New Jersey @ Philly PREVIEW

[Henacy]

@

<font color="Navy">New Jersey Nets</font>(2-2) @ <font color="DarkRed">Philadephia 76ers</font> (1-3)
Time: November 10,2004; 7:00pm
Arena: <font color="DarkRed">Wachovia Center</font>

Preview: Tonight is a battle between two times trying to keep pace in the weak Atlantic Division. With the Alantic division being so weak it puts even more importantance on a game between division rivals. A early win or loss against a team in the division could comeback and have an impact later on in the season. Philly, who was projected by many to be a top team in the division, has gotten off to a slow 1-3 start. Last night's 96-88 loss to the New York Knicks, was the sixers 3rd straight loss. They look to get back on a winning track tonight at home, vs the scrappy Nets.

The Nets despite not looking overly impressive in any of their games, have found away to use scrappy defense and energy to fight to a mark of 2-2. The Nets defeated a talented Blazers team 64-60, as the two teams combined to make the fewest field goals in the shot clock era. The Nets now look to take their "Win by any method" mentalty into Philly. And try to win back to back games for the 1st time this season.

<u>Starting 5 </u>

Backcourt :

vs.

Zoran Planinic(Nets)*/ Allen Iverson(76ers)

vs.

Richard Jefferson(Nets) / Willie Green(76ers)

Frontcourt:

vs.

Eric Williams(Nets)/ Andre Iguodala(76ers)

vs.

Jason Collins(Nets)/ Kenny Thomas(76ers)

vs.

Alonzo Mourning(Nets)/ Marc Jackson(76ers)

<font size="1">*Zoran Planinic got the start at Point on tuesday vs Portland, but for defensive reason dont be shocked if Jacque Vaughn gets the starting job for tonight.</font>
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<div align="center"><u>Players To Watch </u>

<font color="DarkRed">Allen Iverson</font> / <font color="Navy">Richard Jefferson </font> </div>

Allen Iverson had a strong indiviual performance against the Knicks, 29pts, 10ast, 5rebs. And the potenial for another strong game is there for him tonight. With Travis Best questionable with foot problems the Nets dont have anyway close enuff to even think about staying infront of AI. Jacque Vaughn, whether he starts or comes off the bench, will spend most of the night trying to contain Iverson. But Iverson should be able to get his shot off anytime he wants. Iverson, most not only use his ablity to breakdown Jersey's defense to put up his own great stats, But he most also use this to his advantage in setting up his sixers teammates.

With the Injury tonight to Ron Mercer, Richard Jefferson made the start at the 2-guard tuesday, vs the Blazers. Jefferson struggle from the field (3-11), mainly due to early foul trouble. But he did an excellent job of setting other guys up for easy baskets. Jefferson recorded 7 assist in a game where there was no scoring. Teams are really starting to focus their team defenses around getting the ball out of RJ's hand. He must continue to read what defenses are trying to do against him. And find the proper balance between getting his own offensive game going. And setting up the rest of the Nets for easy opportunities.
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<div align="center"><u>Key Bench Players </u> </div>

With Ron Mercer questionable again for tonights game. And Eric Williams struggling from the field, so far this season. It is crucial that the Nets get production from <font color="Navy">Rodney Buford </font>, playing the wing position off the bench. Buford against playing against his old team. Rodney helped the 76ers reach the NBA finals during the 01' playoffs.

<font color="DarkRed">Corliss Williamson</font> brings championship experience off the bench for Philly. Along with a versatile offense game, the ablity to score out on the perimeter & down in the low block. The Sixers will need a strong performance from Williamson tonight as the Nets have gone with a bigger, stronger frontline rotation.
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<div align="center"><u><font color="Navy">Keys To the game for New Jersey </font></u></div>

Team defending AI . Guarding, Allen Iverson is never one players job. It takes a strong team defensive concept to slow down a player of AI's talent. It takes strong weakside defense from the big guys like Zo & JC, coming over quickly to shut off driving lanes for Iverson. And stepping out in the pick and roll defense. The Nets Bigs must make Ai change his shot around the basket area. It also takes strong on the ball defense from the perimeter players like Jacque Vaughn. Get up in AI's chest be pshical with him. You hardly ever will prevent AI from getting at least his 20pts, but you want to force him into poor shot selection and taking alot of shots to get his #'s. When you are forcing AI to take alot of shot you are preventing him from being a playermaker, along with his scoring talents, so you are detering Philly's entire offense.

Strong Performance from Eric Williams. A strong perfomance from Eric Williams will be key tonight. He has struggled, so far this season. But moving from the power forward position to the small forward postion, E-will should feel more comfortable. And while Andre Iguadala, has good defense skills, he is still a rookie. Eric should be able to use his veteran savy to be productive against the rook. Put Eric Williams in the post area where he feels comfortable posting up smaller wing players.

