DRAY. DAY.
In a game featuring struggles from Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez, in a game when Gerald Wallace was limited, the Nets got a huge step up from their bench: MarShon Brooks scored 9 key points in the fourth, C.J. Watson hit three threes in the first half, and OH MY GOODNESS ANDRAY BLATCHE HAD A PERFECT FIRST HALF HITTING ALL NINE OF HIS SHOTS AND FINISHED WITH 22 POINTS ON 11-12 SHOOTING. The Nets’ bench finished with 52 points — 5 more than the starters — and the Nets came away with a victory, their fifth straight for the first time since the Mesozoic era (note: may not be factual). Here’s your Net Worth:
In a game when he was defended by Aaron Brooks and Isaiah Thomas for stretches, D-Will should’ve dominated. He didn’t. A troublingly decent game, with some solid moments sprinkled in. But this is the type of game the Nets should hold a commanding lead in throughout, and they didn’t.
I’m sorry, who?
Played 24 minutes, but I’m just glad he’s back. Played defense on four positions (depending on what you call Tyreke Evans) by my count. Didn’t score much or affect the box score but you know what his impact can be and he brought that energy tonight.
Taking on his role as a fifth man in the lineup. I only keyed in on him defensively for a few possessions, but in those possessions he looked very good.
Got abused by DeMarcus Cousins — but then again, everybody did in this one. His shooting in the restricted area was ghastly — he even screwed up an easy alley-oop by not figuring out if he wanted to dunk the ball or lay it in. Luckily his backup picked up that slack.
WHAT A GAME FROM ANDRAY BLATCHE. Uh, so, Andray Blatche went 9-9 in the first half. Andray Blatche hit hook shots, post layups, open jumpers, and fadeaway 20-footers. The Nets’ lead barely increased when Blatche was in the game and shot up from 1 to 12 in the three minutes he was out in the first quarter, but holy crap, Andray Blatche went 9-9 in the first half and hit his first 10 shots. WHAAAT!?
Side note: I’m getting a lot of “See how much of an idiot you were for not liking te Blatche signing!?!?”-esque comments on Twitter. I’m not sure where these people were when Blatche was shooting 36% and making defensive mistakes on nearly every possession before tonight (and really, he had bad ones tonight too), but I digress. You need to understand that when Blatche does well, I AM HAPPY. I want him to succeed. I want the Nets to play well, and Blatche is a part of that. When he plays well, I enjoy it. You need to understand that every Blatche field goal is not a motivation to call me out for some fantastical urge that I’ve “wronged” you. If you do that, do me a favor and come out of the woodwork during the games he plays poorly, too. Because he’s done that a few times now, and there’s been an odd silence.
Anyway, ANDRAY BLATCHE! Hello Blatchelyn! DRAY DAY. He won’t have perfect halves every night and the lane was a flowing river when he was on defense, but he had a hell of a first half, kept the Nets afloat in the second quarter, and stayed effective in his second-half minutes. A great game overall from Andray Blatche.
Still working his way into the rotation, and probably cemented it with an excellent fourth quarter. Got in the lane and hit shots with his unique soft touch. Hit a huge three late in the fourth that sealed this one. I’ll just say one thing: during the game, YES Announcer Mike Fratello said that MarShon Brooks’ offensive game is not always pretty. I respect Mr. Fratello greatly, but I also vehemently disagree.
There go that man Reggie. I feel like I can copy and paste every single game grade, because he brings the same stuff every night: an understanding (if limited) of the defensive principles, and non-stop energy going for rebounds. He didn’t grab every board in sight tonight — he actually “only” grabbed 4 in 22 minutes — but the energy, as always, was there. he even hit a contested layup and-one!
Okay fine, he’s regressing to the mean. We had a good run, Stackhouse. EDIT: JERRY STACKHOUSE WAS STILL A PLUS-17 IN 14 MINUTES EVEN WITH HIS BAD SHOOTING. JERRY STACKHOUSE MAKES EVERYONE BETTER. THE WORLD NOR THE RIM DON’T STOP JERRY STACKHOUSE. NOT EVEN MY MISTAKEN GRADING CAN STOP IT. I’M SORRY I EVER DOUBTED YOU, JERRY STACKHOUSE. A PLUS FOR YOU.
He’s not a big distributor for a backup point guard, so his value comes down to if he can make his shots. Tonight, he made his shots — three threes from three different spots in the first half.
