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

[GC003332]

Looking to the back end of the season, granted they have no reason to tank obviously, with the improved depth in the East this year there could be upwards of 15 games left in the season when the Nets get officially eliminated from the playoffs.It will be interesting to see if they decide to rest either Lopez or Young or both from many games to end the season, no real reason for them to risk any injury to their investments when they don't have any real reason to play out the season.
So the fear that they may go on a late season run to overtake the tankers and jump to 7 or 8th spot may depend on how they decide to play out the games when they are officially eliminated.

[danglertx]

Can you please explain why they would need to have a long winning streak to end up with the 6th or 7th worst record? If they go 500 over their next 10 games, for example, they could end up as 5th - 7th worse. Has nothing to do with winning streaks.

It also isn't completely about their roster as they've done well since RHJ went out, and they overachieve and play better than their talent at times. Also, other teams also play down to their talent at times, kind of like how we unfortunately did against the Lake Show last night.

I guess it depends on what a long winning streak is.  As of now, these are the contenders for worst records in the East;
Brooklyn Nets   9   23
Philadelphia 76ers   3   31

That is probably it in the East.  The Bucks have 13 wins but I think they will beat most of the bad teams pretty easily and stay well ahead of the terrible teams.  Even the 76ers look rejuvenated with a new GM and attitude.

Then we have in the West;
Sacramento Kings   12   20
Denver Nuggets   12   21
Minnesota Timberwolves   12   21
Phoenix Suns   12   23
New Orleans Pelicans   10   22
Los Angeles Lakers   6   27

I think the Kings are pretty much a lock to keep picking up the occasional wins as long as Boogie stays healthy.  Denver possibly could fall back past the Nets but that is pretty iffy.  The Timberwolves have enough young talent they should win enough to stay ahead of Brooklyn.  The Suns are another iffy team.  The Pelicans should finish better than the Nets and the Lakers have a real shot of catching them. 

So for the Nets to move up to the 7th slot, they'd need win some games in a row.  Remember, all these teams do play each other so there will be wins out some of those teams have to get.  Especially out West where those 6 teams will be playing each other a lot while out East the Nets and 76ers could lose to everyone but just each other.

[SCeltic34]

Based on opponent winning percentage, the Nets have the toughest schedule among all Eastern conference teams in January, and the 2nd toughest in the entire league, 2nd only to Denver.  12 of the 16 games they play are against teams that have a > .500 winning percentage, and includes the likes of Toronto (twice), San Antonio, Atlanta, Cleveland, and OKC.  10 of those 16 games are at home, however.



OPCT = opponent winning percentage
OORk = average opponent ranking in offensive rating
OODk = average opponent ranking in defensive rating

I do think that they will pick up some quality, 'unexpected' wins.  It's the NBA, and they're not the Sixers.  No need to overreact to those unless they somehow manage to go on a streak, which I seriously doubt will happen.

Also of note, Dallas has one of the tougher schedules for January out West.  It'd be nice if they started losing games, but they appear to be playoff-bound since the West is much weaker this year.  Phoenix unfortunately has a pretty tough schedule.

The full writeup is over at NBA.com.
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2016/01/01/january-schedule-breakdown/?ls=iref:nbahpt6c

[chambers]

Based on opponent winning percentage, the Nets have the toughest schedule among all Eastern conference teams in January, and the 2nd toughest in the entire league, 2nd only to Denver.  12 of the 16 games they play are against teams that have a > .500 winning percentage, and includes the likes of Toronto (twice), San Antonio, Atlanta, Cleveland, and OKC.  10 of those 16 games are at home, however.



OPCT = opponent winning percentage
OORk = average opponent ranking in offensive rating
OODk = average opponent ranking in defensive rating

I do think that they will pick up some quality, 'unexpected' wins.  It's the NBA, and they're not the Sixers.  No need to overreact to those unless they somehow manage to go on a streak, which I seriously doubt will happen.

Also of note, Dallas has one of the tougher schedules for January out West.  It'd be nice if they started losing games, but they appear to be playoff-bound since the West is much weaker this year.  Phoenix unfortunately has a pretty tough schedule.

The full writeup is over at NBA.com.
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2016/01/01/january-schedule-breakdown/?ls=iref:nbahpt6c

thanks for that,
TP

[jmen788]

Based on opponent winning percentage, the Nets have the toughest schedule among all Eastern conference teams in January, and the 2nd toughest in the entire league, 2nd only to Denver.  12 of the 16 games they play are against teams that have a > .500 winning percentage, and includes the likes of Toronto (twice), San Antonio, Atlanta, Cleveland, and OKC.  10 of those 16 games are at home, however.



