GT: Grizzlies vs Nets - Mon, 12/28/20 | 7:30pm | YES & NBATV

[DarkXaero]

Bro he was taking awful shots left and right in the 4th and OT. He made two 3s. Great. When you shoot that much, something’s going to go in, unless you’re Shamet.

28 points on 29 shots isn’t anything to brag about.

Nobody else was making anything. What did you expect him to do?

Let Chiozza keep taking contested jumpers or have Jordan not even be able to catch a simple pass?

As if high pressure 3s that put is in the lead at the end of the game mean nothing.

You're right Levert should have just kept passing to Jeff Green in the corner and praying something would happen.

Couldn’t hurt. Not like they could be worse than Levert.

Is there something with you that you just can’t acknowledge whenever Levert doesn’t play well? And not only that but then insist that he actually played really well despite the poor decision-making we all saw first hand? And then give us a stat line as if that means anything? And not only that but then give us an incomplete stat line that completely leaves out his shooting efficiency?

This 11 year old girl finds your Levert homerism strange.

Hello Brooklyn is a law student apparently, iirc. I guess part of that is practicing law on the internet as Caris Levert's defense attorney.

[MGrand15]

LeVert took some bad shots but he was playing hard, got 11 assists, 5 steals. Still impacted the game.

Prince on the other hand clearly didn't come to play. You'd think he (and Shamet) would come to play and try to earn more time. Prince was awful from the start. The only adjustment we need to make in these B2B games is starting Jeff Green. Clearly he's just the better player. He moves the ball. I don't think he's taken a bad shot all season. The team is just more solid when he's on the floor.

Shamet was fine I guess but he's just not really doing anything positive. Coaching staff needs to figure out how to make him more of a threat.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Nobody else was making anything. What did you expect him to do?

Let Chiozza keep taking contested jumpers or have Jordan not even be able to catch a simple pass?

As if high pressure 3s that put is in the lead at the end of the game mean nothing.

You're right Levert should have just kept passing to Jeff Green in the corner and praying something would happen.

Couldn’t hurt. Not like they could be worse than Levert.

Is there something with you that you just can’t acknowledge whenever Levert doesn’t play well? And not only that but then insist that he actually played really well despite the poor decision-making we all saw first hand? And then give us a stat line as if that means anything? And not only that but then give us an incomplete stat line that completely leaves out his shooting efficiency?

This 11 year old girl finds your Levert homerism strange.

Hello Brooklyn is a law student apparently, iirc. I guess part of that is practicing law on the internet as Caris Levert's defense attorney.

Wow practicing law is illegal until you pass the bar.

Trying to get me AND Caris thrown in jail to get more minutes for Chiozza. Should have known your motivations from the start.

[Hello Brooklyn]

LeVert took some bad shots but he was playing hard, got 11 assists, 5 steals. Still impacted the game.

Prince on the other hand clearly didn't come to play. You'd think he (and Shamet) would come to play and try to earn more time. Prince was awful from the start. The only adjustment we need to make in these B2B games is starting Jeff Green. Clearly he's just the better player. He moves the ball. I don't think he's taken a bad shot all season. The team is just more solid when he's on the floor.

Shamet was fine I guess but he's just not really doing anything positive. Coaching staff needs to figure out how to make him more of a threat.

I spent all off season defending Prince and he has been FAR worse than last season.

What a joke. He has so much potential to be a 3&D guy and won't realize it.

[Paradise]

Not sure what else to say about TP but he’s entering Gerald Wallace territory...

[Prokorov]

LeVert took some bad shots but he was playing hard, got 11 assists, 5 steals. Still impacted the game.

Prince on the other hand clearly didn't come to play. You'd think he (and Shamet) would come to play and try to earn more time. Prince was awful from the start. The only adjustment we need to make in these B2B games is starting Jeff Green. Clearly he's just the better player. He moves the ball. I don't think he's taken a bad shot all season. The team is just more solid when he's on the floor.

Shamet was fine I guess but he's just not really doing anything positive. Coaching staff needs to figure out how to make him more of a threat.

