As everyone well knows the Nets are coming off a 116-98 beating at the hands of Wade, Shaq & Co. And things for the Heat came way to easy with little resistence put up by the Nets particularily when guarding Miami. But New Jersey still has a legimate chance of making this a competive series. But adjustments must be made inorder for them to do so...here are a couple of adjustments that may help the Nets put up a more competive fight in game 2..<font size="1">This is simply just my opinion</font> Lets start off on the defensive end because that is where New Jersey was worst for were in game 1. <u>Defensive Adjustments</u> Dont Double Team Shaq until the Bounce. Now this might sound strange to some but what I mean by this is, in game 1 the Nets defenders game way to early in my opinion with their double teams. Shaq would not even be in a legitimate post up position, yet he had two or three Net defenders sitting in his lap, so all he had to do is made a simple pass out of the double and triple teams to wide opn guys like the Jones boys. The Nets cant do that tonight or Shaq will eat them alive with just his pressence alone, I know coach frank wants to make other guys beat him. But he stil has to be smart about. Force Shaq to make a couple of moves left or right, see if that lateral quickness is there or not. Dont give him the option of just being a passer, if he isnt 100%. Also I would not go with the decision to front shaq as early as he did in game 1. I know Collins doesnt have the strenght to play behind Shaq for a full 48, but early in the game I would play regular post defense against Shaq and fource him to expend a little energy to get his points instead of just catching passes at the rim from New Jersey's defensive scheme of fronting him every trip. Slowing down Damon Jones New Jersey made Damon Jones into a household name on Sunday, the guy went a did more tv promotion and press conferences then a rapper who is about to drop a CD. I got alot of love for DJ from his days with Nets unform on...but lets face facts Sunday's performance by him had more to do with poor Nets game planniong then his actual own ablities. If you let any player in the league do the one thing they are good at all night of couse they are going to have a field day. And that is exactly waht New Jersey's defense did with Jones in Game 1. Damon Jones is a catch and shoot player, he doesnt like putting the ball on the floor. So going into game 2 the Nets have to force Jones out of his comfort zone. And make him put the ball on the floor a couple of time, forcing him to shoot off the dribble a bit more. The only way the Nets are going to do this is by recovering back to the shooter quicker than they did in game 1 when they leave to go help. But also running toward his shooting hand instead of the oppsite side of the body. Alot of time defenders dont like to run straight toward the shooting hand because you risk picking up a silly foul on a shooter. But running toward the shooting hand can also force a guy to adjust and possibly be forced into putting the ball on the floor. And that is exactly what the Nets need to do with DJ, so they have to take the risk. But just be smart about it. There is no way the Nets can give Jones the type of looks he got sunday and expect to win a game let alone the series. Slowing down Wade Slowing down Wade maybe the exact opposite of slowing down Jones. With Wade the Nets have no one who is quick enough to stay with him off the dribble, so New Jersey made need to conside the jumpshot to wade as a method of keeping him in front and out on the periemter. Of course you always want to get a hand up, but sage off him a bit to take away some of that first step quickness. Even if he is making the jumper, it still can be a serivable game plan because it is a method more to keep him out of the lane rather then holding him from scoring. When Wade gets in the lane his ablities always allows him to be in a triple threat postion where he can either score, get to the line, or make a play for someone else. And the Nets really cant do anything to stop him once he turns the corner and gets into the lane especailly without a shot blocker. <u>Offensive Adjustments </u> Get out in Transition This is probably the most obvious adjustment the Nets need to make. In sundays game the Nets just never put any pressure on Maimi's transition defense, mainly due to the fact the Nets couldnt get any defensive stops to get out in the opencourt. So I guess this one is the link between offense and defense for the Nets, inorder to establish their running game of Carter and Kidd in the opencourt they must have a stronger showing defensvely. And then push every time the opportunity presents itself. If New Jersey wins this game they will have close 20 fastbreak/secondary break points in this game mark my word cause running is the only way they will beat the Heat. Shaq wont be that moible switching from offense to defense so the Nets must beat him up court for easy buckets, so his size doesnt become much of a defensive pressence. Put Shaq in Screen and Rolls. In the 1st quarter of game 1 the Nets used alot of screen and rolls with their bigs but after the first quarter they seemed to have abondoned that game plan which was effective in the 1st quarter. I think the Nets have to trust the bigs to finish on screen and rolls, because that is the only way they will be able to take advantage of Shaq. Shaq hates guarding screen and rolls on 2 legs imagine how he feels about them when he isnt 100%. Post up perimeter guys. If the Nets are going to create points in the paint other then in their fastbreak game, its going to have to be by posting up Miami's guards. Kidd has to stop settling for the long range three and back Damon Jones down and force Miami to adjust. Carter should also look to get inside against Eddie Jones. Scabrine isnt great with his back to the basket but in recenty weeks he has found away to get inside and take advangae of teams playing small periemter guys on him. He needs to do the same tonight. If the Nets can take advantage of their size on the pereimeter then they have a chance of being successful in the half-court against Miami, if not then you will see a repeat performance of long missed jumpers from game 1. And New Jersey coming back to Contential Airlines down 0-2. I guess this can be a Nets game thread
Good preview, Henacy. I see the Nets losing this game in a closer one. I just don't think they have what it takes to win this game at Miami. We'll see though. My prediction Heat 95-90 over Jersey.
