Dave D: Lower Your Sights in 2010

dammit. One of the things I won’t be able to forgive to this organization is the handling of Sean Williams. Everyone knew when he came into the league that he only played like 5 years of ball. He has the athletecism that comes around for a team once a decade if you’re lucky, he has the blocking, rebounding and defensive abilities. But everyone knew he was real raw and under experienced. He should have been developed top priority because as many here noted he has the skills it takes to win and go far in this league. Who ever says Sean is not talented or has no upside must be lying to himself to protect his beloved organisation or coach. It was obvious and known to all this kid would be inconsistent for several years to come. But the Nets had no patience for him and I suspect that there is somethine wrong between SWill and LF. Still, what he showed in Miami is something that every winning team needs, and though he would not be consistent, probably for another several years, he could be giving us much more of that, especially if he had played more till now. I still fear losing this kid, he is a rare player. I would invest in him, develop him and take the chance on him, expecting him to only give full dividens in 2 years or so. In business it’s called a long term business investment. The Nets are a very poor team business wise, mainly because their coach has no patience or long term vision as far as I can see.

I agree I was always a fan of Sean even if he did have some off the court issues… He has rare athleticism, and the nets should constantly work with him in order to reach his potential.. 12 points, 4 boards, and a block in 15 minutes.. Not to mention the energy he brings off the bench

Yeah, that’s really what’s crucial for the Nets’ future: Sean Williams’ development. Read the rest of the article. There’s a lot of smart analysis in there.

Sean Williams is over. Move on.

I wouldn’t mind signing Rudy Gay at right price. He’s an athletic, scoring SF, and I think we need that, even though I’d rather get someone who can pass the basketball.

As for David Lee and Joe Johnson- NO thanks. I think both of them will end up overpaid. Lee is just not that good, he seems like a stats compiler to me, sure his stats are good, but his impact ion the game ain’t that great.

Johnson will be 29 next summer. If you sign him to a big, long term deal, you’ll end up regretting that signing. You ain’t winning anything with him.

One person’s “smart analysis” is another person’s garbage. After reading about Swat I moved on.

What is everyone clamoring about, athletic guys are a dime a dozen. Stromile Swift is a fringe nba player 8 years into his career. Heck, Tyrus Thomas can jump out of the gym. Did Chicago extend him? James White is a monster athletic dunker. He can’t stay on a roster. You know what’s rare? Athletic guys who have the brains to put it all together.

It’s not like this guy is dunking on 20 foot rims or something. He’s a really athletic guy. Yeah. Have you seen everyone else in the NBA? You think that most guys could match what he does? And you have to take in to account relative size as well.

Why would you as an organization put so much effort into this guy? What’s his highest possible stats ever? Is he gonna get an allstar nod ever? Uh, no. So do you regularly see teams bending over backwards to develop role players?

“Both teams would be playing for the draft lottery, but the Knicks don’t have a first-round draft choice next year, having traded that to Utah. The Nets do have a pick, but even if they got a top player, that would give them exactly one top player — one top kid player — to go along with LeBron. Neither team has a legitimate center.”

Who is this Celizic guy? Does he even follow the Nets? Doesn’t he know that ALL-STAR PG Devin Harris currently plays for the Nets? No legitimate Center? There’s been whispers of Lopez emerging as a top-5 Center in the league. I hope this guy doesn’t think he’s a local NBA reporter, ’cuz he is TOTALLY off-base.

Unless you’re Charlotte of course who’ll owe $36 million to 4 role players (Diaw, Diop, Jackson, Wallace) in 2011. So yeah, go ahead Netsdaily comments GMs, go all Mark Cuban and give Swat $7 million a year, let’s see how good you feel about that

dd’s best line was in response to why the star ledger doesn’t carry more knicks news:

“Yah, we gave serious thought to giving the Knicks more attention this season, but after firing the intern who came up with that idea… "

great one dave. that just made my day!!

@ muwu

While I think we all overrate(d) Swat’s potential, I still believe he could turn into a very very useful player. I can see the potential this kid possesses. Those 15 minutes he was on the court against the Heat were the most exciting minutes I’ve seeing from this team this season. He can be a gam-changer/energizer type of player coming off the bench.

