I'm not saying it doesn't any merits. However, there isn't many teams that succeed with a 2 guards dominated offense. Can Krstic play better than Lopez and win now? There is still the matter of poor defense, that is totally the blame of the coach. We have an identity crisis. Are we a rebuilding team or a playoff contending team? I'm guessing we'll keep this team intact and re-estimate at the all star break. If we go on a losing streak, we'll blow this team up further. The Nets doesn't sell any tickets win or lose. Home court is dead. Maybe you should consider letting Yi become like Durant and Harris (free reign) in hope to draw more Asian fans. It's so strange, Carter is a superstar, but no one wants to watch.
First off if we were to retain Krstic, which i highly doubt, he wouldn't replace Lopez. You make it seem as if he's the one not producing of our young bigs. He would replace Yi, being that he's the one not producing on either end. Second, while i do not agree with all of what frank does, He can't get out on the court and make guys play tough defense. That's all on the players, blown assignments on the perimeter, cough VC, is on him, most nights Simmons getting blown by is on him, and Yi's softer then soft post def. is on him. Playing tough is on the player, you can only tell them that so many times. 3'rd, a 2 guard oriented offense is our only real option. Lopez can score, but he's a rookie so you can't realisticlly believe he's ready to get the brunt of the touches at this stage of his career. In a year or two that may be a different story. Yi? sorry but he gets his touches and just doesnt make the shot, or turn's the ball over. Anderson? good hustle player but not a go to guy yet. So that leaves Hayes and Dooling, and guess what their guards. 4th, yi Free reign? As stated by Claude, Yi isn't even in the same atmosphere as those guys in terms of skill. He hasnt proved he can hit shots with consistancy other then a few select games which are few and far apart, and you want to let him fire away? Hate to tell you but his shooting % is not good, he gets touches and a good portion are open shots, he's just not making them. I'm not even getting into his turnover problems. Let him shoot away, we'll be the absolute worst team in the league, but hey maybe we'll get a power forward in Blake Griffin. I'm not trying to flame here but it's getting a bit old. It's post after post about how everything about the nets is wrong except for Yi, and how Yi isn't playing well because of Frank, or the guards, or lack of shots, or whatever other reason you can think of. Own up, he's not playing well because he's not ready to be a NBA starting big man at this stage in his career.
In order to maximize your results in a dribble-drive offense, you have to have good shooters. The Nets are by no means a bad shooting team; however, they aren't great at it either. Their 3P% this season is 14th in the NBA, which is middle-of-the-pack status. Hence their mixed results all season. The only real consistent downtown threat they have is Vince Carter. Maybe Bobby Simmons. Ryan Anderson makes less than a three per game. My point is there is no one particularly commanding from downtown that the opponent's have to adjust their entire defense to. Their post game is raw, which is to be expected considering most of their big men are rookies or sophomores. They don't have anyone to throw the ball into and expect consistent results. Perhaps in the future, but not right now. If no one is hitting from the outside and Lopez and Yi are having typical rookie/sophomore nights, then the burden rests on the shoulders of Carter and Devin to isolate. This hurts Devin more since he particularly thrives in the dribble-drive offense. So I wouldn't say the offense is a complete fail, but it won't make the team any better until they develop consistent outside shooting or add another dimension to their offense, a post up player.
We are by no means contenders. If we're giving Yi and Simmons quality minutes to sink or swim, we cannot be contending for a title. They are still learning the ropes and are undependable as of yet. We are a rebuilding team with playoffs hopes. Don't even try to raise the expectations because if we fall flat, then we turn on each other, but if we keep our expectations realistic, we can develop chemistry and grow as a team. We have way too many rookies and second year players to be to contenders. Our offense is like an on again off again relationship. That's why we can't rely on it to win. We have to start with defense. On days we can't find the basket we need to hold our opponents to under a hundred. There is nothing wrong with the dribble drive offense, we don't even use it on every play and who says we need to? Devin can pass, he doesn't have to score thirty plus every night for us to win. But, when people's shots don't go in, we can use him as a scoring option. Something we didn't have with Kidd, so easily getting triple doubles, but scoring a measly 12 pts in the process, which doesn't help for much. Well, New Jersey was never known as a flourishing job market. In bad times, people have to decide to wether to buy food for their families or go to a Nets game. You can tell by eyeing all the hungry fans at the stadiums. The Nets need to consider other markets. Yi is a stud in China, but will a million Chinese move to New Jersey and go on welfare just to watch him play?
