Shots coming in high-efficiency zones (at the rim on drives or open threes), open teammates catching his passes… The numbers weren’t great and he didn’t exactly have a performance that would knock your NBA records off, but it slowly seems like we’re starting to see “Deron Williams” and not “a resurgent Deron Williams.” If this is the point guard the Nets have under contract, and not just a blip on a longer-term radar, this is very, very good news.
Small sample size, but he does not look comfortable playing in Atlanta. Hope it doesn’t carry over if they meet in the playoffs.
Thunderslam in the first, but man I wish he’d make more layups.
Had a quiet first half outside of a nice one-handed slam on Josh Smith, but grabbed a gobble of rebounds (yes, I just invented the term “gobble” to mean a group of rebounds) and heated up with some nice hits in the third quarter to help the Nets extend their halftime lead. Was also impressed by the way he patrolled the lane — Smith & Horford both scored on him in opportunities, but he played good help defense relative to expectation and was probably a bit above average cutting off attempts near the basket.
Oddly active, enormous offensive game from Blatche — jumped the passing lane for two of his three steals in the first half, went between his legs and popped jumpers throughout the game (particularly in the fourth quarter), enjoyed a little Point Blatche game on the break without ruining the offense.
Outside of one weird play when Bogans forced offense towards the basket after C.J. Watson looked off him while he was begging for the ball (in his defense, he was WIDE open), he hit his open threes and didn’t turn the ball over. I should just have that last part copied and pasted for each game. #RoleStarHipHop
Given what we know about him and what he can do, he was fine. His pick-and-roll blitz-and-recover defense was great, his rebounding was great, his everything else was forgettable.
Hit one beautiful three from the top of the key. That’s all I got.
Felt like he had some issues controlling the offense but hit a big 3 in the fourth quarter as the Hawks were chipping into the lead to give the Nets a 16-point lead.
