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

[CelticSooner]

"The Nets will win a bunch down the stretch," they said.
"Unlike other teams, the Nets have no reason to tank," they said.
"The Nets are playing so hard," they said.

I can't wait to do this again next year.

Well played. The fellowship of the miserable could not have been more wrong on the Nets this year. Funnily enough they stuck with their viewpoints really deep into the season when it was pretty apparent the team just wasn't very good.

Yup, I was one of those who was wrong.  I'm so glad I was!  I refused to buy into the narrative that the Nets were a sure-thing bottom 5 team because I really wanted to avoid being disappointed if they ended up being simply bad and not horrible. 

I thought the Nets would be a 30-35 win team.  And I think there were valid reasons for believing they might be.  They had the same core pieces that got them inexorably to the playoffs the last couple of years, minus Deron Williams, who wasn't that good for them anyway.

The Lopez injury that many assumed would ruin the Nets never came.  Lopez and Young both had really strong seasons.

Indeed, the key injuries that ruined them ended up being ones to a rookie who never missed a game in college, and a veteran point guard who was one of the most durable players in the league prior to this season.

The Nets were uncomfortably competitive at times, including a couple of games against the Celts.

Ultimately, their lack of depth -- which is a factor many focused on, and which I downplayed because I felt the strength of their top 5 was enough to get them to the high 20's / low 30's -- meant they weren't able to weather those season ending injuries to two key starters.


I'm really glad it worked out the way it did.  Here's hoping the Nets trade Lopez and Young this off-season for younger pieces and picks and embrace being terrible. 

My fear is they'll try to load up on second and third tier veterans and make a go for the playoffs again, in which case yes, we will be having this same argument all season long once again.

I don't think Marks will go all in on free agents but their plan definitely seems to involve keeping Lopez. It sounds like anything to avoid a complete rebuild which the owner will not do.

[celticsclay]

"The Nets will win a bunch down the stretch," they said.
"Unlike other teams, the Nets have no reason to tank," they said.
"The Nets are playing so hard," they said.

I can't wait to do this again next year.

Well played. The fellowship of the miserable could not have been more wrong on the Nets this year. Funnily enough they stuck with their viewpoints really deep into the season when it was pretty apparent the team just wasn't very good.

Yup, I was one of those who was wrong.  I'm so glad I was!  I refused to buy into the narrative that the Nets were a sure-thing bottom 5 team because I really wanted to avoid being disappointed if they ended up being simply bad and not horrible. 

I thought the Nets would be a 30-35 win team.  And I think there were valid reasons for believing they might be.  They had the same core pieces that got them inexorably to the playoffs the last couple of years, minus Deron Williams, who wasn't that good for them anyway.

The Lopez injury that many assumed would ruin the Nets never came.  Lopez and Young both had really strong seasons.

Indeed, the key injuries that ruined them ended up being ones to a rookie who never missed a game in college, and a veteran point guard who was one of the most durable players in the league prior to this season.

The Nets were uncomfortably competitive at times, including a couple of games against the Celts.

Ultimately, their lack of depth -- which is a factor many focused on, and which I downplayed because I felt the strength of their top 5 was enough to get them to the high 20's / low 30's -- meant they weren't able to weather those season ending injuries to two key starters.


I'm really glad it worked out the way it did.  Here's hoping the Nets trade Lopez and Young this off-season for younger pieces and picks and embrace being terrible. 

My fear is they'll try to load up on second and third tier veterans and make a go for the playoffs again, in which case yes, we will be having this same argument all season long once again.

Nice post Pho. What free agents could you really envision them signing this offseason though? I was looking at the list of available free agents and it is hard to envision many of them signing there. A lot of the free agents are vets coming from younger teams. The only guys I could really see is someone like Sullinger (or Monroe this past season) that wanted to go be the man somewhere. That being said, it is even kind of hard to picture Sully going from a top 4 team in the east to a likely lottery team for a few extra minutes and shots a game. Maybe reclamation projects like McLemore or Stauskas?

