<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ace_o_spades @ May 13 2006, 12:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The reason he wasn't playing was because Frank wasn't letting him. There is a reason why he scored 12ppg the 04-05 season, it didnt happen magically. He's got ability. Sure he's not the best shot blocker and defender but he can commit hard fouls, set screens and hit mid range jumpers. Frank has a certain mold for players and if they don't fit the bill for what he wants, he won't play them. That's not a good philosophy when you have good players that can contribute in other ways than what he looks for</div>I know Frank wasnt playing him, thats the first thing I said, that he wasnt playing alot..If Frank gave him an oppurtunity, he probably would have been able to contribute to some degree. I dont think he would have scored double digits, but he likely would have been a solid contributor off the bench. Youre correct about Frank, however, if he doesnt like a player, he simply wont play him. He would rather play savvy veterans like Robinson and Vaughn who play solid defense as opposed to younger players who need to develop in game action. I agree that he should take a different approach to who he plays and allow the players capable of producing to get some time..
He has a love fest with Vaughn, even tho he commits stupid fouls, can't shoot if his life depended on it and is an overrated defender. So he can put pressure on the opposing PG, whoopedy do. It's not it really disrupts Miami, they always have 2 PGs on the court at one time (Wade and either Williams or Payton). Pressure one, he'll just toss it into the other. And he commited like 3 fouls in the 4th quarter. One from about halfcourt, another about 65 ft away and one trying to get a rebound over the back of Mourning. Why play Vaughn?
Well, since he chose Vaughn over McInnis early on and McInnis ended up getting hurt, we really dont have any other choices. I like Vaughn's defense because he does disrupt the other team's offensive flow and puts pressure on the opposing guards, but youre right those fouls last night killed us because they were absolutely unecessary and ended up putting them in the penalty. He gets at least 3-4 open looks during a game when the ball swings around the perimiter, and out of those 4 he may hit one of them. Thats the only real issue I have with him, he cant make those simple open shots. He does an adequite job of running the offense when Kidd is out of the game, but he isnt a scoring threat so the defense tends to back off him. Also, whenever he attacks of the dribble, he never attacks the basket to challenge the bigger guys. He always backs out or passes the ball in those situations, shying away from contact. I like the defense he brings to the table, but he is severly lacking in other catergories and the backup PG position, once again, will likely need to be addressed in the offseason..
Vaughn has good ball pressure ability, but it doesn't work against the Heat because both Wade and whoever is his backcourt partner can play the point. And it's not like Wade is an average PG, he's an elite passer as well as en elite scorer. So if you pressure Williams, he'll toss it to Wade who will run the show and that's even more dangerous. But, we have no backup point so we're kinda screwed in that regard. My preference would be to have Carter and RJ split time at the backup pointAnd I hate to say it, but we wil never find a decent backup to Jason Kidd. Every single one has just gone wrong. Chris Childs, Travis Best, Jacque Vaughn, Jeff McInnis, they've all failed. Anthony Johnson was the only capable one as witnessed in the NJ-IND series
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>League sources believe Robinson tested positive for marijuana. Unless the Nets advance, Robinson won't play again this season.</div>Just thought i'd let ya'll know what he tested positive for if you didnt know. I think everyone thought that that he was tested positive for weed. Link
Again, he's 40 yrs old, he couldnt have waited till the offseason when he has ample time to clean out his system?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ace_o_spades @ May 13 2006, 01:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Vaughn has good ball pressure ability, but it doesn't work against the Heat because both Wade and whoever is his backcourt partner can play the point. And it's not like Wade is an average PG, he's an elite passer as well as en elite scorer. So if you pressure Williams, he'll toss it to Wade who will run the show and that's even more dangerous. But, we have no backup point so we're kinda screwed in that regard. My preference would be to have Carter and RJ split time at the backup pointAnd I hate to say it, but we wil never find a decent backup to Jason Kidd. Every single one has just gone wrong. Chris Childs, Travis Best, Jacque Vaughn, Jeff McInnis, they've all