So this Terrence Williams saga is going to get a lot worse before it will get better (if that is even possible at this point). Today, he told the beat writers to stop talking to him. From Fred Kerber:
I approached him with Al from The Record.
Me: “How are you handling all this?”
Williams: “What?”
Me: “Have you spoken to Kiki? It’s two games you haven’t played.”
Williams: “Let me ask you a question.”
Me: “Sure.”
Williams: “Like what do you guys get out of asking me these questions? Like, you guys get a better story? You guys feel better about yourself asking me these?”
Me: “Okay, would you rather we don’t talk to you?”
Williams: “Yeah”
Me: “Okay, fine”
So I walked away with Williams mumbling something as incoherent as his shot selection.
Nice little dig by Kerber at the end, but can you blame him at this point? I already talked about my experiences with Terrence (which were pretty similar to this one), and this is sad. Especially for me, since I had so much hope for him, both as a personality and as a player. This isn’t anyone over-blowing anything either, this is Terrence Williams putting himself in a bad situation, and he is just making it worse and worse. All this being said, Terrence still has the potential to make an impact on this team if he gets his head on straight. The talent is there if he can just focus on defense and attacking the basket. He doesn’t have a NBA-level shot right now (we knew that going in), but he is just settling for too many jumpers. Fans won’t forget about the Tweets if he starts playing better, but it sure will be put on the back-burner if he can perform well in some Nets’ wins. Who knows when he will get back on the court though?
Onto the game, the Nets are finishing up a stretch of 5 winnable games with the chance of going 3-2. That isn’t the worst, but it isn’t great either. I would have loved to see this team go 5-0, but I can live with 3-2. If you notice, the two losses came against teams who can score and like to run up and down the court. In both games, the Nets faced long-cold streaks while their opponent continued to score. The Pacers aren’t an up and down team, so that is a good sign for the Nets. Keyon Dooling is out with a hip-pointer, Bobby Simmons should be back, and Tony Battie might not be available. Onto the matchups:
Devin Harris vs. T.J. Ford
Look for Devin to have a good game here. T.J. Ford isn’t as quick as him, and he should be able to get into the lane and cause mayhem. Devin has been doing everything right except for making shots. I think he has enough games under his belt to the point he will start hitting those shots.
Advantage: Devin Harris
Courtney Lee vs. Brandon Rush
Brandon Rush is an athletic shooter who can play pretty good defense. Courtney Lee has quietly been coming out of his funk, and I think that that could continue here against the Pacers.
Advantage: Push
CDR vs. Dahntay Jones
CDR has been very good the second game off of a bad one. I would love to see that trend continue, but Dahntay Jones is a very good defender. I know this sounds funny, but I would love to see CDR exert himself a little more on the offensive end. I don’t mean take more jumpers, I mean I want to see him drive the lane, his awkward game should help him here, because guys don’t know how to defend his dribble or block is shot.
Advantage: Push
Josh Boone vs. Troy Murphy
Troy Murphy is pretty underrated for what he can do on the court. He can shoot, he can rebound, and he can score out of the post. Josh Boone is the opposite. He can rebound a little bit, but he can’t shoot, or score out of the post.
Advantage: Troy Murphy
Brook Lopez vs. Roy Hibbert
If you don’t read Hardwood Paroxysm, you need to start doing so. In the site’s daily 15 footer segment, he talks about the Brook vs. Roy matchup:
If you want something to focus on tonight, how about Hibbert-Lopez? Hibbert’s been less than phenomenal, but his per40’s are still pretty good (16, 10.9, 2.5 blocks and 5.9 fouls per game- he’s not necessarily fouling out every game! He was at 8.5 PF per 40 last year. Seriously.), and the size matchup is interesting. I believe Brook Lopez deserves an All-Star nod that he will never, ever get because the system is moronic. It’s fun to watch Lopez against bigger guys because he uses more of his skillset. Now that I’ve said that he will shoot 10% and not play due to foul trouble. Damn you!
I totally agree. Let’s hope he doesn’t shoot 10% though.
Advantage: Brook Lopez
