Brooklyn Nets: Wait Till Next Year is Dead Ahead

From the desk of: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

2019   PLAYOFFS   2020

Raptors def. Nets; 4-0

I - TOR 134; BKN 110

II - TOR 104; BKN 99

III - TOR 117; BKN 92

IV - TOR 150; BKN 122

Trounced in two, swept in four ... I believe game one was closer that the final score indicates.

In any event, when the opposing bench scores 100 points (game four) there's no need sifting through the minutiae of what went wrong.  Give Toronto their respect as defending NBA champs and move on.  It's time for Brooklyn to get back in the lab.

We all know the Nets this season were a very compromised team.  All things considered I'm actually quite pleased with how the season ends.  Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen and Joe Harris are thrust into the team's primary positions of leadership.  The experience gained is invaluable.  These are the requisite growing pains.  In the meantime, enjoy the rest of summer best you can.  For the Hopes of Flatbush lay dead ahead.

How effective will Kevin Durant be upon his return to the floor?  Will Kyrie Irving be able to sustain a full season?  Will he have kinder things to say about his teammates?  Will the two mega stars mesh?  This remains to be seen.

But what if Irving is right?  Do the Nets have the requisite in-house pieces in order to facilitate a championship?  What if the Nets do not have the right mix of talent?  Does Sean Marks need to go off campus for another formidable threat?

Joe Harris is the team's most notable free agent.  Sean Marks says re-signing him is a top priority.  Whereas I have my reservations.  He is an easily blunted dagger in the Nets attack.  When teams decide to shut him down, they do.

Brooklyn has eleven players under contract entering next season: Kevin Durant; Kyrie Irving; DeAndre Jordan; Caris LeVert; Rodions Kurucs; Dzanan Musa; Nicolas Claxton; Taurean Prince and Jeremiah Martin ... meanwhile, extending the contracts of Jarrett Allen and Spencer Dinwiddie will not be easy.  The Nets have an option on Garrett Temple, but what Sean Marks does about Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot is anyone's guess.

There is also a new head coach up for discussion.

Change is most certainly on the horizon.

But make no mistake, the future has arrived.

Defending Champion Raptors Too Much for Depleted Brooklyn Nets

From the desk of: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

2019   PLAYOFFS   2020

Raptors Lead Nets; 3-0

I - TOR 134; BRK 110

II - TOR 104; BRK 99

III - TOR 117; BRK 92 

IV - SUNDAY

No Shots for Jarrett Allen; No Chance For Brooklyn Nets

The Nets are a proverbial rubber band of brothers finally stretched to its limit and ready to snap.  At this point trying to remain competitive is just too much to ask from a team lacking so many key players from their once idealized line-up and rotation.  Now with Joe Harris suddenly out of action it invites Toronto to clamp down on Jarrett Allen.  I look at the score and the 25 point differential and think that doesn't happen with 20 points from Joe Harris and a better night scoring from "Mr. Double-Double" Jarret Allen and the bench.  We'd be writing a different story.  But that's not the way it happens.  Jarrett Allen secures a game high 17 rebounds, five on the offensive boards, but is limited to just four points all from the free throw line.  Caris LeVert went from averaging double-digit assists through two games to being limited to just six along with 15 points.  It also seems as if Toronto just lets Tyler Johnson score 23 points.  Garrett Temple goes a mere 2/12 and 1/9 from the arc.  Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot wasn't much better shooting 3/18 from the floor and 2/11 from the arc.  Out of 90 field goal attempts the Nets take 56.6% from the arc, and I have a problem with that.  And speaking of their 90 attempts, the Nets convert just 33.3% of the time.  The Raptors, meanwhile, are 50.5% (46/91) from the field.  The Nets are out-rebounded 48-33, which wasn't happening before.  Toronto does a better of distribution, 35-24, also something that wasn't happening before.  Coach Vaughn asks for 67-minutes from his bench.  Chris Chiozza leads the reserves with 14 points in 23 minutes, with three assists and four steals, but I can't say much else for the other six.  For the second time in three games Toronto leads wire to wire.  However, this is the first game the Nets truly get outplayed.

