon Rush | 6'6" | 210 lbs. | 27.4 MPG | 7.3 PPG | 1.6 APG | 38.9% FG | 27.3% 3 | 37% FT

A good defender and that seems to be the only reason he is on the court.  He is shooting poorly from all spots on the floor so far this year, and he isn't the strongest ballhandler.

3.  Dahntay Jones | 6'6" | 220 lbs. | 33.4 MPG | 16.4 PPG |4.1 RPG | 46.4% FG | 0 % 3 | 78.7% FT

A Jersey guy.  Having a break-out offensive season so far.  One can argue his offensive production is keeping Brandon Rush on the court (you don't want to have two defenders who can't do anything on offense on the court at the same time).  Still a very tough defender who is very physical.

4.  Danny Granger | 6'8" | 228 lbs. | 37.4 MPG | 24.9 PPG | 6.6 RPG | 42.1% FG | 34.3% 3 | 80 FT

An unreal combination of size, skill, and athletic ability.  After Troy Murphy went down, he slide into the PF and hasn't lost a step.  Not only that, he has played even better since the move.  Has a nice shooting touch, good handle, and a good sense of the game.  Still not the best passer out there, but he is improving.

5.  Roy Hibbert | 7'2" | 278 lbs. | 26.7 MPG | 11.7 PPG | 9 RPG | 52.2% FG | 0% 3 | 75% FT

Many people thought he was on his way to becoming a bust, but during the offeseason, he improved his body, and now he is nearly putting up a double-double.  Good sense of when to help defensively which allows him to block his fair share of shots.  He is such a big body, that it is hard to get him out of position to keep him off the offensive boards. 

Bench

C.  Solomon Jones | 6'10" | 245 lbs. | 19.6 MPG | 4.7 PPG | 5.1 APG | 46.7% FG | 0% 3 | 62.5% FT

Draws a high rate of fouls. More of a defender, and best used as a physical presence who can rack up fouls.   Getting more minutes than expected with all of the Pacers' injuries in the backcourt.

G.  Luther Head | 6'3" | 185 lbs. | 18.7 MPG | 6.2 PPG | 1.5 RPG | 41% FG | 10% 3 | 100% FT

Head is a capable wing defender, but is undersized for the two-guard position. He does have good passing skills and takes decent care of the ball, which allows him to slide over to the point guard spot from time to time.  Don't let the low 3 point percentage fool you, he is a very good shooter who can go off at any minute.

F.  Tyler Hansbrough | 6'9" | 250 lbs. | 14.7 MPG | 10.3 PPG | 4.7 RPG | 26% FG | o% 3 | 65% FT

Physical high-motor guy.  Plays below the rim, but has enough skills to do that well.  A very good rebounder and he seems to be 100% coming off of his injury.

G.  Travis Diener | 6'1" | 175 lbs. | 13.1 MPG | 3.7 PPG | 2.2 APG | 41.3% FG | 39% 3 | 80% FT

Guy who can play both G spots.  A very good shooter off the bench.

G.  A.J. Price | 6'2" | 181 lbs. | 6.3 MPG | 2.5 PPG | .5 APG | 42.9% FG | 50% 3 | 50% FT

Another Jersey product coming out of Orange, NJ.  A more athletic version of Travis Diener.  Plays better defense too.

F.  Josh McRoberts | 6'10" | 240 lbs. | 5.3 MPG | 1.8 PPG | 1 RPG | 42.9% FG | 0% 3 | 50% FT

Very athletic big.

F.  Troy Murphy | 6'11" | 245 lb | 30 MPG | 8.7 PPG | 9.7 RPG | 43.5% FG | 28.6% 3 | 80% FT

Out.

F.  T.J. Ford | 6'0" | 165 lbs. | 22.3 MPG | 10.4 PPG | 2.1 RPG | 41.3% FG | 0% 3 | 87.5% FT

Out.

F.  Jeff Foster | 6'11" | 250 lbs. | 9.5 MPG | 1 PPG | 2.5 RPG | 0% FG | 0% 3 | 100% FT

Out.

F.  Mike Dunleavy | 6'9" | 230 lbs. | No Regular Season Stats

Out.

