Nets @ Hawks

[benhillboy]

How about we make it 4-0? I thought Deron Williams had fell off judging by how Teague outplayed him the first two. Both have since come back to Earth, with Williams widely considered one of the best PGs again and Teague an average starter. No Lopez, so we'll have a break on the boards but still have to deal with the Kardashian who is much tougher than I ever thought. Brooks is a fine young player, and Morrow could miss or make 6 straight threes. For the most part, Joe and Josh have had whatever it took to put away bad teams, and at Phillips, tonight should be no different. It seems as if we never know who's in or out lately until the tip, so I'll throw it to Lethal for the specifics. Let's Go.

[lethalweapon3]

Welcome back Marvin and Ivan! And not a moment too soon! Get well really, really soon Zaza!

The month of March has not been kind as the Jersey Boys near their final curtain call. While 4-8 doesn’t look disastrous on the surface, their four wins included a home win against the Raptors, two wins in the same week at Charlotte (the first one was where Deron Williams poured ‘57’ sauce on the Bobcats, only to win by three), and a buzzer-beating home victory over the sputtering Clippers.

All of those wins came before the trading deadline, when there was still fading hope that a certain broad-shouldered giant would join the roster. Since then, a four-game slide including homestand setbacks to the Hornets, Cavaliers, and the Wizards have Coach Avery’s gang reeling.

They also thought that, even if they didn’t reel in the biggest fish, Brook Lopez would be a healthy mainstay for their final playoff push, but a sprained ankle has sidelined him since March 4^th (he’ll miss tonight’s contest, and will be out another couple weeks). Deron himself missing four games with a strained calf didn’t help matters.

They’re doing without Damion James and Keith Bogans, both out with season-ending injuries. Shelden Williams is struggling to continue playing with pain in his shoulder. The Nets’ second-best passer by default, Jordan Farmar (groin) is possible for tonight, but look for a little more of UGA’s Sundiata Gaines, who played serviceable minutes in Washington on Wednesday.

Deron Williams might as well be known as Dinty Moore, because he’s been gradually stewing as the pile of things not going the Nets’ way continue to mount. After a career with no ejections, referees have given Williams the heave-ho twice in three months. Avery Johnson joined him on an early trip to the showers Wednesday at the Nets fell to Washington. He also left the locker room two nights in a row without speaking to postgame media.

Heading into their final month with playoff hopes likely dashed, New Jersey declares there will be No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn, intending to play spoiler against teams like the Hawks jockeying for playoff position. Unfortunately for Garden Staters, they’re more likely to do this away from Pru Center (just 5-18 at home), as they still hold a respectable 10-15 road record.

Who is currently second in the league in three-point attempts per game? Why, it’s D-Will, lobbing up a career-high 6.5 per game, just a shade fewer than Ryan Anderson. He’s only shooting at a 35% clip for the season (17-for-60 in the past month), but the All-Star supposes that without the team’s other major offensive option, Brook Lopez, a few extra threes might keep the Nets in the running for a victory. The team as a whole seems to follow this approach: the Nets are 2^nd in three-point rate to Orlando (30.1% of field goal attempts) but make just under 35% of those shots (14^th in the league). Conversely, they take and make the fewest shots within 10 feet of the rim among NBA teams. While it is a harder task now with Gerald Wallace in the fold for Jersey and Zaza Pachulia out, the Hawks need Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Ivan Johnson to establish dominance in the paint early on, and the Nets will be reduced to jacking threes trying to keep up.

Even without cupcakes, Gerald Green has been quite a treat for the Nets after two and a half seasons away from the NBA. Although he’s struggled since being signed for the rest of the season last week, the reigning D-League All-Star MVP is still giving the Nets 11 points (on 50% shooting), 3 rebounds, and almost a steal per night.

They are getting a nice boost in offense and defense from Wallace, who is struggling a bit with his shot and consistency but makes an interesting pairing with double-double-maker Kris Humphries. With Marvin Williams back in the fold, Joe Johnson may fare a little better offensively back at shooting guard, against the likes of Marshon Brooks and Anthony Morrow. The Nets will probably deploy Green to help out defensively against Joe.