The kid needs to be put in the best situation to maximize his talents. I remember a game at Charlotte early this season when Frank put Swat at the backup 5, playing him next to Simmons, whom he used at the 4. That really hurt Swat and some Sean haters/ Opie lovers took advantage of it to bash him and excuse Frank for not playing him more. I think things like that hurt Boone’s production last year 8aside from his confidence problems). After putting up serious numbers as a starters, Josh lost his starting job and Frank used him as the backup 5, playing him in small lineups featurings 4 guards, with not only Simmons, but VC, Hayes or Hassell at the 4.

Frank is stubborn. He needed be missing half of the team to finally play Swat at the 4… guess what? The kid was awesome. Funny thing is, if Simmons hadn’t had to go back to Chicago and if it weren’t for Najera’s back issues, Opie wouldn’t have played Swat in the 2nd half at all.

Swat really wowed me last game. He still has lots of potential. I know he makes mistakes, he’s raw and hasn’t been given enough PT to improve his game that much, but at least the kid plays his heart out and leaves it out there on the court. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t play him.

It’s absolutely unacceptable that we have had to see a bum like Bobby Simmons playing at the 4, while Swat has been glued to the bench all this time. Simmons has received only one DNP-CD, playing more than 21 minutes a night (most of them at the 4), and screwing games for us. He has done nothing to get any minutes at all. Playing him hurts us and he isn’t part of our future anyway, so playing him is just flat out ridiculous. Swat did in 15 minutes more than Simmons has done all season.

I’m sorry but things like that make me lose respect for Opie. He plays Simmons just because he wants his vets to be happy. I remember that after last season Simmons said that he wanted more PT and touches. Frank knows he won’t be happy if he doesnt play him. Since we are loaded with young, talented wings, the only way BS gets PT if Opie plays him at the 4, which added to Frank’s disgusting love for small-ball makes him play that bum at the 4, even if it couldn’t be more detrimental to this team.

Of course Sean ain’t blameless, last season he was his own worst enemy. But this is a new season and he’s earned his PT, period.

I don’t even think Swat should start, but he deserves a last chance. I’d rather have either Yi or Josh starting at the PF, I think both of them have played well. I see Swat like a 15-20 minutes energizer coming off the bench. He could turn into our Chris Andersen. There aren’t too many role bigs like that in the league.

Give Sean a chance and let him swim once and for all or finally sink. We have nothing to lose. From what I’ve seen the last couple of games, I think he’s ready to embrace his final chance as he’s playing for his future. Make him part of the rotation for 15-20 games and then evaluate his development. He hasn’t played enough to evaluate him, and people were too quick to label him as a lost case, which he is not.

I think Net Income ought to start a John Wall watch. 19 points (including the game-winner), 5 assists, 3 steals. It’s the Nets 2010 starting PG, after they trade the always-injured Devin Harris.

Net Income is right. Sean Williams is toast, no matter what he does or no matter what he is capable of doing. Same for Ryan Anderson. He was done as soon as he became a threat to Yi’s position. Any Net fan watching the Magic this year is sick over the caliber of player we gave up so the pf position can be bestowed upon the Chosen One, Yi. No pf has any chance of moving ahead of Yi for the next 5 years. I have no gripe against Yi himself. He is trying as hard as he can.

NBC: “neither the knicks nor the nets have a legitimate center.” Stick to the liberal news please NBC.

NBC: “neither the knicks nor the nets have a legitimate center.” Stick to the liberal news please NBC.

@ muwu

“You know what’s rare? Athletic guys who have the brains to put it all together.”

You whats rarer, athletic guys who play D. You know what’s even rarer, posters and a coach with a clue. Maybe you and a few thousand other fans who support giving Yi 4 mil next year and the other brainless decisions management has made will enjoy the team in Kansas City next year while Cuban is laughing all the way to the playoffs with Swat.

How about we aim our sights HIGHER?