I thought shamet was outstanding on defense. had a few delfection and 4 steals and some rebounds in traffic. didnt really get a ton of burn, he played well. Prince had another poor game, but didnt really see much court time,

Caris tried to play hero ball too much. its cool if you win, but not so much when you lose and are putting up airballs in the 4th and OT. he didnt play bad, but he didnt play well either. he really froze out harris, shamet, and TLC late in the game. those guys can all hit shots. i like the aggressiveness and the confidence but sometimes you need to kick it out even when your in alpha mode.

Overall, i love the move by Nash to sit KD/Kyrie and challenge the bench to make up for last night. I think it was mixed results. they played hard, but some really weak defense by allen, another horrific shooting night from levert and prince when he was in. our guards in general had some really bad turnovers.

Some good things too. Nets got stops late to tie/take leads/hang in. offense couldnt really get it done but they worked hard on D to give themselves that chance. jordan was much better on D tonight. Green and Shamet looked good on that end. Levert was disruptive.

on to the next one,

[Prokorov]

Remember its a shortened season... 72 games only and god know what the future lies in terms of postponement or cancellations if any.... gotta win these games vs “sub par” teams despite b2b scenarios...

And please, no resting the BFFs at the same time... **** stupid.

Did GS ever rest Klay, Curry and Draymond at the same time?

it was 100% the right move to sit both Kyrie and KD. elite coaching move given how god awful the bench was vs. charlotte. this forces them to step up and gives them the opportunity to erase that awful showing. id much rather lose like this then have had kyrie play and get a W.

[Prokorov]

Well another game. I still think shamet was a waste. DK is super frustrating. They need to block out better on rebounds. I thought Nash made another coaching mistake at the end not putting in a rebounder. He kind of gave it up.
Last season the nets ran plays and got people open with ball movement. Idk what happened to that. Seems like the offense is just give the ball to Irving and Durant. Which is fine expect for when they aren’t there.

You could count the amount of 1-5 pick and rolls on one hand. which was both curious and frustrating. i get it with kyrie/KD. but levert really is best in the 1-5 pcik and roll

[MGrand15]

LeVert took some bad shots but he was playing hard, got 11 assists, 5 steals. Still impacted the game.

Prince on the other hand clearly didn't come to play. You'd think he (and Shamet) would come to play and try to earn more time. Prince was awful from the start. The only adjustment we need to make in these B2B games is starting Jeff Green. Clearly he's just the better player. He moves the ball. I don't think he's taken a bad shot all season. The team is just more solid when he's on the floor.

Shamet was fine I guess but he's just not really doing anything positive. Coaching staff needs to figure out how to make him more of a threat.

I thought shamet was outstanding on defense. had a few delfection and 4 steals and some rebounds in traffic. didnt really get a ton of burn, he played well. Prince had another poor game, but didnt really see much court time,

Caris tried to play hero ball too much. its cool if you win, but not so much when you lose and are putting up airballs in the 4th and OT. he didnt play bad, but he didnt play well either. he really froze out harris, shamet, and TLC late in the game. those guys can all hit shots. i like the aggressiveness and the confidence but sometimes you need to kick it out even when your in alpha mode.

Overall, i love the move by Nash to sit KD/Kyrie and challenge the bench to make up for last night. I think it was mixed results. they played hard, but some really weak defense by allen, another horrific shooting night from levert and prince when he was in. our guards in general had some really bad turnovers.

Some good things too. Nets got stops late to tie/take leads/hang in. offense couldnt really get it done but they worked hard on D to give themselves that chance. jordan was much better on D tonight. Green and Shamet looked good on that end. Levert was disruptive.

on to the next one,

Yeah that's my bad - Shamet was active defensively so it's not fair to say he wasn't positive. Just want to see him more involved offensively.

[Prokorov]

LeVert took some bad shots but he was playing hard, got 11 assists, 5 steals. Still impacted the game.

Prince on the other hand clearly didn't come to play. You'd think he (and Shamet) would come to play and try to earn more time. Prince was awful from the start. The only adjustment we need to make in these B2B games is starting Jeff Green. Clearly he's just the better player. He moves the ball. I don't think he's taken a bad shot all season. The team is just more solid when he's on the floor.

Shamet was fine I guess but he's just not really doing anything positive. Coaching staff needs to figure out how to make him more of a threat.

