Official 2015-16 Brooklyn Nets Season Watch Thread (21-59, 3rd slot as of 4/12)

[TA9]

After last night

I have no faith the Lakers can beat the Nets .

Nets are very poor ......to be sure....but


Lakers flat out suck .....worse maybe than the sixers.....if that is possible.

If Kobe catches fire; the Lakers could possibly beat the Nets.
One thing that I've noticed regarding Kobe is that he has been missing a lot of shots that he normally made with ease some years ago.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Even though I would be happy if Bkn loses every game it is impossible, it has never been done before and there have been teams much worse than BKN trying to lose. Beating the lakers is not going to change much, while losses matter not all of them do in the end.

[mef730]

HAWKS v NETS, Wednesday November 4th 2015

At Atlanta
Hawks on a back to back.
Nets at full strength, Jarret Jack back and playing frustratingly reasonably well.
Possible trap game.

Keys to the Game:

APPROACH THE BASKET CAUTIOUSLY
Obviously it's always nice to have serious, season-ending injuries, but these can't be relied upon for sub-par performance. There needs to be serious apathy stemming from a "team-first" realization that any first-quarter success is likely only temporary.

SHOOT A LOT OF THREES
Whilst it will be tempting to go inside to Lopez, the Nets need to resist this urge and have Jack, Larkin, and Thomas Robinson shooting high volume threes

SLOWNESS SLOWNESS SLOWNESS
Atlanta run a nice high-paced, fast ball movement offence. Nets will need to be slow to get back on D. Joe Johnson will be critical in this area, also Lopez who is perennially reliable in this category, but needs to push even harder.

Kind of sad that I know the Nets' schedule as well as, if not better than, the Celtics'!

Mike

[sofutomygaha]

HAWKS v NETS, Wednesday November 4th 2015

At Atlanta
Hawks on a back to back.
Nets at full strength, Jarret Jack back and playing frustratingly reasonably well.
Possible trap game.

Keys to the Game:

APPROACH THE BASKET CAUTIOUSLY
Obviously it's always nice to have serious, season-ending injuries, but these can't be relied upon for sub-par performance. There needs to be serious apathy stemming from a "team-first" realization that any first-quarter success is likely only temporary.

SHOOT A LOT OF THREES
Whilst it will be tempting to go inside to Lopez, the Nets need to resist this urge and have Jack, Larkin, and Thomas Robinson shooting high volume threes

SLOWNESS SLOWNESS SLOWNESS
Atlanta run a nice high-paced, fast ball movement offence. Nets will need to be slow to get back on D. Joe Johnson will be critical in this area, also Lopez who is perennially reliable in this category, but needs to push even harder.

I gaveth one. Please make this a regular thing. You are a beacon

[fairweatherfan]

After last night

I have no faith the Lakers can beat the Nets .

Nets are very poor ......to be sure....but


Lakers flat out suck .....worse maybe than the sixers.....if that is possible.

If Kobe catches fire; the Lakers could possibly beat the Nets.
One thing that I've noticed regarding Kobe is that he has been missing a lot of shots that he normally made with ease some years ago.

Kobe's shot has been very flat - I think he's not getting nearly the lift he's used to after all the leg injuries.  He airballed at least one 3 last night and came close on a couple other jumpers.  Everything's on line but mostly short.

[willyd24]

Sure the Lakers don't look that great but if the Nets lose tonight in Atlanta which is expected than anything can happen on Friday night.

Both teams will be coming in having not won a single game and who knows what the mindset of either team will be. For all we know Brooklyn could come into the game completely depleted and the Lakers could come into the game ready to get a win or vice versa, we are just going to have to wait and see.

[SHAQATTACK]

Could be trap game for Hawks .

JJ goes off.  Hawks relax

[SHAQATTACK]

After last night

I have no faith the Lakers can beat the Nets .

Nets are very poor ......to be sure....but


Lakers flat out suck .....worse maybe than the sixers.....if that is possible.

If Kobe catches fire; the Lakers could possibly beat the Nets.
One thing that I've noticed regarding Kobe is that he has been missing a lot of shots that he normally made with ease some years ago.

Kobe's shot has been very flat - I think he's not getting nearly the lift he's used to after all the leg injuries.  He airballed at least one 3 last night and came close on a couple other jumpers.  Everything's on line but mostly short.
[/quot]
Bes thing LA can do to win......

Sit Kobe

[willyd24]

People keep on saying that the Nets will continue to fight as the season progresses but I just don't see it. Sure they will win a couple games here and there but eventually losing becomes a habit and if there's nothing to work towards then there's no incentive to play hard. I don't think that any of the Nets players care that we get there pick, spurning us is not going to motivate them. The only thing that will motivate this team will be people who are trying to play there way out via trade (Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson) or playing for a new contract (Thomas Robinson) that's about it.

[SHAQATTACK]

If Lopez has any issue at all.....a sprained toe or finger ,  a bad flu ,  girlfriend dumps him, any small setback during the next 77 games .   It could be huge .  Meaning the potiental of being worse than LA or Philly. 