Offensive Tendencies:

This team loves shooting the 3-ball and everyone except for Hibbert can shoot it well.  Granger hit around 40% from three last year and he is now playing the 4.  I would say the Nets need to close hard on everyone and do not double down on Hibbert.  While he is having a solid year this year so far, I would rather have him posting up against Brook than seeing the Pacers hoist up threes all night.

Defensive Tendencies:

A lot of good on the ball defenders, they guard you close and are very very physical.  Probably one of the most physical defensive teams I have seen all year.

Keys To Victory:

The Nets must box out.  They must defend the three.  They must not allow Granger to go crazy on them.

Sebastian Pruiti

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So we have a double bonus for all of you readers out there looking for some Pacers information (and there has to be a ton of you out there if you're reading about the NBA on a Nets-centric site right?). For today's edition of Bloggers Talk we started out with some questions for Pacers blogger Jared Wade over at the True Hoop site Eight Points, Nine Seconds. But then, we got a call from blogger Josh Dhani to answer some questions over at his Pacers blog Always Miller Time. So here you go, two Pacers bloggers for the price of one. NBA - I love this game!

NAS: After missing some time at the very beginning of the season, Tyler Hansbrough is off to a solid start. What are your expectations for him this season and in the small sample you've seen, what are his strengths and weaknesses?

Wade: Out of the three outings Tyler has played in, he's been very good in two. The most impressive thing is how his aggressiveness has gotten him to the line. In wins against Washington and G-State, he shot 10 and 8 free throws, respectively, and this was in just 13 and 16 minutes played. He was billed as a guy who would bring tremendous energy to the court and he has been exactly that so far while also putting up points in transition and scoring on both jumpers and in the paint in the half-court. A lot of people doubted his ability to score at this level within any structured offense so this has been great to see for Pacers fans. He is indeed at times a little overly frantic and comically spastic, and I don't ever expect him to be a major go-to guy in the half-court, but he definitely appears to be someone capable of being a high-quality reserve in this league for the next decade.

Dhani: Hansbrough has been looking good. His debut was great and has been a good fill-in for Troy Murphy. He's a great strength at backup but I hope he can improve on his shooting a bit. He's doing good right now, and I am looking forward to some more from the kid.

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Mark Ginocchio

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Being a rookie in the NBA is tough.  I mean, I don't know it to be fact (and despite the fact that Brandon Jennings doesn't think so), but I am pretty sure the jump from college to the pros is difficult.  You have to adjust to the speed, the physicality, and to the new sets that are being ran.  Continuing with my assumptions, I would assume it is pretty hard to learn one position in the NBA, let alone 4.  That is what Terrence Williams is doing right now.

When the Nets drafted Terrence Williams, they were really excited about implementing his versatility, which is what they believed his biggest strength is.  As soon as he arrived in camp, everyone was talking about him having the skill-set to be a "point-forward."  However, with all of the injuries the Nets have been forced to use Terrence Williams in ways nobody could have imagined.  Right now, he is the back-up point guard, a back-up at the sg spot (has even started a game here), a back-up/starter at the 3, and when the Nets go small, he even plays the 4 once in a while.  In fact, according to 82games.com Terrence Williams has logged key minutes at each of these 4 positions:

As you can see he has played at least 3% of the team's total minutes at 4 different spots.  When I talked to Terrence Williams yesterday he told me, "I like playing four positions, why wouldn't I?"  Terrence asked, and he concluded his answer by saying, "It's basketball at the end of the day."  I don't think it is as simple as that though.  I mean just because he has the skill-set to play these positions doesn't mean he has been effective in these spots.  As a matter of fact, Terrence has only been "truly successful" at one of these positions.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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On the Brooklyn front, the state is expecting to start marketing tax-exempt bonds to build the arena in the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, Daniel Goldstein, Brooklyn resident and lead opponent for the anti-Atlantic Yards movement is not very happy with the offer he's gotten from the state for his apartment. He's also written an open letter to Mikhail Prokhorov that's been published at the Huffington Post.

Milwaukee native Devin Harris got a bunch of phone calls Saturday night from people wanting to know if he saw Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings go off for 55 points.

