The type of team Frank wants

[NOMAM]

http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2008/10/inconsistencies_a_rotating_pro.html

He wants an elite defensive team, one that is capable of applying pressure for 94 feet -- he knows that much

...

He also knows he wants an offense predicated on paint attacks and the 3-point shot, with seamless options after the initial break is shut off.

So I'm thinking a poor, poor man's San Antonio Spurs?

Harris asTony Parker. He will selectively try to get out on one man fast break points if the opportunity is there, and if not, pull it back to execute in the half court. In the half-court he could develop a money mid range jump shot and get into the paint whenever he wants.

Carter as Ginobli, an all-around talent who can score, pass, and rebound.

Simmons as Bowen. Defender who is a spot up shooter.

Lopez as Duncan(I wish). Will anchor the defense, rebound the ball, and someone who you can throw the ball down low to or kick out for the jumper.

The role players are guys who can spot up and shoot and defend. Dooling as Vaughn. Hayes as Finley. Anderson as Bonner. Najera as Oberto. CDR as Udoka. Boone as Kurt Thomas.

And most importantly, Yi as Eva Longoria.

 

[Belarus]

And most importantly, Yi as Eva Longoria.

I'd take Eva over Yi any day of the week. and night also.

 

[networks]

Great Post. I like some of the comparisons.

I am all for it, but the offense would have to change from mostly dribble drive to Low Post.

Funny you say this.

http://blog.nj.com/nets/2008/10/give_brook_lopez_a_look.html

This blog entry says the same thing.

 

[Malorkayel]

Sorry, this is too far of a stretch, even for fantasy.

You forget the most important thing, Frank /= Popovich. I can't see Popovich ever playing that many rookies in the rotation. Or is this just an elaborate set up for that Yi punch line?

Nets are a frankinstein team this year. They're part Mavericks/Nets/Bucks/Noobs

If you ask me, I would think Frank is trying to build something like the current Blazers team.

 

[networks]

Sorry, this is too far of a stretch, even for fantasy.

You forget the most important thing, Frank /= Popovich. I can't see Popovich ever playing that many rookies in the rotation. Or is this just an elaborate set up for that Yi punch line?

Nets are a frankinstein team this year. They're part Mavericks/Nets/Bucks/Noobs

If you ask me, I would think Frank is trying to build something like the current Blazers team.

No one said Frank is even close to Popovich.

As far as playing rookies, Frank has no choice.

 

[ghoti]

Yuk. I don't want the Nets to be like the Spurs.

How about playing defense like the Nets used to play?

 

[FOMW]

He wants an elite defensive team, one that is capable of applying pressure for 94 feet

Let's see if he really wants one, as that will mean taking Yi off the floor until he shows some dramatic improvement on the defensive end.

 

[Netted]

Let's see if he really wants one, as that will mean taking Yi off the floor until he shows some dramatic improvement on the defensive end.

He played good defense against the Celtics. Used his length well, altered shots, and stayed in front of his man. Picked up a couple stupid fouls, but 2 stupid offensive fouls is what got him into foul trouble.

I think he'll be a good player on both ends. It will just take him a little time.

 

[Boomdog]

Here's what bothered me about the knicks game, one was the fact that our Coach put Yi in a matchup of guarding Wilson Chandler. That's clearly not going to work considering Yi isnt a good defender to begin with and chandler is not a true 4. The knicks are obviously going to run as much and as fast as possible so i just dont understand why we put a weak defender on a guy whos going to run up and down on him all night. Yi's fast for a big guy but this game shows exactly why we cannot have him or anderson play the 3 spot.

My other problem is our offence. In principle it could be good, but do we have nothing else planned as in sets? Did anyone else see how much of a size advantage we had down low with Lopez and even Yi if we wanted to take advantage? I sat there and watched perimeter players do all this work when lopez had a killer advantage on that first unit in size. He could have scored at will on Z-Bo. So why did we not just run sets where we dump it down low then kick out if needed?

 

[networks]

Here's what bothered me about the knicks game, one was the fact that our Coach put Yi in a matchup of guarding Wilson Chandler. That's clearly not going to work considering Yi isnt a good defender to begin with and chandler is not a true 4. The knicks are obviously going to run as much and as fast as possible so i just dont understand why we put a weak defender on a guy whos going to run up and down on him all night. Yi's fast for a big guy but this game shows exactly why we cannot have him or anderson play the 3 spot.

My other problem is our offence. In principle it could be good, but do we have nothing else planned as in sets? Did anyone else see how much of a size advantage we had down low with Lopez and even Yi if we wanted to take advantage? I sat there and watched perimeter players do all this work when lopez had a killer advantage on that first unit in size. He could have scored at will on Z-Bo. So why did we not just run sets where we dump it down low then kick out if needed?

You are absolutely right. Franks always drops the ball.* He claims he puts people in for matchups but he is terrible at it.


* Disclaimer: Too Early to completely bash Frank. Will wait until a week into the season.

 

[Malorkayel]

He played good defense against the Celtics. Used his length well, altered shots, and stayed in front of his man. Picked up a couple stupid fouls, but 2 stupid offensive fouls is what got him into foul trouble.

I think he'll be a good player on both ends. It will just take him a little time.

It's extremely rare to have a dominant defensive player at the 4 and 5 position without support. Most of them are protected with double team help defense picking up the foul.

