I like THE HUMPH! He is clearly a rotation player now, but is he a player on a playoff team? Can he play enough defense? I guess it will take another dozen games to really see what he’s got, but so far, I LIKEY! GO HUMPH! GO NETS! WISH I COULD SLEEP! WISH JILL WOULD NOTICE ME!

Guys, I know it’s a bit early to say this but what a steal! Najera or Humphries? Really doesn’t take a genius

What an insult: playing behind Yi. The only people playing behind Yi are on the other team, behind him, at the rim, rocking it. What an opportunity he sees from Bosh and Dirk to -- YI? Give me a break.

Hump gives this team signs of life.. EXACLTY what we needed… which, in fairness, is an incredibly sad thing to say about this team.

It’s because defenders can’t defend him without getting lost in his eyes lol

I like his attitude. If he can keep up the energy levels and be intense and smart on both ends, he will see playing time. For whatever reason, I’ve been thinking not about how he fits onto this current Nets team, but how he would have fit onto the post Kmart team of RJ, VC, and JK. He might have taken that team over the top.

You have to wonder though why he fell out of the rotation for three different teams.

Thank you Cuban! (II)

LOL

In other news Amare Stoudemire grabbed 1 rebound in 27 minutes last night. And in the previous two games 5 rebounds in 31 minutes, 5 rebounds in 37 minutes. Not looking like a guy who deserves max money. I’d rather stick with Humphries at this point

Who needs Muscle Devil? We have Humpty Dunky!

Hump isn’t the answer either muwu, but that was a great point to bring up. We need a legit starter at the 4, and then bring the Hump off of the bench as our energy guy.

We HAVE to make a move though.

As far as “The Hump” goes, I love his game and his attitude. I hope he’ll be in a Nets uni for a long time to come. We need more guys that go to war like this man.

Not playing much when you have Bosh, Boozer and Dirk ahead of you is not much of an insult. Apparently he had issues with Sloan in Utah which led to him being dealt to Dallas…

I think this kid should be our starting PF for the remainder of the season. This season is all about developing our young players. Brook clearly is a different player with Hump at the 4 (or Boone) than he is with Yi at the 4. You can tell Brook is much more comfortable on the defensive end along with in the offensive flow of the game. Brook should be this teams #1 priority. I think the past 7 games have shown (and the games before when Yi had come back from injury) that at this point trying to develop both Yi and Brook at the same time on the court is a detriment to Brook.

I also like that other young guys (TWill, CDR) seem to be more comfortable on the floor with Hump than they are with Yi. I think a lot of that is simply that when Yi is on the floor everyone is instructed to get him 20 shots per night. And Yi’s biggest issues are lack of strength, lack of confidence and defense. The strength issue will take time – defense can be taught and confidence will come much easier if playing 25 min a night against the 2nd string PF. Plus it is much easier for Kiki to make Yi the focal point of the offense with the 2nd unit.

From a purely developmental perspective (and to get some wins) for the rest of the season I would play the following lineup:
PG – TWill
SG – Harris
SF – CDR
PF – Hump
C – Lopez
***This would also allow TWill to guard the SF on defense, allowing DH to guard the PG and CDR to guard the SG. TWill is much better at facilitating the offense than Harris – and Harris is much better at scoring. This will also lead to more shots for CDR.

The second unit then should be:
PG – Dooling/Quinn
SG – Lee
SF – Hayes/Hassell
PF – Yi
C – Boone/Battie

And I am not suggesting that Hump is a starting quality PF on a championship caliber team in this league. But face it guys – we are 4-40 and our only championship this season would be the top pick….

From a development perspective I think this makes the most sense. And after feeding him 30 minutes a night for the rest of the season – this guy will be a very legit backup PF for us going forward. He definitely fits in with the young nucleus of this team and the blueprint going forward. Going off 7 games is a stretch – but he has proven to be the most effective backup PF we have had maybe in 10 years??? And at 24 or 25 – he should be a piece of the young core going forward.

When setting your sites on a championship – a strong bench is more important than having stars at all 5 starting spots. The bench is what ultimately wins championships. If a star alone won championships – JKidd and Lebron would have at least a ring apiece.

