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Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts

Nets in danger of falling out of playoff race after fifth straight loss

 


The Brooklyn Nets are falling fast. Jacque Vaughn is pushing all the wrong buttons as leading scorers Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges are both mired in shooting slumps.

Brooklyn's 3-point shooting has gone down the tubes and its perimeter defense is nowhere to be found.

The answers may not be on this roster although the absence of Lonnie Walker IV and Ben Simmons has not helped the team's cause.

To make matters worse, the team the Nets lost to 112-101 on Wednesday night, the Houston Rockets, will hold the Nets lottery pick if Brooklyn continues on this downward spiral.

Sean Marks is at a franchise crossroads. Does he make a fifth coaching change of his tenure that started in 2016?

Does he build around Bridges and Thomas or decide to blow up the current core and build from the ground up?

All the answers will come into view later this month as the trade deadline draws near.

For the time being, the Nets are playing an unwatchable brand of basketball over the past two weeks and if things don't change in a hurry, there could be massive changes coming to Brooklyn. 

Nets lose by season-high 37 to Pelicans

 


There's no sleep in Brooklyn for Jacque Vaughn as his seat is getting hotter with each passing day and as the losses pile up.

The Nets are now 3-10 over their last 13 games and another heartless effort on Tuesday created more turmoil in Nets World.

Brooklyn had an off shooting night at 25.6 percent from 3-point range and 35.7 percent from the field.

Cam Thomas was scoreless twenty minutes, which is astonishing for such a good bucket getter. Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, and Day'Ron Sharpe were the only players in double figures. 

The Nets play Houston on Wednesday night and look to right a sinking ship. 

Nets reach new low point after loss to lowly Wizards



 Jacque Vaughn made some tweaks to the Nets starting lineup on Friday night by sending Cam Thomas to the bench and Dorian Finney-Smith to the first five.

That move backfired as Brooklyn lost 110-104 to Washington (6-25). 

It's been a tumultuous week for Brooklyn as it rested its starters on Wednesday against Milwaukee only to lose to one of the NBA's worst teams in the Washington Wizards on Friday night. 

It's almost as though the basketball gods were looking down on the Nets in contempt for resting young and healthy players. 

Mikal Bridges was not exactly pleased with the decision by the coaching staff in front office to rest him as it only allowed him to play the first 12 minutes of Wednesday night's contest. 


Now, Cam Thomas has been relegated to the bench, which could continue to create a divide between him, Vaughn and the organization.

The Nets are not exactly sitting pretty in the East and they are falling fast. 

With a trip to the Midwest including stops in: Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and Houston. The road from here won't get any easier.

Vaughn may want to consider reshuffling his starting lineup once again, as sending Thomas to the bench didn't exactly have the positive impact the coach intended. 


Nets should be ashamed for punting on Milwaukee game



 Load management is alive and well in the NBA. On Wednesday night, the Nets sat the majority of their starters, while Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges played just 12 minutes.

The Nets were in a dogfight with Milwaukee in the second half, but the organization called off the dogs before the game by sitting its best players.

This is an alarming trend in the NBA that was supposed to be curbed by stricter enforcement by the league and the addition of the In-Season Tournament.

The Nets, who will be fighting for a play-in position or possibly the sixth seed, can ill afford to just give away regular season games.

As for the fans that spent their hard earned money during the holidays to see their favorite Nets players take the court, it's a bad look public relations-wise.

The Nets organization has a lot of questions to answer to the fans and media.

If the league is serious about limiting load management, a fine could be incoming for Brooklyn. 

Nets snap losing streak by keeping Pistons historic skid intact




 The Brooklyn Nets breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday night at Barclays Center as they outlasted a reeling Detroit Pistons squad 126-115.

The Nets had lost five straight heading in to last night's contest while Detroit had lost 25 straight and was looking to avoid tying the longest losing streak in one season in NBA history.

Brooklyn dealt Detroit its 26 straight defeat, tying the 2010-11 Cavaliers and 2013-14 76ers.

Mikal Bridges led the Nets with 29 and Cam Thomas added 20.  Jaden Ivey paced the Pistons with 23 and Cade Cunningham had 22.

The Nets and Pistons tangle again on Tuesday in the second half of a back to back. Another loss would set the record for Detroit and the Nets are hoping they can keep their winning streak and in turn the Pistons losing streak alive. 

Knicks down Nets as Bridges has historically woeful shooting night



The normally friendly confines of Barclays Center was a house of horrors for Mikal Bridges, who shot 4 of 21 from the field, including 1 of 8 from 3pt range in a 19 point drubbing at the hands of the Knicks on Wednesday night.

Brooklyn shot just 36.6 percent as a team with Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson leading the way with 20 each.

