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

[LarBrd33]

Could be worse.  A couple bounces of the ball and Brooklyn could be on a 4 game winning streak right now. 

They beat the Rockets. 
They lost by 2 to the Kings in a game where Rondo had 23 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds... and Cousins had 40 points.
Then they went into overtime vs the best team in the world and lost.

And now they beat one of the best teams in the East by 2.   I guess they were due.

I still think Brooklyn is going to be better this season than people think... but hopefully they suck.

25-30 wins is possible.

Which I'd be rather happy with... 25-30 wins would have put that pick in the 5-7 range last year.   I expected them to win closer to 35-40 this year... which would have put the pick in the 10-16 range last year.    They won 38 last year and finished the season strong... Brook and Thad played really well together.  Deron left, they lost some role players and based on that everyone anticipated them to be the worst team in the league.  I haven't been buying in on that.  I hope it ends up true, though.

Tonight you saw Lopez have 24 points, 10 rebounds 3 blocks...  Thad Young had 16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals.   Joe Johnson had 13 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds.  Those are the 3 guys I've been worried about.   Are they thin outside of those 3?  Yeah.  Jarret Jack keeps putting up stats (14 points and 8 assists tonight)... they got a little production from their rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson so hopefully he doesn't break out.  Shane Larkin had an ok game.  Bargnani did nothing.    I fully agree they are a Lopez injury away from bottoming out, but until that happens, it's still hard for me to see this team as a lock for a top 3 pick.  They have played 4 tight games against some talented teams.  Hope they don't build on the momentum.

[crimson_stallion]

Uh oh. Nets starting to looking more like the 30-35 win team I was worried they would be.   

We are gonna need some injuries.

Honestly I think it's more that they caught the Hawks on a bad night. No Teague and they just haven't looked good lately. The Cs used to pull out some wins like these during the 25 win season two years ago. Nets play hard, but I don't think it's sustainable

Yeah, they are going to suck.

They are far too lacking in depth - there are only 4 NBA caliber players on that roster, and there is only so far four guys can carry a team. 

It's inevitable that injuries, fatigue (or both) will come into play and they will be really, really bad. The only team that is as lacking in depth is Philly.

[ReadyFor17]

Aside from the fact that they play hard, the Nets are still the same crappy team that lost 9 games already. The Warriors played hard for about five minutes and that's all it took to win. The Hawks thought they could do the same. Lazy defense, careless with the ball, settling for jumpers. Teams are flat out disrespecting the Nets showing up with half-baked performances/starters sitting out and still winning, while the Nets are going all out and struggling to keep up. Most of their losses have come when the opponent decides to start playing in the 3rd or 4th.

With perfect health, this is a bottom 3-4 team unless Jack and Larkin figure out how to shoot consistently (they won't), JJ finds the fountain of youth (getting 35 mpg, he won't), or RHJ learns how to play offense (not this season). Watching them win sucks but there are many many many losses to come.

[LarBrd33]

Aside from the fact that they play hard, the Nets are still the same crappy team that lost 9 games already.

They are the same crappy team that lost 9 games already, but are they also the same crappy team that has beat Houston and Atlanta, nearly beat Golden State in their last game, finished last season 13-5 after Lopez and Thad started gelling, won 38 games last season and has made the playoffs 3 years in a row?... because that's my main concern.    It's probably just me being paranoid, though.   Order the Ben Simmons jerseys.  It's a lock.  Book it. 

[jdz101]

Aside from the fact that they play hard, the Nets are still the same crappy team that lost 9 games already.

They are the same crappy team that lost 9 games already, but are they also the same crappy team that has beat Houston and Atlanta, nearly beat Golden State in their last game, finished last season 13-5 after Lopez and Thad started gelling, won 38 games last season and has made the playoffs 3 years in a row?... because that's my main concern.    It's probably just me being paranoid, though.   Order the Ben Simmons jerseys.  It's a lock.  Book it.

I'll take stock on it halfway through the season. I'm predicting a Lopez foot or ankle issue by then.

And in that case, they're royally screwed.

[max215]

There are two huge games for us tomorrow. If we coast by another decent Western team (Mavs), then I'll pretty comfortable saying that we're legit. If Charlotte can handle the Nets with ease, I'll feel a lot more comfortable about the prospects of a top 3-5 pick.

[max215]

Just a thought: what are the chances that Lopez misses all/most of one of the next three seasons? If/when that happens, we're all but guaranteed a top 3 pick.

[SCeltic34]

Aside from the fact that they play hard, the Nets are still the same crappy team that lost 9 games already.

