What’s going on everyone? Hope you all had a good holiday, the Nets are getting back into the swing of things with a game against Houston tonight. Before we talk about this game, I want to point something out from the game against Minnesota (there will be a video breakdown tomorrow, so this will be quick). Hoop Data now has advanced box scores, and it is awesome. Taking a look at the one from the Minnesota game, it become obvious that missed shots at the rim probably cost the Nets the game. Josh Boone was 1-5 at the rim. Brook Lopez was 1-6. As a team, the Nets were 13-28 at the rim…ouch…
Anyway tonight should be interesting. Nobody expected the Rockets to be 17-12 at this point, and they are doing it without Yao and without T-Mac for most of the year. They spread the scoring load around. Four guys average over 14.7 PPG, including Carl Landry who is averaging 16.6 off the bench. T-Mac is back, but he hasn’t played more than 8 minutes in a game, he has been pushing for more minutes, and we will see if he gets them tonight. Onto the matchups!
Devin Harris vs. Aaron Brooks
This is going to be a fun match-up to watch. You got two quick guys who like to get into the lane and create things for themselves and their teammates. Neither are the best defenders either. Devin for once is going to have a size advantage, and hopefully he will be able to use it, especially when he pulls up for his mid-range jumpers.
Advantage: Devin Harris
Courtney Lee vs. Trevor Ariza
Courtney Lee has had his best game since the Bobcats game where he put up his career high. He had 20 points on 8-16 shooting including 2-3 from 3. What was most impressive was his willingness to attack the basket and not settle for jumpers. The Trevor Ariza signing has had mixed reviews, he is putting up pretty good numbers, but with his increased usage this year, his True Shooting Percentage is the worst of his career (47.0%). What that means he is taking too many shots to get his points.
Advantage: Push
Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Shane Battier
From what I am hearing CDR will be back tonight. This is going to be a tough return game for him as he will be facing one of the best defenders in the league. Battier isn’t really a scoring threat on the other end (only 8.2 PPG), so CDR can focus his efforts on the offensive end, and he is going to need to.
Advantage: Shane Battier
Yi vs. Luis Scola
Yi forced Kiki’s hand last game. He was only supposed to play something like 10-15 minutes last game, but he played so well and looked so good, he ended up playing 30 minutes. I think his performance on Wed. night will show Kiki that Yi is ready to start. Luis Scola is a tough player who likes to bang inside, he may have some problems covering Yi on the outside, but when Scola is going to be on offense, he is going to try to post Yi up as much as he can. Yi is going to have to step it up defensively.
Advantage: Luis Scola
Brook Lopez vs. Chuck Hayes
Chuck Hayes is an undersized center, but his work ethic on the court makes up for his lack of size. That being said Brook needs to get a fair amount of touches inside. With Yi and Dooling now back, he probably won’t be seeing as many doubles as he was before, and that could free him up to use his size advantage inside.
Advantage: Brook Lopez
This is your open thread tonight guys, use it if you want.
