GT: Nets @ Kings 10:00pm EST 3/19/19

[Prokorov]

I don't want to hear anyone deny that Russell is the best player on this team again

Don't mind me, just doing some maintenance.

Let this be a reminder the next time we get posts along the lines of "Caris is our best player and anyone who doesnt think so is blind" after an 8 point on 4-12 shooting night for Caris.

Russell is a legit All-star at 23 years old who is getting better every day

[Prokorov]

WHAT.A.GAME!

First off, props to everyone on this forum for not calling for everyone to be cut and kenny to be hanged in public when we went down 30. nice to see people refrain from jumping off cliffs when we lose/are getting killed. i called people out for this last game so props to everyone for sticking with the team for the most part when we were down.

1) Russell was obviously amazing but im going to start with RHJ and Kenny. Dlo had 27 in the 4th but RHJ was the one who chipped into the lead to go from 30 points to 18 points and keep it from getting even uglier. he set the tempo when the kings let their gaurd down and began the kings backpeddle they would never recover from.... I'm glad he got the game winner over russell (not disrepect to DLO) because he was really the heartbeat of this win/comeback. Props to Kenny for never giving up on anyone... even when guys get DNPs they still buy in and play hard for him because he shows them respect and always puts his confidence in them and allows them to go after it.

2) Dlo was stuck on God mode in the 4th. His confidence is unshakeable. he missed alot of WIDE OPEN looks in the first half but kept firing with confidence. He hit some Curry/Harden like no conscience shots. he welcomes the big stage and the big moments... you cant teach that. he really does have ice in his veins. and it wasnt just threes... he had a ton of tipped balls, steals, and took it to the rim. the play where the kings were trying to double him at half court and force it out of his hands but he split the double then finished around 3 kings at the rim. This was a signature mark for Dlo. League is on notice. he has gone HAM a ton late in games.

3) Dudley was huge. big threes, timely charges, crafty play. he has a calming role for this team. he needs some playoff minutes, if only to keep the train on the tracks. i hope he is back in some capacity next year. even if its in street clothes 82 games.

4) Carroll sneaky had a big hand in this comeback. hit some threes to keep it from going back to a 30 point lead

5) Levert and spencer struggled, but they accepted being pulled and really pulled for their teammates. Spencer will be fine... offensively i think levert will too, he had some vintage levert plays going to the rim this game. his man defense is a concern for me, but we go zone alot so that should help if he is on the floor. Ed Davis has really struggled defensively as well as of late

37 wins... i think we are in with this win. Magic would need to go 5-6 the rest of the way to get to 38 wins (we have the tiebreaker). wizards would need to go 8-3. Hornets would need to go 7-5.

another 1-2 wins would cement it for us, but i love our chances even if we lost out. (obviously i dont want us to lose out, but mathmaticlly i think we can and still get in)

[MGrand15]

I love the "I told you so" posts from guys that predicted less than 30 wins this season

[Prokorov]

I love the "I told you so" posts from guys that predicted less than 30 wins this season

I admitted to being wrong on these guys a long time ago. ive never been shy to admit being wrong on things. I was anti-Kenny and wanted Calapari or Bud or to do something out of the box like make hammond a head coach. now im kennys biggest fan

[SpeedyG]

Kustok called it. This was another gear for Russ in terms of getting to the rim. If that's his next evolution he could become a top 15, top 10 player.

Yep been calling for him to attack more all year. Love seeing that and him mixing up drives vs outside shots.

Not gonna lie he wasn't really having a good game despite the stats early on, questionable shot selection and passes early on, but damn if him (and this team) was going to let up and give up on this win.

This is playoff season for us with our schedule.

Every game counts. They knew it, and refused to let this one slip.

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Russell made some SPECIAL plays in the 4th but the one that stood out the most...

Down by 4. they had just hit a FT or scored. They tried to double team russell at half court to force the ball out of his hands... he split the double team then put their center belinka on scates and finished between 2 other kings for a layup.

God mode stuff

I think low key for me was the Dudley dagger.

He got the ball on a fast break, pump faked, and the defender had already whizzed by him and a 2nd defender really wasn't in the best position (though could have contest a bit).

In previous games? Heat check moment. Shoot, even in this game, earlier some of the threes he took were pull up contested.

And the way he was playing, he probably knocks it down anyway.

But he didn't rush, swung the ball to a wide open Dudley for a much better shot, and that was that.

Excellent read, decision, and trust with your teammates.

I know Rondae and Deangelo got a lot of attention, and rightfully so, but everyone of those five did something that helped us close games.

Dudley took a charge, helped out on Rondae. When Bagley(?) lost the ball, Rondae dove forcing Bagley to chase to the corner. As if that wasn't enough, Rodi runs in and bothers Bagley, really forcing him to scramble and eventually step out of bounds.

Play or two before that, Rondae fronted Bagley. Ball went over his head on entry pass but Graham was there to help out on the back side.

Also, Rondae on the drive to seal the win...note who was there in excellent position for tip in had he missed...

