I think a lot needs to be said about RJ's familiarity of the Nets system, along with the dependability of getting his scoring. Jarvis and Dooling have improved our bench, but I don't see where we pick up RJ's scoring out put and I don't see us being any better defensively, except for where Dooling has upgraded Marcus' position.
certainly anything can happen, but a case can be made that the Nets have improved because: (1) Jason Kidd was a negative influence, didn't consistently give forth maximum effort, and had declining skills (2) Devin Harris will prove to be superior to Kidd on both ends of the court (3) RJ did not play defense and was complaining about his role behind the scenes (4) Vince was injured most of the year (5) The Nets' bench has drastically improved and is deeper (6) All the poor defenders and negative influences have been removed from the team and replaced by team-oriented players that, as a whole, are better shooters and better defenders (7) The Nets are younger (8) the Nets have more players with "upside," including Yi, Sean, and the rookies (9) For one of the worst players in the league last year, Nenad Krstic sure played a lot.
I agree with a lot that's here, although youth and upside are things that will benefit us in the long term, rather than immediate returns next year. I certainly enjoyed watching the Devin-lead team, although he ended up losing more games than he won, and this was when Vince got healthy.
Vince still wasn't 100% though, he required the surgery after the season. He easily could have shut it down during the season and had the surgery and we'd probably would have had a top 5 pick if that happened, but I'm happy that Vince didn't give up. It was a prelude to his dedication which has started this season- the sucessful surgery, helping out the kids at the Orlando league, and showing up to practice in NJ.
Don't forget the team was out of it and they were trying to run & gun and be a high scoring team that played little defense. That's not Devin's game and that will be corrected this season.
The Nets could be the worst team in the east, they have the most question marks going into the season. They will be a lot better than most people think.
The first thing that comes to mind is: ok, well then why did Devin play that way, and has anything significant changed for this season? At this point I'm used to the organization saying the right things but not seeing anything come to fruition.
I'd argue that the team was learning how to play together on the fly, because there were just so many new faces. It is unfair to read anything into it. Also, Devin was obviously still feeling the aftereffects of his injur(ies).
I mention upside simply because a team with three reserves that could perform anywhere between great and terrible should have a higher expected number of wins than a team with three reserves that are guarranteed to be mediocre. Of course, it is partly up to the coach to identify which of the reserves are "good," and which are "bad" and develop and use them accordingly. I hope that makes sense.
Imagine how funny it would be if the Nets somehow ended up being the best team in the East. And then wake up.
with such a high turnover and so many young players, I don't think anyone can accurately predict how well or poor the Nets will do next year. This team could fall apart from inexperience up front and get hammered inside or the young guys could hold their own and VC and Harris will prove to be strong enough to carry this team to an 8th seed. chances are they won't make the playoffs, but won't be an embarassment either. as for DW saying this team is better than the Hawks... ummm no, sorry not next year (barring injuries of course)
Even though i wouldn't want it to be true this may very be true. Other than 2-3 guys on our roster no one else is a proven starter. I do like that we only have one superstar, unlike teams like the Knicks, Bulls and Bobcats where they got good player but no leader. Also in the future Harris can evolve into that guy since he is a good shooter and probably can drive to the hoop and score at will.
That's the thing I like about our team right now, noone really knows how good or bad we will be. IMHO we simply cannot be worse than last year and should be much much more fun to watch them play all season long compared to last year ( Ugh ). We have a very talented and apparently eager to prove everyone wrong as a leader in Vince. Devin Harris should play much better next season as one of the main guys on the team ( Frank will let him play and lead, dont doubt it for a second.) And then comes the fun part...our youngesters. We have Brook who should eventually be our starting C by the end of the season. Ryan Anderson is someone who can play in the post & shoot the lights out for a big man and also play decent D and bang for the boards. CDR is a baller and a winner and he will do his best to help us get the Ws, be it by getting a steal or making a clutch bucket. (lol buckets... get it haha). Then you got 2 amazing prospects with star potential in YI and Swat. They are both freak athletes and should come in much much improved from last year. In the Orlando and Utah summer league, Swat looked more confortable on the court. He didnt look lost like he did on his first year, He was also asking for the ball on the post and was "swishing" them like it was nothing against taller guys(7ft tall!) and you know his defensive awareness will eventually be there hopefully very soon. Yi showed flashes of brilliance in the Olympics but wasnt consistent. That's something he needs to work on if he wants to become a better player. But overall i saw alot of good things from him. He is well adept to guard PFs, can bang for the boards & his offense will be there in Jersey with better distributors on the team. Bobby is an unknown at this time. From what we know he is a good scorer/shooter and can play decent D ( Dear god please at least better than RJ last year!). He could very well gain form and be a contributor on our team and redeem himself. Then you got Najera/Dooling/Hayes. The one common thing in all three? Positive mentality/Can play defense and shoot the ball. Something we've desperately needed for the past 3-4 years. What Im saying is that we have a very nice mix of talent/vets that know their roles/potential/enthusiam to be here on the team which can only lead to good things to come. That is why Im really looking foward for the upcoming season and proving all those nay-sayers WRONG!!. This of course, is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.
Well said. For all we know we can have a top 5 in the eastern conference or a bottom feeder looking up. But whichever can be good for us since there are some good players at next years draft.
Those out-of-town hacks only read the stats pages where our players don't look good. But stats don't add up to a team with a plan. We have a well-balanced team with few holes. We're going to surprise a lot of folks out there wherever they are.
Ummm i would say we have some huge holes. Think of it this way, who is our starting SF. What about starting center? What about PF? Do we have a backup 2guard with legit 2guard size? We have holes but we have talent. We can fix the holes but you cannot say we have a complete team. And by the way compare the amount of frontcourt players to backcourt players. Now how many wings do we have. Unbalanced currently but we have talent and it can turn into a good team. We have good trading chips and can balance this team and be competitive. The most homeristic thing i've heard in a while.
Not really. What I am saying is that those writers and most fans compare teams player for player. With only two star players and three question marks we look real bad there. But if you notice that all five positions can play D, run and shoot, then that combination becomes very dangerous, because whoever is open can score. No more 2 1/2 offensive players, which is what we've had for the past three years.
Bobby Simmons is definitely capable of starting. At PF, Yi would do just fine in our offense, and wouldn't kill our defense. And since we don't have anyone better, and he did such a good job last season, we would have Boone at the center. The backup "2guard" with legit "2guard" size could be Hayes or CDR, most likely Hayes, though. Hell, Keyon's better defensively than most "2guards" in the league. And offensively adept, too. The biggest problem we have is a a lack of a legit backup natural point guard, someone like Anthony Johnson, Brevin Knight, etc.