Lawrence Frank isn't paying attention to any "10 is enough" marketing efforts by the front office. He just worries about what's on the basketball court.

Nets beat writer Dave D'Alessandro answers your mail.

Mike Celzic at NBC asks why would LeBron James want to come to the Knicks or Nets?

Over at the Nets Daily, Net Income breaks down some financials to help determine exactly how rich Mikhail Prokhorov is.

Gary Sussman is back with his latest edition of Sussman Sez, recapping the weekend in Florida.

Ben Couch says Courtney Lee was cheerful, though he may not be good to go until Saturday against the Knicks.

Mark Ginocchio

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So I have been a little behind in terms of breakdowns but we are catching up right here and now.  We are going to be looking at some stuff from the game against Philly, @ Orlando, and @Miami.  As of right now, a lot of the stuff you are going to see here is going to look like nit-picking (especially with how well the team has been playing despite being limited), but if some of the bad stuff seen here continues as people start coming back, it could be a problem.  This is going to be a big one, get those reading glasses on:

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Sebastian Pruiti

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I had the pleasure of going to Nets practice today, and I came away with some real good stuff.  First and foremost the thing that I noticed was that this team is still playing hard, the media only gets to sit in on the final few moments of the actual practice, but they were still going hard, and just by the look on all of the guys faces, you can tell they were really going at it the whole practice.  Courtney Lee was working too, but I couldn't tell if he went the whole practice or if he was just participating in the drills at the end.  Either way it looks like he is still struggling with the injury a bit (at least to me), so I wouldn't expect to see him playing either of the next two games.  Anyway, here is some stuff I took away from Nets' practice today.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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Well, Mark and I got together once again for another podcast, and in this edition, Mark and I talk about the tough losses in Philly, Orlando, and Miami.  We also talk about the injuries (what else is new), the schedule ahead, and a little bit about the new ownership.

[display_podcast]

Sebastian Pruiti

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Despite strong performances Friday and Saturday, Lawrence Frank is still not ready to commit to Sean Williams.

Julian Garcia talks more Sean Williams, and also makes note of the Nets ticket promotion Tuesday night - "10 is enough," where certain tickets will be $10 as Bret Yormark looks to celebrate the team's worst losing streak to start a season. Awesome.

Meanwhile, Brett Yormark is begging for fan loyalty.

Net Income at the Nets Daily blog looks at members from Mikhail Prokhorov's old CSKA Moscow teams to see which ones could interest the Nets.

Atlantic Yards Report examines why Prokhorov may want to buy the Nets regardless of where they play their games.

Mark Ginocchio

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GameFlow, Hot Hot Hoops

I guess it would be poor form for me to start off a game recap by saying "the Nets are jinxed." No one is going to take me seriously if I start speculating about how maybe this is the "curse of Vince Carter" or maybe this is some retribution from the basketball gods who are trying to stick it to Bruce Ratner for desperately wanting to move this organization to Brooklyn.

That's just ridiculous, right? Because 0-10 starts to the season, along with a horrific amount of injuries to key players and losing a game by 1 point because of a Dwyane Wade buzzer-beater after Trenton Hassell literally blanketed Wade during the possession, are just routine, totally acceptable occurrences in sports. Going the route of jinxes, or curses, or offended sports gods is just not rational.

…

In all seriousness (yes, I was sorta joking above), these are the kinds of games as a fan that just give me nightmares. While the Nets have had some questionable end-of-game scenarios since the season began, there was nothing about how last night's 81-80 loss to the Heat ended that I could kill the Nets for, besides the actual results. With about 25 seconds left in the game, Quentin Richardson drilled a three to tie things up while Chris Douglas-Roberts was playing him about as well as you could ask for from a defender. And still, the Nets came back with 4 seconds left with a tip-in from Brook Lopez off the Rafer Alston miss. Yes, the Heat still obviously had more than enough time to take the game back, but finally, for the first time this season, momentum was all on the Nets' side in the game's final seconds.