The Knicks led by as many as 25 as the club from MSG saw Julius Randle tally 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Donte DiVincenzo 23 while Josh Hart had 10 points and 13 rebounds. 

Jalen Brunson was a terrific tablesetter with 16 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds as the defensively challenged Nets couldn't overcome a poor shooting night.

Despite the Nets having won 8 of the last 10 matchups with the Knicks and Wednesday marking New York's first win at Barclays Center in four years, it does appear that the pendulum is swinging away from Brooklyn in the Intercity rivalry. 

Durant's boneheaded foul seals Nets win in Suns Big 3 debut

 




The Brooklyn Nets got the revenge that many fans are hoping for on Wednesday night against Kevin Durant and his new team the Phoenix Suns. 

Much Durant's ime in Brooklyn, Phoenix has been unable to stay healthy with Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal  finally all seeing the court together. 

Spencer Dinwiddie was clutched down the stretch as he scored eight fourth quarter points and Cam. Thomas connected on two free throws to seal a 4-point win at Footprint Center. 

Thomas led the way for Brooklyn with 24, while Mikal Bridges chipped in 21 and Dinwiddie 16.

Booker dropped in 34 points and Durant 27, but Durant committed a bone-headed foul on Cam Johnson with just 3 seconds remaining on the shot clock where a stop would have given the Suns the ball down only two points with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Durant was adamant about asking out of Brooklyn at last year's trade deadline and with the Nets on the rise he can't ask his way back in now. 


Kevin Durant faces Nets for first time since demanding trade



 Kevin Durant had a chance to go down as a Nets legend and rewrite the history books by bringing the franchise its first NBA title.

Instead, Durant's tenure with the club became just another disappointing chapter in the history of the Nets.

Had Durant shown more leadership when the locker room was falling apart, had his shoe been one size smaller or had he stuck it out when things were getting tough, the outcome may have been different.

Now, the Nets are retooling in short order and building a roster ripe with you talent and led by emerging stars in Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges.

Both sides are better off for the divorce. Durant is in Phoenix competing for a title he most likely won't win. He's had his own problems getting his new big three of Devin Booker and Bradley Beal healthy. They'll make their debut as a complete trio on Wednesday against Brooklyn.

As Nets fans officially move on from the Durant era, a win against the friend turned nemesis would go a long way for a group that had to endure so much dysfunction with Durant and Kyrie Irving at the center of it.

Nets electric scorer mired in shooting slump since return from injury

 


Cam Thomas is a walking bucket. So when the Nets second year guard is struggling finding his stroke, it begs the question: what's wrong?

In his four games since returning from an ankle sprain, Thomas has shot 7 of 23 for 20 points, 3 of 10 for 7 points, 7 of 19 for 17 points and 7 of 20 for 19 points.

That's a combined 24 of 72 from the field and 15.8 points per game. The struggle is real for Thomas. 

It's likely a simple case of catching his rhythm, but certainly something to keep an eye on as the Nets travel to the Valley of the Sun on Wednesday night to take on Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. 

Former Net escapes scary injury with minimal damage

Mention Kyrie Irving and foot injury to a Brooklyn Nets fan and they will immediately hang their head in frustration. 

Of course, their thoughts will immediately go to the Game 4 in the second round of the 2021 NBA playoffs  injury when Giannis Antetokuonmpo slide under Irving on a layup attempt and caused the then-Nets point guard to severely turn his ankle. 

Irving was lost for the remainder of the playoffs and Brooklyn lost a devastating Game 7 with Kevin Durant's toe touching the line on a potential game winning three.

Flash forward 2 and 1/2 years and Irving is on Dallas after demanding a trade from the Nets. 

Now with his new club, Irving suffered what looked like it could be a horrific foot injury on Friday night against the Portland Trailblazers.

Luckily, Dallas' point guard avoided a worst case scenario. 



Nets shockingly lead all NBA teams in this statistical category

 


When you think of the Brooklyn Nets, you probably think of a gritty team full of selfless players who are overachieving through 20 games this year. 

Led by Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas, the Nets have a fun, up-tempo style of play that makes heads turn and lights up the scoreboard. An overlooked factor for this Nets squad is the fact that it astonishingly leads the entire league in rebounds per game at 48. Just last season, the Nets ranked second-last at 40.5 per contest.




It's a remarkable turnaround to go from virtually the worst rebounding team in the league to the best, but that's exactly what the Nets have done. 

Led by big men Day'Ron Sharpe, Nic Claxton and veterans Dennis Smith Jr., Spencer Dinwiddie and Cam Johnson, Brooklyn is attacking the boards with ferocity. 

Much of it has to do with an organizational philosophical change from a 1 through 5 switching defensive scheme last year, to a drop defense with hints of matchup zone sprinkled in. 