Move 1: Trade Harris and Najera on draft day to a team with cap space and a lotto pick so we can get two max FAs

Move 2: Draft John Wall and Greg Monroe

Move 3: Sign LBJ + Bosh

Problems solved:

Wall / DAL #1
T.Williams / C.Lee
LBJ / CDR
Bosh / Yi
Lopez / Monroe

Sean Williams…the Nets savior. Yes, indeed. If only the Nets had a coach who could recognize his great genius. Why if the Nets had another coach, he would be in the Hall of Fame by now!

NO ONE IN THE NBA thinks much of Sean Williams. NO ONE. But certain posters can’t see that. ALl they can see is that he jumps sooooo high.

I hope he gets his life together after his three arrests, his anger management classes, his D-League blow-up. It is TRULY amazing to me all this weeping and gnashing of tears over Sean Williams and it never ever stops. Trust me, it will.

Netincome, you remind me of that kid in school who did everything to seem like the smartest, who would be humiliated if he ever gave teacher the wrong answer, and would BS for hours to try and prove how he was actually right when people called em out for being wrong..

I have my opinion, you have yours, no need to be a schmuck about it, eh?

You seem really really frustrated, and take things way too personally, as if if someone thinks differently than you it just annoys you and offends you personally.

People will always have different opinions then you. I totally respect you and the great work you do, but really, I feel like you’re attacking me for having a different opinion. I think it’s kind of silly.

@A.S.
I expect John Wall to have very similar injury issues in the NBA…like Harris, like DWade, and others of small stature and big hearts. Like those two, he is relatively small, quick and loves tearing into the lane. It’s a fact of NBA life, as we noted last week: if you’re on the slight side and are among the league leaders in free throw attempts, you’re not going 82 games a year. Ultimately, it catches up to you. It caught up to Iverson and it caught up recently to Tony Parker.

thank you Net Income, I dnt understand why people don’t see that. Drafting a new point guard with the same game as Harris is not gnna help this team out. Any small guard that attacks the rim and leads the “NBA” in free throw attempts is gonna be in the doctors office too. I’m starting to hate alot of these posters.

Even if the dream of Lebron doesn’t happen – and if Brooklyn is a no go, then we have basically no chance at him, we can still put together a really good and really exciting young team. Could be Portland East. Everyone in this starting lineup would be 26 and younger-

PG: Harris, Dooling
SG: Lee, CDR
SF: Gay, TWill, Hayes
PF: Favors, Yi
C: Lopez, Boone, Dallas first rounder

With some cap space left over to try to snag a mid to upper crust 2011 free agent, like a Troy Murphy, an Andrei Kirelenko, or a J.R. Smith. Smith is actually from Newark I believe. If we are able to get the top pick in the draft this year, and Wall looks like a game changer, all the better.

This team is gnna be good with or without Lebron seriously. We’re rank 15 in defense which is spectacular with all the injuries we have so picture when we get 100% healthy. Cap space and a potential owner who’s not scared to spend. We’re able to stay alive with teams like Boston and that’s our reserves playing for us come on this team has soo much potential.

ahhhh…. lets go.
ima huge rudy gay fan as well as Joe Johnson. and David lee is a best. however idk how we’ll be able to work wit Joe n Rudy together with lee Harris and all our other guards. i would rather get Joe n lee if there is a possibility to get all three then go get em.
David lee would sign with the nets because he’s already here. and he wouldn’t have to move. Joe loves Brooklyn.

Dave D’s a genius! Here’s another winning response after someone proposed a starting playoff lineup including DH, Yi, Rafer SWat and some fifth guy…

“The fifth guy doesn’t matter, but keeping with the overall theme of this, he should wear floppy shoes, suspenders and a red rubber nose.”

What’s so funny about Ronald McDonald starting over Lopez? Yormark can give free Big Macs to all fans in attendance.

He’s probably right that neither LBJ or DWade is coming here. If Amare goes anywhere, I suspect it’s to the Knicks and Nash comes with him. I would not rule out Bosh though. It will be interesting to see where he lands.
Neither Rudy Gay nor David Lee deserves a max contract. Neither one of them plays any defense either.

And that would really draw the fans out lol.

everyone is talking about Lebron and Wade and Amare and Bosh, but these guys have player options. I know Lebron loves drama and I can imagine him taking the option and playing this out for another year. 17 Mil is good money.