I actually think the Nets had a sound gameplan in game 1, but they just didn't play with enough intensity on defense to execute it. The Nets are content with Shaq being Shaq, but their inability to trap Wade and get the ball out of his hands killed them. Dwayne Wade split the double time everytime and the Nets defense collapsed after that creating wide open shots. The Nets strategy was to leave Haslem as the open player and force him to beat them. Unfortunately Van Gundy made the adjustment of bringing in Laettner to the game, and he went 4-4 because he's a better shooter than Haslem. I don't think the Nets were ready for that, and they didn't have a plan B, C, D, and E on defense. Lawrence Frank needs to have a counter plan when Van Gundy makes his adjustments. On offense the Nets better start taking advantage of their size. The Heat are a quicker team, and with the success they had in game 1, I expect to see a lot more of Dooling and Wade creating havoc with their speed. The Nets don't have the quickness of the Heat, but they cannot settle from the perimeter. If the Nets don't recognize the mis-matches in Game 2, the Heat will get away with Wade defending a big man and not exerting any energy. If I were the Nets I'd start Cliff at SF in game 2 and use Buford more. Cliff gives them more length on defense and can get some weakside blocks. PG - Kidd SG - Carter SF - Cliff PF - Collins C - Kristic
shapecity, but we need scalabrine in the sl cuz he gives defense and agressivness for the team, we need to slow heat down.... and def. stop damon jones from shooting... He is very good at catch and shoot, make him dribble the ball then shoot which he is not good at.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tesh15:</div><div class="quote_post">shapecity, but we need scalabrine in the sl cuz he gives defense and agressivness for the team, we need to slow heat down.... and def. stop damon jones from shooting... He is very good at catch and shoot, make him dribble the ball then shoot which he is not good at.</div> He's a liability for the Nets. On defense he's guarding Eddie Jones, and on offense he's being guarded by Dwayne Wade. That match-up doesn't favor the Nets at all. With Ciff Robinson in the Game, the Heat are going to have to actually guard him. If the Heat put Dwayne Wade on him, Cliff will take him straight to the post and shoot right over Wade all night. If they put Shaq on Cliff, he can draw Shaq outside of Shaq's comfort zone, and the Nets can run a lot of pick and roll. If the Heat put Eddie Jones on him, Cliff can again go inside, and that means Wade will have to guard Vince Carter or Jason Kidd. Cliff Robinson gives them more options on both ends of the court.
I dont think that Cliff Robinson would be used as a starter at the 3 pot simply cause the Nets need him to come in for Krstic at the 4 spot cause Krstic is foul prone. So if you use Cliff at the 3 to start the game then you risk him picking up early fouls trying to guard a smaller quicker player. And once Krstic starts to pickup quick fouls then the Nets are in trouble at the power postion which means they would have to go really deep on the roster and bring in Jabari Smith to get frontcourt mintes from...I dont think Coach wants to do that, so he wont risk playing Cliff at the 3 to start the game. As for Rodney Buford he might see more minutes tonight but I doubt it, if Scalabrine gets taken off the court it will be in favor of Jefferson, but Jefferson isnt ready to be a starter nor play 30+ minutes, so Coach will try to make it work with Scali in there.