The Wade play, which ended up giving the Heat its final three points and the win, looked like it was about to busted up by Hassell. Wade had briefly lost possession of the ball during his dribble, but was able to recover to get the shot off, with Hassell still in his face. But Dwyane Wade is a superstar, one of the best players in the NBA who's born to make these kinds of killer shots. There is nobody currently playing for the Nets right now that comes remotely close to Wade's level of deliverance.

Trying to mention something positive about this game, the Nets saw a Sean Williams last night who looked like he had some legitimate star-power. I had mentioned after Friday's loss to Orlando that Sean Williams seemed to be turning a corner, so during this period of win-lessness and injuries, he deserved to get his number called more by Lawrence Frank. Last night, Williams didn't get an opportunity until the third quarter, but he ended up playing perhaps his finest 15 minutes as a Net. It wasn't just that he scored 12 points on 6-7 shooting that was impressive, it was how and when he was doing it. He was grabbing offensive rebounds and scoring on a series of putbacks and jump hooks. Then, with 42 seconds left, he drilled an absolutely clutch jump shot from the right elbow as the Nets looked to be breaking down on offense. On the next play, Williams made a fantastic block on Michael Beasley in the corner while he was attempting a three-pointer. The only problem was he couldn't keep the ball inbounds, so Miami regained possession, which of course led to the Richardson three-ball to tie the game.

After last night, there is no reason for Lawrence Frank not to play Sean Williams early and often. He doesn't have to start at PF, but considering how Bobby Simmons (who missed last night's game for personal reasons), isn't really a very good option at the four, Josh Boone seems afraid to attempt any kind of field goal outside of garbage putbacks, and Eduardo Najera is just not a very good defender anymore, the time has come to just give the keys to the car to Sean Williams. If he ends up crashing it after a couple of games, then you take it away again, but after watching him the past two nights, it's just outrageous to think about how this team has been playing with 8 healthy players for more than a week, and Williams is only now just getting into games. These are the kinds of fickle coaching decisions Lawrence Frank makes that make it very hard to defend those who want to give him the benefit of the doubt. You have to put your team in a position to win, and not using Sean Williams when your roster has been decimated by injuries because you're still trying to teach him some kind of lesson about concentration and effort is just insane. Let the kid play. He's earned it.

In a one-point game there are a lot of plays you can look back at as key plays, so let's examine a few after the jump.
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Mark Ginocchio

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Rafer Alston tries to see the bright side of things and compares the current Nets team to the Miami team he played for 2003-04 that started out 0-8 but still ended up making the playoffs.

Sean Williams is not deterred by his early-season lack of playing time and is ready when his number is called.

Lawrence Frank wants Terrence Williams to work more on his driving and ball movement.

Speaking of TWill, ESPN Insider's John Hollinger lists him as a disappointment in the early going due to his poor shooting and turnover rates.

With the firing of Byron Scott in New Orleans, Celtics Blog looks at other coaches potentially in danger of losing their jobs and mentions Lawrence Frank.

Mark Ginocchio

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Welp.  Well you are 0-9, that is kind of how it works huh?  The Nets played great tonight, but great wasn't enough as the Heat win 81-80.  The Heat came down and hit two big threes to take out the Nets, winning by 1.  Some quick bullets:

• Richardson banks in a three.  Wade hits one at the buzzer.  Sometimes, it just feels like this team isn't supposed to win.
• Both threes were defended well.  Just better offense...that and luck...
• I felt very smart today when Marv and Mike talked about how Brook Lopez was floating too much.  He did it again tonight, but at the end, finished in the post.  He was even floating when he wasn't setting the screens, they need to run some sets to get him in the post.
• The Nets held Dwyane Wade to only 22 (he has been averaging over 30),  but let Udonis Haslem go off for a new career high.
• Chris Douglas-Roberts looks to be back, he was getting in the lane finishing and drawing fouls, a good sign to see.
• If Sean Williams can do that (I am not even talking about scoring, I am talking about the energy) every night, I will be a very happy man.
• The one place where the Nets struggled was on the defensive boards.  At one point, they gave the Heat four attempts at the basket.
• Who knew that Trenton Hassell could play with his back to the basket in the post?
• All in all great effort, and I am very confident we can go into these next three games and get at least one win out of it.

Sebastian Pruiti

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