I thought shamet was outstanding on defense. had a few delfection and 4 steals and some rebounds in traffic. didnt really get a ton of burn, he played well. Prince had another poor game, but didnt really see much court time,

Caris tried to play hero ball too much. its cool if you win, but not so much when you lose and are putting up airballs in the 4th and OT. he didnt play bad, but he didnt play well either. he really froze out harris, shamet, and TLC late in the game. those guys can all hit shots. i like the aggressiveness and the confidence but sometimes you need to kick it out even when your in alpha mode.

Overall, i love the move by Nash to sit KD/Kyrie and challenge the bench to make up for last night. I think it was mixed results. they played hard, but some really weak defense by allen, another horrific shooting night from levert and prince when he was in. our guards in general had some really bad turnovers.

Some good things too. Nets got stops late to tie/take leads/hang in. offense couldnt really get it done but they worked hard on D to give themselves that chance. jordan was much better on D tonight. Green and Shamet looked good on that end. Levert was disruptive.

on to the next one,

Yeah that's my bad - Shamet was active defensively so it's not fair to say he wasn't positive. Just want to see him more involved offensively.

He kind of got froze out by levert. same with harris and tlc later in the game. there were open shots that never found him.

[NyCeEvO]

I’m not mad at Nash and co at all. I also have no problem with his use of timeouts (or lack thereof).

At first I was a little surprised to not see Kyrie play tonight, but I’m actually glad he didn’t play.

KD and Kyrie can mask a lot of garbage and probably fool a lot of people into believing that the entire team is good. While an elite 1-2 punch is certainly necessary to make a deep run in the playoffs, the complementary pieces surrounding an elite duo are the difference between being a quality 2nd round/possible conference final team to a true Finals and championship contender.

There are many examples throughout NBA history that support this belief. The Lakers just reaffirmed it with their championship run last season. LBJ & AD are superstars, but they needed quality play from their 3-7 to beat Denver and win the title. IMO, it was more important for the sake of our long-term aspirations to test and evaluate the mettle of ‘the others’ than it is to win an early season game against the Grizzlies.

Just about everyone who played tonight was on this team last year, so they should know each other tendencies and play somewhat well within the system. In short, there should be very few excuses for not playing a decent game.

I think tonight’s game re-affirmed many of the assumptions I’ve had for a while.

1) TLC should not only get more burn, but (with Spencer out) he should’ve vaulted to the starting lineup next to Kyrie/KD/Harris. His 3&D playstyle is a near seamless fit next to those guys. He doesn’t need the ball to be effective.

2) Caris is still too inconsistent to be viewed as anything close to a “3rd” star. Yes, he had 28 points, but it was on 29 shots.

His most effective skill is as a PnR distributor to the PnR screensetter or an off-ball cutter, which is why he can get a lot of assists. While that’s certainly a good skill to have, it can hampered greatly by teams with big interior defenders.

IMO, even though Levert can run a good 2-man game for a few plays in a row, teams will adjust and make it hard for it to be effective over the long haul. I think Chiozza actually runs an entire unit of 5 better than Levert, which is why I think Nash ended up having Chiozza play alongside Levert to better balance and mix up running sets along with Levert running a 2-man game.

I’ve been saying this for a few seasons now, but the key to Levert reaching the next level is shooting. If he remains inconsistent, the best he will be is a streaky 6th man; but if he somehow finds a way to become a consistent 3pt shooter, it’ll open up some many things for him and the rest of the team.

As it stands, teams know to pack the paint against Levert because his jumper is unreliable. If he were a better shooter, defenses would be forced to be more honest and guard him closer on the perimeter. But since he has good penetration and the ability to get by defenders, a quick pumpfake would would open up clearer drives to the basket. And if the defense collapsed at that point, he could dish the ball out to shooters on the wing. But if Levert can’t shoot, none of that opens up. Instead, we get a inconsistent 3pt shooter who ends up taking too many contested layups and off-balance midrange jumpers off of his drives, because he can’t trust himself to make 3s.

3) While DJ is a better passer, bigger body, and gets about 1-2 alley oops and a block per game that Allen might not get, his lack of defensive court awareness is so detrimental for us. It’s possible for me to be talked into starting him based on matchups against bigger guys (like Valanciunas), but he seemed so ineffective against JV tonight that I’m strongly leaning towards letting Allen get thrown into the fire and abused until he learns and adjusts to playing bigger guys.

