Nets @ Pistons | 11.05.2021 @ 7:00 PM on YES

[NyCeEvO]

A win is a win but LOL at blowing 15 point lead. We are in preseason form. Wake me up when Harden starts playing like MVP Harden again. I'll give it another 10-15 games before I really start thinking about how far this team can go as currently constructed.

Bro we've just run off four wins in a row

It's early but we're headed in the right direction. A rotation is being established but Kyrie needs to stop being a bitch and get vaccinated. Eric Adams threw the ball in his court today, there is no way around it. We need him.

That or we trade Kyrie for KAT

It's still too early for firm predictions.

But if I were forced to judge the team off of its current form and roster, I think this would be an ECF team at best. If this lineup remained the same, I think the size disparity between us and an ECF or even ECSF opponent would wreak havoc over the course of a 7-game series.

If I had to trade Kyrie, I would look for a star wing, not a big. KD can play the 5 when we need to and can actually initiate our offense, which KAT can't do. A star wing would provide valuable perimeter defense and can provide the consistent creative scoring threat that we're not getting from anyone outside of KD (considering Harden's current form).

But like I said, it's still too early to make predictions. I'm waiting to see if and when Harden comes alive. He is the biggest variable to this puzzle. If he starts to be the real Harden again and cuts down on the ridiculous number of turnovers, we're a completely different and, more importantly, a much better team.

[MGrand15]

Another super discouraging game from Harden. He looks incredibly average and we need him to be a top 12 player. Detroit defended him like he was a regular player and he couldn't make them pay at all. The sad part is - his 3 ball is falling. So this isn't some sort of slump. The guy just has no explosion at all to get to the paint or finish. There were a few times where he couldn't finish around Olynyk or Detroit guards. Not even close.

I think the team needs to stop acting like everything is fine and sit him for like 2 weeks so he can drop some weight and focus on conditioning. Right now he's playing strictly off BBIQ, vision and his step back 3. Thats not getting it done against good teams.

I'm not hitting the panic button but man, guys RARELY go from looking this bad to elite. Harden is a legend and can do it but this is scary. These Deron flashbacks are getting stronger.

[ecuhus1981]

A win is a win but LOL at blowing 15 point lead. We are in preseason form. Wake me up when Harden starts playing like MVP Harden again. I'll give it another 10-15 games before I really start thinking about how far this team can go as currently constructed.

Bro we've just run off four wins in a row

It's early but we're headed in the right direction. A rotation is being established but Kyrie needs to stop being a bitch and get vaccinated. Eric Adams threw the ball in his court today, there is no way around it. We need him.

That or we trade Kyrie for KAT

Exactly. It's frustrating to watch our guys play down to the level of our opponent. But, a win's a win's a win. Great teams win at their worst.

[NetsWorld]

Another super discouraging game from Harden. He looks incredibly average and we need him to be a top 12 player. Detroit defended him like he was a regular player and he couldn't make them pay at all. The sad part is - his 3 ball is falling. So this isn't some sort of slump. The guy just has no explosion at all to get to the paint or finish. There were a few times where he couldn't finish around Olynyk or Detroit guards. Not even close.

I think the team needs to stop acting like everything is fine and sit him for like 2 weeks so he can drop some weight and focus on conditioning. Right now he's playing strictly off BBIQ, vision and his step back 3. Thats not getting it done against good teams.

I'm not hitting the panic button but man, guys RARELY go from looking this bad to elite. Harden is a legend and can do it but this is scary. These Deron flashbacks are getting stronger.

Take a chill pill, he will be fine. Harden has many options on this team and as the season progresses, he will only get better and will turn it on scoring wise. And I find it hard to believe Marks will stay stagnant; they will do something with Kyrie if he doesn't come back. This year is our championship or bust year and KD knows it; he will be out on a mission and will be the reason we will win a lot of games. Harden's job on the Nets means he is a full time PG now, this is not Houston. We have options here and Detroit's D was solid which made it difficult to get into comfortable sets or shots off.

[NyCeEvO]

On a much lighter and yet more disturbing note, have y'all been listening to the PR nightmare that is surrounding Aaron Rodgers? This guy has completely flipped his likable persona in the space of 24 hours.

He apparently is listening to his "good friend" Joe Rogan on what medical concoction he needs to take in order to best recover from COVID lol. You can't make this stuff up.