@muwu
I tend to agree with you and have trepidation about trading for Amare. He is going to want the max…and a max deal for him actually exceeds max contracts for Lebron, Wade, Bosh, etc, because Amare has been in the league longer. Amare is nothing better than average in terms of rebounding and defense, and I feel his offensive stats are at least a little inflated from playing with Nash and a fast paced offense all these years. Then you factor in the microfracture surgery on the knee…its a risk. If Amare leads to a Lebron, a Wade, or even a Joe Johnson, then getting Amare would have paid off, but there is no way of knowing if Amare would lead to anything else. If you can get Amare for a song now I think you have to consider it, but otherwise, I would wait until the offseason and reassess where we stand, with draft slot, with other free agents, etc.

And @ muwu – nice comment regarding Amare. I watched that game last night (and am very happy Dallas lost….still hoping they fall to a low seed in the playoffs or miss it altogether!).

He is not a max FA. He does not defend and gets ZERO rebounds. I think if we trade for him is a big mistake (considering we would be parting with Yi and Lee and maybe a pick) and signing him to a big offer this summer would also be a mistake. You will never win without a rebounding PF on the floor. If I were Rod/Kiki – I would be much more inclined to make a lucrative offer for Robin Lopez rather than Amare…I would offer Yi and a pick for Robin. Unfortunately Robin may ultimately becoming untouchable on that Phoenix team – especially if they don’t want to keep Amare.

Off topic, but Vince Carter has absolutely imploded for Orlando. Probably injury related though. Still, I have no doubt that if we had not traded him last offseason, we would be unable to dump him for even expiring contracts right now and we would have no hope of landing anyone substantial in free agency.

I wouldn’t give Amar’e the max, but he would really help this team.

Not for nothing, but, if he can continue to improve his shot and stay playing agressive, there is no reason he can’t start. Hey, he could be our new Kenyon Martin! Kenyon didn’t shoot all that well, but, he got his points in other ways. Stay aggressive, rebound, play defense, be physical, get put backs, run on the fast break. I would hands down take him over anyone we’ve had starting at the power forward since Kenyon.

He is NOT Kenyon Martin. He is NOT David Lee. He is a good young power forward with potential. How much? We don’t know yet, but it’s certainly not All-Star level.

Yi is rebounding at a better rate than Amar’e Stoudemire, why not be happy that the Nets have three big men, between the ages of 21 and 24, who have played well recently. Del Harris thought that Yi’s best position was at the three. Who knows who the next coach will be, but let’s hope it’s someone creative enough to figure out how to take advantage of all their skills, plus whoever they pick up in the off season.

Humphries reminds me of Brandon Bass a little bit, and a lot of us were pining for Brandon during the offseason. Humphries looks like he is going to be a pretty good player for a long time. Good stuff.

HUMP kind of reminds be of A-Train – Aaron Williams with a better offensive game but not as good defensively.

Does anyone else agree with the comparison?

Glad we picked him up, he brings good energy and takes it to the rack with authority!

Let’s go Nets!!!

Humphries does not pass or even look to pass. That’ll work against the Clips, but not against teams that play D. Players that don’t share the ball kill team chemistry and overall effectiveness. Hey, he’s still going to help us, but that says more about us than it does about him. I understand that he needs to establish himself, but that should be as more than a chucker.

That’s what’s been said all along. He’s a selfish offensive player that looks to score every time he touches the ball no matter what. And he’s not exactly a solid defensive player.

Well at least he’s giving us a bit of a boost, no one else can seem to get anything going on this team. I think we need as many players untainted by the stink of failure as we can get

The Nets should be counting their lucky stars that they were able to acquire Humphries for Najera. All this talk about how good he really is or will be, is nonsense. Anybody watching the games he has played so far, can see he has game.

He is known as a mistake prone player, but that could be because of inexperience and his high intensity level.

Just like T-Will, I can live with the mistakes as long as the hustle and hard work is out there.

Lets go Hump… Lets go Nets…

P.S. How come every player discussed on this forum, has to be an all-star or a future all-star, to have any value? How about just being a good solid player…

Yi is too soft and lacks the requisite instincts and attitude. He’s never going to reach Bosh/Dirk/KG levels regardless of innate talent. They need to restructure. The best fit at the 4 with Brook is a moose, a physical PF who can have Brook’s back. Also they need energy and Humph has more. Yi tends to stand too still and too upright on D. Yi may have a role some where but I would not spend a lot more time figuring it out. It has already cost them the contribution CDR was making earlier on.
 
Btw, David Lee went for 29 and 18 last night.

Why is my first post this morning still awaiting moderation?

And I don’t get why everyone needs a guy to be a future All Star or HOF player to play for the Nets. Its a team game. You need guys to play roles. Last I checked, Hump is far exceeding his role. And I bet if you spoke to many within the Nets organization (front office, players, coaches) what was better for Brook’s development – it would be starting Hump at the 4 next to Brook with Yi coming off bench.

