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DeShawn Stevenson, SG 15 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 PTS | +1
You get these kind of games from DeShawn, well, most of the time. When Avery uses him as a starter and rotation player he’ll have games where he isn’t hitting his shots and his defense isn’t as tight as it could be. Today was one of those days. |
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Kris Humphries, PF 30 MIN | 4-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 10 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | 0
Like always, Hump played aggressively in the paint. Solid defense on Tyrus Thomas and Byron Mullens and didn’t allow them to grab many rebounds under the basket. Humphries wasn’t the double-double machine like he could have been versus this weaker Bobcats front court, but was still his typical rebounding self. |
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Mehmet Okur, C 29 MIN | 3-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS | -5
Virtually a nonfactor out there tonight. At seven points and four boards, he didn’t add a whole lot to the stat sheet, and by playing typical Mehmet Okur defense in the paint, didn’t add a whole lot of aggression. Like Humphries, Okur should have had a better game on the defensive end, but for whatever reason, didn’t. |
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Deron Williams, PG 38 MIN | 8-17 FG | 2-2 FT | 9 REB | 10 AST | 19 PTS | +7
This was the kind of game we needed out of D-Will yesterday versus Westbrook, but it’s no surprise it came today versus a depleted Charlotte point guard position. D-Will had a phenomenal first half, but couldn’t buy a basket in the second. His shooting was in full force for the first two quarters and didn’t really miss anything. I’m not sure why he went cold later in the game. The looks were there, the crossovers were there, but six turnovers definitely hurt them. It’s a good thing the Nets were playing the Bobcats because his mistakes and lazy passes could have made a much bigger impact than they did tonight. |
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MarShon Brooks, G 36 MIN | 9-17 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 20 PTS | 0
Another great game from The Steal. Shot the ball well from the field and played good, aggressive basketball on the defensive end. He’s definitely working harder on that side of the ball and isn’t as much of a liability as he was at the start of the year (which may not be saying a whole lot). I love how MarShon’s rebounding numbers are going up, too. With his long wingspan, he reaches over bodies to grab defensive boards which is incredibly helpful on this team. Also displayed flashed of a post-game which was cool to see. |
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Shelden Williams, PF 22 MIN | 2-5 FG | 1-2 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | +12
A nonfactor on offense, but had some nice stops on D. It’s always great to see him play and Petro sit and I’m glad Avery’s sticking with that. Shelden is the toughest of all the Nets bench big men under the basket. |
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Anthony Morrow, SG 32 MIN | 6-10 FG | 4-4 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 19 PTS | +12
Morrow has had a strangely inconsistent season. He shot the ball really well behind the arc today and hit a lot of open, easy shots. Much of this can be credited to Williams for finding him, but it’s fun to watch Morrow when he is shooting well. |
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Five Things We Saw
- First easy win of the season. It was awesome to see the Nets play four quarters of basketball and not have to come from behind. The Nets outplayed the Bobcats all night and maybe this will provide some much needed confidence in the coming weeks.
- Deron Williams versus the Prudential Center. In the first half, Deron was hitting his shots and displayed his great court vision. In the second, he did just the opposite–finding most of his turnovers and missed shots in the third and fourth quarters. Whether or not Deron actually dislikes the Prudential Center is a whole other issue, but it is interesting that his play remains inconsistent at home.
- Fastbreak offense. The Nets displayed flashes of this during the Thunder game, but was much more effective against Charlotte for obvious reasons. MarShon Brooks, Deron Williams are the masters at this–grabbing a quick steal and outrunning the defense–but Kris Humphries has also been surprisingly effective as well. The Nets need to be faster on offense when they have the opportunity because slowing down in transition has cost them a lot of turnovers.
- Poor three-point shooting. With the exception of Anthony Morrow, the Nets again suffered from low percentages behind the arc. The Nets are clearly lacking a strong scoring presence under the basket and it is leaving them to take bad shots and force long twos and threes. Brook Lopez’s return should change this, but until then, they need Kris Humphries and especially Mehmet Okur to be a bit more aggressive in the paint on the offensive end to create higher percentage shots.
- On to the next one. Every positive taken from this contest is all relative since the Bobcats are playing about as well as the Nets are right now. The Nets are coming off two solid defensive performances with the Thunder and the Bobcats, which is something to build on when playing a difficult team on the road tomorrow night.