David Lee, Rudy Gay and Joe Johnson…. not bad.

B.Lopez
D.Lee
R.Gay
J.Johnson
D.Harris

?/?
Yi/???
Jayes/Twill
CDR/Lee
Dooling/Alston

??? = not sure

Battie, Najera, Boone, SWat all should be waived

Pick a big man at C and PF for 2010 draft.

I find it odd how Net Income is held to a higher standard here than all of the other commenters who seem to take it so personally that SWill doesn’t get PT. Personally, I wouldn’t mind him getting some more of it, if only because it’s fun to watch revisionist history on this board about how intimidating he is on defense. So intimidating that D.J. Augustin carved him up in Charlotte a few weeks ago, but of course no SWill apologist remembers that.

Massive eye roll goes out to Dave D, bravely going out on a limb there suggesting Proky gets all his money through evil means and causes poor people to breathe pollution. Rich guys are bad and all my unsubstantiated inferences prove it! I glad we have smart journalists like you to regurgitate stereotypes for us.

BTW also keep Hassell, he has shown some decent plays late this days.

Waive Simmons too

ill be in 2010 draft.

Ramirez.: UASD, Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, 3 years Pro.

5,78. 210 pounds. Nickname: Tha Hulk

20 Ppg, 5 Rpg, 5.2 Apg

Ill like to be picked by the Nets or Orlando if i get the chance.

If NI hates Sean Williams so much, I can only imagine how he feels about Yi, who gives about a third of the energy and has half the athletic talent level.

The Nets are not going to deal Harris. If they were to get the #1 pick in the draft – and decide that Wall is the answer – I would imagine they move Harris to the starting 2 guard. I think much of our draft day plans will be dependent upon where Dallas pick ends up being (at the moment looks like will be awful) along with what trades we are able to pull off before the deadline. I’m pretty sure that some of our veterans are dealt to playoff teams for either picks or young players.

The Nets would deal Harris at the drop of a hat, if the “right” deal came along.

I’m saying SWill is HOF but he can offer something
Especially playin against DHoward
That’s 6 fouls
Possibly 12 missed free throws
Letting swill rack up fouls on Howard would have kept lopez on the floor longer
With swill guarding dh brook could have helped instead of needing help
Its about coaching,strategy and optimizing your players strengths vs the opponents weaknesses
Especially when only 8 players are dressed and 1 sits the whole game
It makes no sense
Again swill is a failure on the Nets, they knew what they were gettin into.
But to say swill has no use or upside is a massive failure on this organization
Now we are starting Tenn at 4? Cmon!
Najera,boone,swill not starting? CMON!
I’m 6’2" 270 I can play PF too!
I will not lower my expectations about 2010
The Nets have young players,expiring contracts,draft picks,trade exceptions,new stadium,new owner and cap space
Why not Lebron and bosh? Wade and amare? Dirk and JJ
Low expectations gets you nothing
I hope the new owner cleans house
Starting with the coach that never played BBall in college

It would be sad and lame to have to endure this atrocious season and not end up with Lebron, D-Wade or Amare at the end of it all.

I think these same posters raving about S. Williams are the same ones ripping Devin Harris. Anyone who thinks Williams is anything more than a 10th player on an NBA roster is kidding themselves. He fouls constantly because he simply does not know how to properly guard anyone. Defenders can easily back him down because he does not know the first thing about positioning or boxing in. A statistical block means nothing.

@johnny
This will be a good season if in January, Mikhail Prokhorov is the Nets principal owner. And remember, the NBA expects to approve him by the end of December and the trade deadline is February 19. Plenty to time—and money—to wheel and deal. Who knows who will be available then.

Nets fans need to be realistic. LeBron likely is not heading to the Nets. Their prospective future roster may look nice, but why would LeBron sign somewhere for a project, when he could just stay in Cleveland for the same result?

I don’t really see Amare wanting to leave a system like the one he currently plays in, for the Nets slower pace (whoever the head coach will be next year).

