Well last night the Nets had their last preseason tune up before things get serious Wednesday vs the Bucks. Anyway they won without their main floor general Jason Kidd, who sat out due to a injury he suffered in the Boston game earlier this week. Anyway, the Knicks were a good test for the Nets without Kidd's pressence....So here are some of my opinions from what I saw last night and Preseason in general Suprisingly, we can run without Kidd in the lineup. Alot of people probably think that without the pressense of Kidd's unselfishness guys would not look to push the ball and give it up quickly. But that just wasnt the case McInnis made the effort to push the rock. And he was able to get the ball to Jefferson and Carter quick enough on the break that they were in position to either be finishers for themselves or playmakers for others on the break. Now dont get me wrong there was alot of sloppy possessions(25 turnovers, which was the clear result of no Jason Kidd pressence) last night for New Jersey...but the overall effort to be unselfish and push the ball to create ball movement was there all night. I think the rotation for Coach Frank has pretty much worked its self out. The odd men out, who were expected to be apart of the regular rotation are Antoine Wright and Linton Johnson III. Scott Padgett may also find hisself out of the frontocurt regular rotation as well, once Jason Collins returns. I think when Scott Padgett first was signed, he was expected to take Cliff Robinsons' minutes....I dont think the Nets knew really what they were going to be able to get out of a 39 year old Robinson...but he came into Training camp in decent shape. And over the preseason, he has proved that he can still be effect at what he does...guarding several frontocurt postions. And being able to stretch the defense with his able to make the open 18-23 foot jumper...So in the longrun, once everyone is healthy, I think Padgett becomes the odd man out as Robinson moves from starting power forward to backup Forward with the return of JC. Also, as I expected Jefferson will see a good stretch of minutes with the 2nd unit. Jefferson will become a featured player when he is on the floor with 2nd unit guys for 2 or 3 minute stretches. It will be a metod that Coach Franks uses to get Jefferson some add touches that he might not be able to get when Carter is in the game and is the featured guy. One thing, I didnt see at all is Jefferson at the 4 spot. There was some talk that Jefferson might spend time playing a little 4....But there has ben know signs of this in the preseason. I think Lawernce Fanks has gained alot of confidence in Marc Jackson and Cliff Robinson that he probably doesnt feel the need to go with that style. I think Coach Franks has decided to stay with a more conventional frontcourt rotation for now. Anyway, I think several players stock has drooped and several players stock rose during Preseason and training camp. Stock Went Up: Zoran Planinic: Was expected to pretty much be seated next to Lawerence Franks all season long. But came into to training camp, shoed improvements in his jumper. And Coach Franks decided to use him off the ball at the 2/3 postion instaed of making him a decsion maker at the point. And now, Planinic has taken away minutes that was expect to got to first round pick Antoine Wright at the 2/3. Zoran Planinic Preseason Key Stats: 8.4ppg/ .57fg% (15-26) / 17mpg Cliff Robinson: Honestly, I dont think the Nets were expecting Robinson to be more then a body on the bench incase someone got injured. But Robinson proved at 39, he is still productive in helping a team be successful. And his defensive ablity is what is going to allow him to stay apart of Coach Franks regular rotation. Cliff Robinson Preseason Key Stats: 5.6ppg /4.5rpg / 21.1mpg Lammond Murray: Lammond Murray had to come in and compete for a role on this team with Linton Johnson III. Murray eventually won out...Murray showed more effort defensively then his reputation allowed you to expect. And he proved effective in the areas that the Nets expected from him mainly shooting the long ball. Lammond Murray's Preason Key Stats: 7.3ppg / .41% 3pt FG (5-12)/ 18mpg Stock Dropped: Antoine Wright: Projected by the Nets front office as the best player available when the Nets drafted at 15 back in June, Wright has really struggled making the adjustment to the league. Wright who was a strong shooter at the college level has not been able to find such range at this level. And has been a poor decision maker from the wing. All that coupled with a lackluster effort on defense at times, has seen his minutes go from almost garunteed to non-existent expectations of cracking Coach Franks lineup in 05-06. Antoine Wright's Preseason Stats: 4.6ppg / .30% fg (9-30)/ 14mpg Linton JohnsonIII: Expected to give Murray some competion for the back up small forward job, mainly because he is projected to be a strong defender. But Johnson pressence on either end of the court really didnt exist. So the Nets will go in the expected direction of Murray backing up Jefferson. Linton Johnson's Preseason Stats: 2.5ppg/ .33% fg (7-21)/ 13.2mpg Scott Padgett: Scott Padgett's stock didnt drop more because of what he didnt prove, it dropped more because of what Robinson did prove. Robinson is the stronger defender and more experienced big. And for those reasons, Padgett likely now becomes the odd man out of the regular rotation of Coach Franks once everyone gets healthy. Also the fact that Padgett struggled shooting the didnt help his cause....the main reason Padgett was signed was his ablity to shoot the basketball. Scott Padgett's Preseason Stats: 3.6ppg/ .11% 3pt fg (1-9)/ 19mpg Other guys had strong preseasons as well mainly, Marc Jackson. Anyway, the Nets still have concerns on their ablity to rebound the basketball...Robinson actually showed more effort then he has shown in several years on the backboard...but Jackson great at taking up space really didnt show signs of beginning that rebounding pressence the Nets need in the frontcourt..especially in the 2nd unit, which doesnt have the perimeter athletes to help team rebound like the starting core will have with Kidd/jefferson and Carter. Jackson only grabbing 4.4rpg in 26 mpg isnt the type of production they are going to need from him. Even tho Jax has never been known from working the defensive boards the Nets are going to need about 5 or 6 defensive boards from him a night in hopes of suring up that hole. Overall the 2nd unit has to show more then they showed this preseason. The 2nd unit has alot of expectations...McInnis didnt have a strong preseason. But hopefully that has something with him trying to recover from a early preseason injury caused by a inncident with him a and Planninic. But the 2nd unit must sure up some turnover concerns. And get stronger defensively as they learn Coach Franks system. That projected 2nd unit(McInnis, Planinic, Murray, Robinson, Jackson) features 3 new guys so hopefully they will get better as they become more comfortable. Anyway, we shall see once the season gets going next week.........