Establishing Zo, early. Alonzo Mourning has been the key for Jersey's inside on both ends of the court. The Nets need another strong game from Zo downlow. So RJ must be the guy to breakdown Philly's defense and create opportunites for Zo down low early. And as the game goes on then you can dump the ball downlow to Mourning and let him isolate in the post against Philly's frontline. But you must start off by getting him into the game with easy baskets.

Make the open shot. I know it sounds easy, but with this Nets team its far from a cake walk. Guys like Eric Williams, Rodney Buford, Brian Scalabrine must knock down the perimeter shot, when Jefferson and Mourning draw most of the attention from Philly's D. And create open opportunities.
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<div align="center"><u><font color="DarkRed">Keys To the Game for Philly</font></u></div>

Ball Movement/Shot selection. When you have a guy like Iverson, who looks for his shot alot, the potential for poor ball movement & shot selection is always there. Philly must look to make the extra pass. Get Jersey's defense on their heel, trying to rotate defensively to the ball movement. The more you swing the ball, New Jersey's defense will start to breakdown. One pass and then the shot or alot of one on one play lets the defense off the hook. And really doesnt make Jersey pay for not having anyone on the perimeter who can prevent penetration especially by Iverson. Iverson needs to use his ablity to get into the teeth of Jersey's D to be a playmaker.

Team Defense. Last night, against New York, the Knicks were able to create opportunities anytime they wanted. Guys like Crawford and Marbury, where able to breakdown the D off the dribble. And poor Philly transition Defense allowed a strong performance from rookie Trevor Ariza. While The Nets dont have an athletic a team as New York, they still leave off easy points. And a guy like Richard Jefferson loves to get into the lanes and create things. So phily must be sharp in their rotations in cutting off Jeffersons penetration. And back in transition to prvent Jersey's from getting easy baskets. Force Jersey into a half-court game where they will struggle.

Rebounding. Philly must do a good job on the backboards. Keep Zo from producing 2nd chance poinsts off of offnesive rebounds. The Nets struggle from the field, so if you limit them to one shot and done, after solid team defense. They will struggle to get to 80pts. Philly ablity to control the boards will be a major key for them.
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<u>Closing Statements </u>

This is a winnable game for Jersey but they are going to have to put points on the board. Guys like Buford, Scalabrine, the Williams boys must help RJ & Zo out on the offensive end. But nothing has changed about this Jersey team they still are going to have to win being scrappy. And using alot of energy on defense, which may be hard to muster up on a back to back.

Enjoy the Game

 

[N4S]

Not really sure on this one because the Sixers have been playing like crap and turnovers are killing us.

Starting to think that AI at point guard is a mistake.

 

[TheAnswerIsAi3]

Good job AI! Hit the FADEAWAY JUMPER with 7 seconds to go to tie the game up and take it into OT. They win 100-108

Iverson: 26 points//5 rebounds//6 assists

I think Iverson has done very well at the PG spot. He has the ball in his hands constently and in the end it pays off. If the Nets would have beat the Sixers though...I would have laughed at the Sixers for days because Nets are still Kiddless.

 

[Henacy]

Great game by Jersey I cant complain about the effort we gave on back to back nights. We really fought for this game. But poor 4th quarter crunch time. And over time free throw shooting cost us the game. I love Richard Jefferson to death. But how many times are we gonna to watch Richard Jefferson choke at the line come crunch time. Iam not going to knock RJ to much, I think he is really is proving himself to be a star. But man, having RJ at the line come crunch time you can pretty much book that he is going to brick them. Anyway, other then Horrible crunch time free throw shooting Jeff had a great game, 33pts & 10rebs.

Zo once again controlled the paint for Jersey. I dont know where he is getting this energy from he was a little tired down the stretch, thats why he struggled late at the line. But man, Zo has been a god send for us in the post. I just think we have to look for him a bit more down low and do a better job with our post entry passes. But that falls on the shoulders of our guards because Zo is doing a hell of a job every night fighting for position in the post. We just got to do a better job getting him the rock.

Jacque Vaughn had a great game under the radar, he did a great job defending AI almost all night. And the 12 ast on the offensive end was big. And Scalabrine & Rodney Buford had big games off the bench, buford was really big in the 4th.

Anyway, I like this team. I think we are a scrappy bunch. I think we would really be good, if we can somehow find another scorer. Right now, its just RJ & Zo on the offensive end. I think we need a guy who can either be a consistent 2nd or 3rd option. I heard during the game, the Nets will be looking for a perimeter player, now that Mercer will probably, be out for a while with his Knee. So I really hope we can find that consistent 2nd or 3rd option

 

[Henacy]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheAnswerIsAi3:</div><div class="quote_post">Good job AI! Hit the FADEAWAY JUMPER with 7 seconds to go to tie the game up and take it into OT. They win 100-108

Iverson: 26 points//5 rebounds//6 assists

I think Iverson has done very well at the PG spot. He has the ball in his hands constently and in the end it pays off. If the Nets would have beat the Sixers though...I would have laughed at the Sixers for days because Nets are still Kiddless.