Why not just subsitute Scalabrine at the 4 spot, and if Cliff Robinson gets into foul trouble they still have Jefferson and Buford off the bench? Cliff Robinson is more than capable of guarding Eddie Jones. Cliff played a lot of SF with the Blazers and Warriors.
Game 2 So far at Half Time of Game 2 the Nets trail 48-39. Nenad Krstic has been sensational so far putting up 18 points and 6 rebounds on 6-10 shooting. The rest of the nets struggled shooting 6-23 from the floor. JKidd has 4 steals and 4 boards but only 5 points. The nets are shooting 1-10 from 3 and have only 6 players that have scored. On the other side Miami has no one with over 10 but has 7 players with 5 or more. Shaq is nearly half way to a triple double with 6-5-4. Shaq, Mourning, and Haslem each have 3 fouls. For NJ Carter Collins and Scalabrine each have 3. Krstic, Best and Robinson have 2 a piece. Damon and Eddie Jones each have two on NJ.
Although I'm favouring the Nets; They haven't exactly been getting any calls. Where as the Heat are getting calls (e.g. VC's "offensive foul" when it was really a blocking foul on EJ). None the less, the Nets haven't been playing well this game. No groove really. They're about to lose. Carter doesn't get the ball in good places as much as he needs too. I wish he tries to be slefish at times because it would help the team. Hopefully they win one at home.
Nenad has been doing very well. He's definitely one of my favorite Nets. I like his game a lot. Well the Nets had a hard time getting Kidd and Carter involved. If they played well with Krstic, they could have stolen Game 2. We'll see what goes down in Game 3 in the Meadowlands. The game is on Friday, right?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NbaBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">well we lost again. i really really doubt we can win the series. </div> as much as i hate to say that i agree withchu,i really do...ugh...i thnk imma throw up after this horrible game...
LOL the funniest thing about that game was how wade got to the line but when vince drove he got called for the offencive. if i was a nets fan i woulve been pissed off. but im not so i just felt bad. but the game was amusing ZO was even baby Shaqin today. Well once again GL nets fans, keep that chin up.
Shapecity, I think you have a point with his defensive stretching, and the possibility of him abusing Wade in the post. But Cliffy is also foul prone, as shown by Game 2 (and many of those were, ugh, bad calls or touch fouls). I say RJ needs to start. He's mostly been working on his shooting during his stint on the IL, and it shows. Most of the shots he's missed over the past 2 games were actually (contested) layups. His jumper has been nice though, but he needs to take more of an offensive role NOW. Especially when Carter and Kidd aren't doing much, he has to know that he's got to take shots, and not act as the playmaker Carter and Kidd can do that). I want more movement on offense. I know this is mainly what they've done during the regular season, but once Vince gets the ball in the high wing on either side, I want guys like Kidd, RJ, and Best cutting cutting cutting. Mostly it's a Pick with a weak Roll. I agree with what Magic and Charles said at the half, about weak double teams. I only saw ONE strong double, and that was with Collins (I think) on his back, and then RJ practically swarming his body into Shaq's front. No foul, because RJ didn't touch him with his arms/hands and he didn't push his body into Shaq, but Shaq got caught up with no space to see, and lost the ball which led to a Nets steal. The Nets need to be more willing to grab rebounds, especially Defensive rebounds. They can't let Alonzo (Oh how do I hate his guts) and Wade get repeated o.rebounds while they just watch. I like how the Nets have been trying to get Krstic going early, as he kept them in the game for the first half of game 2, and helped in game 1. I know he was in foul trouble, but if feeding the big man works, keep on doing it the whole game, especially if Carter and Kidd are being frustrated on the perimeter, and RJ isn't quite looking to shoot it. I know it's instinct, but when someone on the Heat drives into the lane, the Nets don't need every freakn guy on the floor to collapse on the driver. It seems like Heat players have been drawing quadruple teams in the lane, leaving so many open shots. On the flipside, no one commits to the drive, and someone will get a clean look. RJ did a pretty nice job staying in front of Wade today. I like what I see out of Best, he's being aggressive on defense, and smart on offense. What happened to Carter's bag of tricks? I like the strong forays into the lane, but he seems to have forgot the spin move that has made him so popular (and effective) in nightly highlights. So many times he could have avoided players trying to take charges by spinning around them. Remember that offensive foul he committed on Eddie Jones on the fast break? The one he was just smiling/frustrated after? A quick spin, and the dunk would have been his, no other player was even near them.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting michiganave17:</div><div class="quote_post">LOL the funniest thing about that game was how wade got to the line but when vince drove he got called for the offencive. if i was a nets fan i woulve been pissed off. but im not so i just felt bad. but the game was amusing ZO was even baby Shaqin today. Well once again GL nets fans, keep that chin up.</div> The call that pissed me off the most, was when Udonis Haslen OBVIOUSLY pushed Krstic as he was going up for the easy def. rebound from behind, and then he HID behind Alonzo as Zo grabbed the rebound and put it back, and 1. I wanted to thrown the TV to the floor after that. I hate Alonzo so much.
