Struggled and did so because he’s the main threat of opposing teams. He had to create offense for an offensively-challenged ballclub, and he was easily contained.
Anthony Morrow, SG28 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 11 PTS | -13
He continues to show some progress in his offense, but his impact was virtually rendered useless against the Heat.
Showed lots of effort tonight and did a good job of being a presence on the floor with his energy.
Five Things We Saw
The Nets can easily be tamed when Deron Williams’ lanes are tightly defended. It’s going to be a problem unless there is a talent change within the team. The Miami Heat basically did everything that they wanted to.
Kris Humphries is very competent as a scorer when he’s able to get the ball in the right positions on the court and can clean up. His issue is that he many times is able to achieve great numbers when teams are content to let him do so and just lock down Deron Williams.
The Nets’ bench appears even weaker than I thought, and but it’s also important for coach Avery Johnson to explore it for gold. Shawne Williams is talented and needs more time…in an ideal world, he’d be able to get major minutes, but maybe he’s not up to speed with the Nets’ system.
I understand why the Nets wanted Andrei Kirilenko. Having a long, fast, wiry defender on the perimeter and in the post is something that New Jersey lacked in defending LeBron James. AK-47 would’ve made sense tonight.
The Miami Heat are the NBA’s best, and the Nets are at the bottom. The takeaway from the Nets’ performance is more dramatized because of the talent level and system, but it also shows what the teams clearly lacks, and having Dwight Howard (if he comes) won’t be the only thing that sends the team into the stars—having players with better know-how of how to play will be necessary for the Nets’ hopes to win big.