Not one...but two Nets players (Rodi and Joe).

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[SpeedyG]

Atkinson did a great job IMO. He tweaked the lineup until it worked. Props to him for getting the hungrier players in the game and LEAVING them in instead of subbing them out for guys who just allowed a 30 point lead.

Dudley and RHJ have hardly been playing....he sent a message to the others if you're gonna play like garbage you're gonna ride pine.

Big takeaway for me from this game. Dinwiddie, Lavert, Allen, Carroll, Harris, all to varying degrees are gonna have to take a long hard look in the mirror and bring back their A games....

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Yea, people love to bash kenny, but he is a great coach. he is flexible and isnt scared to use any of the 15 guys on our roster. even guys who had like 5 straight DNPs.

I think there is alot of fatiuge. Allen and Kurucs have never played this much in their careers. Same minutes wide for Harris. Levert also coming off injury. Russell im sure could use some rest too

I dont know about this. I dont think Kenny uses back to back timeouts early on like he did. I don't think he mixed and match rotations as early and often as he did until he found the right formula before either.

Certainly not last season, and perhaps not even this earlier season.

Kenny is continuing to improve as well.

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[SpeedyG]

I don't want to hear anyone deny that Russell is the best player on this team again

Don't mind me, just doing some maintenance.

Let this be a reminder the next time we get posts along the lines of "Caris is our best player and anyone who doesnt think so is blind" after an 8 point on 4-12 shooting night for Caris.

Russell is a legit All-star at 23 years old who is getting better every day

Even Dudley has talked about Caris being our best player (until his injury) until Russell's recent explosions and growth.

Like I said in that thread, Caris picking up where he left off would have been a freaking boost for this team and he certainly looked it when he came back. Unfortunately, it proved tougher on his rhythm since then.




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[SpeedyG]

I love the "I told you so" posts from guys that predicted less than 30 wins this season

lol right?

[green font]Rondae can't space the floor so he's useless for this team[/font]

And Kings shooting 0 for 8 on those "best shot in the game" three pointers when they have killed us inside most of the game with Bagley and Giles.

When the game is close, you get your points however you have to get them.

Drive in, shoot threes, mid range (which Fox killed us on every time we made a run) get to the line...doesnt matter.

Gotta stop the bleeding.

Basketball is a game of momentum.

They had it for 3 quarters, we had it for 1.

And last night, it was enough.

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[MGrand15]

I love the "I told you so" posts from guys that predicted less than 30 wins this season

I admitted to being wrong on these guys a long time ago. ive never been shy to admit being wrong on things. I was anti-Kenny and wanted Calapari or Bud or to do something out of the box like make hammond a head coach. now im kennys biggest fan

Yeah you also thought Rondae was a lock for 15 million a year.

[JKiddy]

I literally predicted last night at the beginning of the 4th quarter. People were freaking out. J Kiddy stays calm.

This win was amazing. But, we need about 6 more wins to stay where we are in the standings out of the last 11. Let's shoot for that. Let's show out in Round 1 win or lose we need to earn respect (but we need to get there first). This stretch is going to be tough. I would love to get 1/2 out of the next two games. 2/2 would be amazing.

[MrDollarBills]

I love the "I told you so" posts from guys that predicted less than 30 wins this season

I admitted to being wrong on these guys a long time ago. ive never been shy to admit being wrong on things. I was anti-Kenny and wanted Calapari or Bud or to do something out of the box like make hammond a head coach. now im kennys biggest fan

Yeah you also thought Rondae was a lock for 15 million a year.

So did I but he fell off from where he was this time last year. Now I don't know if he'll even be back next year.

That being said, only a fool refuses to change his opinion when presented with new facts and information.

[TheNetsFan]

37 wins... i think we are in with this win. Magic would need to go 5-6 the rest of the way to get to 38 wins (we have the tiebreaker). wizards would need to go 8-3. Hornets would need to go 7-5.

another 1-2 wins would cement it for us, but i love our chances even if we lost out. (obviously i dont want us to lose out, but mathmaticlly i think we can and still get in)

Orlando scares me. They have a relatively light schedule. We need to get to 40 wins for me to feel safe.

[MGrand15]

I admitted to being wrong on these guys a long time ago. ive never been shy to admit being wrong on things. I was anti-Kenny and wanted Calapari or Bud or to do something out of the box like make hammond a head coach. now im kennys biggest fan

Yeah you also thought Rondae was a lock for 15 million a year.

So did I but he fell off from where he was this time last year. Now I don't know if he'll even be back next year.

That being said, only a fool refuses to change his opinion when presented with new facts and information.

Exactly why these 'I told you so' posts are so dumb. Especially after amazing moments for the franchise.

[Prokorov]

Don't mind me, just doing some maintenance.

Let this be a reminder the next time we get posts along the lines of "Caris is our best player and anyone who doesnt think so is blind" after an 8 point on 4-12 shooting night for Caris.