They are the same crappy team that lost 9 games already, but are they also the same crappy team that has beat Houston and Atlanta, nearly beat Golden State in their last game, finished last season 13-5 after Lopez and Thad started gelling, won 38 games last season and has made the playoffs 3 years in a row?... because that's my main concern.    It's probably just me being paranoid, though.   Order the Ben Simmons jerseys.  It's a lock.  Book it.

I give them credit for their play on the road.  But another way of looking at it, for all that good play on the road, is that they barely managed to beat a slumping, short-handed Hawks team that turned the ball over 20 times - many of them live turnovers - and still only managed to score 18 points in the 4th quarter and 90 points for the game. 

They may be able to beat the Hornets tomorrow because, well, Charlotte is never any good.  I think the C's are going to beat them down on Friday and Sunday.

[jpotter33]

Good freaking grief, Brooklyn. You're so bad that you can't even lose when you need to!

[Denis998]

the hawks now join the rockets on the poop list.

[crimson_stallion]

Aside from the fact that they play hard, the Nets are still the same crappy team that lost 9 games already.

They are the same crappy team that lost 9 games already, but are they also the same crappy team that has beat Houston and Atlanta, nearly beat Golden State in their last game, finished last season 13-5 after Lopez and Thad started gelling, won 38 games last season and has made the playoffs 3 years in a row?... because that's my main concern.    It's probably just me being paranoid, though.   Order the Ben Simmons jerseys.  It's a lock.  Book it.

The Rockets have been one of the most up-and-down teams in the NBA.  They have lost to some pretty mediocre teams, and a LOT of their games have been blowouts.  They have been an absolute mess.  We would have beat them by close to 30 points if we didn't bring the scrubs in to finish the game.

The Hawks are a team without stars, and were playing without one of their top 3 players.  AND they had a horrible game.  They still only lost by 2.

The Warriors are a good team obviously, but their greatness has been exaggerated by the fact that they have had possibly probably the easiest schedule in the entire league so far. 

Just to expand on this, here is the list of teams Golden State has played so far, along with their seed, win record and win differential:

Pelicans (15th / 1-10 / -9.2)
Rockets (11th / 4-7 / -7.7)
Pelicans (15th / 1-10 / -9.2)
Grizzlies (9th / 6-6 / -6.4)
Clippers (5th / 6-4 / +0.9)
Nuggets (7th / 6-5 / -4.7)
Kings (12th / 4-7 / -4.1)
Pistons (9th / 6-5 / -0.6)
Grizzlies (9th / 6-6 / -6.4)
Timberwolves (10th / 5-6 / -1.4)
Nets (14th / 2-9 / -8.9)

Out of their 11 games played, only one has come against a team with a positive point differential (Clippers, who are +0.9) and that game was closely fought to the end.

Obviously the Warriors a very good team, and going 11-0 against NBA teams (regardless of the competition quality) is an impressive feat.  They probably will finish the season as the best team in the NBA.  But their current rate of dominance won't continue, and they will undoubtedly start looking much more human once they start to hit the 'not so easy' parts of their schedule.

We'll find out soon either way - their next three games are against the Clippers, Raptors and Bulls.  Then they go on another four game streak against crappy teams (DEN, LAL, PHX, SAC). 

[Rondo9]

Yeah the least it'll happen is that the Nets pick will be a top 5 pick. They are no better than the 2013-2014 Celtics who also played hard.

[SparzWizard]

Brooklyn winning makes our winning against the Hawks less impressive, right?

[ReadyFor17]

Aside from the fact that they play hard, the Nets are still the same crappy team that lost 9 games already.

They are the same crappy team that lost 9 games already, but are they also the same crappy team that has beat Houston and Atlanta, nearly beat Golden State in their last game, finished last season 13-5 after Lopez and Thad started gelling, won 38 games last season and has made the playoffs 3 years in a row?... because that's my main concern.    It's probably just me being paranoid, though.   Order the Ben Simmons jerseys.  It's a lock.  Book it.

I guess I just don't put much stock in last season. Knicks, Heat, Pacers, Magic are all better. Nets lost starters and depth while almost every other lotto team improved. They aren't Philly-bad so they are capable of winning squeakers when the opponent is off like in Houston and again tonight. Despite that, they haven't actually really taken it to an opponent even once this season for more than a quarter or so. The Dubs approached that game the other night like they were testing out a new And-1 inspired playbook.

The recent Nets didn't have Jarrett Jack starting at point guard. Or Old Joe shooting 32% from the field and 19% from deep. Or Andrea Bargnani getting rotation minutes. Or Wayne Ellington as their veteran 3-and-D guy. Brook, Thad, a bunch of jags and an empty suit coach is not a recipe for 38 wins.

[Rondo9]

Brooklyn winning makes our winning against the Hawks less impressive, right?

Hawks were playing without Bezemore and Teague.