Net Worth: Pistons Prosperous, Nets Destitute

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New Jersey Nets 92 Final
Recap | Box Score
109 Detroit Pistons
Kris Humphries, PF 25 MIN | 2-9 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | -14

Played mostly under the rim against bigs that play over it. Couldn’t defend anyone.

Anthony Morrow, SG 32 MIN | 0-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | -14

A shooter that shot 0-7, 5 of those from 3. Couldn’t defend anyone.

Shelden Williams, PF 20 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -17

Instead of drawing the fouls, merely committed them. You can’t really expect him to guard Monroe inside, but you can at least hope he throws a hand in his face and prevent some shots. That didn’t happen. Had one jam. Couldn’t defend anyone.

Deron Williams, PG 28 MIN | 4-10 FG | 6-7 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 14 PTS | -23

Looked like a talented, top-10 player in the NBA for maybe six scattered possessions. Looked like he understood the talent level around him resembled a moldy orange and that overextending your body for a meaningless cause wasn’t prudent for the rest of it. Couldn’t defend anyone.

Jordan Farmar, PG 26 MIN | 5-9 FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 14 PTS | -14

Hit an open three-pointer off a good find from MarShon Brooks and got a solid and-one in the second quarter. Made his other threes, and got heated and in some Pistons faces as frustration mounted in the fourth quarter. Couldn’t defend anyone.

Sundiata Gaines, G 22 MIN | 4-7 FG | 4-6 FT | 4 REB | 6 AST | 13 PTS | +6

Didn’t play terribly, all things considered. Turned the ball over a few times, but it’s hard to gauge his play, since he everything came in garbage time. Couldn’t defend anyone.

Johan Petro, C 20 MIN | 6-10 FG | 4-4 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 16 PTS | +3

Every time Johan Petro shoots a jumper from at least 12 feet, Deron Williams inches closer to the door. Led the team in points, which is positively terrifying. Couldn’t defend anyone.

Shawne Williams, SF 25 MIN | 2-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | -3

Hit a couple of midrange jumpers over defenders in the fourth quarter, but outside of that he continues his strangely Outlawian time with New Jersey. Couldn’t defend anyone.

MarShon Brooks, G 17 MIN | 2-7 FG | 2-3 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS | -9

Welcome back, MarShon! Made a sweet shot in the third quarter, but clearly isn’t 100%. Clearly frustrated with himself. Couldn’t defend anyone.

Jordan Williams, F 25 MIN | 4-8 FG | 3-4 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 11 PTS | 0

Made a wild shot at the basket, took up space, scored one nice block in the third quarter on a dunk attempt, had a few other decent contests, and didn’t do much else. Mostly couldn’t defend anyone.

Five Things We Saw

  1. Basketball’s not too complicated. Control the four factors — shooting, rebounding, turnovers, and free throws. Score at the rim, defend the rim. Score on the perimeter, defend the perimeter. The Nets can do one most of the time (score on the perimeter), and another occasionally (score at the rim). Tonight, they couldn’t do any of it. This is a broken team, with too much wear and tear resulting from equal parts shortened season and decimated roster, and outside of Deron Williams occasionally carrying them with outside shooting, they’ve got no business winning games.

    Also, Johan Petro led the Nets in points. Johan Petro. The Pet. My heart is stone and my eyes are comatose.
  2. Scoring at the rim: Jason Maxiell had four blocks, including a smash on a Kris Humphries dunk attempt that may have broken his soul. Jordan Williams and MarShon Brooks missed layups. Deron Williams and Jordan Farmar often got into the lane, got in the air, and didn’t know what the next move was; Deron’s good enough to get away with that, but his teammates aren’t good enough to adjust.
  3. Defending the rim: Greg Monroe scored at will once again, finishing 8-9 for 18 points. Jonas Jerebko made good use of cuts and drives to the basket (and it didn’t help that Shawne Williams couldn’t stop him), and Rodney Stuckey had little issue attacking the rim in the first half. Maxiell dunked and scored in the restricted area. Brandon Knight hit floaters in the lane. Ben Wallace got open layups at the rim. Ben Wallace. 24-points-in-26-games Ben Wallace. Nobody rotated to guard shots attacking the rim. Rarely did a Nets player rise up on a shot inside.
  4. Scoring on the perimeter: Anthony Morrow hasn’t made a three in the past two games. Outside of Jordan Farmar, the Nets shot 1-11 from beyond the arc. The Nets have this odd tendency to remain stagnant for roughly sixteen to eighteen seconds, then scramble towards the basket to no avail. That’s where a lot of their perimeter shots come from, and most of them weren’t very good.
  5. Defending the perimeter: Brandon Knight and Ben Gordon got open looks from 16 feet and beyond like clockwork throughout four quarters. Tayshaun Prince and Jerebko made their jumpers.

    All in all, a shameful, embarrassing display of basketball, from a team that looked completely disinterested and masterfully underprepared to attack the 28th-worst defense in the NBA.