GT: Nets @ Jazz / 11/12/19 9pm EST
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 10:20 pm
It’s always darkest before dawn. We’ve had some head-scratching losses and harrowing wins, but our performance in Phoenix might be the apogee in our season orbit. Shoddy defense devoid of confidence, hesitant Hero-ball offense and some solar-flare hot long-range shooting by the Suns (see what I did there?!) made the game difficult to watch. To add injury to insult, we go into 2 of our toughest games of the season next, @UTA Tuesday and then @DEN Thursday, without our 2nd star Caris LeVert. He sprained his shooting thumb (whodathunkit) Sunday night, and will probably miss the next 3-4 games. If the upstarts in PHX can ragdoll us at full strength, what will legit contenders do to us without CLV? Of course, I doubted this year’s Nets similarly after their drubbing against a hobbled IND squad, only to see them keep HOU at arm’s length for 48 minutes in their very next game. This team has backbone, I’ll give ‘em that. Let’s get into it:
JARRETT ALLEN VS. RUDY GOBERT – One of the most unique C’s in the game, Rudy makes the Jazz tick with his smothering paint defense and vertical spacing. Allen won’t be giving up a ton of strength as on other nights, but he also tends to get his shot blocked (or get gun-shy) on the rare occasion that he faces superior length. I’m going with the All-Star here, while hoping Jarrett holds him in check enough that the Stifle Tower doesn’t neutralize our guards.
TAUREAN PRINCE VS. ROYCE O’NEALE – Like Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, these Baylor alums will face off. Royce is short, stocky, efficient and a defensive ace. Taurean… is… not quite those things. Still, I feel he can have a bigger impact and swing this matchup in his favor by remaining offensively aggressive, and not letting O’Neale camp out in the short corner.
JOE HARRIS VS. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC – Another face-off! Sniper projects of the past and present Nets regime go head to head, and I think that Bojan has a sizable advantage, no pun intended. He’s taller, longer and stronger, but also just has a more diverse skill set and is a positive on both ends of the floor. Joe, do your best.
GARRETT TEMPLE VS. DONOVAN MITCHELL – Ruh roh. Mitchell continues to trend up in his 3rd season, and is almost impossible to stay in front of defensively. Caris is out, and I expect Temple to get the assignment with his defense and playmaking ability. We take an L here, but my *hope* is that Garrett can hit a few 3’s, stay out of foul trouble and at least slow down the Donovan freight train.
KYRIE IRVING VS. MIKE CONLEY – By the first 10 games of the season, this SHOULD be a big win for the Nets, perhaps the most decisive H2H for either team in the game. Mike has struggled to find his form on a new team, while Kyrie has lit Brooklyn on fire in his seamless transition. As Ralph Fiennes put it:
We know that over the course of their careers, Conley and Irving are much closer peers than their 19-20 seasons thus far would indicate. Also, Mike is coming off of his best performance of the young campaign, while Kyrie is following up his worst. Context is everything. I fear a get-right game is overdue for the Utah PG, and our team defense is looking like the league’s jump-off right about now. Meanwhile, the Jazz are a vice-grip of collective D, and KI may force some offense under the weight of carrying us this entire game.
Our bench is tough to read from game to game, but I feel we match up well with them. Joe Ingles is now their 6th man, and can impact the game positively in a number of ways. The trouble is, they don’t have a whole lot else going for them. If Spencer can continue his run of form, and DJ stays motivated by the spectre of Claxton taking his spot in the rotation, I say we win the 2nd unit battle.
Quin has adapted well to the NBA game, after languishing in college and cutting his teeth in the G league. Kenny comes from similarly humble beginnings, and neither are fond of in-game adjustments. This one is too close to call; I think that the bigger gambler wins this duel. Unfortunately, this game doesn’t really hinge on the coaching battle either way.
PREDICTION: NETS 108, JAZZ 140
JARRETT ALLEN VS. RUDY GOBERT – One of the most unique C’s in the game, Rudy makes the Jazz tick with his smothering paint defense and vertical spacing. Allen won’t be giving up a ton of strength as on other nights, but he also tends to get his shot blocked (or get gun-shy) on the rare occasion that he faces superior length. I’m going with the All-Star here, while hoping Jarrett holds him in check enough that the Stifle Tower doesn’t neutralize our guards.
TAUREAN PRINCE VS. ROYCE O’NEALE – Like Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, these Baylor alums will face off. Royce is short, stocky, efficient and a defensive ace. Taurean… is… not quite those things. Still, I feel he can have a bigger impact and swing this matchup in his favor by remaining offensively aggressive, and not letting O’Neale camp out in the short corner.
JOE HARRIS VS. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC – Another face-off! Sniper projects of the past and present Nets regime go head to head, and I think that Bojan has a sizable advantage, no pun intended. He’s taller, longer and stronger, but also just has a more diverse skill set and is a positive on both ends of the floor. Joe, do your best.
GARRETT TEMPLE VS. DONOVAN MITCHELL – Ruh roh. Mitchell continues to trend up in his 3rd season, and is almost impossible to stay in front of defensively. Caris is out, and I expect Temple to get the assignment with his defense and playmaking ability. We take an L here, but my *hope* is that Garrett can hit a few 3’s, stay out of foul trouble and at least slow down the Donovan freight train.
KYRIE IRVING VS. MIKE CONLEY – By the first 10 games of the season, this SHOULD be a big win for the Nets, perhaps the most decisive H2H for either team in the game. Mike has struggled to find his form on a new team, while Kyrie has lit Brooklyn on fire in his seamless transition. As Ralph Fiennes put it:
We know that over the course of their careers, Conley and Irving are much closer peers than their 19-20 seasons thus far would indicate. Also, Mike is coming off of his best performance of the young campaign, while Kyrie is following up his worst. Context is everything. I fear a get-right game is overdue for the Utah PG, and our team defense is looking like the league’s jump-off right about now. Meanwhile, the Jazz are a vice-grip of collective D, and KI may force some offense under the weight of carrying us this entire game.
Our bench is tough to read from game to game, but I feel we match up well with them. Joe Ingles is now their 6th man, and can impact the game positively in a number of ways. The trouble is, they don’t have a whole lot else going for them. If Spencer can continue his run of form, and DJ stays motivated by the spectre of Claxton taking his spot in the rotation, I say we win the 2nd unit battle.
Quin has adapted well to the NBA game, after languishing in college and cutting his teeth in the G league. Kenny comes from similarly humble beginnings, and neither are fond of in-game adjustments. This one is too close to call; I think that the bigger gambler wins this duel. Unfortunately, this game doesn’t really hinge on the coaching battle either way.
PREDICTION: NETS 108, JAZZ 140