Brooklyn Nets: Toronto Raptors Outlast Flatbush in Game Two

From the desk of: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

2019   PLAYOFFS   2020

Raptors Lead Nets; 2-0

I - TOR 134; BRK 110

II - TOR 104; BRK 99

Lesson: It's Not How You Start, It's How You Finish

If nothing else game two confirms what I said after Monday's series opener: the Brooklyn Nets did not get blown out.

They are nevertheless down two games to none.

Lose your legs and there goes your shot; the onrush of turnovers begins shortly thereafter.

That's what happens ...

Brooklyn's shot selection and execution deteriorate in the fourth, and they end up shooting 38.8% from the field with 17 turnovers.

Flatbush essentially leads all game with exception of an occasional tie here and there.  They take a 53-50 lead into the half, and lead 80-74 after three.  They still lead 85-84 with eight minutes left, then just run out of gas.  OG Anunoby converts a pair of free throws and Serge Ibaka then buries a jumper from mid-range giving the Raptors an 88-85 lead from which the Raptors never look back.

There is a matter of workload.  All five Nets starters exceed 35-minutes.  Jarrett Allen plays 41-minutes while Joe Harris and Caris LeVert each play 39-minutes.  Coach Vaughn limits bench play to Rodions Kurucs, Chris Chiozza and Tyler Johnson who join together for fifty total minutes.  Meanwhile, he Raptors utilize four bench players for a total of sixty-nine minutes.

Otherwise, I watched an inspired but tiring defensive effort.  They win the battle of the boards, 62-56,  while limiting the Raptors to 104 points - a noteworthy effort considering Toronto has very effective perimeter shooters at all positions.  The game marks the Nets second least points allowed since entering the bubble after an Aug. 11 game in which they yield just 96 points to the Wizards.

The Nets aggressiveness on the offensive end is just as noticeable.  They do a better job of ball distribution and getting to the foul line where they attempt an unheard of 27 shots from the stripe.  It marks their most attempts since entering the bubble, after averaging 23 attempts through eight seeding games and just 16 attempts in game one.  And unlike game one, they limit Toronto to under thirty attempts.  It's the seventh time in the last ten games they've limited the opposition to under thirty free throws.

Garrett Temple leads the Nets with 21 points including 5/11 from the arc.  Joe Harris and Jarrett Allen post identical double-doubles with fourteen points and a game high fifteen rebounds respectively.  Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot adds seventeen points.  Tyler Johnson shoots 5/10 from the field with twelve points in 22 minutes off the bench.

During last year's post-season against Philadelphia Caris LeVert appears in five games and starts two.  He boasts a 49.3FG%, while averaging 21.0 points (26.2 points per 36-minutes) with three assists in 28.8 average minutes.  This year is very different.  LeVert, in the absence of the team's premiere players and litany of regulars missing from the active roster, is being asked to bear the weight of this Borough upon his shoulders in his first playoff as a full time starter.  In game one he scores fifteen points and distributes a game high fifteen assists.  In game two he scores sixteen and again distributes a game high eleven assists.  However, he is shooting only 27.7% (10/36) from the field.  The still 25-year old celebrates a birthday later this month, and his future is looking brighter by the day.

In the meantime, I can only reiterate the fine effort on behalf of Brooklyn.  But in truth Toronto outlasts Flatbush down the stretch.  Depth is on Toronto's side, the Nets not so much.  And now we can add another name to the list of unavailable: Joe Harris has officially opted out of the bubble.

That said, there is still a lot worth taking away from these last two games that are not reflected in the score.  It was never about this season to begin with.  Sean Marks' grade is obviously still incomplete.
Much still remains to be determined.  No one knows it better than him.  For now what doesn't kill the Nets only makes them stronger heading into next season.  That's not being defeatist.  That's being delighted.  These learning experiences are invaluable.