Wallace can only help the Nets escape the basement in the area of defensive efficiency (107.7 points per 100 possessions). Opponents are lighting up the Nets with league-highs of 47.6 FG% and a 37.9 3-Point FG%. Jeff Teague and Kirk Hinrich, bolstered by unselfish play by the frontcourt, can exploit the Nets with their passing, as the Nets give up as many assists per game (23.4) than any other team (62.6% of opponent field goals are assisted, including almost 60% of buckets at the rim).

Go Hawks!

~lw3

[Gray Mule]

Nets beat Atlanta three quarters.Unfortuniately, for the Nets, you must play four quarters.Josh had a terrible game with his outside shooting.Josh had a monster game inside.Zaza was missed. Twin tried, but he ain't Zaza.Great comeback win tonight!GO HAWKS!!

[lethalweapon3]

Didn't get the dominating inside play I had hoped for (can we find out what's wrong with Dampier? JaCo is wretched right now...) but they did get the Nets to settle for terrible jumpers (6-for-25 tonight) especially in crunch time.Josh becoming Mr. 30-and-10 "irregardless" of, well, you know. Back-to-back, his 4th "30-and-10" of this month and 6th of the year, compared to just one "30-and-10" game last year. Congrats!We need far more efficient halfcourt possessions early in the game (and smarter player substitutions throughout) so we're cruising against bad teams like the Cavs and Nets late.Aside: Hope Pietrus is okay.~lw3

Edited March 24, 2012 by lethalweapon3

[lethalweapon3]

"Jason Collins" (cough) from the AJC gamethread:

“I would just like to gloat on how close I came to my stats tonight. At 7:18 tonight- 17 minutes before the opening tip- I said this: ” I will play 32 minutes. I will grab 2 rebounds. I will score 0 points. I will go 0-4 from the field, and 0-2 from the FT line. I will have 0 blocks and 0 steals. I will commit 5 fouls. I will have 4 turnovers”

Well I was 0-2, not 0-4…. but I did play 13 minutes and did have 2 rebounds, and 0 blocks, and 0 steals , as well as 0 assists. I didnt commit a turnover tonight (luckily), and I only had 3 fouls, as opposed to 5. I did score 0 points though as I predicted. Pretty close prediction.”

~wloc

[BrazilianHawk]

I will say nothing.

[benhillboy]

That Josh shot chart was funny. Didn't see the game, but the very low 8 team turnovers jump out, and half of them from Ivan. Good to see Kirk being able to log heavy minutes and I assume he played solid D all game as none of their 2s did anything. For all of Josh's missed jumpers, he still shot virtually 50%, both he and Teague hit 6 free throws, along with 12 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks? Lately he's also committing few to no turnovers. I'm convinced the NBA will never figure out his quirky southpaw ball-handling and release on his post shots and passes. I've never been a fan or detractor of the kid, but he's converting me in his best season by far. It just kills you knowing he could probably average a few more points and a couple offensive rebounds if he played the post as often as he should. Good shorthanded team win. Let's Go.

Edited March 24, 2012 by benhillboy

[Antmillennium]

I will say nothing.

LOL!!!! That shot chart is hilarious. Josh will keep on shooting until he proves all of you guys wrong. He's gonna show you all. He's going to prove that he's a long-range assassin.

[BrazilianHawk]

LOL!!!! That shot chart is hilarious. Josh will keep on shooting until he proves all of you guys wrong. He's gonna show you all. He's going to prove that he's a long-range assassin.

Well, he does kills the Hawks with his jumpers some nights.

[Gray Mule]

Two diffferent players - both on the same night. The terribleoutside shooter and the tremendious inside presence.Hawks must allow him to take -and miss - those outside shots. If they don't,he will pout and refuse to go inside. I don't know that this is true, but I canthink of no other reason.Thanks for the shot chart. This says it all. No explination necessary.The great thing is: The inside game came, for the most part, late in the gameand the Hawks won. Gotta do it again tonight.GO HAWKS!!