[ecuhus1981]

Another super discouraging game from Harden. He looks incredibly average and we need him to be a top 12 player. Detroit defended him like he was a regular player and he couldn't make them pay at all. The sad part is - his 3 ball is falling. So this isn't some sort of slump. The guy just has no explosion at all to get to the paint or finish. There were a few times where he couldn't finish around Olynyk or Detroit guards. Not even close.

I think the team needs to stop acting like everything is fine and sit him for like 2 weeks so he can drop some weight and focus on conditioning. Right now he's playing strictly off BBIQ, vision and his step back 3. Thats not getting it done against good teams.

I'm not hitting the panic button but man, guys RARELY go from looking this bad to elite. Harden is a legend and can do it but this is scary. These Deron flashbacks are getting stronger.

Tell me you're an elite athlete who has suffered an injury to the same area of their lower extremities, 3 times in 4 months.

This is why we sat KD for all on '19-'20. This is why Kawhi is so conservative about his returns from injury. You can play after the injury heals, but you'll be a shell of yourself, and fans will kill you for looking less than your best. Sean could tell James that we're sitting him for 3 months so he can regain confidence in his hamstring. Not only would James tell him to go F himself (this is a walk year, we cannot afford to alienate him), he and we would also be worse off for it.

The best thing James can do to get back to the MVP version of himself is play in live NBA games. And we will lose more games while he's out than we would with him playing.

It's rough right now, no doubt. The sooner we can get him right, the better. It's not a matter of him being fat or tired, it's that the synapses in his hammy aren't firing. He's got to feel right in order to regain that trust: to plant, change directions, change speeds and all the other quick-twitch stuff that makes him elite. He'll get there, it's always darkest before dawn.

[DarkXaero]

Gritty win tonight. Not an impressive performance (offensively) by any means but credit to the Pistons who stepped up and played with very high intensity in the 4th quarter. Blake showed his value tonight. I'm starting to get concerned about Harden who is a shell of himself after 9 games. We've seen some progress over last few games but tonight was a major step backwards.

[Ksny13]

Another super discouraging game from Harden. He looks incredibly average and we need him to be a top 12 player. Detroit defended him like he was a regular player and he couldn't make them pay at all. The sad part is - his 3 ball is falling. So this isn't some sort of slump. The guy just has no explosion at all to get to the paint or finish. There were a few times where he couldn't finish around Olynyk or Detroit guards. Not even close.

I think the team needs to stop acting like everything is fine and sit him for like 2 weeks so he can drop some weight and focus on conditioning. Right now he's playing strictly off BBIQ, vision and his step back 3. Thats not getting it done against good teams.

I'm not hitting the panic button but man, guys RARELY go from looking this bad to elite. Harden is a legend and can do it but this is scary. These Deron flashbacks are getting stronger.

This was Hardens 1st major injury in his career. This was one of the only summers he wasn’t hopping all off season. He purposely came in out of shape with Houston last off season but every year prior he’s been a work horse during the off season. However he routinely starts slow. Around game 15 I fully expect him to look like himself however with injury that could take longer.

4 wins in a row! Nash seems to be doing a better job. Playing Brown is so so important for this team.

[Prokorov]

Awful game. Awful effort. Awful coaching. Worst team in the league, tail end of a back to back and had to grind out a win after being up 14 going into the 4th. my thoughts...

1) you scored 11 2nd quarter points riding a lineup with no KD/Harden. you rocked in the third and come back with that same lineup. you stick with that lineup as the lead dwindles. WTF are you doing there? bring in KD or Harden early.

2) The pistons are terrible. they played terrible. they missed wide open dunks/layups/threes and we had to claw past the,. gross.

3) Harden still is 0 concern for me. his shot is there, his first step gets by his man every time. he is just slow without burst or leaping. in shape/recovery im 1000% confident he is MVP form by 2022.

4) LMA played great, him and patty give us consistent bench scoring. we need it tonoght. bembry played well too.

5) we lose this game last year. the gritty dog pound guys helped us grind this one

5) get your head out of your rear. we bring this effort vs. toronto we lose by 50.

got the W and stayed healthy which is what matters. but awful performance by both teams

[Prokorov]

A win is a win but LOL at blowing 15 point lead. We are in preseason form. Wake me up when Harden starts playing like MVP Harden again. I'll give it another 10-15 games before I really start thinking about how far this team can go as currently constructed.

Bro we've just run off four wins in a row

It's early but we're headed in the right direction. A rotation is being established but Kyrie needs to stop being a bitch and get vaccinated. Eric Adams threw the ball in his court today, there is no way around it. We need him.

