This offseason is going to be an exciting one for the New Jersey Nets, but before we can move forward we must look back. Over the next couple of days, I am going to be looking at the Nets who will (most likely) be back, and review their year, from what they did well to what they didn’t. Today we are going to look at the Nets’ Most Enigmatic Player, Chris Douglas-Roberts.
We have been splitting up these year in review posts by splitting up the positives and the negatives. For CDR we are going to do something different. We are going to break it up between the CDR from the first 32 games and the CDR of the remaining 50 games.
The First 32 Games
During these first 32 games, CDR was a revelation. He was able to build on his strong finish during his rookie year and earned himself a starting job, one that he really took advantage of. CDR has an awkward game, and while some may see that as a diss, I think of this as a good thing. His high dribble and length really gave defenders a problem, and when he was determined to take it to the basket, he got there easily:
The activity not only on the offensive end, but on the defensive end is really what excited me about CDR the player through these first 30 or so games.
The Final 50 Games
During these final 50 games, the aggressiveness just stopped. Anytime CDR was given the opportunity to be aggressive, he turned it down and was a passive player:
Early in the season, CDR would have taken that yellow path and challenged the Jazz’s defense. However, what really took place was the green dashed line, representing a pass made by CDR.
Here, CDR makes a catch while the defense gambles. The entire Clipper defense is above the basketball (a mistake by the defense), and CDR needs to take advantage of this. Instead, he waits for the play to develop and allows for the defense to get back into position.
So why did this happen? CDR blamed the offense, but I think this is a little misguided. What I think happened is that Kiki wanted to work the ball inside more (with Brook Lopez on your team, that makes sense), and CDR took it as Kiki taking the ball out of his hands. Instead of doing his thing, CDR became so passive he had Dave D. reporting that he was “pulling a Kobe.”
If CDR returns, I think a new coaching staff could rectify some of the issues that took place with CDR this past year. However, how will he handle not being featured or not starting (in the case that a free agent SF comes over this offseason)? That is the big question.
