| Nets Weekly Wrap Authored by Mark Kelley - February 2, 2005 - 1:24 pm
As I sat down to write the latest installment of “Nets Weekly Wrap”, still experiencing the high of the New Jersey Nets having a winning record in their annual Western Conference road trip for quite some time, I was finding it increasingly difficult to come up with a catchy opening line to get the report rolling. Nothing was working. “Netter than you”, “Nothing but Nets… again”, and “Shades of the past” were all decent starters but the feeling I was trying to express was déjà vu. Déjà vu from last week’s ‘wrap’ when I wrote:
The Nets are refusing to go away. Just as you begin to think that New Jersey is finally going to pack it in and play for the 2005-2006 season, they spend the week of January 16th completing their first three game winning streak of their 04-05 campaign.
Perfect, it seems. Indeed, the Nets followed up last week’s terrific performance with their second three game winning streak in as many weeks. After starting their five-game-in-seven-night stretch off with two consecutive losses to two of the Western Conferences powerhouses in the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns, where they were thoroughly beaten in the shooting area (a combined 54% shooting percentage against as opposed to a 43% showing for the Nets), New Jersey was able to rebound with three straight convincing victories on the road. What had been a weak point against the aforementioned Suns and Kings, the shooting strokes of the Nets regulars came alive producing three-straight games of 50% shooting. A team almost has to try to lose a group of games when seemingly no one getting substantial minutes is missing an important shot. Coach Lawrence Frank was as impressed with the play as the viewers watching the game:
"I think we're finding our way right now," Coach Frank Said
The only downside to what was overall a very good week of basketball was the mini-scandal involving Eldon Campbell and the Nets officials, mainly Rod Thorn. After being dealt by the Detroit Pistons to the Utah Jazz in exchange for point guard Carlos Arroyo, Campbell was put on waivers. With the expectation of passing through and then getting released, both Eldon and the Detroit Pistons organization expected to be able to come to an agreement on a cheap, one-year contract. Enter Rod Thorn. Rod, disregarding Eldon’s comments that he would rather retire than play for the Nets, signed him anyway. The signing sent small but apparent shockwaves through both the Nets and Pistons’ organizations. Even the newly-formed bad blood between two of the Eastern Conferences more talented teams could do little to damper the week that was in Net land.
January 23, 2005- New Jersey Nets @ Phoenix Suns- America West Arena
Final Score- Phoenix 113, New Jersey 105
Player of the Game- Vince Carter (32 points on 13-26 shooting, 9 rebounds, 4 assists)
Phoenix had been reeling. They were in the midst of a terrible two-week span where they saw their record-setting start to the season destroyed by two key injuries to star Steve Nash. That, coupled with a fourth-quarter collapse to their rivals from San Antonio only a few nights earlier put the Nets in a hole before the tip was even tossed into the air. Steve Nash (30 points on 10-15 shooting, 3 rebounds, 9 assists) and Amare Stoudemire (33 points on 13-16 shooting, 8 rebounds) paced the home team. The two lone bright spots in the loss for New Jersey were, not surprisingly, the teams’ leaders in Vince Carter (32 points on 13-26 shooting, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) and Jason Kidd (23 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists). For all of the production that these two men put forth during the game, the Suns streaky three-point shooting (15-30 from behind the arc) proved to be too much for the Nets in the end. The third quarter was the Nets’ toughest. As Jason Kidd put it:
``They have shooters everywhere,'' Kidd said. ``In the third quarter, they caught fire and that's when the separated themselves.”
