GT#55: Nets @ Bucks |2/20| 8:00pm | YES

[Ronito]

We won't beat Memphis. That game is on national TV and we don't win those games (half kidding )

[Nondescript]

Bottom line, that was a great win.

Team played pretty crappy most of the game, refs were really bad all around, coming off the double OT on the road, Brook was awful, PJ is PJ, trade rumors swirling and they aren't the best match up for us, or at least for easy on the eye basketball.

There were some real issues with effort and really execution, at least and especially in the first half but they handled business. A win is a win, is a win.

Truthfully, we're becoming a self hating fan base lol.

We are 11 games over .500 and only 1 game back from the 2 seed with 4 wins in a row over all playoff teams including 2 high level ones.

It's at the point we're being too critical methinks.

I'm starting to believe this too. Don't get me wrong, there are legitimate flaws in this team and we are streaky but not for nothing we are having a better season than most other teams in the league. Barring a historic collapse we're basically a playoffs lock now and have a very good chance at getting the Atlantic division title. I get the feeling though the next bad loss we have I'll get over emotional and demand we fired or trade everyone before cooling off later and feeling embarrassed about it.

[PetroNet]

We've got a really tough 3-game stretch to end this month coming up. If we can win 2 out of our next 3, I'd be ecstatic. We'd have gone 8-4 during a BRUTAL month, and then we'd have a pretty soft schedule the rest of the year.

I think we lose to Houston, beat Memphis, and beat NO. Obviously, Houston and Memphis are very good teams, and they've kicked our asses twice already, but we shouldn't overlook NO either...they have some serious talent on that squad, they're just young. But they can beat anybody on any given night.

id be happy with 1-2. all 3 are losable games.

unless we get josh, then we go 3-0. he would be a super motivated beast his first few games here

[Born_Ready]

With P.J. at the helm all these games is a possible loss. I would love to see them go into Houston and beat them. Houston is a young team- but this Nets to is maxed out with veterans; that should keep them in most games.

It would be nice to see this team beat the teams you're supposed to beat home/away and beat the teams that you're not supposed to beat (i.e Houston, Memphis) to prove you belong in the conversation of contenders.

[PetroNet]

With P.J. at the helm all these games is a possible loss. I would love to see them go into Houston and beat them. Houston is a young team- but this Nets to is maxed out with veterans; that should keep them in most games.

It would be nice to see this team beat the teams you're supposed to beat home/away and beat the teams that you're not supposed to beat (i.e Houston, Memphis) to prove you belong in the conversation of contenders.

we will never consistently beat .500 and over teams with this group because our defense is so poor. It isnt just that personnel wise we lack defensively, but as a unit our defense is really bad. and it has to be obvious on films you can exploit us with screens, the pick and roll, and can easily force switches.

a really good coach would help, because we would see better effort and better rotations. but it wouldnt help enough, because unless we get some guys in who can play defense, we will continue to struggle.

the whole Evans starting/Wallace is killing us talk has really masked it for alot of fans. but defense is an enormous issue.

[Antti22]

We can handily beat Houston, IF Harden stops getting such BS ticky-tacky calls all the time and bailouts by the refs. Its just sick to see how he is being a product of the league. Its every so often that he goes for like 5-20 but with 20 FT attempts to still get 30p, pathetic. Not a fan. He does have few good games every once in a while, but most of the time because nobody is allowed to be within 5 ft of you. Basicly, that says it, we dont have much of a chanche to beat Houston.

[Born_Ready]

With P.J. at the helm all these games is a possible loss. I would love to see them go into Houston and beat them. Houston is a young team- but this Nets to is maxed out with veterans; that should keep them in most games.

It would be nice to see this team beat the teams you're supposed to beat home/away and beat the teams that you're not supposed to beat (i.e Houston, Memphis) to prove you belong in the conversation of contenders.

we will never consistently beat .500 and over teams with this group because our defense is so poor. It isnt just that personnel wise we lack defensively, but as a unit our defense is really bad. and it has to be obvious on films you can exploit us with screens, the pick and roll, and can easily force switches.

a really good coach would help, because we would see better effort and better rotations. but it wouldnt help enough, because unless we get some guys in who can play defense, we will continue to struggle.

the whole Evans starting/Wallace is killing us talk has really masked it for alot of fans. but defense is an enormous issue.