[Kane3387]

If you don't have a single top 30 player than you're going to lose in the NBA. Until Boston got Isaiah Thomas they were a lotto team. Lopez might be top 40. Young isn't even top 50.

They were pretty heavily reliant on Joe / Brook / Thad last year, too, and made the playoffs.


As for the thing about top 30 players, I'm not so sure.

The Nuggets won 33 games this year despite not having a top 30 player.  I'm not sure the Magic or Bucks have a top 30 player and they won in the low 30s as well.

I think you're right that a winning record in the NBA requires some significant talent, and / or decent coaching.  But it doesn't take that much to be mediocre.

They had more talent in the rotation. And they were still an 8 seed in a much worse conference that saw the heat and pacers have tons of injuries.

Deron
Jack
Plumlee
Alan Anderson

We're all big contributors in their rotation and none of them were replaced.

[celticsclay]

If you don't have a single top 30 player than you're going to lose in the NBA. Until Boston got Isaiah Thomas they were a lotto team. Lopez might be top 40. Young isn't even top 50.

They were pretty heavily reliant on Joe / Brook / Thad last year, too, and made the playoffs.


As for the thing about top 30 players, I'm not so sure.

The Nuggets won 33 games this year despite not having a top 30 player.  I'm not sure the Magic or Bucks have a top 30 player and they won in the low 30s as well.

I think you're right that a winning record in the NBA requires some significant talent, and / or decent coaching.  But it doesn't take that much to be mediocre.

They had more talent in the rotation. And they were still an 8 seed in a much worse conference that saw the heat and pacers have tons of injuries.

Deron
Jack
Plumlee
Alan Anderson

We're all big contributors in their rotation and none of them were replaced.

Well they kept Jack, but I agree with your premise. Plumlee is a really good big off the bench and has strengths that can be very useful compared to Brook. He is averaging 10.5 points, 7,5 rebounds and a little over a block a game in 25 minutes on a bargain basement contract. While I realize Teletovic did not play a lot last year, he is a really good shooter and has been a nice consistent presence for the Suns. They really could have used him this year. Deron Williams has certainly been servicable for the Mavericks and represents a big upgrade over sloan or Larkin.
Adding insult to injuries, Barg, Robinson and Ellington really have not been as good as they maybe would have hoped after signing them this offseason to be in the rotation (Though Robinson has had a few big statistical games since Lopez and Young were benched). All in all their offseason last year was a total disaster. 

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/719633356070133760

More promising news for the Suns game tonight: Boogie, Rondo, and Collison all out for rest with Bellineli and Casspi out with injuries.

[LarBrd33]

"The Nets will win a bunch down the stretch," they said.
"Unlike other teams, the Nets have no reason to tank," they said.
"The Nets are playing so hard," they said.

I can't wait to do this again next year.

TP.  Here's hoping the Nets are just as bad next year. 

[CelticSooner]

https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/719633356070133760

More promising news for the Suns game tonight: Boogie, Rondo, and Collison all out for rest with Bellineli and Casspi out with injuries.

Tonight is looking like the final nail in the coffin to the pick. Top 3!

[footey]

"The Nets will win a bunch down the stretch," they said.
"Unlike other teams, the Nets have no reason to tank," they said.
"The Nets are playing so hard," they said.

I can't wait to do this again next year.

TP.  Here's hoping the Nets are just as bad next year.

And the year after!!

[Kane3387]

If you don't have a single top 30 player than you're going to lose in the NBA. Until Boston got Isaiah Thomas they were a lotto team. Lopez might be top 40. Young isn't even top 50.

They were pretty heavily reliant on Joe / Brook / Thad last year, too, and made the playoffs.


As for the thing about top 30 players, I'm not so sure.

The Nuggets won 33 games this year despite not having a top 30 player.  I'm not sure the Magic or Bucks have a top 30 player and they won in the low 30s as well.

