Nets still a contender for The Raptors??

[seanied]

Least Valuable Player: Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets

Nothing predicts a Nets freefall better than a comfortable, well-paid and unmotivated Carter. Half-man, half-hearted. They are in the middle of a coach-killing, eight-game losing streak, and no one is playing softer than Carter. He has stopped going to the rim, stopped risking life and limb and declared his new four-year, $62 million contract fit for a suburban jump shooter.

As badly as Rod Thorn would love to trade him, there are no takers. Ownership wanted to overpay Carter last summer

[LittleOzzy]

-= original quote snipped =-



http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... ards012608

Wow that is harsh, and I love it!

[JD225]

Seems like every year the Nets get hyped up and every year they disappoint. Guys like Magic are 100% correct in their assessment of Vince.

Let the blowouts do the talking

[chsh22]

Last year Bosh struggled to get anything going against Jason Collins. This year the nets have added a more atheletic defender in Sean Williams. Also last year the Raps relied heavily on the strong play of Andrea Bargnani in the last couple games of the series and judging by what we've seen thus far i wouldnt count on Bargnani to pull that off again. With Jason Kidd being a walking triple double, an improved Richard Jefferson and Carter still liable for 30 points on any given night, not only are the Nets still contendors against the Raps but I would go as far as to pick them as the favourites

Bosh was constantly doubled throughout the series.

While Jason Kidd is doing better with his triple-double count (1 shy of matching last season's total of 12 so far this year) and his rebounding is up, his points average is down, and his 3P% is still falling as it has since 04/05. Carter is doing what he did in Toronto and getting comfortable with his fat contract. Jefferson is who they should rebuild around IMO.

I really don't think they have it in them to come back and beat that many good teams. New Jersey and Toronto are similar teams headed in opposite directions at the moment. We're both middling teams that have talent and skill, but in our case we're young, and in the Nets case, two of their keys are aging and maybe have enough gas in the tank for one more serious go before they're done -- at least in the case of Kidd, saying that about Carter would be giving him too much credit.

[ponder276]

I agree with most people here:
Barring major injuries, there is virtually no way the nets finish ahead of us in the regular season, but if we have to face them in the playoffs, we're the underdogs. I see the nets-raps rivalry as a crappier version of the spurs-suns rivalry: the young, jump-shooting, ball moving teams do better in the regular season, but in the playoffs the experienced, skilled veterans have the edge.
I think this is the last year the nets have a playoff edge over us though - vince and kidd are starting to decline, and our team is only going to get better. I also think this is the last year the spurs have an edge over the suns, although with the emergence of young teams like NO, Portland and Utah in the west, the suns may still be hard pressed to win a championship, especially with nash getting older and marion possibly wanting to leave.

[raps_baller]

I feel that the Nets' record is deceptive as being lower than it actually should. I feel they have underachieved this season and could still contend with the Raps come playoff time. THey have the experience and I am sure they will be a lower seeded team that noone will want to face in the first round.

[viceroy]

the nets are washed up group of veterans who even at their prime would never get to the finals. they pose no threat to us in the playoffs whatsoever. first probably because they wont even make the playoffs. secondly because compared to us and our growth , they have regressed. they are as good as they are gonna get, and its not that good..... raptors have grown tremendously since last year. put this years calderon into the playoffs last year and we win. raptors only lost because of inexperience. and still made it a fight. this year raptors are tougher, wiser, smarter, better, have more depth, and have far better chemistry than last year. it wouldn't even be a competition. bosh knows what to expect now in the playoffs, bosh grows with every experience. no doubt their defense wont be half as potent against bosh as it was before. bosh has a huge learning curve and im sure he learned tonnes in the playoffs. calderon has become an all-star level pg since then. hes worlds better. i dont see it. we had a bunch of playoffs rooks with 0 playoff experiecne take that team to almost 7 games. given that we gave away a home victory, and were 1 shot away from making it to game 7. now we're better, our players are better, our bench is better, our defense has gotten much much better, our offensive execution is better ( could be a calderon effect ) the entire ballclub is better and is continuing to improve.

nets are nosediving into the bottom of the barrel with the rest of the nba trash teams . raptors are on the way up and are constantly improving. by the time playoffs roll around the raptors are going to be busy taking care of business while the nets will be deciding who to pick in the lottery .

[thecc]

Seems like every year the Nets get hyped up and every year they disappoint. Guys like Magic are 100% correct in their assessment of Vince.

Let the blowouts do the talking

To say that the Nets "disappoint" every year is preposterous. Two years ago they won the first round in just five games, and lost to the team that went on to win the World Championship. Losing to the eventual World Champions is not a disappointment unless you were favoured to win the title yourselves. The Heat were the heavy favourites in that series.

Last year they beat a team that had six more wins in the regular season, and took a 50-win team that ended up going to the NBA Finals to six games. Hardly a "disappointment" for a 41-win team.

This year they are disappointing, but they do not disappoint "every year". But I guess you expect a 41 win team to beat a 50 win team. It's not enough that they beat a 47 win team