The personnel has changed over drastically as well with divas Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving playing elsewhere, and the 2023-24 version has adopted a hard hat mentality to gang rebound and do the dirty work. 

Brooklyn is one-game out of the No. 5 seed, held by the Knicks, as they're crowded among other Eastern Conference squads looking to reach the top six. 

As long as the Nets are able to shake the early injury bug that has plague virtually every player on the roster outside of Nic Claxton, there's no reason to believe the Nets rebounding prowess will change for the worse anytime soon. 

Injury bug ravaging underdog Nets as another player is sidelined

 


The Brooklyn Nets can't seem to stay healthy. Between Ben Simmons's nerve impingement, Nic Claxton's ankle injury, Cam Johnson's knee, Dennis Smith Jr.'s back, Cam Thomas's ankle and now Lonnie Walker IV's hamstring injury, it's amazing that Brooklyn is just one game out of the sixth seed in the East. 

Walker will miss Wednesday's contest in Atlanta and while the majority of the Nets starters, sans Simmons, has returned healthy, the Nets x-factor and sparkplug off the bench is the latest name to be sidelined.

Brooklyn knows a thing or two about injuries derailing a season, just ask Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden about that. 

Luckily, the 2023-24 Nets run nine players deep and have the requisite depth to overcome a few injuries. 

This year has seen an inordinate amount of injuries afflict the team this season, so Jacque Vaughn will need to go into his bag on tricks and use his bench to make it out of a tough stretch of upcoming games will Walker working his way back. 

Adidas, Durant trade barbs over Anthony Edwards' new kicks

 Anytime a Nets fan hears Kevin Durant and big toe in the same sentence, it triggers the painful 2021 Game 7 playoff loss to the Bucks. 

But in this instance, Durant was speaking on Anthony Edwards new she's put out by Adidas. 

Durant was overly critical of the new shoes and the manufacturer, Adidas, took exception in a since deleted tweet. Durant is no stranger to online beefs, but the shoe giant had a comical explanation for coming at the NBA superstar.

Executive shares successes and challenges of near three decade career with Nets



Lou Terminello is synonymous with the New Jersey Nets era of the franchise. Having joined the club in 1981 when the team opened Brendan Byrne arena. 

Terminello is a well-respected name in Nets history and ascended from a role of Director of Sales to Vice President of Partnerships and Sales upon his departure from the team. 



The Nets 28-year stay in the Meadowlands is the longest at one venue in the team's now 56-year history. 

Terminello sits down with Randy Zellea of Backsports Page and Rick Laughland of Nets Insider to reflect on the Jersey Days and all the ins and outs of what was happening both on the court and on the business side of the team.

Nets can't hold their breath hoping Ben Simmons returns healthy




When healthy, Ben Simmons is a difference-maker. A 6-foot-10 point guard who can race out on fastbreaks and find teammates for open shots. He's a lockdown defender and while his offensive game leaves a lot to be desired, he's an impactful starter when he can stay on the court. 

The only problem is, when the Nets traded James Harden to Philadelphia for a package revolving around Simmons, they didn't get the All-Star level point guard, but a physically compromised and mentally taxed version of him.  

Simmons never saw meaningful minutes when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were on the team  and Sean Mark's vision of forming a new big three after the departure of Harden went by the wayside. 

Simmons underwent back surgery in the 2022 offseason and returned for the 2022-23 season, still looking sluggish and not fully healthy. The Nets shut him down 42 games into the last campaign and were hopeful that the 2023-24 campaign would mark a breakout season for the former All-Star. 

Things looked promising early, but once again an injury has Simmons sidelined and set to be revaluated in two weeks after a nerve issue cropped up in his back. 

Nets fans have been on this rollercoaster journey with Simmons and the Nets medical staff before. For Brooklyn, anything Simmons adds this year will be a bonus, but the organization cannot put its trust and faith fully in the idea of him returning to full health this season, if not ever. 

Marks needs to look to the free agent market to look for backup point guards and utlize the veteran savvy of floor general Spencer Dinwiddie to  lead the way. Led by emerging star Cam Thomas, borderline All-Star Mikal Bridges and a team that runs nine deep including a supporting cast of Lonnie Walker, Dennis Smith Jr,, Dorrian Finney-Smith and others, Brooklyn is in a good position.

If Simmons is able to get back on to the court and make the impact he did early this season pushing the pace in the open floor, then great, but Nets fans shouldn't be holding their breath. 

Philly traded Brooklyn damaged goods in Ben Simmons

 


When people debate who won the trade between Philadelphia and Brooklyn centered on Ben Simmons and James Harden, the answer is quite simple: they both lost. 