</div>

Why would you laugh? the Nets have already proven in the preseason and regular season against better teams then the sixers, that they can compete without Kidd. I dont think it should have been a shock to anyone, if the Nets pulled the W out. This is Richard Jefferson's team now, even when Kidd comes back. He put them on his back tonight, as he has done pretty all year so far. And most of last year, & almost carried them to a victory. He just couldnt seal the deal at the line in the 4th. But this Nets team even without Kidd is not as far behind a team like Philly, as you may think.

 

[Mr. J]

Win Kidd comes back the Nets will be even better. Philadelphia is lucky Kidd is injured or else the Nets would have won.

 

[jbbCourtVision]

New Jersey played a good game but in the end they couldn't get over Zo missing his two free throws. After all the talking (during the season and in the offseason) and arm flexing, I would expect him to at least step up and make those shots. If he wanted to be on a winning team, he should have at least knocked one of those shots down.

Iverson is playing like crazy at the start of the year. I would pen him in for early consideration for player of the month. Aside from turning the ball over a huge number of times he is getting his teammates involved while still leading the league in scoring.

 

[Henacy]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CourtVision:</div><div class="quote_post">New Jersey played a good game but in the end they couldn't get over Zo missing his two free throws. After all the talking (during the season and in the offseason) and arm flexing, I would expect him to at least step up and make those shots. If he wanted to be on a winning team, he should have at least knocked one of those shots down.
</div>

Well I think you are being a bit hard on Zo, he clearly didnt have the stamina at the line coming down the stretch because he played 40 minutes on a night after he played 37minutes. And he played every minute going all out & working hard for position in the post.

The pair of free throws RJ missed where more important because he is the leader of this team. And in clutch situations you want your go to guy to step to the line and knock those 2 down to finish off a team.

 

[jbbCourtVision]

I guess I am being a little hard on Zo, but I think the criticism is well warranted. He is the one talking about winning games and wanting to be traded to a "winning" team. But yet he cannot even back up his own words by missing those free throws. He was a warrior last night but when it came down to winning the game for the Nets he came up short.

 

[Henacy]

Me personally I dont care that Zo wants a buyout to go to a championship contender. You dont really here him complaining to newpapers once the season started. Yeah the story is out there but thats because its been out there from the offseason. But once the season started the guy has played every game like he was on a team trying to compete for a chip, so you cant really complain about what he is giving jersey. The two wins the Nets have is because of Rj on the perimeter and Zo in the middle.

The guy is being a teacher to Jason Collins. And before his leg got injured you could already start to see the improvemnts in JC. And you seen Zo teaching the younger Nets last night in game situation, so I think the media overplays somethings.

Yes Zo clearly wants out. But he isnt cuasing the team turmoil that the media wants people to believe, they are trying to make the jersey situation seem alot more crazy then it is...Kidd & Zo want to be on playoff teams, that it, as does every player in this league, cant hold it against them.

 

[Avery]

Good win by the 76ers, however I wasn't quite happy with this win at all. Let's face it; the Nets had this game won. On any day by any given team, that team would have knock down at least 1 of the 4 FT's that was missed by Jefferson and Mourning and if Jefferson or Mourning was able to knock down at least 1 FT, the game entire complexion would have shifted. But then again those missed FT?s is what comes with the territory in the game of basketball. But the fact of us barely winning a game against the NJ Nets is disappointing for us and especially for the expectations we had for this team. Btw, no disrespect to the Nets because if anything they should be happy regardless if they lost, because they put up a great fight and unfortunately for them they just slipped off in OT.

Well, in the Atlantic Division there are three teams that are unanimously the best teams in the East, and there is one vacant spot left. And if the 76ers want to be that 4th best team in the East, they need to get better. Well unlike I've done before, I won't jump to conclusions because I realize that this squad is still a work in progress and there is still much more to be learned under O'Brien. However, from what I've seen thus far I have not been impressed. But on brighter side the 76ers are now currently 1-0 in their longest homestand of the season, and if they want to head on the road with a good mentality they have to make sure they get nothing less of a 3-2 record.

On a side note, this team really needs Dalembert back in action. Like Ian Eagle(Nets Broadcast Commentator) mentioned during the game? the 76ers are the shortest team in the NBA. Now in a time like this, where big men are the deciding factors in many games and we?ve had success with a legitimate big man on the team, this mishap is heavily not in our favor. Our ?big guys? are giving it their all, but they have short arms and are giving way too many second chance opportunity.

And am I alone on this one? But would anyone like to have seen Robinson on the floor during a couple stretches of that game because the 76ers perimeter shooting even Iverson on this occasion was looking very streaky and inconsistent once again. Also...

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">76ers guard/forward Aaron McKie strained his left rotator cuff during Wednesday's game against the Nets. He will undergo an MRI on Thursday, and head coach Jim O'Brien told the Philadelphia Inquirer that McKie could miss seven-to-10 days.</div>

<div align="center">Link</div>

That's very unfortunate. By the looks of last night's ame it looked as if they was trying to get hom more involved in the offense. I really hope McKie gets better because we're going to need him.