For the first three quarters all looked great for Vince Carter and the Nets. Richard Jefferson and Carter looked like an unstoppable two man perimeter force, one would attack the basket, while the other would stop up waiting for his opportunity to show off his perimeter shooting skills. But then the fourth quarter came & the Nets fell apart. The Nets did a solid job of holding off Piston runs early in the 4th. But after Billups knocked down a transition 3 to give the Pistons a 1pt lead with a little over 2 minutes left in the game, thats when Jersey fell apart. One the next possession Carter fell down under the basket with either a crap or a hamstring pull. But stayed in the game after Jersey called a timeout giving him a chance to walk it off. The Nets eventually fought back to tie the game But Krstic went one of two at the free throw line, so instead of Jersey taking a 1pt lead, the game was tied at 87 with Detriot having a chance to win the game on their last possession. Rasheed Wallace(1-10 from the field) missed a three at the buzzer, Overtime. But in overtime is where the Nets completely fell apart after taking an 89-87 lead, Vince Carter pulled up lame once again with the same injury suffered in the 4th. But this time he stayed on the ground for awhile. And never returned to the ball game. After that point, the Nets never look the same. The Pistons went on to out score Jersey 13-3 in the overtime session led by their backcourt of Billups & Hamilton(34pts overall). As well as Jefferson and Carter played Rip played that much better, honestly. The Nets had no one quick enuff to stay with him running off of screens a job usually reserved for Kerry Kittles in past years. Anyway, we seen a brief glimpse of how good RJ & VC can be together. They werent as effeicent as they can be as both of their shot selection left something to be desired at times. Hopefully it was just a cramp and Carter just have to sit out maybe tommorrow given the back to back situation. But anyway, along with the play off Carter & Jeff, we also seen the down fall of this team right now, the ablity of our frontcourt to finish plays around the basket. Collins got his shot block almost everytime around the basket due to the fact he gets no lift down low. Even Krstic struggled at times finsihing around the basket but he did a much better job then Collins. They also got killed on the backboards by the Pistons, we are definately in need of some size to deal with the bigger, better teams. I think Coach Frank made a mistake not keeping Buford involved in the game more, he played well in the 1st but after he got the 3 personals, Coach Frank never looked to involve him, anymore. It was easy to tell he was stretching it with Carter's minutes forst game back, if he would have kept Buford involved problably wouldnt have needed to take such risk with Carter. Kidd is really struggling as well, didnt make one Field goal.
Hopefully Carter gets over his cramp and the Nets can turn things around and beat the Bulls. The Nets really need a big man that can score. Like Henacy said Collin kept on driving and getting blocked. I know Collins has a decent mid-range jumpshot but he did not take advantage of his open looks.
Good post Henacy. The Nets were looking good tonight. A couple of times during my the commercials on my Knicks game, I would take a look at what was up with Carter's debut. The Nets looked pretty good in the begining and Carter was shooting pretty well. I saw that cramp thing too. At first I thought it was more serious but, it was minor. If Jason Kidd was healthier there is no question in my mind, that NJ would have came up victorious. I guess his knee is really getting to him. Even RJ admitted that Kidd probably couldn't have done well if the Nets played the Pacers in the Playoffs. That trio will decide the Nets future in this 04-05 season The Nets OT loss was definitely upsetting after leading it. But, they are fortunate Wallace didn't make a game winner. In overtime, the absence of Carter, and Hamilton down the stretch was just too much for them as the Pistons came up with a win. I definitely think good things are bound to happen. RJ and VC seem to be getting along pretty well (I saw some tip off laughs) and they seem to be very effective playing alongside one another. Now if only Jason Kidd could act as the glue and keep them all together then they will almost be as good as my Knicks . On a serious side of things this is the begining of a decent NJ Nets team.
RJ was the only person doing anything in overtime. There was no movements just watching him. It was pathetic. RJ's been brilliant, but he certainly cannot beat the Pistons himself. The only big problem I saw was Kidd's offense. He should have atleast gotten a few buckets. If he had made 8 extra points for his average for the season, the Nets would have been in it. It was quite sad to see it that way.