failed. Anthony Johnson was the only capable one as witnessed in the NJ-IND series</div>I agree, it worked against Indiana because Johnson was really their only PG who could handle the ball. Whenever Sarunas went into the game, he always disrupted his rythem and bothered him. Miami, not only has two PG in Williams and Payton who can handle the ball, but Wade is also capable of bringing it up himself, and as a last resort, Walker has also been known to do so over the course of his career. The ball pressure by Vaughn might work on occasions in this team but it wont be consistent because of, like you said, the different players who can bring it up..In regards to the backup PG, the best solution may be on the FA market right now in Speedy Claxton, however, he has stated he would like to stay with the Hornets and would likely get MLE-type money in his new contract. He would be an excellent addition, however, because he could limit Kidd's regular season minutes to about 30, keeping him fresher for the playoffs, and also sub in for Carter, because he has been accustemed to playing the 2guard at times with Paul as his backcourt partner..He would be a terrific solution to that problem, but I dont see it happeneing because of the money he will command as well as the other needs we have (front court depth etc.). I think its more likely that the MLE will be split up amongst two or three players to provide some depth. However, if we keep both draft picks, I wouldnt be surprised to see a PG drafted at one of those spots. Youre right about our history of backups not workign out well, and it has been an issue that we have tried to address in the last couple of seasons, with little success. Johnson was great for us when he played for us, but for whatever reason, we didnt make a valiant effort to bring him back..McInnis, Childs, Best, Robert Pack, they have all come in with hopes of shoring up that spot with little success..Hopefully we can find a solid backup who can come in and take some time away from Kidd, because as Kidd gets older, this becomes a more and more pressing need for this club. We need him healthy and at full strength for playoff basketball, and if he has to play 35-40 minutes every night, it will continue to wear him down..<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ace_o_spades @ May 13 2006, 01:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Again, he's 40 yrs old, he couldnt have waited till the offseason when he has ample time to clean out his system?</div>Clearly this was a dumb decision by him and he really hurt his team with this decision. Very dissapointing because I loved the way he was playing for us and the experience he brought to the team. Makes you wonder what we will do in the offseason. He has said he wants to play for NJ next year, but will we pick up that option after this incident? Its not the first time in his carreer that he has had to serve a suspension for the same reason..
I say pick up his option and use that 2.5 million salary number in a trade because the Nets have a top heavy salary structure and they need contracts like that of McInnis and Robinson to make tradesI would pick up McInnis' 3.5 million option and package it together to have 6 million in salaries to offer a team that wants expiring deals and pick us up a solid player
Who is going to want to pay McInnis $3 million a year after what happened this year? I dont think too many people will be willing to give up alot for McInnis and the 39 year old Robinson. He is very valuable to our team, but Im not sure how he would help others. The only teams who would likely have interest in Robinson would be contending teams who wouldnt be willing to give up alot for him. No young team will give up young talented players for an older guy unless they were guaranteed cap relief and were trying to clear some contracts.
The reason why we traded Marc Jackson was to make room for Tim Thomas. We sure could use Tim Thomas right now.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Universe @ May 13 2006, 03:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The reason why we traded Marc Jackson was to make room for Tim Thomas. We sure could use Tim Thomas right now.</div>We werent guaranteed to get Thomas. We tried to trade for a big guy who could contribute, but when we couldnt come up with a deal, we just tried to dump those two contracts which happened to bring us under the cap. The Marc Jackson was a salary dump deal. Im sure if we found a solid player, there would have been no issue to bring him in, but since we couldnt, we decided to save some money. Thomas would be nice at this point, but losing Jackson really hurts us now..
This is a killer for the Nets. They are weak on the inside as it is and now this makes things alot worse. He could spread the defense with his threes and he could be another 6 fouls to give on Shaq, now without him I think it will be difficult to stop the Heat.
