The New Jersey Nets
By #1 Sports
The New Jersey Nets dropped their record-breaking 18th consecutive game to open a season Wednesday night, 117-101 to Dallas in East Rutherford, allowing the Mavericks to shoot a ridiculous 81% from the field in the first half. The small crowds that do show up to the IZOD Center (11,689 versus Dallas) come with bags on their heads and ready to taunt the NBA’s worst scoring and shooting team’s lack of hard play. The franchise’s long-planned move to Brooklyn still seems amorphously somewhere out there in misty future. Is there any hope for Nets fans? Will they ever taste victory or at least avoid breaking the overall consecutive loss mark of 23?
Have heart, Jersey Boys and Girls. It may be grim right now but there are reasons to believe this crew will improve and here is what we see through our Red, White, and Blue colored glasses…
1) The Nets are not just a young team; their young players have talent. 5 of their top 6 scorers are playing in their 3rd season of fewer. 7’0” 265 2nd-year C Brooke Lopez has produced well with 18.2 points per game with 2.3 blocks and 8.9 boards – including 3.1 per on the offensive side. 6’7” 2nd-year SG Chris Douglass-Roberts is willing to scurry for rebounds (5.0 per) while adding 16.9 points per game with solid shooting. 6’6” rookie swingman Terrence Williams (9.9p, 5.1r, 2.2a) is gaining confidence with minutes and has occasional showed the intensity we remember from Louisville.
2) Staring point guard Devin Harris (15.6p, 3.10 R, 5.4a) and 2nd-year backup shooting guard Courtney Lee (9.6p, 2.8r, 1.6a) have the ability to play better than they have so far. Over his first 5+ years in the pros, Harris has averaged a very respectable 6.9 assists per contest and has career shooting marks of 45.4% from the field and 30.5 from behind the arc compared to 36.1 and 16.7 through 18 games this campaign. Lee also displayed a good stroke in his rookie season (45.0% field, 40.4% from three) that has yet to emerge this year with poor marks of 34.0% from the field and 24.0% from downtown.
3) The injuries can’t last forever, can they? Well, for veteran forwards Edward Najera (back) and Jarvis Hayes (hamstring) they just might but they weren’t going to turn this franchise around anyway. 7’0” 250 3rd-year C Yi Jianlian (9.8p, 7.5r) will return next week from a knee injury. PF Tony Battie is a decent board man with 5.4 per game for his career, is again working out after sitting out the early season with a knee injury, and will open his season next week. PG Keyon Dooling will provide a much-needed additional shooter (34.6% career from three) when he opens his season as early as Friday after hip surgery rehab.
4) Team President Rod Thorn did what needed to be done in dumping Coach Lawrence Frank and drafting (forcing) GM Kiki Vandeweghe into the job with Del Harris in tow as his assistant – a pair that worked well together in Dallas. Harris is a superb X’s and O’s guy and coached the 2004 Chinese Olympic Team led by Jianlian while Vandeweghe has spent considerable one on one time working with Yi on developing his NBA game. With this pair you will see a staff committed to playing Jersey’s young players and cranking up the tempo on both ends of the court.
So there you have it…it’s all roses in The Garden State! Well, still plenty of Thorns to navigate but the one that counts is getting his best talent in the best positions to help the team and there’s nowhere to go but upward and onward in 2009-2010. We’ll be rooting for the Nets Friday night to end the pain for their remaining fans in a home contest against the Bobcats and remind you to pick up your Free Daily Selections at Freeplays.com
-The Champs at #1 Sports