What to Do? What to Do?
by ZR on Dec 11, 2010 10:49 AM EST
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PrintAs we have all already noticed, the Nets are stuck in the doldrums once again. They have major scoring issues, can be weak defensively and cannot seem to run any sort of an offense. Essentially, they are a poor basketball team.
I cannot blame this all on Avery Johnson. While has does have no offensive creativity, he seems to be pouring his heart and soul into this particular team and for that I give him a pass. Furthermore, his co-captain and star, Devin Harris, cannot consistently stay healthy. The group seems to have bought in, but there is one simple problem: they're young.
With the exception of Devin Harris and Troy Murphy, none of these players have legitimate NBA experience. While Brook Lopez has all the talent in the world, the offensive system that Avery Johnson is running (whatever it is) is not helping his game and not focusing on his strengths. Anthony Morrow is very young, and while he has a ton of potential to be a huge scoring threat, he is not there yet - give it 2-3 more years. Derrick Favors, the Nets prized young first-round pick, has strong instincts but is very raw in all aspects of his game.
While I have high hopes for this team in the future, the Nets need some more experience. A good basketball team has a strong mix of polished veterans and young blossoming talent. The Nets are too young to be a good NBA team.
So what do they need to do?
First off, I think everyone needs to give Brook Lopez a pass for this entire season. Personally, I think that his fight with mono this off-season really hurt his strength. He does not seem to be able to establish himself on the block like he used to and may literally need another off-season to get back into the gym and rebuild his strength. It's an unfortunate truth about his situation but I'm not going to give up on him because he is having an up and down season. Let's not forget, he is only in his third NBA season and is shouldering a heavy burden that most players do not do at his age.
Regarding Devin Harris, I find it difficult to trade him unless it is for Carmelo Anthony. Besides his injury woes, Harris has had an excellent season. He has been better defensively, has been efficiently scoring, has been passing the ball better when he has the ball and has been a strong leader by example. The problem is he cannot stay on the floor. Literally, the Nets have lost a couple of games simply because he is not on the court for most of the game.
Regarding Derrick Favors, I also keep him unless it is for Carmelo Anthony. He has all the raw tools to make it in the NBA as a legitimate starting 4. His athletic ability and defensive prowess would be nice next to Brook Lopez. I only hope that Favors gets into the starting lineup soon and that is not a knock on Kris Humphries.
Speaking of Humphries, he MUST stay. What a revelation he has been. He is finally playing within himself for the first time in his NBA career and has become a rebounding machine. Everyone knows that he hustles and works his butt off every game. But now, he can score more efficiently, has quitely become a better FT shooter and is a good example for the young guys. He is my ideal backup PF and the Nets better re-sign him this off-season.
Anthony Morrow has made a solid impression on me. While Morrow is not a good defender, cannot create and has a low basketball IQ, he can score from the three as well as anyone in the league and has a mid-range game that is reminiscent of Rip Hamilton during his prime. Morrow is not a starting SG, but he is an NBA championship team backup.
Jordan Farmar has also been great. While he overdribbles and takes too long to get into sets, I trust him when he is on the floor. Farmar does need to improve his offensive consistency, but this is the first real season where he can finally play as a PG. With Johnson mentoring him, Farmar could be a top five backup PG in the league.
Terrence Williams is of course a knucklehead. But he is the most dynamic player the Nets have. He can score, pass, defend, jump, steal and take out your garbage and make your bed. If he goes, it better be for Carmelo Anthony.
So where does that leave us?
Harris/Farmar
(Starting SG)/Morrow
(Starting SF)/Williams/James
Favors/Humphries
Lopez/(Backup C)/Petro
Personally, I'd like to keep Petro and Damion James as insurance policies. However, the rest of the team I can do without. Somehow, the Nets need to jettison Outlaw and I don't know who will take him on now that he has such a gaudy contract. This deal may be just as bad as the Etan Thomas/Brian Cardinal deals. Maybe even the Rashard Lewis deal.
So who do we go after?
Well, the Nets need some scoring and they need it fast. Jamal Crawford, next season is the most obvious answer for the Nets as SG. He can create his own shot, is deadly from the outside and inside and has finally settled down and become a better team player. He makes the Nets credible offensively immediately.
