The Nets fell to 0-2 in the Orlando Summer League today against the Miami Heat. Despite improvements by Tyshawn Taylor and more involvement from Jason Kidd, the Nets had to scrap and claw just to stay close for most of the game. And, in the end, Miami was able to pull away and leave Brooklyn searching for their first “win” under Kidd.
Let’s recap:
- Yesterday, Lawrence Frank was in charge of most timeouts and huddles against Detroit. Frank drew up the plays as Kidd watched on eagerly. Today, however, Kidd drew up a fair bit of plays himself as he continues to try running timeouts in street clothes rather than a jersey.
- Kidd called a couple consecutive timeouts during the late fourth quarter in order to get a little extra practice with the clipboard even though the game’s results had been decided. The NBATV Announcers commented on how both plays got the Nets a good look at the hoop.
- Tyshawn Taylor played far, far better today. He looked more willing to pass and at least accepted the idea of a potential offense being run. Taylor ended with 25 points and tripled his assist count from yesterday to three. However, Taylor also owned a game-low -13 +/-, which is definitely something worth monitoring going foward.
- Toko Shengelia, who often appeared invisible yesterday, definitely left his mark in a good way. It’s hard to tell from the box score, but Shengelia played some nice, scrappy defense, crashed into the stands and made some incredible passes. Clearly, Shengelia needs to work on his jumper still, as his three-attempts really never had any chance of going in. I really like what Shengelia brings to the table as a versatile balanced player that’s willing to leave it all on the court– even in Summer League.
- Mason Plumlee had a quiet first half and then, for the second straight game, left no doubt in any spectator’s mind who the best Net was. Plumlee grabbed 9 boards and ran the floor so well that Andray Blatche would have wept tears of joy. Oh, and he dunked again– this is guy is exciting to watch and the Nets were infinitely more boring without Plumlee on the court. The rookie finished with a strong 23 points by going 8-8 from the field.
- Oh, and most importantly: Jason Kidd did NOT get another technical foul.
The Nets don’t play tomorrow, but play against the Utah Jazz at 11am on Wednesday. Hopefully we’ll actually get a full, complete game out of the Nets so I can stop being so sour about losing a pointless, unimportant Summer League game.