Yi isn't a star, he doesn't get the veteran calls nor does he have an enforcer picking up fouls for him. He's just a regular shmuck that'll get called foul on when he picks up mismatches from pick and roll and penetration.

He didn't foul out last game, that is improvement. You see my expectation is kind of low.

 

[Malorkayel]

Here's what bothered me about the knicks game, one was the fact that our Coach put Yi in a matchup of guarding Wilson Chandler. That's clearly not going to work considering Yi isnt a good defender to begin with and chandler is not a true 4. The knicks are obviously going to run as much and as fast as possible so i just dont understand why we put a weak defender on a guy whos going to run up and down on him all night. Yi's fast for a big guy but this game shows exactly why we cannot have him or anderson play the 3 spot.

My other problem is our offence. In principle it could be good, but do we have nothing else planned as in sets? Did anyone else see how much of a size advantage we had down low with Lopez and even Yi if we wanted to take advantage? I sat there and watched perimeter players do all this work when lopez had a killer advantage on that first unit in size. He could have scored at will on Z-Bo. So why did we not just run sets where we dump it down low then kick out if needed?

I watched the Knicks/Celtics last night. Knicks sucked and got destroyed. They couldn't buy a 3pt shot, they were shooting 4 for 31. Don't want to make excuses, but Nets played a back to back and lost. Knicks played back to back last night and they lost bigger. Lets see what happens on Friday night, round 2.

 

[FOMW]

He played good defense against the Celtics. Used his length well, altered shots, and stayed in front of his man. Picked up a couple stupid fouls, but 2 stupid offensive fouls is what got him into foul trouble.

I think he'll be a good player on both ends. It will just take him a little time.

Which Celtics game? I will have to go back and watch, because I know you know your stuff. But my impressions from having watched certain parts of each of the preseason games more than once is that he has a LONG way to go defensively. He was certainly horrible against the Knicks. I agree that he has the talent to be good: he's long and very athletic and he's smart. But somehow none of that has seen much translation yet.

 

[Netted]

Which Celtics game? I will have to go back and watch, because I know you know your stuff. But my impressions from having watched certain parts of each of the preseason games more than once is that he has a LONG way to go defensively. He was certainly horrible against the Knicks. I agree that he has the talent to be good: he's long and very athletic and he's smart. But somehow none of that has seen much translation yet.

The only one we got to see... game 3 at NJ. He can guard the post well and did so against Perkins, Powe and Big Baby. He can never guard 3s and that's where he got into trouble against the Knicks. I actually see him playing center in a small line-up.

 

[networks]

It's extremely rare to have a dominant defensive player at the 4 and 5 position without support. Most of them are protected with double team help defense picking up the foul.

Yi isn't a star, he doesn't get the veteran calls nor does he have an enforcer picking up fouls for him. He's just a regular shmuck that'll get called foul on when he picks up mismatches from pick and roll and penetration.

He didn't foul out last game, that is improvement. You see my expectation is kind of low.

Please I hope you are not counting that game where he picked up 4 fouls in the first quarter. In any regular season game a player gets 2 fouls in the 1st quarter the coach subs the player.

 

[FOMW]

The only one we got to see... game 3 at NJ. He can guard the post well and did so against Perkins, Powe and Big Baby. He can never guard 3s and that's where he got into trouble against the Knicks. I actually see him playing center in a small line-up.

I saw both games. The benefits of DirecTV!

 

[r3drumNYNJ]

Nets are not a poor man's Spurs team. They dont have a poor man's Greg Popvich and our offense dribble and drive while the Spurs play inside and out from the post. Nets have no identity yet..they need to work on that. are we a running team?? defensive team?? I think we are a lost team with a lost coach right now but I have hope that this can be a good season still..hopefully

 

[SportsTicker]

Hopefully, the Nets are two years away from being this year's 76ers.

Stefanski and before him Billy King cleared a lot of cap space by making big and sometimes unpopular moves, picking up some draft picks and expiring contracts, then had young players develop as projected. Finally, they got the big free agent. It's amazing how much Mo Cheeks improved as a coach when he got real players.

Forget comparing players to players. Better to compare strategies.

Starting in 2006-07, the Sixers took some chances, dumping the unhappy Iverson, the unhealthy and unwilling Webber and the popular (but overpaid) Korver. They got back a veteran building block in Andre Miller (a decent expiring contract in Joe Smith), a ton of cap space, a couple of extra picks, and the chance to sign Elton Brand, re-sign both Andre Igoudala and Louis Williams and have enough cash left over to pay some decent role players like Kareem Rush, Royal Ivey and Donyell Marshall.

They may have made some mistakes along the way: Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith may work out but some players taken after them make work out a lot better (Al Thornton, Rodney Stuckey instead of Young; Wilson Chandler , Rudy Fernandez instead of the now injured Smith). They drafted Petteri Koponen, one of the best young point guards in Europe, in the first round then traded his rights to Portland for second rounder Derrick Byars who they then cut, etc.

The Nets have followed the same strategy since last February, and will make some mistakes as well. They may already have. They insisted on DeSagana Diop in the Dallas trade, knowing there was a possibility he could return to Dallas. Still, that was a difficult trade to make, on a lot of levels, but worthwhile. The Yi trade was wildly unpopular but if it works out, it could be a great trade. Who knows.

There's never any guarantees in rebuilding...but if they follow in Philly's footsteps, it could all work out for the best.