I don't know what Nets fans are all mad about. The officiating was pretty bad on both sides. We were driving to the basket way more than Vince Carter and didn't even get 1/4 of the calls he got. At times it seems the refs were officating to help Carter and had their eyes on him just waiting for the Heat to even look at him the wrong way. In the first quarter, there was a stretch where the Nets had 7 or 8 calls in a row go their way. There were 2 clear offensive fouls that EJ and Dooling had drawn: one EJ got called for a blocking foul against Carter that was so ridicioulous. The other one was soooooooo obvious that Dooling had on VC but they never even called it. Wade was being fouled on his drives to the basket. There was even a blocking foul on Collins that they missed, Alonzo go the rebound, and VC pushed Alonzo which they called that foul. The replays clearly show that Collins had a blocking foul which caused Wade to lose stumble; he didn't just fall all by himself. It was crappy officiating but it was going both ways. It pretty much balanced itself out. It didn't cost you the game. Be mad at the refs, not because they didn't give you the calls, but because the game was poorly officiated <u>both ways</u>.
please NETS FANS: Please stop complaining about the officiating, it was equally bad on both sides. The officials didnt make the nets shoot 35% from the field and 27% from 3. The heat shot 3 more free throws than the Nets, that wasnt what made the difference.
Exactly. It's not like they lost the game by 2 points. They lost by 17 and they try to blame the officials????
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">RJ needs to start. He's mostly been working on his shooting during his stint on the IL, and it shows. Most of the shots he's missed over the past 2 games were actually (contested) layups. His jumper has been nice though, but he needs to take more of an offensive role NOW. Especially when Carter and Kidd aren't doing much, he has to know that he's got to take shots, and not act as the playmaker Carter and Kidd can do that).</div> I agree Richard Jefferson needs to start now, he played really well in the 4th quarter last night. And seems to be knocking alot of that rust off his game. We need to get off to strong starts in the 1st quarter, in both games we got off to slow offensive starts and Miami got the jump on us early, we were able to fight back in both games during the 1st quarter. But its still discouraging to get jumped on like that right at the outset of the 1st. And have to use a timeout to regroup. Maybe throwing another look at Miami in the starting lineup will force them to have to adjust their game plan a bit. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree with what Magic and Charles said at the half, about weak double teams. I only saw ONE strong double, and that was with Collins (I think) on his back, and then RJ practically swarming his body into Shaq's front. No foul, because RJ didn't touch him with his arms/hands and he didn't push his body into Shaq, but Shaq got caught up with no space to see, and lost the ball which led to a Nets steal.</div> That is the exact reason why I said dont be so quick to double Shaq, when you are doubling with guards or little frontcourt guys like Brain Scalibrine as your help defenders on Shaq it will not have a bit of effect except allow him to look over the top of your defense and use his skils as one of the best passing bigmen in the league. I think the Nets need to stay at home more, make Shaq make some post moves on that injury istead of being a playmaker for others. Put some responsablity on Collins to play smarty defense, I know he is foul prone, but it is time for Collins, who we just payed a boat load of money, to learn how to play smart post defense without picking up a foul every trip down the floor <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Nets need to be more willing to grab rebounds, especially Defensive rebounds. They can't let Alonzo (Oh how do I hate his guts) and Wade get repeated o.rebounds while they just watch. I like how the Nets have been trying to get Krstic going early, as he kept them in the game for the first half of game 2, and helped in game 1. I know he was in foul trouble, but if feeding the big man works, keep on doing it the whole game, especially if Carter and Kidd are being frustrated on the perimeter, and RJ isn't quite looking to shoot it</div> The thing about Krstic is that it is the pick & roll play which is making him most effective right. And it is the fact we are putting Shaq in pick & roll situations, but Van Gundy usually just quickly makes a adjustment and moves Shaq to play against Collins, then Shaq no longer has to worry about playing defense anymore. And Krstic then gets covered by a more moble defender like Haslem, and the Nets lose the moblity mis-match cause Haslem is willing to move out of the paint to take away the 10-15 feet jumper that Krstic likes to shoot coming off of screen & rolls, so its going to be hard for Krstic to be effective over an entire 4 periods during a game in this series. But I still think we have to make a better effort to keep him involved in the 2nd half then we did last night, he was the best player on the floor in a Nets uni in the 1st half. