Game Thread: Pistons @ Nets

[Henacy]

<div align="center">Pistons @ Nets
Nov. 30th, 2005
7:30pm, Yes Network</div>

<u>Pistons Starting 5</u>
PG: Billups
SG: Hamilton
SF: Prince
PF: R. Wallace
C: B. Wallace

<u>Nets Starting 5</u>
PG: Kidd
SG: Carter
SF: Jefferson
PF: Collins
C: Krstic

<u>Team Outlooks Coming In.....</u>

The Detroit Pistons enter tonights matchup seating a top the eastern conference with a 10-2 record. Some beleive the record may be do to a bit of a soft schedule with wins over teams like Portland, Toronto and Boston twice. But make know mistake the 10 and 2 record is far from fools gold for the back to back Eastern conference champions...the expereince they bring to the table will have them amongst the East elite for the full 82.

The Nets coming into Wednesdays matchup just breathing a shy of relief to be finished with a rough road trip out West. A road trip that saw New Jersey drop 3 striaght games to average Western conference teams Sacramento, Goldenstate and the best of the bunch Pheonix...but New Jersey ended the 5 game trip by saving face with two solid wins in LA vs the Lakers and @ Denver. So now they find themselves seating the .500 mark with a record of 7-7. And are looking to build some winning momentum in their next coupile of games at home starting with Detroit.

<u><div align="center">Key Matchup(s)</div></u>

<u><div align="center">Billups vs. Kidd</div></u>

A matchup between two of the Conferences preimer playmakers. Billups is not the protypical point guard but can still make plays with the best of them. Billups has been given alot more freedom and playmaking decisions under coach Flip Suanders compared to his previous two seasons under point guard strict Larry Brown. The new found freedom for Billups, has led to a rise of almost assist per game and has him ranked as one of the best at 8.2 per game. Dont dont be fooled by the rise in assist Billups still looks for his own shot. And can still hit the big shot when the Pistons call upon him to do so...

Early season, questions of Jason Kidd's interst in the game has quickly disappeared. Those who once questioned, if Kidd found himself disinterested with the game for surely got their answer after the Western Conference road trip. The trip saw Jason Kidd play some of his best indivual basketball of the season despite the Nets just going 2-3. Kidd averaged 24 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.0 assist in wins over Denver and Los Angles. Jason will need to bring similar numbers in the Matchup against Billups and Detroit.

<u><div align="center">Hamilton vs. Carter</div></u>

Rip Hamilton continues to do in 05' what he has done for the last past 2 or 3 years, and that is being the best player in the league,moving without the basketball. Guarding Rip Hamilton starts way be for he gets the basketball ball in his hands. Half the battle of trying to defend Hamitlon is trying to fight thru screens to keep up with his body movement. But the new phasis in his game, that he has recently added since coming to detroit, like being able to consistently create off the dribble, something he really wasnt able to do in his earlier years, is what has made Hamilton almost un-guardable at times. Look for the Nets to throw a bunch of different guys and looks at Hamilton during the game...expect to see Kidd and Jefferson both take turns relieving Carter of having to cover Rip.

Hamilton's counterpart at the shooting position Vince Carter has had somewhat of a rollcoaster ride so far in 05-06. Only averaging 20 ppg far down from the 28 per game he averaged while a Net last season. Carter has at times found himself a bit lost playing along side the returning Richard Jefferson. And has also had a diffuclt time picking up the ball movement concept of the motion offense. But coming off a solid game against Denver, Carter will be a hard guard for one of the league best team defense....expect to see Tayshawn Prince take his shot a covering Carter as the game goes along.

<u><div align="center">Prince vs. Jefferson</div></u>

Almost since the moment Prince and Jefferson( Jefferson being one draft year older) entered into the league, the two have been battling. The two have been in countless regular season and playoff matchups since 02. And it seems like the matchup brings a little bit out of both. Prince, who has quickly become one of the most noted defenders around the league from the wing position, seems to like to test his defensive skills against the slashing Jefferson. Jefferson as of recent has gottten the best of their indivual matchups, most notably the 04 playoffs..but Prince's Pistons have won the team war as of recent. You can expect to see another intense matchup between the two. On a side Jefferson orinally injured his wrist last year in detroit before re-injuring it later in a game vs. Milwaukee and going on to miss 33 games of the 04-05 season. So that may add a bit more hit to an already heated matchup.