OPCT = opponent winning percentage
OORk = average opponent ranking in offensive rating
OODk = average opponent ranking in defensive rating

I do think that they will pick up some quality, 'unexpected' wins.  It's the NBA, and they're not the Sixers.  No need to overreact to those unless they somehow manage to go on a streak, which I seriously doubt will happen.

Also of note, Dallas has one of the tougher schedules for January out West.  It'd be nice if they started losing games, but they appear to be playoff-bound since the West is much weaker this year.  Phoenix unfortunately has a pretty tough schedule.

The full writeup is over at NBA.com.
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2016/01/01/january-schedule-breakdown/?ls=iref:nbahpt6c

The Nets also have 3 or 4 more vs. the 76ers, and a bunch left against the Wolves and Nuggets... I'd feel better if they were where they are now having already played those games.

[nickagneta]

Based on opponent winning percentage, the Nets have the toughest schedule among all Eastern conference teams in January, and the 2nd toughest in the entire league, 2nd only to Denver.  12 of the 16 games they play are against teams that have a > .500 winning percentage, and includes the likes of Toronto (twice), San Antonio, Atlanta, Cleveland, and OKC.  10 of those 16 games are at home, however.



OPCT = opponent winning percentage
OORk = average opponent ranking in offensive rating
OODk = average opponent ranking in defensive rating

I do think that they will pick up some quality, 'unexpected' wins.  It's the NBA, and they're not the Sixers.  No need to overreact to those unless they somehow manage to go on a streak, which I seriously doubt will happen.

Also of note, Dallas has one of the tougher schedules for January out West.  It'd be nice if they started losing games, but they appear to be playoff-bound since the West is much weaker this year.  Phoenix unfortunately has a pretty tough schedule.

The full writeup is over at NBA.com.
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2016/01/01/january-schedule-breakdown/?ls=iref:nbahpt6c

The Nets also have 3 or 4 more vs. the 76ers, and a bunch left against the Wolves and Nuggets... I'd feel better if they were where they are now having already played those games.

another way of looking at things is all those teams have games against the Nets and those teams are looking at those games as winnable and will try extra hard to win them

[chilidawg]

Lakers win again, only two games behind the Nets.

[saltlover]

Based on opponent winning percentage, the Nets have the toughest schedule among all Eastern conference teams in January, and the 2nd toughest in the entire league, 2nd only to Denver.  12 of the 16 games they play are against teams that have a > .500 winning percentage, and includes the likes of Toronto (twice), San Antonio, Atlanta, Cleveland, and OKC.  10 of those 16 games are at home, however.



OPCT = opponent winning percentage
OORk = average opponent ranking in offensive rating
OODk = average opponent ranking in defensive rating

I do think that they will pick up some quality, 'unexpected' wins.  It's the NBA, and they're not the Sixers.  No need to overreact to those unless they somehow manage to go on a streak, which I seriously doubt will happen.

Also of note, Dallas has one of the tougher schedules for January out West.  It'd be nice if they started losing games, but they appear to be playoff-bound since the West is much weaker this year.  Phoenix unfortunately has a pretty tough schedule.

The full writeup is over at NBA.com.
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2016/01/01/january-schedule-breakdown/?ls=iref:nbahpt6c

The Nets also have 3 or 4 more vs. the 76ers, and a bunch left against the Wolves and Nuggets... I'd feel better if they were where they are now having already played those games.

Yeah, that same Wolves team that beat them by 15 in Brookyln a couple of weeks ago.  We might as well mark that in the win column for Brooklyn right now.

The important thing is that we beat the Nets the next two games.  Beyond that, I'm not worried.  They'll win some nights.  They'll lose most nights.  The other teams beat them in the standings will do the same.  While the Nets don't have incentive to tank, they're still bad.  And a lot of other teams don't have incentive either.

Consider that the West looks like it might send two sub-.500 teams to the playoffs this year.  Those teams on the edge are generally younger teams, like the Wolves, Blazers, and Nuggets, which have incentive to develop their players by trying to win.  A lot of teams are questioning the lose on purpose philosophy thanks to Philly.  The Suns are slightly older, but management thinks they've built a winning team, and the coach needs to prove it to save his job, so they're not tanking any time soon.  Sacramento isn't very good, but if they win the lottery (I.e., pick before philly), they swap picks, so their incentive is muted too.

In the East, it's possible Milwaukee could take a dive and/or make a major trade or two that (theoretically) reduces short-term competitiveness.  The Knicks owe their pick to Denver/Toronto (swap with Denver then give remaining pick to Toronto) so they have nothing to lose for.  Washington has been hurt a lot this season, so their record is a bit lower than expected.  But that team wants to put its winning foot forward for Durant, so they'll fight until they'll eliminated.