I agree with the point , as the losses pile up , will the team respond or sink .

I don't see Connolly signing with them .....he is better off on the Grizzles .

[colincb]

The Nets will have cap next summer, but why sign there vs somewhere else? There will be a lot of teams with cap chasing a limited pool of talent. The Nets on the face of it will have problems attracting significant talent. It's not like there's anyone doesn't know about their lack of draft picks, their management woes, they lack young talent, AND that their "stars" are Joe Johnson who will be 35 next season and Brook Lopez who is chronically injury-plagued.

We're getting three lottery picks out of the Nets gents.

[The One]

http://www.nba.com/nets/video/2015/11/03/1446583702800-Brook-Lopez-Introduces-Star-Wars-Bobblehead.mov-93799



May the Force be with Brook...and the #1 pick with the Celtics!!

[MJohnnyboy]

Honest question: If the Nets decide to trade Book Lopez, where do they trade him to?

His suitors would probably be a contender trying to get the final piece. One team I thought of was Chicago. They have a conditional pick from Sacramento, they have decent young (albeit not really proven) value with Snell, McDermott, and Portis. They have Gasol and Gibson to give up. It all really depends on how well Lopez plays and how much the Bulls value their guys.

Lopez and Robinson and 2nd rounder to Chicago for Gasol, Gibson, McDermott, Portis and Kings 1st rounder and a protected 1st round pick in 2018. Decent deal for Lopez? Brooklyn would then try to dangle Gasol/Gibson for more picks.

I'd love to hear some ideas.

[celticsclay]

Honest question: If the Nets decide to trade Book Lopez, where do they trade him to?

His suitors would probably be a contender trying to get the final piece. One team I thought of was Chicago. They have a conditional pick from Sacramento, they have decent young (albeit not really proven) value with Snell, McDermott, and Portis. They have Gasol and Gibson to give up. It all really depends on how well Lopez plays and how much the Bulls value their guys.

Lopez and Robinson and 2nd rounder to Chicago for Gasol, Gibson, McDermott, Portis and Kings 1st rounder and a protected 1st round pick in 2018. Decent deal for Lopez? Brooklyn would then try to dangle Gasol/Gibson for more picks.

I'd love to hear some ideas.

I appreciate the thought, so don't want to come off as bashing your idea, but that doesn't make any sense to chicago for me. For one, they are obviously trying to win this year. How much of an upgrade is Brook Lopez over Gasol on Chicago? They both play pretty awful defense, Gasol is a better rebounder while lopez is a more effective scorer. On their team lopez is not going to get the same amount of shots he gets on the Nets with Butler and Rose also competing for looks.
So for an upgrade on offense, they lose a key potential scorer off their bench, a guy they starting (snell) and two first round draft picks (and their first rounder from this past year in portis)? That is a trade for anthony davis not Lopez.   

[mef730]

The Nets will have cap next summer, but why sign there vs somewhere else? There will be a lot of teams with cap chasing a limited pool of talent. The Nets on the face of it will have problems attracting significant talent. It's not like there's anyone doesn't know about their lack of draft picks, their management woes, they lack young talent, AND that their "stars" are Joe Johnson who will be 35 next season and Brook Lopez who is chronically injury-plagued.

We're getting three lottery picks out of the Nets gents.

Here's the hoopshype list of top free agents next summer (from August).

http://hoopshype.com/2015/08/15/nba-free-agency-2016-the-top-players/

If you don't want to go through the whole thing, Durant is #1, DeRozen #10, Jordan Clarkson #20, etc. Pretty steep cliff. You can debate who belongs exactly where, but it looks pretty good to me. It includes all free agents, restricted, unrestricted and team/player options. I see nobody in the top 20 that would be likely to end up in Brooklyn. Al Horford or Demar DeRozan? Too many suitors for them. A lot of big men, which doesn't help them with Lopez at center, since he's the guy who is supposed to attract top talent. Al Jefferson or Gasol? Too old for a rebuild.

After that: I'm not an Evan Turner hater, but he's ranked 27th on the list. They can't bring in a Lance Stephenson or Josh Smith, since you don't want them hanging out with the young guys. We're into Ryan Anderson territory, folks.

I'll admit to being a pessimist (or what somebody here referred to as the "Miserati"), so when I'm getting excited about something, it's gotta be good. The more I look at this list, the more I think two things:

1) If you think they're going to be bad this year, wait until next year!
2) You've gotta be making phone calls about Lopez and Young, the two guys who will bring you any value (maybe, just maybe, JJ). It's too early in the season for teams to know how close they are to the bubble, but you've gotta think that those calls will come somewhere between 20 and 30 games. And given BL's injury history, you can't wait too long.

Mike

One disclaimer: When making these kinds of predictions, I am wrong about 100% of the time, to the extent that it shouldn't be mathematically possible. So, while I'm getting excited, maybe you shouldn't be.