I think you're right that a winning record in the NBA requires some significant talent, and / or decent coaching.  But it doesn't take that much to be mediocre.

They had more talent in the rotation. And they were still an 8 seed in a much worse conference that saw the heat and pacers have tons of injuries.

Deron
Jack
Plumlee
Alan Anderson

We're all big contributors in their rotation and none of them were replaced.

Well they kept Jack, but I agree with your premise. Plumlee is a really good big off the bench and has strengths that can be very useful compared to Brook. He is averaging 10.5 points, 7,5 rebounds and a little over a block a game in 25 minutes on a bargain basement contract. While I realize Teletovic did not play a lot last year, he is a really good shooter and has been a nice consistent presence for the Suns. They really could have used him this year. Deron Williams has certainly been servicable for the Mavericks and represents a big upgrade over sloan or Larkin.
Adding insult to injuries, Barg, Robinson and Ellington really have not been as good as they maybe would have hoped after signing them this offseason to be in the rotation (Though Robinson has had a few big statistical games since Lopez and Young were benched). All in all their offseason last year was a total disaster.

They did keep jack but I included him bc he got hurt. So he was a contributor last year and not as much this year. However I understand that was out of the nets control. I think the nets will have a really hard time getting free agents with options to come to Brooklyn unless they overpay. Unless marks is a puppet I don't seek him overpaying for guys.

[hwangjini_1]

"The Nets will win a bunch down the stretch," they said.
"Unlike other teams, the Nets have no reason to tank," they said.
"The Nets are playing so hard," they said.

I can't wait to do this again next year.

TP.  Here's hoping the Nets are just as bad next year.

And the year after!!

and then it becomes memphis' turn. 

[MBunge]

https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/719633356070133760

More promising news for the Suns game tonight: Boogie, Rondo, and Collison all out for rest with Bellineli and Casspi out with injuries.

Tonight is looking like the final nail in the coffin to the pick. Top 3!

This "rest" nonsense has gotten completely out of control.  There's TWO games left in the season and Philly has the right to swap picks with the Kings, so tanking makes no sense for them.

I know travel is a lot worse than it was 20+ years ago with all the expansion teams but if it's this bad, they need to start playing more in-division games to take care of that.

Mike

[saltlover]

https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/719633356070133760

More promising news for the Suns game tonight: Boogie, Rondo, and Collison all out for rest with Bellineli and Casspi out with injuries.

Tonight is looking like the final nail in the coffin to the pick. Top 3!

This "rest" nonsense has gotten completely out of control.  There's TWO games left in the season and Philly has the right to swap picks with the Kings, so tanking makes no sense for them.

I know travel is a lot worse than it was 20+ years ago with all the expansion teams but if it's this bad, they need to start playing more in-division games to take care of that.

Mike

On the off chance they win the lottery and move ahead of Philly (as opposed to moving up to 2 or 3 while Philly picks at 1 or 2), they'd still improve their draft slot even after swapping picks.  Furthermore, if they pick outside the top 10, their pick goes to Chicago.  If the Kings win out, they could wind up with the 11th best lottery odds, which would be not good for them at all.

It's frustrating, but as long as draft picks are tied to record, losing makes sense in this situation.

[LarBrd33]

"The Nets will win a bunch down the stretch," they said.
"Unlike other teams, the Nets have no reason to tank," they said.
"The Nets are playing so hard," they said.

I can't wait to do this again next year.

TP.  Here's hoping the Nets are just as bad next year.

And the year after!!

and then it becomes memphis' turn. 

Man.  Imagine us getting Ben Simmons, signing Durant and Horford, signing another max contract next season and landing another top pick.  Then another top pick.  Then another top pick via Memphis. 

Ainge is my hero.

[alldaboston]

Aw man. Wall beal and Morris are all out vs nets.

[Boris Badenov]

Aw man. Wall beal and Morris are all out vs nets.

Time for Marcus Thornton to show a little Celtics Pride and hang 30 on the Nets!