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New Jersey Nets
2007-08 Record: 34-48
Cool 2007 Stat: Jason Kidd tied his career high for a season with 12 triple-doubles in only 49 games with the Nets. His first for the Mavericks came on the last game of the season.
Anticipated Starting Five
PG- Devin Harris
SG- Vince Carter
SF- Yi Jianlian
PF- Sean Williams
C- Brook Lopez
Bench: Keyon Dooling, Bobby Simmons, Eduardo Najera, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Josh Boone
Biggest Strength – Back court
Devin Harris, Vince Carter and Chris Douglas-Roberts are probably the strength of this team at this point. Carter is a proven player in this league when he wants to be. Devin Harris has a lot of promise and will be solid at the point. And CDR was a winner and crafty scorer in college who has something to prove. I expect much of the offensive production to come from those three players.
Biggest Weakness - This team has issues.
This team is pretty bad. Last season they were a poor shooting team all around, turned the ball over at a high rate, gave up 100 ppg and had a 5.1 point differential. Here is the bigger problem: they were a very good passing team in terms of assists per game (6th in the NBA) and an above average rebounding team. Both those points had a lot to do with Jason Kidd’s passing ability and rebounding ability at the point. Devin Harris is a nice young player, but he isn’t a high assist guy or the kind of rebounder at the guard position that Kidd is. Also they traded Richard Jefferson who wasn’t a great passer but better than Yi and Bobby Simmons, the two guys expected to play heavy minutes in that position. I can’t see how they shoot the ball better with Yi (42% from the field as a seven-footer) or Bobby Simmons in the line-up either.
Key Player in ’08 – Vince Carter
I doubt many people think the Nets are going to be a playoff team or even have a .500 record. But the degree of their mediocrity will depend largely on the effort and performance of Vince Carter. He is the best player on the team, and if he is motivated and healthy, paired with Devin Harris will keep the Nets in a lot of games. Carter actually played very well down the stretch of losing season. The question is will he revert to his lazy tendencies or get injured (or fake an injury). If he does the Nets will end up at, or very close to, the bottom of the NBA.
Their Thaddeus (exciting player 22 or under) – Yi Jianlian, 20
Yi is the first big-time talent to come to the NBA from China since Yao Ming was the 1st overall pick in the 2002 draft. Yi displays a rare skill set, has a nice shot and can be fairly aggressive with the ball for a 7-footer. He seemed to be a potential star after his first 3 months in the league, when he averaged 11 points and 6 boards as a 19-year-old in his first NBA experience. However, whether it was fatigue or injury, he played relatively poorly the rest of the way (and in the Olympics) and was shipped by the Bucks for Richard Jefferson. Perhaps a move to the big city he wanted to be in will help him, but it will be interesting to see if he can become the next Dirk, or just the next Wang Zhi-Zhi.
Pete’s 2008 Outlook: 5th place, Atlantic division / 14th place, Eastern conference / 28th place, NBA
I like a lot of the young players on this team (especially Devin Harris), but the main reason I have the Nets so low is because their #1 guy is Vince Carter, and Carter is notorious for mailing it in when he is on bad teams. Nets fans are in an interesting position, as their team has made it fairly obvious that they are going to acquire no salary for the next couple years and then throw the proverbial bank at LeBron James in 2010. It would be exciting… if it was a certainty he would sign. It will be a strange couple years for Nets fans.
Dannie’s 2008 Outlook: 4th place, Atlantic division / 13th place, Eastern conference / 25th place, NBA
As Pete stated, it’s clear what is going on with this team. The expectations are so low that anything better than bottom three in the Conference and bottom five in the NBA would be a decent season for the Nets. I like the drafting of Brook Lopez and think he can be a solid NBA center. Devin Harris will also be solid but never a superstar caliber player. Vince Carter was a legit #1 guy, but his performances in recent history have been inconsistent and trending down. There isn’t much hope in New Jersey during the next two seasons, praying for a big payoff in 2010.
