Gameday Preview vs New Jersey Nets
by David A. Arnott on Nov 2, 2009 9:02 AM EST
9 comments
Pump Up Music: Smashing Pumpkins -- "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
The Big Picture: The New Jersey Nets are following an encouraging path. Even though they're not likely to win even 35 games this year, they're loaded with young players, all of whom have "NBA Starter" in their futures, and a few of whom could be championship building blocks.
Start with Brook Lopez. We shouldn't be surprised with his offensive production based on what he did in college, but his defensive prowess has been something of a revelation. He's got a knack for blocking shots, which New Jersey needs, since most of their other young 'uns are defensively challenged.
The team tried to correct that further by picking up Courtney Lee, who was one of the Magic's perimeter stoppers as a rookie last year. They had to give up Ryan Anderson, the Official Favorite Rookie Sleeper of Rufus on Fire last year, but Anderson was blocked by Yi Jianlian.
When they move into their new Brooklyn digs, you can be sure they'll have a still young-ish core that'll be attractive to a superstar, whether that's LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, or any number of great players hitting free agency in 2010-12.
Key to Victory: The Nets only have one true PG on their roster right now, with Devin Harris out, and Rafer Alston can't play all 48 minutes. That means rookie Terrence Williams will see time at point, and maybe Courtney Lee. Either way, this is a recipe for hounding the ballhandler with special vigor. The Bobcats might even consider a modified press, just to make any non-Rafer point guard work hard to bring the ball to the offensive end.
Harris is the only player the Nets have who presents a true matchup problem for the Cats, so Charlotte probably doesn't need to make any major adjustments and can simply do what they do. If the Nets go big in the backcourt, say, by playing Williams at point and Chris Douglas-Roberts at the two, that might be a problem for Felton and Augustin playing together, but that's why we've got Gerald Henderson. It's not complicated.
Detail That Might Interest .08% of Fans: The Nets' highest paid player is Bobby Simmons, on the roster primarily because his contract expires after this season. He's still living large off a breakout 2004-05 season for the Clippers that's probably going to end up looking like the fluke season of his career.
===
Site Note: Just a heads up that the site is set to undergo what SB Nation's calling a "visual refresh" in the next day or two. From what I've seen, the tweaks are minor, but noticeable. Carry on...
0 recs |
9 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
Is LB going to start Graham tonight?
because if so then I just won’t watch the first 10 minutes.
Blogging at Ridiculous Upside, where my terrible writing meets people's eyes.
Looks like he will. It would be fine if he was used like Quinton Ross and only played 10-15 minutes, but he’s getting supersub minutes. Ack.
by David A. Arnott on Nov 2, 2009 11:04 AM EST up reply actions
You can ring my Bell!
You have no idea how excited I am to hear Bell is back! I know he won’t be 100% but Graham…I just don’t know. When I was there at the game against the Knicks, I couldn’t help but respect him a lot more. But still, hes not a starter. Period!
I think the key to victory is the 3rd quarter. 2nd half in general really. For whatever reason, when Charlotte comes out of the locker room after halftime they don’t look like the same team that started the game! If they didn’t have a dominant first half against the Knicks, they would have lost that game! They need to be more efficient in the 2nd half!
Against the Celtics: Bobcats had 10 points. Celtics: 25 (3rd qtr.).
Against the Knicks: Bobcats had 13 points. Knicks: 27 (4th qtr.).
Against the Calves: Bobcats had 13 points. Calves: 21 (3rd qtr.).
I think if we can clean up the 2nd half we’ll be in great shape to win some more games!
Must Win IMO
These are the kind of games we can’t drop.
Oh me of middlin' faith
How much have the Bobcats truly changed? How much impact has Coach Brown been able to make?
Those are the questions that we’ll get a good start at answering tonight. Considering how early in the season we are, this is as big as a game can get for hometown fans.
Raja Bell will be on the court, but realistically this is just the start of things for him and I think it would be a very bad idea to base our expectations on what he can give the team tonight. The best thing we can do is look at his numbers and realize they will only go up from here. If he comes out strong tonight it’s going to bode well for us indeed. If he falters or is only able to play 10-15 minutes it really won’t mean anything except the team is that much closer to full strength. I think we all know how many additional options his presence will give Coach Brown and we’ll also be able to get a fix on just how essential or expendable Raymond Felton will be from here on out.
With all that said, I believe the Bobcats are finally going to start to prove that they can win the games against teams they should be able to handle. I’m going to be optimistic and here’s why:
Larry Brown hasn’t EVER failed to deliver for two seasons in a row.
The team seems to be listening to him when it counts in most cases and they are showing signs of the “gelling” we’ve been promised for this season.
With Devin Harris out it should be easy to get the Nets out of their game. A little full court pressure early on will go a long way toward disrupting the flow of the NJ offense.
A full day of rest and home court advantage must seem like Christmas in November to the tired legs of our starters.
Hopefully the fans will come out to the game and be vocal enough to provide some REAL home court presence.
I can’t stress enough how early it is to be making predictions – there are too many things (injuries, trades, etc) that can happen to disrupt a season. HOWEVER…
This is the sort of game the Bobcats have made a career out of losing. Fans are used to being disappointed by the team posting a loss against teams they should manhandle. I think under Larry Brown that those days are over.
My expectation is that the Bobcats will win by 4 after leading most of – if not all of – the game.
My dream (and one that is well within reach tonight in my opinion) is to see the Cats run up a lead similar to the game against the Nicks and then HOLD IT in the second half. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to sit our starters for a chunk of the fourth quarter so they can be fresher for the next game!
The odds are in the Cats favor tonight and if the team will finally show signs of developing the killer instinct instead of allowing a lesser opponent to hang in and scare us to death in the fourth quarter, other teams will start to take us seriously.
C’mon Cats, it’s high time for a rout! Go get ’em!
Am I the only one that thinks Henderson should probably still start...
until Raja gets his legs back?
Blogging at Ridiculous Upside, where my terrible writing meets people's eyes.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
Related FanPosts on Rufus on Fire
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