Otherwise, there is a limited amount of over-the-top talent for the Nets to sign. Missing out on Rudy Gay hurt this off-season, I thought he would have made a lot of sense here. But otherwise, there is not that much that make the Nets that much better individually.
Thus, they need to trade some of their first-round picks and utilize that cap space for a legitimate scorer. Carmelo Anthony is the obvious choice. But who else is out there and readily available? Andre Iguodala? Not for the package the Melo will get...but Iguodala is a thought. He is a great, athletic defender who can score and run up and down the floor. How many times did he beat the Nets on defensive after a made basket in Doug Collins system? Avery needs to watch some more film...
This is a really tough call for the Nets. Unless the wind up with the number one pick to select Harrison Barnes out of UNC, I don't really know what to do besides having Avery hire an offensive genius to craft a new offensive system for the Nets.
Deals always become available during the trade deadline in about 2 months, so let's have faith here. But Carmelo Anthony is really the only player that is worth dumping talent for. OJ Mayo? Not going to put us over the top. The Nets need a star and they really do need Carmelo Anthony more than ever to give them some credibility and offensive punch. It's going to be either Harris or Favors going to Denver, so the Nets will either have a package of Anthony/Lopez/Favors or Anthony/Lopez/Harris. I'd prefer it to be Favors because Farmar will get absolutely torched by the rest of the starting PGs in the league. Harris can compete with anyone, when healthy.
What do you guys think?
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The problem with this team is that it has mediocre or very young players
with exception of Harris. And even Harris when healthy has his limitations as a point guard.
You make a good point about Lopez being behind because of illness. But, let’s face it, he is not the great player fans make him out to be or think he will become. He is a nice center with skills but does not have the physical abilties to be dominant. He is too slow and not powerful enough to be dominant. He is a legitmate 7 foot quality center but not a star player. He is the type of player made more effective when playing with a star player (see 1st year with Vince Carter).
Outlaw and Morrow are role players best suited to come off the bench or work off superstar talent. Farmar and Hump are good bench players. TWill, James, and Favors are still learning with Favors being very raw.
I don’t like AI or Crawford as they will not make the team championship material. That is like wasting cap space similar to Outlaw.
We are stuck with this team until we somehow get that superstar player to turn things around. And I would rather have Perry Jones in the draft.
Trades
OJ Mayo would be nice for Hump + a 2nd rd pick
Iggy would be nice for Murphy & Petro
Jamal Crawford would be great but TWill would probably be the price
Sit down and keep piling on the losses
A top 3 pick would be the most beneficial thing to this team as it is
Keep banking young players
Make your move in 2012
It sucks as a fan to wait two years, but in 2012 we are going to have a WHOLE lot of excitement about this team. Let Cuban say whatever he wants, but the Mavs have probally two years before they are going to have to rebuild. By then we will see the patience of Proky pay off.
That’s if we don’t gut the team for Melo.
continue to rebuild the right way and stay patient, no panic moves where we give up valuable draft picks but rather try to add a franchise player in the next two drafts. there is no instant success in the nba but once the nets add a franchise player like kevin durant, dwight howard or derrick rose via the draft they will be at least a playoff team or at the best case even a contender for years to come…
I cannot blame this all on Avery Johnson. While has does have no offensive creativity, he seems to be pouring his heart and soul into this particular team and for that I give him a pass.
I agree completely. You can see that his team is not following through with his demands. Its not like they have tuned him out either, they just cant seem to perform like he demands.
"No, we have to start getting wins. At the end of the day there isn't any asterisk that said they played hard in this game, it was close here. It's an L or a W. We put ourselves in a position to win and it's time to win those games." - Kris Humphries
So, he also had expectations, and nearly everyone “fell short.”
We all put our own fantasy teams together, we might miss out on Lebon but still get to choose someone else we like, if they don’t perform to expectations then that’s it really. I am not going to jump on that bandwagon.
"No, we have to start getting wins. At the end of the day there isn't any asterisk that said they played hard in this game, it was close here. It's an L or a W. We put ourselves in a position to win and it's time to win those games." - Kris Humphries
What are you seeing to describe Morrow as a low basketball IQ guy?
