Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 129 – NBA Blog

Jason Kidd visits the Nets tonight

Tonight in New Jersey the Nets host Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks. It’s Kidd’s first game in New Jersey since the team traded him to the Mavericks.

Kidd will be up against the point guard he was traded for, Devin Harris.

With 12 wins and 12 losses, the Nets are doing better than expected this season. And with averages of 23.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists, the super-quick Harris is turning out to be a better player than many thought.

Harris isn’t a pure point guard, though. He’s a combo guard. Or a scoring point guard. Whatever term you like, that’s him. But his playmaking ability is improving and he’s more comfortable running the show than he was when first coming to the team last year.

Kidd is still a do-it-all, true point guard who this season is averaging just 9.3 points but he continues to fill the rest of the stat-sheet, putting up a fantastic 6.4 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 2.42 steals per game.

Jason is also having his best season ever from three-point range, hitting 40.6% of his threes. His career average is 33.8%. And his best season ever was with Phoenix in 1996-07 when he nailed 40.0% from outside the arc.

Despite Kidd’s success, the Mavericks have 14 wins and 10 losses, and haven’t been as good as hoped. But, it’s still early. The Mavericks are under a new coach, using a new system, and relying on Kidd’s playmaking ability more this year than they did when first acquiring him. While early indications are that Dallas is good, sometimes very good, but not great, I’m going to reserve full judgment until probably early or mid January.

I was going to go cover the Nets-Mavericks game tonight but the massive snowstorm hitting the area right now may prevent me from making it. But if not, I’ll definitely catch it on TV tonight. Seeing Kidd and Harris go at it should be a treat.

–Jeff

Dec 17: Jazz 103, Nets 92

The AP reports: Deron Williams had 17 points and 11 assists, and Utah overcame a seven-point first quarter and a 22-point deficit to beat New Jersey 103-92 on Wednesday night… Mehmet Okur had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 1-1 on a five-game trip… Paul Millsap added 18 points and 12 rebounds in his 13th straight double-double for the Jazz, who made only three field goals during one of the worst quarters in franchise history… Vince Carter scored 32 points for the Nets, who opened a four-game homestand that continues Friday against Dallas, when Jason Kidd returns to the Meadowlands for the first time since getting traded last February. Devin Harris, the key player New Jersey got in return, had 21 points and 11 assists.

Dec 15: Nets 94, Raptors 87

The AP reports: Vince Carter knew just what to tell Ryan Anderson about recovering from a poor shooting performance. Carter had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Anderson scored a career-high 21 points, and the New Jersey Nets beat the Toronto Raptors 94-87 on Monday night to snap a three-game losing streak… Devin Harris scored 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, making 10 of 11 from the free throw line… Chris Bosh and Jason Kapono each scored 17 for Toronto. Jose Calderon added 15 points and Jermaine O’Neal had 12 for the Raptors, who have lost seven of nine. Jamario Moon and Andrea Bargnani each had 10 points for Toronto. New Jersey had a season-high 54 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, and outscored Toronto 26-2 on second-chance points. Toronto has been outrebounded in 13 consecutive games.

Nets-Raptors observations

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner shares his unedited thoughts on the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors from Friday night. The Raptors visited the Nets and won in convincing fashion, 101-79.

Quick summary: The Raptors led 24-18 after the first quarter. Both teams scored just 16 each in a quiet second quarter. The Raptors tore away in the third quarter (31-19), and kept things going in the fourth for a convincing win. New Jersey shot just 31.3%. They had 20 offensive rebounds, compared to just 5 for the Raptors, but barely converted anything.

It’s pointless to say anything about Vince Carter today. He had a miserable game, shooting 0-of-13 and hitting 3-of-4 free throws for just three points, four rebounds and three assists (but three turnovers). The Raptors played very good defense, but Vince being off like this obviously isn’t normal.

Toronto also defended Devin Harris very well, holding him to 4-of-10 shooting for 14 points, five rebounds and five assists (but four turnovers). Are teams starting to figure Harris out? Hopefully not, for the Nets sake.

What I didn’t like about the Nets today is that as Harris struggled, very few other Nets seemed to try to help him out. As Harris had the ball in three-point range up top, Brook Lopez was the only Net to consistently set a real screen for him in an effort to free Devin up. Other Nets stood around watching. Now, usually Harris uses his super-quickness to create out of nowhere, but when it isn’t happening, guys should move and help a bit.

I’m extremely impressed by Brook Lopez. He’s the real deal and is very strong, agile and basketball-smart on both ends of the floor. The young center is a stud and will have an impressive NBA career.

I still don’t know what to make of Yi Jianlian, other than that he’s agile and has a sweet-looking jumper.

The arena’s sound system sounded especially muffled today.

As for the Raptors, Jermaine O’Neal is moving slowly and not the player he was before, but he has a high basketball IQ and uses his size more effectively than shows on the stat-sheet. Only a little, though.

Chris Bosh didn’t do anything special today, but he didn’t really have to.

