The Nets beat the Sacramento Kings behind a red-hot Marcus Thornton. (AP)
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Here's an early roundup of last night's Nets festivities.
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It's a whole new game since the last time these two teams played. (AP)
BY SAM LACHOW
| Brooklyn Nets | Breakdown |
Sacramento Kings |
| 30-30 | Record | 22-40 |
| 6-4 | Last 10 Games | 5-5 |
| 102.8 | Points scored per 100 possessions | 103.9 |
| 104.0 | Points allowed per 100 possessions | 106.4 |
| 94.1 | Possessions per game | 96.8 |
| 45.0% | Field goal percentage | 44.9% |
| 35.9% | Three-point percentage | 34.1% |
| 47.2% | Rebound percentage | 51.4% |
| 15.4% | Turnover percentage | 15.5% |
| Joe Johnson (15.1) | Top Scorer | DeMarcus Cousins (22.3) |
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The Nets continue their west coast trip against the Portland Trail Blazers tonight. (AP)
| Brooklyn Nets | Breakdown |
Portland Trail Blazers |
| 26-28 | Record | 39-18 |
| 6-4 | Last 10 Games | 5-5 |
| 103.0 | Points scored per 100 possessions | 108.6 |
| 104.6 | Points allowed per 100 possessions | 105.3 |
| 97.9 | Possessions per game | 98.0 |
| 45.1% | Field goal percentage | 45.0% |
| 36.5% | Three-point percentage | 38.1% |
| 47.7% | Rebound percentage | 51.6% |
| 15.4% | Turnover percentage | 13.8% |
| Joe Johnson (15.2) | Top Scorer | LaMarcus Aldridge (23.9) |
Projected starting lineup:... MORE →
Jason Collins (right) on the bench with Paul Pierce. (AP)
A couple minutes into Jason Collins’ first appearance for the Nets on Sunday, my wife said what has become a common chorus, “Why is this such a big deal? It shouldn't be.”
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One of the biggest criticisms from real human beings about the Brooklyn Nets signing Jason Collins is that the team wouldn't know how to handle a gay athlete, that players would just flat-out be uncomfortable with an openly gay teammate. That's fully on display right here, when Collins hits the ground hard after trying to get a rebound and his teammates scatter away in fear that they might...
Oh, wait. No, correction: Alan Anderson, Deron Williams, and Andrei Kirilenko, three of Collins's Nets teammates, immediately rush over to help him up off the floor. It's almost like whether or not he's gay doesn't affect the fact that he's a professional basketball player and teammate.
What's also worth noting: the three teammates that helped Collins up all come from widely different backgrounds; Anderson was born in Minneapolis and attended school in Michigan, Williams went to high school in The Colony, Texas, before going to school in Illinois, and Andrei Kirilenko was born and raised in Izhevsk, Russia.
Collins played 11 minutes in a mundane debut.
Jason Collins with the Nets in 2007 (AP)
Deron Williams addressed the Collins situation directly, saying, “If it can help our team, I’m all for it. I think he’s a great player, great role player. You know I played with his brother for five and a half years and they have similar games, and I’ve known Jason for years.”
Williams posited that media attention may have driven teams away from signing Collins. He also asserted that such a concern wouldn’t deter the Nets.
“He’s a solid role player, I think it’s just the distraction thing, that might the thing that’s deterring teams. But like I said, with us, I don’t see that being a problem.”
Further elaborating on the distraction factor, the Nets point guard said, “It’s not [Collins] being a distraction, it’s just the media coming along with it, because every city you go to, it’s not just like you answer a question once and it’s over with. It’s a reoccurring thing. But like I said, I don’t see it being a problem with us.”
Williams even alluded to signs of progress on this issue outside of basketball, mentioning how prospective NFL draft pick Michael Sam just came out as openly gay.
“It’s 2014, you know. Michael Sam just came out, his teammates welcomed him. They’re in college. It’s time for the NBA as well.”
ESPN New York -- D-Will: If Collins can help, I'm all for it
Nets general manager Billy King confirmed yesterday that the team had worked Collins out, and that Collins was "in shape," but added that the team is looking at big men from the D-League and China as well as free agents. King said that Collins's sexuality would not be a factor in whether or not they signed him.
Much of the Nets organization publicly supported Collins when he came out last year.
The Nets showed the most life after the whistle, and it cost them in the loss. (AP)
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Here's a roundup of last night's Nets festivities.
... MORE →
Kevin Garnett and Joakim Noah have a history. (AP)
In 11 chances to play on the second half of a Brooklyn Nets back-to-back this season, Kevin Garnett has sat out in four of them. It's part of coach Jason Kidd's plan to rest Garnett during the season, to keep him fresh for the playoffs.
But he'll play tonight against the Chicago Bulls, as expected:
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Andray Blatche & the Nets dunked the Bobcats with ease in Brooklyn Wednesday night. (AP)
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Here's a roundup of last night's Nets festivities.
... MORE →
Mason Plumlee has shown flashes of success this season. (AP)
If you watched the Brooklyn Nets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 93-81 Sunday night, you saw the type of player Mason Plumlee can become.
With 22 points and 13 rebounds, Plumlee epitomized everything a modern NBA center should be and in turn gave the Nets a new dimension: vertical weaponry.
If you’ve been following the NBA over the past decade, you’ve seen a best case scenario for Plumlee’s career. Plumlee is the Nets’ cross-Hudson counter to Tyson Chandler: a freakishly tall human being who also happened to be blessed with freakishly good athleticism. That rare blend of size and power allows him to attack in ways on the basketball court that few others can and as a byproduct in areas that few others can: vertically.
A player unlike Plumlee, and thus bound to the laws of gravity, may spend their time attacking the horizontal space on a basketball court. Brook Lopez is one example. Lopez is tall enough to dunk, and does so often, but plays a below-the-rim game about as much as any successful center could.
At present moment, Plumlee’s greatest skill that he brings to an NBA game is his ability to simply set a screen, roll hard to the front of the rim and, most importantly, finish the play. That’s a skill no Nets big man has possessed since Kenyon Martin left town.
First let’s look at the roll: if basketball is a game of trying to create one-second advantages, then Plumlee’s roll to the hoop -- just the roll alone -- after setting a screen creates valuable advantages for the Nets.
Because he is such a threat to catch a lob or to throw down a thunderous dunk (as he did several times vs. the Pelicans), Plumlee’s roll attracts lots of help-side defensive attention, meaning long closeouts for those same defenders as the ball swings around the Nets’ perimeter. These long closeouts and one-second advantages Plumlee creates are immeasurably valuable.
The other element is Plumlee’s finishing. Plumlee lacks traditional back-to-the-basket post moves and his offensive game can be summed up by the words run-catch-finish. But there’s beauty in that simplicity. Plumlee demands no touches on offense, and on a team that’s ripe with players that do, its refreshing to have someone who can still be effective without the ball.
According to NBA.com, 84 of Plumlee’s 90 made field goals have come at the rim. 84! Of those 84, 84.3% have been assisted on.
Run, catch, finish.
The added aerial dimension that Plumlee brings makes his finishing all the more ominous. The option to catch and finish over the rim opens up all sorts of angles for Nets passers. Why try and thread a needle through an assortment of arms, when you can simply flip a pass over the top?
Plumlee still has a long way to go before he can be declared a game-changer, but as glimpses of potential turn to long, sustained images, the airspace above the Nets’ basket become that much more hostile for defenders.