Well, it seems that Antoine Wright was a disappointment and it seems that it would be hard to see him getting playing time during the regular season. I think they should have given him more playing time, as they had lots of opportunities to do so. Too bad they didn't get Danny Granger for 15th pick.
I think that Wright will have time this season to workout on the side and learn. Next year he will improve. I do not think that the Nets made a mistake drafting him. I still think that he will be successful, just not as fast as people expected.
antoine wright is a good player but on a bad team i dont see him getting that many minutes because he is going to be backing-up two of the top players in the NBA
Do you mean he's in a bad situation (minutes wise) or do you believe he's actually on a bad team? I hope you don't consider New Jersey a bad team.
^ I meant that he is in a bad situation..sorry abt the wordings As for the nets season predictions--i Dont think they'll make as much noise as people think they will.. however if they did get shareef--they would have made noise..and a lot of noise.. but as for playoffs--yeah they'll go to the playoffs..probably be 4th-5th in the East..however they have a lot of question marks within their team such as: A) JK's age and Injuries Carter's Injuries C) Can carter co-exist with Jefferson D) Lammond Murray's injuries and attitudes E) Jeff McInnis's injuries and so on..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PlaTsanity:</div><div class="quote_post"> A) JK's age and Injuries Carter's Injuries C) Can carter co-exist with Jefferson D) Lammond Murray's injuries and attitudes E) Jeff McInnis's injuries and so on..</div> A) Yes, I agree J. Kidd's age and potential for injury is a concern..but realistically every player in the league young and old are potentail injury risks. So what you have to do with a guy like Kidd is try to do things to prevent that potential injury risk, lower the risk. You limit his minutes (thats what the signing of McInnis now allows him to do)....and you take some of the pressure off his shoulders to make plays(thats where Jefferson and Carter come into effect, cause the offense no longer has to run thru Kidd every trip like say 2 seasons ago) B-C) First, let me tackle the Jefferson/Carter co-existing...like I have said in plently of topics about this it is a concern...but it is also a non-issue...because there hasnt been anything close to a sign that they cant co-exist, so until a sign does occur its a not a concern. Now, to the Carter injury concerns....He proved his body could hold up last year with the entire team on his shoulders for the last 55 games, when we didnt have any depth and he had to play 40+ minutes every night. Now we have have depth on the wing(Planinic, Murray, Johnson, Wright), so his minutes wont have to be in the 40 minute range. And that should go a long way into preserving his body over 82 games. Iam mean realistically, I dont expect Carter to play a all 82...but as long as no long term injuries occur, then we can serve without Carter for a game or two over the course of the season....I would like to see Carter at about 75 games played for the season. D) Ahh...Lammond Murray is an important part of the puzzle dont get wrong...but he isnt that important...we have to many veterans to allow his attitude to have the type of effect that it did in Toronto. If he has a problem buying into the team concept, he can easily be released...there is no long term attachments to him. And his minutes then go to Planninic, Johnson or Wright. Same thing goes for him as a injury concern...he can be replaced by someone else on the wing very easily. E) Jeff McInnis, getting injured is a major concern...mainly because it then effects the minutes of Kidd. Obviously, Jason would have to play more....But that is when Jacque Vaughn has to prove that last year wasnt a fluke. And that he can be a legit minute backup. But the biggest effect of a McInnis injury would be Kidd's minutes, not our win and losses. But agree it is a concern cause I dont want Jason to have to play heavy minutes during the regular season..cause he has faded the last 2 playoffs. I want Jason fresh going into this years playoffs.