Harden failed to deliver a championship to the City of Brotherly Love and is 0-5 with his new team, the Clippers, while Simmons can't manage to stay healthy with the Nets.

Simmons has underwent multiple back procedures and now will be sidelined at least another week with a nerve issue.

Harden battled nagging hamstring injuries with the Nets and Sixers, but his lack of work ethic and penchant for growing disgruntled if he doesn't get his way is a tired act.

The Nets are now stuck with Simmons for two more seasons. Until he gets on the court again, he has virtually no trade value and his market is as narrower than a runway model, as he's due nearly $38M this year and over $40M next year.

Brooklyn is stuck between a rock and a hard place and seem to be in a holding pattern season after season waiting for Simmons to get healthy.

It's the same old story that is all also a tired act and a gift from Daryl Morey that keeps on giving the front office, coaches and fans headaches time and time again.

Ben Simmons injury might be worse than are Nets letting on

 


Ben Simmons has spent more time on the injury report than 90 percent of NBA players the last few seasons.

Returning from back surgery last season, Simmons played in 42 games before Brooklyn shut him down for the season with a nerve issue.

Simmons returned this year after a another procedure, supposedly healthy, and with offseason workout videos being met with elation and optimism from Nets fans.

Just six games into the 2023+24 campaign, Simmons looked improved physically but still not his former All-Star self. Now, the Nets have shut him down and he will miss his fourth consecutive game.





The Nets are notoriously guarded with injury news and are classifying Simmons' most recent ailment as a hip contusion. Nets World holds its collective breath as the prospect of him missing significant time is not off the table. 

Nets could add two-time Finals MVP if his super team flops

February's trade deadline is sure to be compelling. 

With superstars changing teams as frequently as ever, there's an outside chance the Nets could be on the receiving end of another mega-deal.

 The Los Angeles Clippers have stocked up on talent, albeit aged and oft injured talent that has yet to mesh together. 

 With Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kwahi Leonard and Paul George joining forces, the Clippers have a formidable roster on paper. 

 However, things have been far from rosey since trading for Harden as The Clippers have lost all three games he's played with them and four overall. Los Angeles sits at 3-5 in a conference loaded with championship hopefuls including the: Nuggets, Lakers, Warriors and Mavericks.

 Should things continue to spiral out of control, Leonard may look to get out of LA and the organization's feelings may be mutual for a player who's been injured, more than he's played.

The Nets are a true proven star away from being a true force in the East and while Leonard comes with his share of injury baggage and isn't exactly a larger than life personality, his track record as a big time playoff performer is unquestioned. 

Mikal Bridges hits career low in this statistical category


Mikal Bridges is the NBA's Iron Man. With 401 consecutive games played and a summer full of FIBA competition in the Philippines, Brooklyn's small forward doesn't have the words "load management" in his vocabulary. 

 Bridges has shot a dismal 29.3 percent from long range. Whether this is a mini slump, a cumulative effect from not missing any time during the season or this summer or a combination of both, it's something Nets fans will keep an eye on. 

 It's only nine games into the season, but without Cam Thomas, Nic Claxton and Ben Simmons in the lineup on Friday against the defending Eastern Conference Champion Celtics, Bridges produced just 12 points on 4 of 11 from the field and 1 for 6 from 3-point range. 

 It's such a small sample size to draw any definitive conclusions but if the Nets hope you tread water without three starters, Bridges will need to play like the star he showed he can be in the second half of the 2022-23 season when he was the return package for Kevin Durant.

Player Nets need to trade before deadline isn't the one you think


 The Brooklyn Nets are one of the surprise stories in the NBA this season, sitting at a very respectable 4-4 record heading into Friday night's matchup against the Boston Celtics. 

Led by a sensational 22-year old in Cam Thomas, who will be sidelined at least two weeks with an ankle sprain, and supported by veterans Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie and Ben Simmons.


Brooklyn might be some subtle roster maneuvering away from making serious noise in the East. 

So, as Sean Marks looks to maintain cap flexibility, he'll have big decisions about the future free agent status of Nic Claxton heading into this upcoming summer and Simmons the summer to follow.

While most are rumoring that Simmons will be on the move ahead of February's trade deadline, it's actually Claxton who makes the most sense to ship out.

The Nets center has missed more games than he's played in during his young career and it's problematic from a spacing and free throw efficiency standpoint for him to play alongside Simmons for extended minutes, particularly in clutch time.

Claxton could be a huge add for a center-needy contending team and could bring in a combination of significant draft capital and perhaps a quality big man in return. 

Brooklyn has an embarrassment of riches at the wing position and Marks could get very creative pairing Claxton with Royce O'Neale to bring in valuable draft and front court pieces 

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