Thanks MJ18, I definately agree the body movement was horrible late in the game. But I think that has alot to do with our bigs not being able to finish around the basket. After 3 plus quaters of getting rejected around the hoop they seemed a lttle discouraged to cut to the hoop without the ball. The big guys started to fade out to the perimter thats why you seen Collins get stuck out on the perimeter alot late in the game. And he turned it over trying to make a couple of plays 18 feet away from the basket. JC is a good passer from the high post but trying to make plays from 18 feet away is far from his comfort zone unless it is an extremely wide open jumper. Even Krstic took alot more long jumpers then I have seen him take in a game a year as a Net.
I think that Kidd needs to lay off of the three point shot and drive the ball to the hoop. If he is pain-free as he says that he is, then he should drive and force the defence to collapse and dish off to others for the threes. I'd like to see a play where Kidd drives, passes to Carter (double team comes), who passes to Jefferson for an easy lay-up or open three. BTW, was Kritic good or not. I head the game on the radio and it souned as if he really took care of Wallace on both ends of the court.
So Jason Collins is garbage lol, he missed or got blocked on so many layups it wasn't even funny. Like I said, you guys need Jerome Moiso, he averaged 18-10-2 in practices. Go Moiso
The thing is Kidd has never been one to get to the hoop alot off the dribble in a Half-Court set, so its hard to say that the Knee is what is preventing him from getting to the hoop in the half-court cause he is still doing a pretty good job pushing the ball on that knee in the opencourt. I think after spending all of his re-hab working on his range from 3pt land, Kidd has a bit of false confidence in that shot. He thinks he can make it consistently now, especially since he shot it so well in his 1st 4 or so games. But what he really needs to do is get back into the mid-range area, to get his shot off cause that is where he normally can be effective in the half-court, pre injury. Doing things like using his size to post up smaller guards. And coming off that little tight curl screen play set by Collins where he gets an open look from about 15 feet.
It's true, Kidd has never been known as a half-cout player, the team struggled in the half court when they couldn't get anything going and Kidd had to force up long three point shots. Too many turnovers on miss-timed passes, and Jefferson just couldn't get it going anymore down the stretch in OT. Anyone see RJ's fall, that was pretty beast.
Kidd made 0 shot last season in 7th playoffs game against pistons. Tonight, he did that again, so terrible. I hope Kidd can really be stabilized.
Yeh, RJ, Kristic, Carter, and others are stepping it up.....Kidd needs to as well. He needs to do more of what he does not best: Pass. He had only 5 assists, and I find that unacceptable for him.
He will get back to his normal self. Jason is a good enough player to realize that he is hurting the team by not contributing and that he is going to have to get back on track. Vince is hurt again? Man what is up with that. I think that he will be able to play in the next game, but he did do good he got 23 points and was lighting it up from the perimeter. I do agree with og15 they do need a post player to help out Kristic. He is really doing good and is starting to prove himself. Mark my word this team will make the playoffs.
It's nice that Toronto got rid of the injury prone VC... for real, he comes back from being on the IR for so many games and what happens?! He gets injured again. In a different place. This guy is a walking glass house.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">BTW, was Kritic good or not. I head the game on the radio and it souned as if he really took care of Wallace on both ends of the court.</div> Krstic did well in the first half. B. Wallace had 1 rebound then, but then in the second half they took over. However, there were times where Krstic went over the Wallaces for boards. On the offensive end, Krstic really asserted himself with jumpers and some post moves and moving without the ball. They didn't really know how to gaurd him and he got blocked at times, but still kept going at it. He tried his best against perhaps the best defensive frontcourt in the league and that's all anyone can ask for from a 21 year old rookie.
dnt worry its only a leg cramp, the coach played him 2 much in his 1st game bak he will be healthy againest bulls
I dont think that Vince Carter was supposed to be playing, I mean I caught a little bit of the gamee in the 2nd and 3rd on NBA TV and Vince was moving slower than I thought he'd be and his hops werent at full strength. I think he got 'cramps' again becaues he came back early, if he sat a few more games he could've been back to full. But now he's gotta sit a lot more games.