There is no way the Knicks let David Lee go unless they use his spot to get Bosh or Lebron or Wade. Letting him go to say, the future co-tenant of NYC in the Nets, would be nothing short of a PR nightmare for the Knicks.

Everybody seems to think that Yi is either going to be our starting PF or gone. I believe the Nets will try to keep Yi even if they traded for Amare or someone like him.

You can’t have enough talented, young players. Unless another team insists on Yi in a blockbuster trade, I believe Yi remains a Net.

Humph is only 8 months older than Lee. He’s two years younger than Devin Harris. I don’t get why it seems that Net’s beat writers seem to be so hesitant about this guy. He’s one of the younger guys on the team, currently one of the top performers, and yet we can’t buy into him as anything more than a rotational energizer? Let the kid play. If we had a coach who rewarded hustle in practice (like Dikembe Mutumbo said Jeff Van Gundy did in his time in Houston in todays amNewYork) we all know Humphries would be getting the minutes. Stop this charade!

Hump will be great coming off the bench for us next yr… if he keeps hustling… he can be our Noah lol

A creative coach would have Yi, Humphries and Lopez in the game at the same time.

about Yi. Now if he only played the 3 we would see his true potential unleashed. When are we going to say he is what he is. If you have to baby a player this much then he is not going to be a star or even a reliable starter. We thrash Yi b/c he has been given the keys to the car without deserving it. We trash Yi b/c he is not the answer and he is slowing Lopez down. We trash Yi b/c we lost RJ. We trash Yi b/c he is like snake oil for Kiki: he is selling us a bunch of junk. We trash Yi b/c he is the opposite of what we need: tough, aggresive, etc. We trash Yi b/c all our decisions (Anderson etc.) seem to revolve around Yi.

So is he another Keith Van Horn, neither a 3 or a 4? A man without a position. You cannot fit a square block into a round hole. Yi is being jammed into our team. Hump makes more sense, but, boy, Hump is a long way from what we need.

Hump has very limited offensive game. He’s a hustler, but not very skilled. I’m excited and glad we have him, but lets be realistic. Oh, and Yi sucks.

Getting rid of RJ was a great move by Kiki. I wouldn’t give Yi back for RJ even if i was aimed a gun at my temple.

At some point in the 3rd quarter please just give me Dooling, T-Will, Yi, Humphries, Lopez and see what happens.

Perimeter defense from the back court, a possible 50+ points out of your front court, range, length and versatility at the SF position, toughness at PF and a big man with his back to the basket.

Yeah. Hump sucks. I wish we had 2 or 3 other players who sucked that bad. :-)

@Andres
Do you still feel that trading Vince Carter was a mistake? You were an outspoken critic of trading Carter because you thought Carter would be a stud well into his late 30s. Now it seems like he has fallen off a cliff. Has this changed your mind at all?

“Hump has very limited offensive game”

Good, if he can score 20+ points coming off the bench, I will take his “limited offensive game” every time.

Plus Hump was brought in for rebounding, hustle and muscle.
His offense is just a bonus.

Can’t believe we got him for less then nothing.

By the way, Carter is not exactly lighting things up in Orlando. I’m glad he’s gone.

Let’s go Nets!

Najera has yet to play in Dallas and his contract goes til 2012.

This was a double salary dump: Nets wanted to lose Najera and Mavs wanted to lose Shawne Williams. Humphries was the price tag for taking Williams. Because Najera’s contract extends a year beyond Humphries, it was a wash over the course of the three contracts involved.

At 24 years old, he may not be a finished product and hopefully with a creative coach, he will improve. But considering what the Nets gave up, it was a very good trade.

Now, if only C. Lee would pick up his game. I believe Lee might be better off coming off the bench until he gets his game together. I still think Lee has a big upside. I would not get down on him just yet. He seems like the shy, sensitive type that needs a bit more time to get comfortable.

He could use a little more muscle on his frame. Hit the weight room and start smiling more.

Lets get going Courtney…

Hump > Yi

start him plz

Go nets Go

( no more Nets suck, untill they loose again…. that will be soon enough )

I’m just waiting for the Nets to win their next three games in a row, and hear all the crying from the Nets faithful that we are blowing our chances at Wall. LOL

I’m a Mavs fan, and that trade was (another?) sign of how clueless the Mavs’ FO is. Baaaaaaaaad trade.

LOL, articles FAIL.