Bosh would be the best addition for the Nets, but I do not see why he would leave a pretty good team in Toronto for a long work in progress that is the Nets, regardless that that he really wants to come back to play home games in the US.

Very realistically, the Nets will have to settle for the upper-mid level guys like Gay, Johnson, Boozer, Ginobili, Camby.

I like Rudy Gay, nice player, nice guy..but not a MAX contract. But I don’t understand why we would sign him to big $$$ when we have TWill, CLee, and CDR on the wings? Are we developing our #1 pick as a 6th man? Are we giving up on CLee already?

Those guys get a LOT of minutes on the wing positions. I don’t see the sense if getting Gay unless one of those guys are traded. DLee (despite his lack of defense) would make more sense to pair with Lopez, for less than MAX money.

Forget Yi.

I dont think Sean Williams is a future All-Star or Hall of Famer, but he can contribute to a team. He can especially help the Nets who need what they can get. Sean needs offensive work, yet Yi repeatedly goes like 3 for 8 or 4 for 10. Yi needs offensive work as well, he has a nice looking jumper, it just rarely goes IN the basket. Boone gets playing time and he blows lay-ups. Simmons and Najera cant even hit the rim. Sean’s offense is no worse than any of theirs so saying he needs offensive work is no excuse for not playing him. It’s one thing if we had guys consistently hitting shots, but the fact is we dont. He has the “potential”(the favorite word that gets used when referring to Yi) to defend better than any of them and right now he does defend better than any of them. There is absolutely no reason that Sean cant get even 15 mins a night at PF when you look at the “PF” players we have used on our roster. Once again, he may not be great, but he’s better than what we have. Yi and Sean should be splitting time at PF with Boone being 3rd in the rotation. Najera and Simmons should be the ones nailed to the bench with no playing time and DNP-CDs.

MAX Money should strictly be for the big time FAs. I don’t care what Dave D thinks. Just because he states they won’t get either one of them, does not make it fact. Remember, Thorn did say that the Nets have room to add two max players.

Nets currently do not have the room to add 2 max players. They have about 25 million in cap room. In order to give out 2 max contracts, they will likely need about 32 million in cap room. Gathering significantly more cap space between now and next offseason is plausable though unlikely. It would likely mean we would need to give up Harris to a team with cap space and get back someone cheap and probably unproven. Unless you are guaranteed to bring back two legit superstars as a result, its probably not a good idea.

I don’t know why people think Sean Williams deserves more minutes than he has now. I must admit that I was in awe of SWill’s athletic ability, but he was kicked out of an NBDL team!

Start Sean Williams at the PF position!

A lot of posters here give excuses when Yi has a bad month of playing basketball but when Sean has a bad 5 minute appearance in a game, you want him shipped off to Siberia. Let’s be fair! Give Sean 25 minutes a game for the next 10 games and let’s see how he produces then, we can all make a real assessment of his productivity.

Sean Williams needs to earn his Playing time. Frank isn’t really helping him do that, but I can understand why.

Look at it from Frank’s point,Swat is missing his defensive assignments, and still does seem lost on offense. Yeah energy is good, but he needs to translate it. One poster mentioned James White, and Stromile Swift. Those are great examples.

What bothers me is the guy writing on NBC, who says we have no C. Is that guy living under a rock? or is brook horrible? lol

Sorry but as I see it now IMO I don’t see Twill or CDR as “starter” material. I will rather have Rudy Gay on my team. But NOT for a max contract. I’ll give him 5 yrs 65 Mil. I wouldn’t want D. Lee. He plays no defense and he’s a product of the system. I don’t see the top tier FA coming here. I think it will be:

pg:Harris/Dooling/2nd Rd Pick
sg:C.Lee/CDR
sf:Gay/T.Will/Najera
pf:1st Rd Pick #1/Yi/FA
c:Lopez/1st Rd pick #2/Boone

I think I would be fine with that.

Jameer Nelson just had surgery again and will be out 4-6 weeks.

I say trade Rafer back to the Magic for a 1st round pick. Play T-Will at the point guard position until D.Harris and Keyon Dooling comes back.

We are not going anywhere this season; what’s the point in having Rafer here?