That or we trade Kyrie for KAT

id rather trade Kyrie for marcus teague. KAT is a trash loser. no thank you.

[Hello Brooklyn]

You guys are really overreacting.

KD had a terrible game by his standards. So did Harden. And we still found a way to win.

I have no doubt in my mind Harden will get back to MVP form. Some guys take longer to return from injuries than other. Its better htis happens now than in June.

[Prokorov]

You guys are really overreacting.

KD had a terrible game by his standards. So did Harden. And we still found a way to win.

I have no doubt in my mind Harden will get back to MVP form. Some guys take longer to return from injuries than other. Its better htis happens now than in June.

Detroit is the worst team in the league.

they were on the second of a back to back

they played absolutely horrendous. missing wide open dunks and layups

we barely sceaped by. this was far and away our worst effort of the year

[Hello Brooklyn]

You guys are really overreacting.

KD had a terrible game by his standards. So did Harden. And we still found a way to win.

I have no doubt in my mind Harden will get back to MVP form. Some guys take longer to return from injuries than other. Its better htis happens now than in June.

Detroit is the worst team in the league.

they were on the second of a back to back

they played absolutely horrendous. missing wide open dunks and layups

we barely sceaped by. this was far and away our worst effort of the year

So what?

Its a bad game. Good teams lose to bad teams all the time.

Milwaukee is .500. The Lakers lost to OKC twice.

Were 1 game back of the best record in the East. And found a way to win.

KD and Harden will not shoot that badly 90% of the time. I'm not worried at all.

And God willing Kyrie comes back.

[ArksNetsSince99]

You guys are really overreacting.

KD had a terrible game by his standards. So did Harden. And we still found a way to win.

I have no doubt in my mind Harden will get back to MVP form. Some guys take longer to return from injuries than other. Its better htis happens now than in June.

Thats not the point , ok KD was below his usual self today I’ll give you this

It’s a W , but against worst team in the league on b2b and we struggle? Us ? A championship Contender? You know we lost to Cavs last season after Sexton got game of his life , I’ll take that L instead of today W , ugly unwatchable contest

Harden for now it’s closer to Deron than MvP form , in the second quarter it was 3 possessions when he kept the ball 20 seconds , and pass to heavy guarded LMa twice and Bruce Brown , then he traveled, then turned over , and then he was to lazy to pick up the **** ball from the floor ( he assumed its gonna roll out of bounds ) MvP form ?

[Hello Brooklyn]

You guys are really overreacting.

KD had a terrible game by his standards. So did Harden. And we still found a way to win.

I have no doubt in my mind Harden will get back to MVP form. Some guys take longer to return from injuries than other. Its better htis happens now than in June.

Thats not the point , ok KD was below his usual self today I’ll give you this

It’s a W , but against worst team in the league on b2b and we struggle? Us ? A championship Contender? You know we lost to Cavs last season after Sexton got game of his life , I’ll take that L instead of today W , ugly unwatchable contest

Harden for now it’s closer to Deron than MvP form , in the second quarter it was 3 possessions when he kept the ball 20 seconds , and pass to heavy guarded LMa twice and Bruce Brown , then he traveled, then turned over , and then he was to lazy to pick up the **** ball from the floor ( he assumed its gonna roll out of bounds ) MvP form ?

The Lakers and Bucks both have worst records than us. Are they not Championship contenders?

Were 6-3 and our second best player is clearly hobbled. You guys are overreacting as usual.

A win is a win. Some of the best teams of all time have lost to bad teams.

[HardenGoat]

Sloppy game for Harden but Iam not concerned about him being timid offensively. If he doesn’t feel confident in his hamstring it’s smart not to push it. An injury means it’s game over. I think this team knows exactly what they are capable of and we will see that later in the season. Take the win. Durant is simply incredible. LMA, Brown, and Griffin should also get credit.

[sashaturiaf]

Another super discouraging game from Harden. He looks incredibly average and we need him to be a top 12 player. Detroit defended him like he was a regular player and he couldn't make them pay at all. The sad part is - his 3 ball is falling. So this isn't some sort of slump. The guy just has no explosion at all to get to the paint or finish. There were a few times where he couldn't finish around Olynyk or Detroit guards. Not even close.

I think the team needs to stop acting like everything is fine and sit him for like 2 weeks so he can drop some weight and focus on conditioning. Right now he's playing strictly off BBIQ, vision and his step back 3. Thats not getting it done against good teams.