Russell is a legit All-star at 23 years old who is getting better every day

Even Dudley has talked about Caris being our best player (until his injury) until Russell's recent explosions and growth.

Like I said in that thread, Caris picking up where he left off would have been a freaking boost for this team and he certainly looked it when he came back. Unfortunately, it proved tougher on his rhythm since then.



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I have no problem with anyone who said Caris was our best player pre-injury... the comment in question came in caris second game back from injury, after DLo had a huge dec/jan and was playing like an all-star.

[Prokorov]

I love the "I told you so" posts from guys that predicted less than 30 wins this season

I admitted to being wrong on these guys a long time ago. ive never been shy to admit being wrong on things. I was anti-Kenny and wanted Calapari or Bud or to do something out of the box like make hammond a head coach. now im kennys biggest fan

Yeah you also thought Rondae was a lock for 15 million a year.

i did. i also thought he was going to be draymond light

[Prokorov]

Yeah you also thought Rondae was a lock for 15 million a year.

So did I but he fell off from where he was this time last year. Now I don't know if he'll even be back next year.

That being said, only a fool refuses to change his opinion when presented with new facts and information.

Exactly why these 'I told you so' posts are so dumb. Especially after amazing moments for the franchise.

its one thing to think something and be wrong...

its another to think something, call someone else a moron if they dont share the opinion, even when they show some evidence to support it,... all of us are wrong time to time... but stuff like, when i said i didnt want crabbe and it was an overpay and tha Joe harris is the same player for 17 million less and everyone crapped on me (and harris) for months and some even the entire season even when i showed the unanncy similarities for the 2 guys through college and their first few years.

now everyone is on joes nuts and hates crabbes deal.

Levert/Russell is similar... everyone crowned levert as a superstar and dlo as meh. i mean on dlo most where not high on him myself included. but after he ablls out, carrries us, and is an all-star people still minimize and criticize dlo and levert gets a tn of rope... people defend it with stuff like "caris has more potential" even though russell is younger and has shown more

Atkinson will be the same... everyone takes huge dumps on him every night despite him dragging a team of misfits to the playoffs and having +8 wins last yar an +10 wins this year.... in a few years when he is viewed as a top5 coach we will see what people are saying

[Paradise]

Watch on YouTube

[MrDollarBills]

Yeah you also thought Rondae was a lock for 15 million a year.

So did I but he fell off from where he was this time last year. Now I don't know if he'll even be back next year.

That being said, only a fool refuses to change his opinion when presented with new facts and information.

Exactly why these 'I told you so' posts are so dumb. Especially after amazing moments for the franchise.

Nah I disagree, I have no problem with being called out for being wrong, and neither should anyone else tbh. It's apart of the fun of discussion, I don't see why anyone can't be humble enough to own up to being wrong and at the same time be able to gloat a little bit when they're right. I was wrong about RHJ, wrong about Harris/Crabbe, I didn't expect the team to be this good this season, didn't expect Russell to do any of what he was doing. It doesn't bother me, in fact its GREAT that I was wrong about all of that. I hope I'm wrong about the Nets' chances in free agency as well.

The persistent Russell hate does irk me though, I think this guy has done everything asked of him and then more, he embraces being a Net more than anyone we've seen come through here in a decade and it's not good enough for some, there's always the backhanded critiques and compliments. I mean none of us were sold on him completely at the beginning which was fine, but after all he's done this year there's still folks that downplay him any chance they get. Like come on, the Nets have a 23 year old old star that does things that we haven't seen on the court since Vince played here and it seems he will never get his full due from some. I guess it is what it is.

[Prokorov]

37 wins... i think we are in with this win. Magic would need to go 5-6 the rest of the way to get to 38 wins (we have the tiebreaker). wizards would need to go 8-3. Hornets would need to go 7-5.

another 1-2 wins would cement it for us, but i love our chances even if we lost out. (obviously i dont want us to lose out, but mathmaticlly i think we can and still get in)

Orlando scares me. They have a relatively light schedule. We need to get to 40 wins for me to feel safe.

I dont know about light schedule....

MEM - not good
PHI - (Playoff team, fighting for seeding)
@MIA (playoff team, fighting to stay in 8 seed)
@DET (Playoff team, fighting to stay in playoffs)
@IND (playoff team, fighting for seeding)
@Raps (Playoff team, fighting for 1 seed/home court)
NYK - trash tanking team
ATL - not good, but playing better of late
@BOS - playoff team playing for seeding, great home team
@CHA - fighting to get in the playoffs


To me that doesnt look like relatively light schedule at all... they have a 5 game stretch coming up vs east playoff teams with 4 of those being on the road.

also, if they DO end up rackign up wins, they probably take down the heat/hornets in the process.

I think as it stands we have like a 60/40 s hot of getting in without another win. 80/20 with 1 more win, 90/10 with 2 more wins, and 100% with 3 more wins

[MrDollarBills]

^^Nets need to handle business, which means beating the Lakers and finding a way to win versus Portland or Philly on the road.