January 25, 2005- New Jersey Nets @ Sacramento Kings- ARCO Arena
Final Score- Sacramento 113, New Jersey 93
Player of the Game- Vince Carter (23 points on 10-20 shooting, 2 rebounds, 3 assists)
Different game, different night, same story. Sacramento came out firing early, outscoring the Nets 30-18 in the first quarter en route to a 113 to 93 victory. The Kings shot 55% (41-74 from the field) including a staggering 8 of 15 from three. The Nets weren’t turning the ball over, nor were they making unnecessary fouls. They just couldn’t hit their shots, and when you miss 48 shots and get out-assisted 32-21 by a team of the caliber of Sacramento, you just can’t win. Brad Miller (31 points on 14-18 shooting, 12 rebounds, 5 assists) surprised the Nets with his ability to consistently knock down a jump shot. With Jason Collins limited to only 14 minutes of play and Jabari Smith relatively ineffective in his play, the Nets had no answer to Miller’s productivity. Peja Stojakovich (25 points), Mike Bibby (19 points, 10 assists), and Cuttino Mobley (20 points, 10 assists) also contributed on the offensive side of the ball. Said Vince Carter,
``Defense, more than anything, hurt us. They're a high-powered team. You have to stop Bibby and Peja, and once they started hitting, everybody else did, too. They're tough to guard.''
January 26, 2005- New Jersey Nets @ Golden State Warriors- Oakland Arena
Final Score- New Jersey 113, Golden State 99
Player of the Game- Brian Scalabrine (29 points on 12-17 shooting, 10 rebounds)
There is no way around it; the Nets were embarrassed on the 25th of January against Sacramento. So the next night, the team came to play. They rushed out of the gate against Golden State with a quick 14-point advantage at the end of the 1st quarter, and wouldn’t look back for the rest of the game. On a night where Vince Carter (17 points, 9 assists) and Jason Kidd (17 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds) were mere mortals offensively, Brian Scalabrine (29 points on 12-17 shooting, 10 rebounds) picked up the slack. He employed a variety of lay-ups, jump shots, and post moves for his game-high 29 points. Surprisingly Veal, a usually adept three-point shooter, did not contribute a single shot from behind the arc. Rodney Buford (4-5 from three) and Billy Thomas (2-3 from three) were the unexpected marksmen. The spectacular shooting for the Nets was only the 1st of three consecutive great shooting nights. Jason Kidd commented on the team’s play of late:
``This team is starting to get a little character. 'Whenever we don't play well, we've started to respond to that. We're starting on a good path here.''
January 28, 2005- New Jersey Nets @ Los Angeles Lakers- Staples Center
Final Score- New Jersey 109, Los Angeles 103
Player of the Game- Vince Carter (30 points on 13-26 shooting, 2 rebounds, 9 assists)
With Kobe Bryant still nursing a sprained ankle for the Los Angeles Lakers, Vince Carter (30 points on 13-26 shooting, 2 rebounds, 9 assists) knew that he’d have to steal the show to give the Staples Center crowd the excitement that they had expected. And steal the show he did. Vince, starting at the power forward position for the heavily injured Nets displayed a knack of getting to the basket and putting the ball in the hoop with dazzling finishes. Two of the plays- a 360 degree lay-up and a ferocious dunk over Lakers center Chris Mihm- will certainly be considered for play of the year awards. For Vince on this night though, it was not all style, no substance. He put up a very impressive 18 points in the 3rd quarter to keep place with LA forward Caron Butler (31 points on 10-23 shooting, 10 rebounds), and then helped the New Jersey put the game away in the 4th quarter. Jason Kidd (11 assists) and Rodney Buford (18 points on 7-12 shooting, 6 rebounds) helped the visitors in the win, but it was Vince Carter’s night. Of the aforesaid lay-up, Vince said:
``It definitely wasn't premeditated. It was just a reaction. I saw him coming, so I was like, oh, well, I've got to go the other way and avoid the charging foul. It was a crucial time in the game, so I just had to concentrate. I was just fortunate enough to make it, and it gave us a boost.''