I'm not hitting the panic button but man, guys RARELY go from looking this bad to elite. Harden is a legend and can do it but this is scary. These Deron flashbacks are getting stronger.

Agreed and it's messing with him mentally. He simply has lost his ability to finish around the basket and the sample size is now not insignificant. Getting Claxton back as a lob threat will help

To me this is one part rule change, and one part lack of conditioning/trust in his own hamstring. He is visibly losing confidence out there and it is sad to watch.

We will not win a title with this version of Harden. There's still a long way to go until the games that matter arrive, so I'm sure a player as smart and accomplished as Harden will figure it out.

[MGrand15]

Another super discouraging game from Harden. He looks incredibly average and we need him to be a top 12 player. Detroit defended him like he was a regular player and he couldn't make them pay at all. The sad part is - his 3 ball is falling. So this isn't some sort of slump. The guy just has no explosion at all to get to the paint or finish. There were a few times where he couldn't finish around Olynyk or Detroit guards. Not even close.

I think the team needs to stop acting like everything is fine and sit him for like 2 weeks so he can drop some weight and focus on conditioning. Right now he's playing strictly off BBIQ, vision and his step back 3. Thats not getting it done against good teams.

I'm not hitting the panic button but man, guys RARELY go from looking this bad to elite. Harden is a legend and can do it but this is scary. These Deron flashbacks are getting stronger.

Tell me you're an elite athlete who has suffered an injury to the same area of their lower extremities, 3 times in 4 months.

This is why we sat KD for all on '19-'20. This is why Kawhi is so conservative about his returns from injury. You can play after the injury heals, but you'll be a shell of yourself, and fans will kill you for looking less than your best. Sean could tell James that we're sitting him for 3 months so he can regain confidence in his hamstring. Not only would James tell him to go F himself (this is a walk year, we cannot afford to alienate him), he and we would also be worse off for it.

The best thing James can do to get back to the MVP version of himself is play in live NBA games. And we will lose more games while he's out than we would with him playing.

It's rough right now, no doubt. The sooner we can get him right, the better. It's not a matter of him being fat or tired, it's that the synapses in his hammy aren't firing. He's got to feel right in order to regain that trust: to plant, change directions, change speeds and all the other quick-twitch stuff that makes him elite. He'll get there, it's always darkest before dawn.

I do think his weight and conditioning is an issue but I respect the confidence you have.

Genuinely curious - can you think of an example where a star was injured, looked bad to start the year, then got back to star form?

For the life of me, i cant think of one and I definitely can't think of a hamstring injury lingering this long. What concerns me is that the season is a marathon - if you're starting at 60% - it's hard to imagine huge improvements while you're beating up your body.

James is too good to not adjust and he'll find a way to make an impact - my concern is whether we're talking about MVP type impact or regular starting guard type impact.

[sashaturiaf]

I'll take the W but this game was borderline unwatchable.

LMA, KD and Detroit's ineptness are the only reason we didn't suffer a humiliating defeat.

[DarkXaero]

You guys are really overreacting.

KD had a terrible game by his standards. So did Harden. And we still found a way to win.

I have no doubt in my mind Harden will get back to MVP form. Some guys take longer to return from injuries than other. Its better htis happens now than in June.

Thats not the point , ok KD was below his usual self today I’ll give you this

It’s a W , but against worst team in the league on b2b and we struggle? Us ? A championship Contender? You know we lost to Cavs last season after Sexton got game of his life , I’ll take that L instead of today W , ugly unwatchable contest

Harden for now it’s closer to Deron than MvP form , in the second quarter it was 3 possessions when he kept the ball 20 seconds , and pass to heavy guarded LMa twice and Bruce Brown , then he traveled, then turned over , and then he was to lazy to pick up the **** ball from the floor ( he assumed its gonna roll out of bounds ) MvP form ?

The Lakers and Bucks both have worst records than us. Are they not Championship contenders?

Were 6-3 and our second best player is clearly hobbled. You guys are overreacting as usual.

A win is a win. Some of the best teams of all time have lost to bad teams.

I get being unhappy with certain wins but Detroit clearly didn't play like the worst team in the league tonight, they were really up for it in the 4th quarter and were playing some fantastic defense down the stretch. KD made just about enough shots to ice the game but they were playing some great defense on KD as well. Cade hit some big shots in that 4th quarter stretch and the home crowd was probably more lively than it has ever been this season for Detroit. It was a competitive, gritty, physical game.