<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dumpy @ Mar 27 2008, 03:20 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The elite teams like Boston, Detroit, San Antonio, Phoenix, even New Orleans have a specific identity--they play a certain way, focus on certain things, and that focus extends through the entire team. You NEED that to become an elite team--a set of guiding principles and a style of play that you can fall back on when things are going poorly to regain your confidence and mojo. The Nets don't have that. Their bench is just a jumble of players with a jumple of strengths and weaknesses: Marcus, Hassell, Boki, Sean, Krstic, Swift, Diop. It's a problem. Their primary four players--Devin, Vince, RJ, and Boone have a lot of flexibility. The team management has to decide what their identity will be before figuring out who should fill that other starting big spot, and who should come off the bench. All of those bench players are NBA-caliber players, which is something the Nets haven't had for a while, but as I said earlier they are just a mish-mash of talents that don't mesh with anything. THe average and below-average teams are filled with players like that--players who have some talent and ability but don't work well together. This HAS to be the primary focus of the Nets this offseason. They won't get an elite big, not even if they deal off Vince or RJ, so I personally don't see the point in it. It's cheaper and easier to solidify the bench, in my view, and it would have about the same effect if they had an elite big man and a terrible bench without an identity.
Anyway, back to Boone: he provides some necessary skills that no one else in this four-man unit can provide--he compliments them, and they compliment him. He doesn't demand the ball, but knows how to score garbage points, is a threat on the offensive boards, and is improving on defense. Once his FTs improve to about 65% (he'll be there next year), he'll be a very solid contributor.</div>
Another haul from the Dumpy goldmine. Great post.
If I had to name the one reasonably obtainable commodity that could substantially improve the Nets next year, it would be a RELIABLE wing shooter who is at least average as a defender and passer. I think we have enough guys that are defenders and extra possession guys, especially if we keep Diop. We have enough guys that can penetrate, finish if it's available, and collapse defenses in any event. But good team morale -- and, yes, good defense -- relies to some extent on good shooting.
I haven't seen a team yet that didn't find a whole lot more motivation to defend in a tight game when they finished a well-executed offensive possession with a wide open jumper made rather than with one missed. It's terribly disheartening to do everything right for 24 seconds except that one thing that calls for the most precision and individual talent: putting the ball in the basket from distance. No matter how much people preach "defense wins championships", name me the last team that won a title that didn't have at least 2 guys getting significant minutes that could flat out light it up? Since jumpshooting is what most good defenses are willing to give up first, it has to be an area of strength in order for any team to be considered "elite". And so, in broad terms, I would favor that this team develop more of an offensive personality, the personality of an opportunistic running team (but not a team that artificially forces tempo) that in the half court relies upon a combination of pick and roll/pop;
post isolations for Carter, Krstic, and Jefferson (in that order); motion plays aimed almost exclusively at getting back doors or catch and shoots for RJ and Carter; and wing isolations for Jefferson and Carter when they have favorable matchups. If Sean can actually develop some post moves over the summer, so much the better. And the team should look to average around 106-108 ppg (about 12 more than their current average).
Now that the Nets clearly have their point guard of the future, they should think about combining Marcus and Swift (his 6M is a good salary component, especially since it will expire after next season) and perhaps a pick to land someone like a Mike Miller (3rd team necessary, obviously) or Anthony Parker. Or they could keep Marcus and aim a little lower for someone like a Matt Carroll. But they've absolutely got to find a consistent shooter between 6'4" and 6'8" to come off the bench.