He has created his own shot on many occasions after being ran off of the three point line. Most notably he attacks with a pull up midrange jumper but sometimes with a floater towards the basket. That shot may not be a spectacular dunk or a layup but more often than not, he has hit them. Is he an iso guy? no but he can create a shot for himself.
I see a player who has made clutch shots for us, and has improved on his shot selection coming from Golden St. His defense has been average and sometimes marginally better. For the large part with the handcheck ban, the players get around people. The Nets, as a team, have a long way to go in terms of learning the system and the rotations. But basketball IQ and defensive awareness are not one in the same. And the only flaw in Morrow’s game that has been glaring at times is a periodic lapse in defensive awareness. But it is something Carter and Jefferson had as well. It isn’t exactly uncommon. Morrow seems to be taking to Avery’s pugnacious style as well, sticking his nose in for rebounds and loose balls. I don’t remember him showing that in Cali. Only in his third year, he is still improving.
Regarding Morrow
First, when someone refers to a player who can create a shot for himself, that means that that individual has an array of moves in which he can take a player off the dribble or create separation from a defender to get an open shot. Morrow is niether one of those things. He is a great spot up shooter, yes, and he has excellent three-point range, but all of those mid-range jumpers really come from a pass given to him. I have rarely seen Morrow beat his defender one-on-one and get to the hole. He is just not that type of player and he is very much reliant on the abilities of those around him.
I consider Morrow a low IQ basketball player because he always seems to be floating around on offense when he would be much better off playing like Reggie Miller or Rip Hamilton, utilizing the baseline to thwart defenders. Unfortunately, that seems to fall on Johnson, as he should run more plays for Morrow like that. But, since Morrow cannot figure that out for himself, he must have a low basketball IQ.
He also does not seem to be in the right places at the right times. He has had his moments, sure, but not as consistently as a starting SG of an NBA team should.
I also cannot say that the only flaw in Morrow’s game is his defensive lapses. He is physically weak, slow for his position, a poor defender, has no offensive creativity or one-on-one capability and seems to take himself out of games and not command the ball. Until he gets that mentality, where he wants the ball more, he will never be more than a good backup.
With all that being said, I do like Morrow and I think he has the tools necessary to be a good NBA player. But, he could be a lot better and hopefully he develops under Johnson.
He has also been playing up to the value of his contract and that I appreciate.
Players in Avery's offense aren't allowed to freelance
He is a stickler for positioning and is always telling players including Terrence today if they are not in position.
I cannot agree at all that he has no offensive creativity. Most shooters of his efficiency cannot do what he does, and that is after being ran off of his shot, to create a better one. I get what you mean about a created shot but it isn’t that simple. You can create a shot with a pick, off of a pump fake, a ball fake, and even a backdoor cut. Some require passes and some don’t but they are created shots. Whereas an iso guy is more what you are talking about
I see a third year player on a new team, that is not the number one option, but is encouraged to shoot whenever he can. I think he fills that role admirably. Harris and Lopez are options 1 and 2. So I can’t get down on him for not being an alpha type. In a way he understands his role and doesn’t shoot us out of games like say a JR Smith would. Defensively I have seen good hands out of him and better movement than expected. Outlaw was the definition of horrid earlier in the year. Morrow is nowhere near that bad. He can definitely be posted up and you can take him off the dribble. But all in all, you are not going to have a star at every position unless you are Boston. If they can upgrade the position, I am sure they will but there are more pressing needs.
The Allan Houston example
the definition of what Morrow could become. Houston didn’t have extreme quickness, but because of the threat of his jumper, he could get a shot or around a defender with that one foot juke move he had. Point being, his efficiency compensates for any lack of quickness off of the dribble, by forcing the defense out of their comfort zone
No
Houston was bigger, stronger and the Knicks primary go to guy in the clutch thanks to his open jumper and ability to get free and get to the foul line. Not a good comparison at all. I’m a big fan of Anthony but let’s not set expectations where they just don’t belong. I do get excited when I see Morrow behind the 3 point line. It’s weird – for some reason everytime he shoots I think its going in! It’s fun
so u dont want him here after 3 years?
i see him more as a backup
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