4) I’m losing hope that Prince can be a positive for this team.

You would think he would cherish and make the most of his opportunity to start tonight. Instead, he was bad at the start of the game that we instantly made a run when he was subbed out after his 0-5 start.

I’d argue that he had an anti-TLC performance tonight in that he consistently tried to do more than he’s actually capable of doing. Since training camp, TLC has consistently talked about knowing his role and doing it. The only thing I’ve heard about Prince was that he was somehow a little upset (possibly about a demotion to a bench role) and that he would prove his worth. He hasn’t played well with limited minutes, and sadly he was a greater net negative when given more.

It would be ideal if he could be traded without us giving up draft compensation. I don’t know if that’s possible. I would rather give Kurucs (and Claxton, when healthy) all of his minutes and replace him with someone like Shumpert.


All in all, tonight was a valuable learning lesson. With Spencer out, I think we’re eligible for the DPE. Without Kyrie and KD, it’s easier for the staff to see what type of free agents/skill sets would serve us better over the long haul. For example, is it better to sign a player similar to Dinwiddie (e.g. Jamal Crawford)? Would we be better served by adding another wing defender (e.g. Shumpert)? Should we add another big body to supplement DJ/JA?

These are all things the staff are probably thinking about.

[NyCeEvO]

Also rotations were bad. I don't know why Chiozza got so much time when TJ is just better.

I disagree. A backup PG needs to be able to run an organized offense to get players 7-10 involved.

TJ doesn’t do that, and I’d even suggest that Chiozza does it better than Levert.

You can always put TJ and/or Levert out there next to Chiozza to guard bigger guards, but Chiozza’s point guard skills are invaluable to 2nd units.

Why not give Allen more minutes over Jordan?

I don't know why Nash looks so clueless out there when he has D'Antonio by his side.

While I’m a proponent of giving Allen more minutes, I don’t think Nash looks clueless at all.

I think this game was more of a test for the guys who played. It wouldn’t surprise me if Spencer’s injury will spark the Nets to assess the overall quality of their depth and make a push to trade some of the depth for a better bench player. There are more disgruntled quality players around the league than we often know about.

[NyCeEvO]

Good things to come from this game:
- Chiozza played well when asked upon.
- TLC won a starting job next to Durant and Kyrie IMO. Can’t see any other choice unless its TJ or Brown(whom we haven’t seen much).
- Allen was good when he had the chance, still has his blunders but fought all game long, never took off.
- Prince had 2 minutes of ok he looks like a NBA player... then bounced.
- Levert had a good game stat wise but his cons were right up there IMO so almost a wash unfortunately

That’s it I think?

I agreed with this assessment.

You condensed my longer thoughts into much shorter and more digestible points lol.

[NyCeEvO]

Not sure what else to say about TP but he’s entering Gerald Wallace territory...

No one can enter Wallace territory.

I’ll never forget trading what ended up being the sixth overall pick (which POR used to select Damian Lillard) for an expiring Gerald Wallace just to help convince D-Will to re-sign with the Nets.

And then King doubled-down by overpaying Wallace in free agency. Oh, the nightmares...

[NyCeEvO]

Well another game. I still think shamet was a waste. DK is super frustrating. They need to block out better on rebounds. I thought Nash made another coaching mistake at the end not putting in a rebounder. He kind of gave it up.
Last season the nets ran plays and got people open with ball movement. Idk what happened to that. Seems like the offense is just give the ball to Irving and Durant. Which is fine expect for when they aren’t there.

You could count the amount of 1-5 pick and rolls on one hand. which was both curious and frustrating. i get it with kyrie/KD. but levert really is best in the 1-5 pcik and roll

Levert was surprisingly passive to me at the start of the game. Idk if he knew he was in for a long night, but I expected him to come out attacking and being more judicious by running plays and spamming 1-5 PnRs.

Idk what was up with him. And IIRC, he didn’t play well the last time his breads were out. Maybe he should leave the braids in or just cut them, no fro lol.