January 29, 2005- New Jersey Nets @ Utah Jazz- Delta Center
Final Score- New Jersey 99, Utah 82
Player of the Game- Vince Carter (30 points on 11-20 shooting, 8 rebounds, 10 assists)
After the grueling victory that the Nets dished out in Los Angeles a mere twenty hours earlier, all signs were pointing towards a Net loss in Utah. But, once New Jersey got their juices going they were able to toss the skeptics aside and win convincingly against a talented team residing in Salt Lake City. The Nets shooters who had propelled them to a win in Los Angeles refused to cool off as they went a combined 37-70 from the field (53%), including a near-perfect 9-13 from behind the arc. The Jazz on the other hand, left their game in Minnesota, playing flat from the opening play. They were soundly defeated in every important aspect of the game except for free throw shooting and, aside from a surprising Raja Bell (20 points on 7-14 shooting), found it difficult to get going offensively all night. The magnitude of the victory was not lost on coach Lawrence Frank, commenting:
``We talk about priority games and this was the fifth game in seven nights, last game of a road trip. Huge character-type game, and I think our character shined quite brightly.”
RealGM Player of the Week:
Vince Carter- 25 PPG, 49% shooting, 7.8 APG, 3.3 RPG
For the second week in a row Vince Carter was able to capture the “coveted” RealGM Player of the Week crown and, in addition to that, was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week as well. Vince did it all this week, scoring 25 points per game on a smooth 49% shooting, including more spectacular plays than you can count on one hand. He was able to dish the ball out to his teammates to the tune of 7.8 assists per game and, most importantly, led the Nets to their first winning record on a Western Conference road trip since the 1997-98 season.
Jason Kidd continued his great play of late. While deferring the spotlight to guard Vince Carter, he was still able to put up 16.4 points per game (including games of 23 and 19 points against Phoenix and Utah respectively) and deliver 8.8 assists per game during the road trip. Perhaps most importantly, he was able to cut his turnover margin in half (1.2 this week compared to a 2.4 average in all other games) and knock down key threes when needed (11 of 22).
Rodney Buford had yet another productive stretch of games, shooting an unlikely 55% from the field, including 57% from behind the arc. His shooting was a key component to the Nets’ three victories this week.
Nenad Krstic, perhaps irritated from not being included on the roster for this year’s NBA All Star Weekend rookie game, led the team with 10 offensive rebounds while averaging 11.3 points and 6 rebounds on 46% shooting.
Brian Scalabrine was limited to only 3 games of action this week. Nonetheless, he was able to put up the best game of his young career against Golden State, delivering 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Billy Thomas, a surprising contributor to say the least, was able to score 8.5 points on 52% shooting this week, including 6 of 13 from behind the three point line. He’s working his tail off to earn a contract for the rest of the season.
How the Rest of the Atlantic Fared:
The craziness of the Atlantic was evident again in the past week as the Boston Celtics upturned the Philadelphia 76ers as the leader of the division with a 3-1 record, including two very good wins over Chicago and Indiana. Philadelphia, though currently in second place, had a very productive week beating two great teams in Miami and Dallas, ending the stretch at 2-2. The Knicks, aided by Lebron James’s absence, and the Toronto Raptors were each able to put together 1-3 records.
The Week Ahead:
The Nets get two much-needed home games this week against Chicago and Detroit.
February 1, 2005- Chicago Bulls (22-20) @ New Jersey Nets- Continental Airlines Arena
After starting the season 0-9, Chicago has rebounded of late going 22-11 since then. But, the Nets have handled them both times they’ve been matched up this season, winning with strong defense and timely offense each time. But, neither team has played the other at full strength, and that won’t change anytime soon. Richard Jefferson, still out with a wrist injury, will miss his first game against the Bulls. Expect this game to be close until the end.
February 2, 2005- New Jersey Nets @ Boston Celtics (21-23)- Fleet Center
The Celtics will look to avenge their loss to the Nets on January 21st when New Jersey visits the Fleet Center this Wednesday. Boston is coming off of a good week of basketball and is poised to take the Nets down. Although some of the players on each team have changed since their epic battles in the Conference Finals a few years back, the bad blood still remains.
February 5, 2005- Detroit Pistons (26-18) @ New Jersey Nets- Continental Airlines Arena
Pistons coach Larry Brown put the rumors to rest regarding his potential departure from the Pistons as he led his team to a 91-61 thrashing of the Knicks on Saturday night at The Palace. Expect the defensive intensity that Detroit showed, who gave up only 26 second half points, to continue.
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