As far as the LeBron James sweepstakes, I actually think the Nets have a good chance to get him. They have New York City, Jay-Z, two – potentially three – good young players already on the roster and the expectation of two more with high draft picks, and they are preparing to have lots of cash on their side. I ultimately think it comes down to not just the money but which team puts together the best package that includes a high % chance of winning a title first and satisfaction of his off-field goals professionally second.
Philly Connection: Doug Overton
Overton is another guy that has been a Philly guy his whole life. He was born in Philly and went to Dobbins Tech for High School. He stayed in city and went to LaSalle where he averaged 22 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5 assists his Senior Year. He was a second round draft pick of the Pistons in 1991. Only 2 players (Elliot Perry and Randy Brown) from that 2nd round played in more NBA games that Overton. Of course, in 1996, he made his way back to Philly to play for the Sixers. He played 2 1/2 seasons for the Sixers before moving on to 5 different franchises.
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I actually think the team won’t be as bad as you guys think, because they remind me of the Sixers last year. I see a lot of the guys here settling into roles to become a whole-greater-than-sum-of-parts team.
Playing the Andre Miller role is Vince Carter. Carter will look around, see a bunch of young, impressionable kids and he’ll decide to become a leader of sorts. I hear what you say about Vince mailing it in on bad teams, but that was when he was a younger guy. He’s older now, and wiser.
Lou Williams-type of spark will be provided by CDR. Devin Harris is their Iguodala. Sammy and Evans toughness will be provided by Sean Williams, Josh Boone and Najera. Brook Lopez/Ryan Anderson is their Jason Smith. Yi is their Thaddeus, like you guys mentioned, but like Thad of last year he’ll be the PF. I can’t make the Simmons = Willie connection though, and they really don’t have a Rodney Carney-type.
If they commit to defense and run like crazy, they’ll surprise a lot of teams.
Nice assessment Dannie & Pete! Here is my analysis (only based on this season!)
Greatest strength(s):
-Finally added some frontcourt players
-Real potential (They understand that they won’t make playoffs, but will still play it out!)
-Key role players joined this team when they could’ve been elsewhere!! (Najera, Hayes, Dooling)
-A motivated Vince Carter (now he has the spotlight)
(Remember 04-05 season)
-Management (Rod Thorn has Stefanski like qualities)
-Devin Harris, one of the quickest scoring point guards
-6th as a team in assists (Last season)
-Media popularity:
1. Jay-Z, part owner
2. Marv Albert /Mike Fratello doing the play by play
Greatest weakness(es):
-Perimeter shooting (offensively and defensively)
-Team Assists (now that Jason Kidd is gone!)
-Devin Harris as a PG
_Who is the leader? (this will show Frank’s true coaching skills!)
-An unmotivated Vince Carter (need I say more and will we see him more as a NET?)
-Raw, young team
- How will the team act the minute they start hitting some slumps?
-Attendance (in the same low category as Philly at home)
The point is they are clearing the salary cap and are going to pursue some big names: the Nets management will be montinoring everyone else from the likes of Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. Once they feel a sense of frustration for the next two seasons, the Nets could be on their list!! That is why some vital role players joined the Nets this season!
(With that said, the Nets are going to be 5th in the Atlantic Division, 15th in the East. This is a tricky team to evaluate and it also depends on the ATTITUDE of the New York Knicks!!)
(On a side note, the Sixers will be (3-1) against the Nets. Last year, the Sixers won the last two games against the Nets, games played since the Jason Kidd deal and they really miss those triple doubles and that veteran saviness. Andre Miller kept punishing Devin Harris on the offensive end. But our frontcourt should be able to take care of their frontcourt. Let’s hope the Sixers’ 14 three pointers in that preseason game can translate into the regular season!! The Nets also cannot defend the three pointers. Now the only thing that scares me is if Vince has one of those crazy nights offensively hitting shots from WAY downtown or taking it to the hoop!!)