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I know it's instinct, but when someone on the Heat drives into the lane, the Nets don't need every freakn guy on the floor to collapse on the driver. It seems like Heat players have been drawing quadruple teams in the lane, leaving so many open shots. On the flipside, no one commits to the drive, and someone will get a clean look.</div> That is the Wade factor, he commands so much attention when he gets into the lane, that in my opinion your just better off conseeding the jumpshot to him. I know he can knocked down the perimeter shot without question but you rather keep him out on the perimeter then getting in the lane where he can now make everyone else on the floor better because of the attention his penetration is getting. But Net defenders still seem content with playing him close and they are getting killed by his first step. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">RJ did a pretty nice job staying in front of Wade today. I like what I see out of Best, he's being aggressive on defense, and smart on offense.</div> I think Coach Frank is scared to use RJ on Wade for long periods of time because it would ware on Jeff's stamina due to is lack of conditioning sitting out so long. And yes T. Best has played extremely well. He has done the best job of getting to the hoop in the halfcourt off the dribble. Damon Jones cant guard him. The problem right now at point guard tho..is that our lack of getting out in the opencourt has pretty much taking our floor leader Jason Kidd out of this series. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">What happened to Carter's bag of tricks? I like the strong forays into the lane, but he seems to have forgot the spin move that has made him so popular (and effective) in nightly highlights. So many times he could have avoided players trying to take charges by spinning around them. Remember that offensive foul he committed on Eddie Jones on the fast break? The one he was just smiling/frustrated after? A quick spin, and the dunk would have been his, no other player was even near them.</div> Eddie Jones is playing Vince extremely well right now. And with so much size in the paint whether it be Shaq or Zo in the middle clogging up the lane it has allowed Jones to put even more pressure on Carter out on the perimeter, cause he knows he has a monster near the basket who will always be a deterant. I think Vince has to stop shying away from the pshyical contact that he recieves when he gets to the hoop. stop trying to go around guys and start driving into guys, I know easier said then done, but if he keeps driving to the lane with those weak pretty layups he has been going to the hoop with Miami's defense will continue to get in his head. And they really are cause you can tell by the way he was jawing back & forth with Zo & Dooling last night, they are starting to effect his game mentally.
I know this won't be a popular response in the Nets Forum, but I really question Lawrence Frank's coaching in the series so far. He's always two moves behind Van Gundy and cannot counter any of Van Gundy's adjustments. Game 2 - Shaq gets his 3rd foul and goes to the bench, so the Heat bring in Mourning. Instead, of taking out Collins who had 2 fouls, he leaves him in, and Collins picks up a 3rd foul on a stupid reach in. As soon as Shaq went out, Collins should have been substitued out for. The only player the Nets have with any size to give Shaq trouble is Collins. Game 1 - Van Gundy substituted in Laettner for Haslem, because the Nets were giving him open looks, and Haslem can't shoot. Laettner came in, and the Nets didn't adjust to him so he shot 4-4. The Nets have been beat soundly in every game, when that happens you have to blame your coach. I realize the players are missing a lot of open looks, but the Nets are not a strong perimeter team to begin with. They need schemes to take advantage of their mismatches on the court, but instead they are settling for what the Heat give them.