#WeGoHard

Brooklyn Nets: Flatbush Bucks the Naysayers

From the desk of: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

TWO IN A ROW 

TUESDAY

Nets      119

Bucks   116

FINAL

! MAJOR UPSET !

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scores a career high 26-points as the Brooklyn Nets deny the Milwaukee Bucks an opportunity to clinch top seed in the Eastern Conference.  Flatbush takes a 73-65 lead into halftime, then hold on for a stunning 119-116 upset. 

Making this a wondrous event is the fact that Brooklyn defeats Milwaukee minus the services of Kevin Durant; Kyrie Irving; DeAndre Jordan; Spencer Dinwiddie; Wilson Chandler; Taurean Prince; Caris LeVert; Joe Harris; and Jarrett Allen.  Meanwhile, Jamal Crawford's Nets debut is fleeting.  He exits Tuesday's game with a strained hamstring after just six minutes played.

That being said, both the Nets and Bucks appear in agreement insofar as defense be damned - no such effort Tuesday afternoon.  The Nets convert on just 43 of 103 (41.7%) attempts from the field, while hitting 21 of 57 (36.8%) attempts from beyond the arc.  Milwaukee is 42 of 88 (47.7%) from the field.

Timothe, after scoring 24-points in the Nets return game last Friday, leads the way connecting on five of seven from beyond the arc, and shooting a perfect five for five from the line.  Garret Temple is next in with 19-points.  Chris Chiozza goes double-double with ten points, and a game high ten assists, in 31-minutes off the bench.

Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo partakes in the first half only, yet still leads the Bucks with 16-points in 16-minutes played.  Former Nets favorite Brook Lopez did not play.

Flatbush (32-35) slides back into seventh place, one-half game ahead of Orlando.

Brooklyn Nets: Houston Rockets Sputter at Barclays Center

From the desk of: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

James Harden and Russell Westbrook 

Experience Frightful Night at Barclays Center

FRIDAY

Rockets   116

Nets         123

FINAL

No need looking at the win/loss record.  We knew heading in Kenny Atkinson would be tinkering with various line-ups and combinations.  On Friday, he conjured a jambalaya of minutes for everyone.  Taurean Prince and Garrett Temple prove problematic for the visiting Houston Rockets.  Getting the start Prince leads the Nets with 27 points and a game high 12 rebounds in 34 minutes.  Temple posts a +4 off the bench with 16 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes.  Caris LeVert contributes 25 points in 32 minutes.

• Caris Levert is averaging 19.8 points and 33 minutes through the first five games.

However, Brooklyn's defensive effort refreshingly is Friday night's lead story.  The Nets dominate the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Houston by a 55-40 margin, with 45 boards coming on the defensive end.  They also force Russell Westbrook and James Harden into settling for quantity over quality.  The Houston duo joins for 22/56 (39%) from the field, and a mere 3/22 (13%) from beyond the arc.

The Nets are now 2-3 through five games, with victories against the Knicks and Rockets, one outright loss against the Pacers, and a pair of one-point overtime losses against the T-Wolves and Grizzlies.  Brooklyn leads the Eastern Conference with 120.6 points per game, but rank last with 120.8 points allowed.  Makes one appreciate Friday's effort that much more.


THE IRVING FACTOR

• Through five games the Nets have attempted 458 shots from the field, or 91.6 shots per game.  Kyrie Irving has attempted 117 shots, or 23.4 shots per game, which accounts for 25.5% of Brooklyn's field goal attempts.

MEN IN THE MIDDLE

• Garrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan join for 13 points and 17 rebounds; Allen leads the floor with a +29 in 31 minutes.  Allen to date leads at center with 58 minutes played versus 37 minutes for Jordan.

SATURDAY

Brooklyn Nets @ Detroit Pistons

FROM

MOTOR CITY