[NyCeEvO]

LeVert took some bad shots but he was playing hard, got 11 assists, 5 steals. Still impacted the game.

Prince on the other hand clearly didn't come to play. You'd think he (and Shamet) would come to play and try to earn more time. Prince was awful from the start. The only adjustment we need to make in these B2B games is starting Jeff Green. Clearly he's just the better player. He moves the ball. I don't think he's taken a bad shot all season. The team is just more solid when he's on the floor.

Shamet was fine I guess but he's just not really doing anything positive. Coaching staff needs to figure out how to make him more of a threat.

I thought shamet was outstanding on defense. had a few delfection and 4 steals and some rebounds in traffic. didnt really get a ton of burn, he played well. Prince had another poor game, but didnt really see much court time,

Caris tried to play hero ball too much. its cool if you win, but not so much when you lose and are putting up airballs in the 4th and OT. he didnt play bad, but he didnt play well either. he really froze out harris, shamet, and TLC late in the game. those guys can all hit shots. i like the aggressiveness and the confidence but sometimes you need to kick it out even when your in alpha mode.

Overall, i love the move by Nash to sit KD/Kyrie and challenge the bench to make up for last night. I think it was mixed results. they played hard, but some really weak defense by allen, another horrific shooting night from levert and prince when he was in. our guards in general had some really bad turnovers.

Some good things too. Nets got stops late to tie/take leads/hang in. offense couldnt really get it done but they worked hard on D to give themselves that chance. jordan was much better on D tonight. Green and Shamet looked good on that end. Levert was disruptive.

on to the next one,

Yeah that's my bad - Shamet was active defensively so it's not fair to say he wasn't positive. Just want to see him more involved offensively.

I think Shamet probably warrants the least amount of criticism out of the guys who played.

Not only was he not terrible, but he’s only been with the team for 6 weeks. Everyone else who played tonight, except for Jeff Green, was with the team last year and should have a better feel for how to play with each other. Shamet has the legitimate excuse that he’s still adjusting to the team. I think he’ll be fine in the long run.

[Paradise]

Not sure what else to say about TP but he’s entering Gerald Wallace territory...

No one can enter Wallace territory.

I’ll never forget trading what ended up being the sixth overall pick (which POR used to select Damian Lillard) for an expiring Gerald Wallace just to help convince D-Will to re-sign with the Nets.

And then King doubled-down by overpaying Wallace in free agency. Oh, the nightmares...

Yeah, I’ll take that back. RIP to his grandmother. We really don’t know what these guys might be going through.

Read on Twitter

[gigantes]

I missed most of the game, but I'm proud of our boys for keeping it close. It reminded me of last season's team, and even without the Dynamic Duo, I think we're better than last season, as a team. Well, I hope so, anyway...

Also, I somehow, weirdly sort of wish that we could arrange to be an underperforming, mediocre team when the playoffs come, then to unleash Kyrie & KD upon our hapless, unsuspecting opponents, wrecking all teams in sight, and knocking down all the pins.

Ah well, a man can dream. (but a dumbass can dream, too!)

[MrDollarBills]

Not sure what else to say about TP but he’s entering Gerald Wallace territory...

No one can enter Wallace territory.

I’ll never forget trading what ended up being the sixth overall pick (which POR used to select Damian Lillard) for an expiring Gerald Wallace just to help convince D-Will to re-sign with the Nets.

And then King doubled-down by overpaying Wallace in free agency. Oh, the nightmares...

Yeah, I’ll take that back. RIP to his grandmother. We really don’t know what these guys might be going through.

Read on Twitter

Oh damn. Sorry to hear this. Much love to Prince.

Yep, you never know what people are dealing with. Kevin Love is a legit millionaire 10x over and he admitted that he deals with suicidal thoughts. Yet he has to do what everyone else does, tuck it all inside and do their job. It ain't easy for anyone. I hope Prince will be alright.

[MrDollarBills]

After sleeping on it, we lost two close games, one of which without our main guys. So I'm not upset. However, the Spencer loss is really bugging me and I can't help but think that was the one injury that we could least afford outside of the Big 2. I'm kind of shaken by it tbh. Our elite depth isn't so elite anymore.

I support Marks in whatever decision he makes to bolster the roster. Even if it means a trade for James Harden.