Thoughts, Comments, Suggestions are respected.

@Chuck D

Im not disagreeing with you. Its just that if thats the case, one of the Nets swingmen is taking a step back in development.

did somebody say draft John Wall and Greg Monroe?

LOL

Forget about James, Wade, or any other unreasonable names.

The Nets have talent already.

In free agency we need to at least snatch up a wing player and a PF. Terrence Williams brings us a lot of flexibility so we can have a guy like Gay come in and still have a solid all around guy like T Will slide in at the 2 or 3.

We will be a solid team next year regardless of Lebron James. Nets fans need to be realistic and optimistic.

Nets fans are completely delusional if they think any big name free agent is coming to the nets. This is unless we overpay i.e. max to gay or lee.

The Nets need to continue building through the draft and sign role players in free agency to help the young talent. Some interesting names with this theory: Haslem, Outlaw, Frye, Raja Bell.

With a top 5 pick the Nets cannot look just to fill in a need (sf, pf) but need to take the best player available, a true play maker. The later first round pick can be used for a banger, at PF or C to spare Lopez some minutes.

@Jack Handy Says: I have been saying it all along. The team has two picks in 2010 draft get G. Monroe/PF to start next to B.Lopez. Also grab C. Aldrich/C of Kansas with the other pick.

Brooklyn Nets 2010 Team
Starters are first name

D.Harris/PG K.Dooling/PG
C.D/Roberts/SG C.Lee/SG
J.Hayes/SF T.Williams/SF
B.Lopez/C C.Aldrich/C…….2010 Draft
G.Monroe/PF…….2010 Draft Yi.Jianlian/PF J.Boone/PF

Gone
L.Frank Recruit C.Laettner as Coach
T.Hassell Offer min to stay. If he says no. Bye-Bye
B.Simmons
R.Alston Offer min to stay. If he says no. Bye-Bye
S.Williams Offer min to stay. If he says no. Bye-Bye
E.Najera Retire make Assistant Coach

Go Brooklyn Nets! Go Brooklyn Nets!

@SWAT lovers

The biggest curveball here might be Williams’ reaction—unilaterally deciding that while down in Colorado, he wants to play small forward. This coming from a guy who has been a center his entire life, has virtually no perimeter skills to speak of, and whom his best assets are his shot-blocking and offensive rebounding skills—which usually entail being as close to the basket as possible. The Nets publicly said "sure" but that hasn’t been exactly the case in the Showcase. No one will ever question Williams’ talent—it’s his intangibles and on and off the court focus that have always been his worst enemy. We discussed these issues at length before the draft in his DraftExpress profile, for a more recent take, see Hoopsworld’s article.

Any way you slice it, though, there is no questioning the fact that Sean Williams is the most naturally talented and physically gifted player at the D-League Showcase. As we all know, though, there is a lot more to being a successful basketball player than just being talented.

In his first game here in Orem, Williams struggled a bit with foul trouble and ended up having just a decent all-around showing considering the level of competition—10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 6 fouls and 2 turnovers on 4-7 shooting in 28 minutes. He spent most of his time within 15 feet of the basket, putting his freakish athleticism on display literally from the opening tip, jumping to the sky like a pogo stick to tap the ball to a teammate. He was able to establish himself as a legit shot-blocking presence and also made an impact on the offensive glass, but also showed pretty vividly why he has been unable to crack New Jersey’s rotation this season thus far.

His on-ball defense was pretty poor—being scored on numerous times by both Charles Gaines and Andre Brown, and committing some very silly fouls. His perimeter skills looked very raw (turning the ball over when trying to do anything advanced with the ball, bricking a mid-range jumper badly) and his entire game appears to be strictly off instincts.

At this level that can definitely work—and he made some extremely intriguing plays to back that up (some nice turnaround jumpers in the post, getting his hands on all kinds of loose balls), but the poor body language he displayed and the questionable IQ often negated some of those plays. Williams often looked like he was in his own world—not warming up with his teammates for example—and generally didn’t do a great deal to show that he is "worth the hassle" considering his off-court issues.

- from draftexpress.

and this was in the d-league. huh