Furthermore, a lot of the lower west teams still have 1-2 games against the 6ers themselves.   And they play each other a lot, so if they split their games against each other, that provides them each with several more wins.  It may look scary to see 5 teams with 10-12 wins, but since they all play each other a ton, they can't all fall in the standings. Maybe one will, but we're still on a top 5 pick trajectory, with a good shot at top 3.

[celticsclay]

interesting fact in all the doom and gloom today. The nets are still alone in third place. Pelicans are finally playing a little bit better. Also for all the Nets playing better talk they are still 3 and 7 in their last 10 games. The Lakers and Pelicans both have better records during this time period.

Trying to take a positive spin on a painful day.

[Denis998]

Nets loose Jack for the season out with a torn ACL. What will this mean for the Nets where Jack was probably playing the best basketball of his career?

[PhoSita]

Nets loose Jack for the season out with a torn ACL. What will this mean for the Nets where Jack was probably playing the best basketball of his career?

Jack was a solid, competent presence for them at point guard.  Not a very efficient scorer, but he managed that team well.  Was a big part of their half-court game.

I'd say it adjusts win expectations for the Nets down by 3-5 wins.  So for me that means a win total in the low 20s instead of the mid to high 20s.  Could be what we need for the Nets to finish with a bottom 5 record. 

[SCeltic34]

Nets loose Jack for the season out with a torn ACL. What will this mean for the Nets where Jack was probably playing the best basketball of his career?

Jack was a solid, competent presence for them at point guard.  Not a very efficient scorer, but he managed that team well.  Was a big part of their half-court game.

I'd say it adjusts win expectations for the Nets down by 3-5 wins.  So for me that means a win total in the low 20s instead of the mid to high 20s.  Could be what we need for the Nets to finish with a bottom 5 record.

Agreed.  Jack is maligned by lots of Nets fans (as is Lionel Hollins), but I think that even his critics would agree that this is a big loss.  He's been solid this year.  Recall that he was by far the league leader in negative +/- at about -310 points last year - I doubt that this is the case again this year, but I haven't looked at the numbers.

Now they have to rely on Larkin and Sloan.  Larkin is a Phil Pressey caliber player, only receives playing time on a bad NBA team and is otherwise a fringe NBA player.  He's played better as the season progressed - has good quickness and plays passing lanes well - but otherwise isn't very good.  Sloan is another fringe player.

It's unfortunate that both Thad Young and Lopez are playing so well.  But now they need to shoulder an even bigger burden.  As a side note I must say that I'm shocked and disappointed that more NBA players haven't picked up on Young's offensive tendencies (i.e. turning over his right shoulder for a lefty hook > 90% of the time in the paint) and defended him more appropriately.

[Ogaju]

Nets loose Jack for the season out with a torn ACL. What will this mean for the Nets where Jack was probably playing the best basketball of his career?

Jack was a solid, competent presence for them at point guard.  Not a very efficient scorer, but he managed that team well.  Was a big part of their half-court game.

I'd say it adjusts win expectations for the Nets down by 3-5 wins.  So for me that means a win total in the low 20s instead of the mid to high 20s.  Could be what we need for the Nets to finish with a bottom 5 record.

Agreed.  Jack is maligned by lots of Nets fans (as is Lionel Hollins), but I think that even his critics would agree that this is a big loss.  He's been solid this year.  Recall that he was by far the league leader in negative +/- at about -310 points last year - I doubt that this is the case again this year, but I haven't looked at the numbers.

Now they have to rely on Larkin and Sloan.  Larkin is a Phil Pressey caliber player, only receives playing time on a bad NBA team and is otherwise a fringe NBA player.  He's played better as the season progressed - has good quickness and plays passing lanes well - but otherwise isn't very good.  Sloan is another fringe player.

It's unfortunate that both Thad Young and Lopez are playing so well.  But now they need to shoulder an even bigger burden.  As a side note I must say that I'm shocked and disappointed that more NBA players haven't picked up on Young's offensive tendencies (i.e. turning over his right shoulder for a lefty hook > 90% of the time in the paint) and defended him more appropriately.

Nice take on Thad Young... I noticed that too. watching You can actually see it coming. he takes two dribbles to the middle, then spins off his right side for the left hand hook.

[csfansince60s]

Sad  to see Jack go down. He has been one of my favorite players since he was the only NBA player to have the stones to publicly call out Ray Allen for leaving the Cs. Called him a "traitor."

However, this has to hugely benefit us. To me, Jack was the leader of that team. Defensively, the Nets will suffer substantially. Jack's 6'3" 200 lb. frame and his aggression will be replaced by a 5'11" (that's generous) 175 lb. (that might be generous, too) Larkin.

[alldaboston]

I wonder how Chris McCullough will fit once he is ready to play. You guys think he could have a bigger role with the injuries the Nets have suffered?