<u><div align="center">Other Things To Watch For</div></u>

Can the Nets handle Detroits Bigmen on the glass? Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace are not really focal points of the Pistons offense but they are the anchor of their defense and rebounding. If New Jersey allows the Wallace Boys to rome free on the glass all night on both ends of the floor knocking off the defening East champs will be impossible. Strong work on the glass for Collins and Krstic along with help from the guards will be needed to overcome the edge the Pistons are expected to have on the boards.

Battle of the Benches...The Pistons dont really look for one person off the bench to provide them with big point production...they go with the appoarch of depth and balance with several guys providing them with 6 or 7 points per game...guys like Mo Evans, Antonio Mcdyess and Carlos Arroyo...The Nets on the other hand dont have dpeth as a luxury on their bench. They really look to two guys to provide them with consistent production Jeff McInnis and Cliff Robinson. Without strong production from those guys the New Jersey bench is relatively uselss. So strong production from those two are a must.

Enjoy the Game...........

 

[XSV]

To win this game, we'll need around 10 boards from each Kidd and RJ, Carter will have to score 30, and we cannot get into foul trouble.

 

[NJNetz]

The Nets played a good game from the 2nd quarter to the 4 quarter but just couldn't get stops when it was needed. The 3pointers by the Pistons killed the Nets and they just couldn't pull it off. The Nets just can't seem to prove that they can beat the tougher teams.

 

[XSV]

I was able to watch this game: We could not hit a shot all game. No threes, while they were just money from everywhere. VC had a terrible shooting game, couldn't hit a jump shot, but still found a way to get it dont in the paint. JKIdd couldn't shoot. RJ played very well. Our bigs couldn't hit a shot either. Krstic kept choking inside too. VC had a few nice looks to him for a layup and he kept choking. It's as if we were just intimidated, because we had open looks, and they weren't swatting us, but we could not finish. We could play with them though, we were leading or had it close most of the game, we just can't seem to hit shots, and they couldn't seem to miss.

The refs were terrible too. After they called the T on Sheed, they were afraid of making calls against the Pistons. They get away with a lot of moving screens, and that's one of the reasons why their guards are able to get open easier.

Tough game for the Nets, but they're starting to gel. Give them some time, and I think they will be elite once the big 3 get used to eachother, and once our shots start falling.

 

[Ma3oxuct]

It was just one of those games where the other team was making shots while the Nets were not. I thought that the Nets played a very very good game. I really like thier rebounding edge and thier points in the paint. I think that it was a great positive that despite not being able to hit the longer ranged shots, the Nets were able to be succesful inside.

 

[phunDamentalz]

1. what are you talking about Krstic did not choke inside. those were some tough shots he was taking out of balance, out of rhythm with 3 defenders. his FG% wasn't good, but he played aggressively and smartly. he got shots off over rasheed and ben and played above average D on Sheed. HIs aggressiveness rubbed off on the other players.
2. VC did not have a "terrible" shooting game. VC was highlight after highlight taking it to the rim.
3. RJ did not have a great game. RJ wasn't sure what he wanted to do all night. He wasn't his usual self.
ARE YOU SURE YOU WATCHED THIS GAME OR DID YOU JUST READ THE BOX SCORE?

 

[XSV]

Uh yah I did watch the game, but I'm not sure you did.

1) If you had watched, you might have noticed that although Nenad had a good scoring game, he missed quite a few chippies. A couple times he was all alone underneath and he hesitated and had his shot contested. He also blew at least two easy lay-ups. Had you watched the game you would have noticed the Nets announcers also picked up on this. His shot was also off all-night. He didn't play horrible D on Sheed, but it wasn't good either. Wallace had quite a few easy 3s, and his pick-and-roll D was inconsistent.

2) Did you read my post genious? I commended him for getting to the paint and scoring, especially against the Piston's D, that's what we need from VC, and that's where he's at his best. But if you watched the game, you would have seen he didn't make a single shot outside the paint (except maybe one short fade-away). We didn't make a three all night.

3)RJ didn't score tons, but look at how many shots he took! The majority of the touches went to VC and Krstic, and RJ set them up and stayed within the offense. He also had one of the league's best defenders on him all game, and he kept Prince in check pretty well. He also picked up the slack on the boards for our bigmen. 14 rebounds for a small forward is amazing. Honestly, from watching the game, VC had more points, but I thought RJ had just as good of a game.

Are you sure you didn't just read the boxscore?