Time: Tonight, 7opm Arena: Contential Airlines Arena Game CH: TNT The Nets are coming off two straight railroad blowouts at the hands of the Heat in the Amercia Airlines Arena. But the scene now shiftes to the garden state and the Contential Airlines Arena. The scene change may give the Nets a chance to gain some footing in this series. The Nets need to turn home cooking into a chance to do what they do best. And that is get out in the open court and create some tempo in their favor. The slow down half-court offense of the Nets so far in this series has basically taken Jason Kidd out of the series. Tonight is his chance to dictate the play a bit in his matchup against Dwayne Wade, who has totally dominated him so far in this series. If Kidd can get the Nets off to a strong start in the early going unlike games 1 &2 then it may force Van Gundy & the Heat on their heels. And looking to make adjustments. Speaking of adjustments Coach Lawerence Franks may need to make some adjustments as welll, like finding away to involve Richard Jefferson into the flow of the game quicker. Brian Scalibrine at the 3 spot just hasnt work against Miami. Inserting Jefferson into the game earler whether it be putting him in the starting lineup or moving him up to the 1st guy off the bench in a 6th man type role, will prevent more of a problem to the Heats defense. Jefferson adds another break down off the dribble guy that the Heat would have to do with to go along with Carter. So far in this series Jefferson has struggled somewhat in making the return from wrist injury. But seems to be taking some of the rust off his game by the play he displayed in the 4th quarter of game 2. Jefferson getting into the game early & contribiting can be productive on the scoreboard as well as giving New Jersey some much needed confidence. Just the feeling of knowing that have another weapon who is capable of giving them 15-20pts if close to 100%, may do wonders. Vince Carter needs to also break out of the funk Miami's defense has put him in. Eddie Jones has done an excellent job of being phsyical with VC. And you can see the Heat's team defense starting to get in the head of Carter, he got a tech in game 2 for going back & forth with Keyon Dooling & Alonzo Mourning. And picked up two silly offensive fouls for trying to fource the action. Carter needs to calm down, continue to try & get in the lanes of the Heat defense. But dont just look to be a score every time he gets in the paint, mix it up with his ablity to be a playmaker in attempts to keep the Heat's defense off balance. New Jersey also needs to continue to expose Shaq in the screen & roll game. The Nets in both games 1 & 2 made it an emphasis to make Shaq defend. But as both games wore on the Nets seem to abandon the concept. The Nets need to make it a 4 quarter effort to attack Shaq, & make him guard guys, particularilly when he is trying to cover Nenad Krstic. On the other end of the floor, Nets have to fight hard to recover out to perimeter jump shooters. They did a solid job at the start of game 2 trying to take away the good looks Damon Jones has been getting. But in the second half, their rotations out to shooters became slow and guys like Damon Jones & Eddie Jones were able to get going. New Jersey has to work harder on defense. Also work harder on the boards, New Jerseys frontcourt cant hang with Maimi on the boards that means that everyone in a Nets uniform as to make a conserted effort to help out on the boards. Vince Carter is the most athetic guy on the court, he needs to be doing more on the defensive boards. Please Keep all game 3 talk in this thread.
If the Nets are to have any chance, they have to win this game. If they lose, then they will get in to a virtually impossible-to-get-out of 3-0 hole. They are going to have to bring it all and leave it all out on the floor. In my opinion the Nets need to think less about strategy and instead focus more on playing with alot of energy and executing.
The Nets have played like a defeated team in the first 2 games at Miami. The boxscores don't lie, and the Nets have not had a shred of confidence or pride on the court. They are letting role players out play the starters. Game 1 Damon Jones torched them and in Game 2 Alonzo Mourning killed them inside. Yet on the other end of the floor, Eddie Jones is forcing Vince Carter to struggle to get points. The only two Nets who are bringing it so far are Kristic and Best. I've seen Best inside the paint more than Jason Kidd, Vince Carter or Richard Jefferson. The Nets are playing scared and tight, I really think their only chance is to force the game to get sloppy and just play loose. The Nets need to find a spark from someone off the bench to give the team more energy. Henacy you mentioned in the other thread the best players to trap are Jacques Vaughn (injured) and Jason Kidd. Even though this may be true, I disagree that the Nets still can't pressure the ball. The Heat are more effective in running the halfcourt set, and by putting pressure on the ball it forces the Heat out of their rhythm. The Nets have to prevent the Heat from establishing control of the paint. It is easier said than done, but it won't hurt to try it. Nothing else is working, so why not try something creative and throw the Heat a curveball. The Nets need easy baskets, and forcing turnovers and creating steals into fastbreak opportunities is what the Nets do best. The Nets have to turn this into a running game.
EXCELLENT first quarter by the Nets. Richard Jefferson has been the spark off the bench on both ends. He's doing a nice job on Dwayne Wade by keeping him in front of him, not sure he can do it for all 4 quarters, but so far it's working. The Nets just need to improve converting points off of turnovers they are forcing. So far they have forced 5 turnovers, but only scored 2 points from it. 24-17 after 1Q ... Go Nets!
Frank takes out the Nets best player so far, Richard Jefferson, and the Heat tie the game right up in less than 7 minutes. Great coaching, taking out a player on fire.
Keyon Dooling is on Fire for the Heat. The Nets will probably start Richard Jefferson in Game 4. He is playing very well tonight.
WOW! Emphatic jam by Jefferson. They flashed a stat the Nets are +6 with him in the lineup, and -13 when he's out. The Nets have to keep him in the game, he has the entire summer to rest. I think Jason Kidd needs to start penetrating more, he's short on all his jumpers. He needs to get to the line more and get some confidence back in his shot.
Nets are right there with 6 minutes left. It's amazing how Jason Kidd cannot get a foul call. Steal by Jefferson NETS LEAD! Amazing performance by Richard Jefferson the Nets have the Heat on their heals!
Great game by Jefferson. He is supplying the energy that NJ needed. Wade can't hold on to the damn ball ! He has like 8 turnovers. Wade needs to calm down if the Heat are to win this game.
Damn Eddie Jones nailed a clutch 3 for the tie. Vince Carter why did you shoot the 3 the other way? Tied up at 90-90 with 25 seconds, and Nets ball. NOOO! Jason Kidd for a 3pointer, that is the best play they could come up with? OT time.
Too close. J Kidd had the chance to win it. It was a great set up by Carter, just couldn't go down. This could be a key miss for the Nets and could affect the series outcome...dramatically.
Damn it, too, many 3 point shots and missed free throws down the stretch for the Nets. This game should be in the bag already.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Damn it, too, many 3 point shots and missed free throws down the stretch for the Nets. This game should be in the bag already.</div> The Nets had their chances to win it. The Heat will win in OT.
40 some second left and it's a tie game. Miami will have the ball after the Nets knocked it out of bounds. Dang, can't believe I've actually sat down and watched a whole NBA game. haha
DOUBLE OT ... Vince Carter you are killing me man. First I find myself screaming at him for taking 3 idiotic 3 point shots, then he drains a fade away to send it into double OT. This is a classic!