Good post- and I couldn't not agree with you more. As a team they are very average defensively- and their playoff run will be short lived do to the lack thereof because they are not a good team defensively. For me though- on the defensive side it starts with Brook Lopez. The Nets need an elite defensive presence in the middle- someone strong and tough. Brook is the complete opposite.

Another issue I have with him and the other bigs is the protection of the rim. Brandon Jennings got by Deron all night long; only to find the Nets defenders being out of position for easy lay ups. As long as the team- especially Lopez continues to sag defensively, sadly this team will underachieve.

[PetroNet]

Another issue I have with him and the other bigs is the protection of the rim. Brandon Jennings got by Deron all night long; only to find the Nets defenders being out of position for easy lay ups. As long as the team- especially Lopez continues to sag defensively, sadly this team will underachieve.

Yea, Lopez (and to a lesser extent Hump/Wallace/Evans) are all good shotblockers on the inside, against other bigs, in the post, and against shots originating from below the key. Lopez is particularly good blocking shots when he is set and at a stand still.

At the same time, lopez, isnt a very good shot blocker at all againt gaurds penetrating into the lane, and even worse when he attempts to block a shot where he is forced to move to block it. If you watch instance of where lopez is switche on a gaurd or take the gaurd on the pick and roll they get by him and finish against him rather easlily, with him unable to alter or block the shot.

he just isnt quick enough or have good enough anticipation or use the right angles

[MGrand15]

With P.J. at the helm all these games is a possible loss. I would love to see them go into Houston and beat them. Houston is a young team- but this Nets to is maxed out with veterans; that should keep them in most games.

It would be nice to see this team beat the teams you're supposed to beat home/away and beat the teams that you're not supposed to beat (i.e Houston, Memphis) to prove you belong in the conversation of contenders.

we will never consistently beat .500 and over teams with this group because our defense is so poor. It isnt just that personnel wise we lack defensively, but as a unit our defense is really bad. and it has to be obvious on films you can exploit us with screens, the pick and roll, and can easily force switches.

a really good coach would help, because we would see better effort and better rotations. but it wouldnt help enough, because unless we get some guys in who can play defense, we will continue to struggle.

the whole Evans starting/Wallace is killing us talk has really masked it for alot of fans. but defense is an enormous issue.

Defense is an issue but it really depends on what type of team you think we could be. We have no elite defenders. We're not going to be a defensive team with this team. We need to be a top offensive team if we're going to be good.

Of course, you want to find a balance BUT playing Crash and Evans together puts a ton of pressure on our defense. I would say that against top teams, the real issue has been us getting completely shut down on offense. I'm going to be bad and ignore pace but look at how much we've scored against really good teams:

73 vs MIA, 90 vs LAL, 89 vs MIA, 82 vs CHI, 86 vs NYK, 90 vs UTA, 76 vs BOS, 73 vs SAS, 77 vs MEM, 85 vs MIA, 74 vs WAS, 86 vs SAS

Okay, I shouldn't have added Washington but my point still stands. 5 games under 80 points. In all of these losses, we scored less than 90. The majority of these are absolute blow outs too. We're an offensive team based on our players. Defense is an issue but putting up putrid offensive numbers like this is unacceptable. We're not going to win if we can't score over 90 against Miami. If we can barely crack 80 against the Spurs. Even with pace adjusted, these are terrible offensive performances. I'd MUCH rather fix our offense before giving an average defensive/terrible offensive player major minutes.

Except for maybe the Houston game, the one constant in our blowouts is that we can't score. It happens far too often.

[vincecarter4pres]

We can handily beat Houston, IF Harden stops getting such BS ticky-tacky calls all the time and bailouts by the refs. Its just sick to see how he is being a product of the league. Its every so often that he goes for like 5-20 but with 20 FT attempts to still get 30p, pathetic. Not a fan. He does have few good games every once in a while, but most of the time because nobody is allowed to be within 5 ft of you. Basicly, that says it, we dont have much of a chanche to beat Houston.

A product of the league?

Nah. He's just an extremely smart and skilled player with deceptive quickness, a beast first step, good handle and vision who knows how to play the game, who knows how to play the meta-game and understands what gets calls, the nuances of the refs and such.

Monster.