As we all know, the Nets got totally outplayed in game 1 by the Pistons from Mo-town. The Pistons held the Nets to 56pts & won by 23pts. That type of loss must have sent Lawerence Frank back to the drawing board looking for any & everything to improve on for game 2. Well here are a few noticable improvements the Nets need to make..... Attack the Basket more aggressively- In game one the Nets seemed kind of hesitant going toward the basket. They didnt take the ball strong to the hole like they normally do. They were playing not to get their shot block. Imo that is the worst thing you can do against a long defensive team like the Pistons. The Nets need to go to the hole aggressively, yes they will get their shot block from time to time but if they keep attacking the will score more times than not. Or they will at least find themselves at the line. Make Free Throws-In the 2nd half when the Nets got a bit more aggressive they were able to get to the line a little more but they didnt convert the free throw opportunities. The Nets finished the game 13 for 21 from the line. Missing that many free opportunities to put points on the board against the Pistons defense isnt going to cut it. The Pistons defense is extremely difficult to score on from the field, so when you are given freebies you must convert at a high %. It would be nice if the Nets could find away to get about 18pts per game from the free throw line. Nets must Rebounds- Saying the Nets got killed on the boards in Game 1 is an understatement. The Pistons were plus 19 on the boards in game1. Nets got out rebound at just about every starting position. Kenyon Martin has to come up with more than 5 rebounds, JC has to come up with more 2 rebs. And Nets perimeter players with the exception of kidd also did a horrible job on the boards. RJ/Kittles/Harris combined for only 6 rebounds. The Nets perimeter players have to help make up for the huge frontline rebounding edge the Pistons have in this series. Guard rebounding will be a key to the Nets success if they want to advance. Bigman Play along side Kenyon Martin-K-Mart struggled in game 1 in part due to foul trouble & also because of the Pistons defense. The Nets bigmen along side K-Mart must give him some help inorder to losen up the Pistons defense. Jason Collins/Rodney Rodgers/Aaron Williams combined to go 0 for 9 from the field, scored a combine 1 pt, and grabbed a total of 9 rebounds. They have to start producing something or K-Mart will have no room to operate in this series. Make shots from the Perimeter-One way to open things up a little inside is to knock down perimeter shots more consistently in the Half-court. The Pistons difense is going to continue to pack the lane if the Nets guards dont make shots. With the exception of Kittles the Nets shooting from the outside was horrible. Kidd/RJ/Harris/Rogers went 0-10 from behind the 3pt strip. The Nets need Harris & Rogers to make those 3's. And granted Jefferson & Kidd arent your spot up shooters but if they settle for the 3 they must be more efficient as well. The Nets need to find away to work the ball around the perimeter to get good looks from the mid-range area, Instaed of just taking the 1st avaible 3pter. Jefferson,Kidd,even Harris all shoot the ball better from 15-20 feet than they do from 23-24 foot 3's. Another thing I notice was that at the end of the 1st quarter when coach Frank brought in Lucious Harris to run the point for Kidd. Coach Brown brought in Lindsey Hunter to pressure the ball. Harris had back to back turnovers & the Pistons went on a run to end the quarter. Coach Frank cant lose that chess match to coach Brown. Lindsey Hunter is one of the best point guards at pressuring the dribble,he has been since his days with the Pistons in the early 90's. Lucious Harris can not be trying to bring the ball up against him. Its going to lead to way to many turnovers. Anymore Adjustment that you see for tonights game?
They need to pull a Mavericks or Kings move. Get an early and huge lead, so large to the extent, catchup would be difficult regardless of how well they've been shooting. Knowing the Nets though, that's a no-no. I think apart from defense is that we have to rely on our big man Jason Collins, he's been playing really well and hard, feed him the ball or make him do more, he seems to be fending for himself quite well.
