<div align="center">@ <font color="navy">New Jersey Nets(9-10)</font>@<font color=""blue"">Washington Wizards(8-11)</font> Date & Time: Tuesday, December 13th 2005, 7:00 PM Away/Home The Teams: Starting 5 PG: vs Jason Kidd vs Gilbert Arenas SG: vs Vince Carter vs Jarvis Hayes SF: vs Richard Jefferson vs Antawn Jamison PF: vs Jason Collins vs Jared Jeffries C: vs Nenad Krstic vs Brendan Haywood 6th Men vs Jeff McInnis vs Caron Butler <u>Matchup To Watch</u> vs <font color=""navy"">Jason Kidd</font> vs <font color=""blue"">Gilbert Arenas</font></div> Two of the league's best (if not completely different) point guards face off tonight. The first one is Jason Kidd, New Jersey's (and the league's) purest point guard. As in "pure", I mean "true". A true point guard's job is to get his teammates involved, set up plays, and lead the team. That is exactly what Kidd does, and some. He is an excellent passer, a great defender, and a leader that improves his teammates' play dramatically (example: Kenyon Martin). His teammates always like him because you just can't hate him. How can you hate a guy who makes you look and play better than you thought? The second one is a complete opposite of Mr. Kidd. Gilbert Arenas is a perfect example of the more common point guard in today's game: a scoring point guard. The scoring point guard, unlike the true point guard, looks to score before passing. Arenas does just that, but so far, it's been working for him. He's averaging 27.7 (4th in the league) points per game. And he hasn't been completely ignoring his teammates, either, as his 6 apg prove. He's the main focus of every defense, but somehow, he still manages to do his job, and do it well. Expect Kidd to guard Arenas for most of the night, and vica versa. Kidd has proven that he's still a very good defender, which, when matched up with Arenas's monstrous 3.89 turnovers per game (2nd in the league), could very well mean trouble for the Wizards. On defense, Arenas will have a very tough job guarding Kidd, and his rather weak defense has been exposed the last few games (Wade: 41 points 10 assists, Hinrich: 22 points 13 assists, Calderon: 8 points 13 assists). But he's still a capable defender, and Kidd shouldn't underestimate him. <div align="center"><u>Other Key Players</u></div> <font color=""navy"">Richard Jefferson</font>/<font color=""blue"">Antawn Jamison</font>- Both players are their team's 2nd option on offense, so they're always important for their teams. Both are also top 10 small forwards in the league, so this is an exciting matchup. They are going to need to help out on offense if the 1st options (Arenas/Carter) struggle, which could very well happen to the Wizards with Kidd guarding Arenas. Carter has an easier matchup with Hayes, so Jefferson will probably be less important to the Nets in terms of scoring than Jamison will be for the Wiz. They're both strong defenders who can grab rebounds very well for their size, so it'll be interesting to see who beats who tonight in Washington. <font color=""navy"">Vince Carter</font>-Carter has an easy matchup tonight against Jarvis Hayes, so it'll be very possible for him to go for 30+ points tonight, and that's exactly what he needs to do. Expect Coach Jordan to use a lot of different defenders on Carter (Hayes, Butler, Jamison, maybe Arenas sometimes) to try to shut him down. <u><font color=""navy""><div align="center">Nets' Keys to the Game</div></font></u> Defense, Especially on Gilbert Arenas could easily score 30-40 points tonight if the Nets don't guard him well. Kidd will do some work alone, but the bigs will need to come to help quickly to keep him from scoring on drives. Arenas has a rather weak outside shot (don't let his 2nd in the league in three's made title fool you), so the Nets will need to keep him around the perimeter, where he's less dangerous and Kidd is more effective. Control the Boards The Wizards have big, physical big men in Haywood and Thomas, so it'll be up to Krstic, Collins, and co. to limit them on the boards. It won't be easy, but it's a key if the Nets want to win. Also, RJ needs to keep Jamison away from the basket as much as possible and box him out well to keep him from piling up rebounds. <div align="center"><u><font color=""blue"">Wizards' Keys to the Game</font></u></div> Bench Contribution The bench contribution will be important for the Wizards, since their bench has a big advantage over the Nets'. Atkins, Daniels, Butler, and Thomas have all been key parts of the Wizards this season (especially Butler, who has been outstanding in a 6th man role), while for the Nets, there has only been an occasional good game by Jackson, McInnis, or Padgett. Team Defense The Wizards have allowed 100.3 ppg this season, which is a sign of weak defense. They're going to have their hands full with Jefferson and Carter tonight. Expect a lot of double-teams on Carter, since Hayes can't handle him alone. It'll be interesting to see what kind of defense Eddie Jordan decides to use against the Nets tonight, since a man-on-man wouldn't work, and a zone would leave Carter and Jefferson some good looks from beyond the arc. <u>Prediction</u>: Nets +9 Why? The Wizards are on a 3 game skid, and the Nets have won (surprisingly) 4 straight games on the road. Carter will be too much for the Wiz to handle and will score over 25 points, leading the Nets to a close win.
Nice preview Kobimel, last time these two faced of Arenas really struugled and even got benched by Eddie Jordan for a long period during the 2nd half..so you know Arenas is going to be in attack mode for the full 48...that means that Jason Kidd and more importantly, McInnis when he checks in, is going to have to give the effort to slow McInnis down. you know Kidd going to give the defensive effort but McInnis, sometimes doesnt focus enough on that end of the floor. Washington definately overall isnt as strong as they were last year, they lack that 2ndary playmaker with Hughes gone, so if we can make Arenas just a scorer and keep him from creating good looks for Jamison and Butler guys who need someone to create for them...then I think we win this game. Plus, I think guys are starting to realize that Rod is really watching this team now to see what trades or deals need to be made...so certain guys need to prove themself. So we should get stronger preformances from roles guys.
Well how can you describe this game "awful", "ugly", "embarrasing", "disgusting". There is nothing really to talk about. The Nets played awful the whole game, came back second but 3rd played even worse. This game has people wondering if the big three is even the big three. Just an awful game and let's hope Nets bounce back. Don't know what's worse, the Nets game or Micheal Ruffin's free throw airball.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">the Nets game or Micheal Ruffin's free throw airball. </div> rofl he got an airball
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PlaTsanity:</div><div class="quote_post">rofl he got an airball</div> Yea in the 2nd quarter.
We stunk. What the hell is wrong with our offense! Frank must be a crap coach, because we can't utilise any of our players' strenghts. I don't understand why he got the job in the first place. Change is needed in Jersey, because we can't do jack right now. Jackson can't play D, Padgett is so uncoordinated its almost funny, Collins is terrible on offense, Krsic can't shoot right now, and the big 3 aren't clicking. Worst of all, we can't run the freaking floor. Get rid of Frank, or get some new guys on thursday.