Jason Kapono took 15 shots, more than any other Raptor, hitting just six, four of which were three-pointers, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds.

Joey Graham is having a great stretch and has played good basketball for the last few weeks. He looks confident. Graham came off the bench to play almost 30 minutes, shooting 5-of-8 for 16 points.

Andrea Bargnani was a starter this season, but now comes off the bench, and showed very little today, shooting just 2-of-10. That’s obviously worse than usual, but I’m still not sure how good he’s going to get. He’s shown in the past that he has the ability to become a starter-quality player on a winning team, but he isn’t that, yet.

Keep an eye on the Raptors as they learn to play under new head coach Jay triano.

Dec 13: Bulls 113, Nets 104

The AP reports: Ben Gordon and the Bulls knew Vince Carter would come out firing after the worst shooting performance of his career, but they overcame that with their depth. Gordon scored 29 points and Derrick Rose had nine of his 22 in the fourth quarter to lead Chicago to a 113-104 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night… Chicago got help from its young front line, who had been inconsistent all season. Tyrus Thomas scored 16 points and Joakim Noah added seven points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who improved to 8-3 at home… Devin Harris finished with 22 points and seven assists. Carter and Harris were a combined 24-of-25 from the free throw line.

Dec 12: Raptors 101, Nets 79

The AP reports: The worst shooting performance of Vince Carter’s career allowed interim coach Jay Triano to see more positive signs from the Toronto Raptors. Chris Bosh scored 18 points and Toronto capitalized on Carter’s 0-for-13 night against his former team to beat the New Jersey Nets 101-79 on Friday, the Raptors’ second straight win under Triano… Jason Kapono, with four 3-pointers, and Joey Graham each had 16 points for the Raptors, who were outrebounded 50-37. Jose Calderon scored 13 as the Raptors improved to 2-3 under Triano, who replaced Sam Mitchell on Dec. 3. Yi Jianlian and Devin Harris led the Nets with 14 apiece, while Bobby Simmons had 12.

Dec 11: Knicks 121, Nets 109

The AP reports: Al Harrington scored a season-high 39 points, fellow New Jersey high school star Tim Thomas also had his best game of the season, and New York rallied to beat the Nets 121-109 on Wednesday night… Harrington was a point shy of his career high, while Thomas scored a season-high 26… But they got by with huge efforts from their newcomers and a steady one from Chris Duhon, who finished with 10 points and 10 assists. Wilson Chandler added 24 points for the Knicks, who rebounded from a 105-100 loss in Chicago on Tuesday night and won for just the second time in six games. Devin Harris scored 32 points for the Nets, but he couldn’t sustain his blistering start and New Jersey was denied a third straight victory. Vince Carter had 18.

Knicks-Nets rivalry is gone

The New Jersey Nets were a very good team for a few years.

The New York Knicks haven’t been a very good team in quite a while.

Although the two teams are in different states, the drive separating the two teams is just 15 minutes. Maybe 30 or even 40 minutes if it’s rush-hour.

But the two squads have gone through such big roster changes lately, the players on the two sides have barely battled on the court against each other while wearing their current uniforms. The Bergen Record (Al Iannazzone) reports (via blog):

There is no animosity anymore. Vince Carter doesn’t dislike anyone. Tim Thomas might be the only Knick who doesn’t like the Nets and that’s because they traded him on draft day and hurt him in the 2004 playoffs. But both are eon’s ago. This could be the start of a rivalry – maybe. Both have young teams and both have cap money in 2010 when both will be competing for the same players. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Nets still have the best player in the rivalry (Carter), and as well as Knicks point Chris Duhon is playing, he’s not the best point guard in the area. He’s not even the best one on his team, Marbury is. The best in the area still belongs to the Nets. Harris is playing like an All-Star and has helped the Nets to nine wins in their last 12 games.

It’s hard to predict that the team teams will develop anything resembling a real rivalry anytime soon, because there’s no telling who will be on either team’s roster in the next season or so.

It is nice that, win or lose, both teams are much better to watch now than they were just a season ago.

Nets need to defend perimeter

The New York Post (Dan Tomasino) reports: “[Our record of] 9-8, we’ll take it right now,” Devin Harris said. “We’re making strides. Two steps forward, one step back. We made a big stride on the road. We’ve just got to play better at home.” There are many factors involved for the Nets to become more consistent. Improved defense against 3-pointers is a must. They’re second worst in the NBA, allowing opponents to make 42 percent from beyond the arc. Offensively, finding a third scorer to complement Harris and Carter is a challenge.

Dec 2: Wizards 108, Nets 88

The AP reports: Caron Butler had 22 points and 10 assists, and DeShawn Stevenson added 21 to lead the Washington Wizards to an easy 108-88 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night… The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Nets (9-8), who won all three contests on the road. The Nets were led by Devin Harris, who had 18 points, but only three after halftime, and Vince Carter, who had 16 points. Keyon Dooling added 14 off the bench for the Nets.