ROUND 1 GAME 4: NETS @ BULLS | Saturday | 2:00pm | TNT

[bbfan4life]

Bulls look to be the better team. Not more talented. The bulls are on the same page. When the nets came to help on D the bulls were quick to make the cuts and the passes were right on the money. Also on D the bulls work much better collectively. The rotations on D are crisp and exact. Remember this isn't the bulls first rodeo. They are a hardened playoff team even having no Rose.

[bbfan4life]

I honestly don't watch nets games. At first I was like Blatche doesn't look bad he might be a solid pick for someone in the offseason. Then the ole defense and non existent hustle reared it's ugly head and I backed completely off that idea.

[bobbyc]

Just lose the next game too. Lets get started on next season, this whole season has been ugly for us. Hire new coach, trade Hump.

Even if we won, Miami would annihilate us. Beating Chicago would have only been for pride, there is no chance of us winning anything this year.

[NjNeTs1029]

Im still pissed that these bums blew a 14 point lead with almost 2 mins to go.. But how do we even fix this mess in the off season? Obviously we need a new coach, but roster wise? We have no cap room and a bunch of untradeable contracts. I feel like King has built a 4-6 seed treadmill team for the rest of the time that dwill, jj and crash are here.

[Paradise]

Im still pissed that these bums blew a 14 point lead with almost 2 mins to go.. But how do we even fix this mess in the off season? Obviously we need a new coach, but roster wise? We have no cap room and a bunch of untradeable contracts. I feel like King has built a 4-6 seed treadmill team for the rest of the time that dwill, jj and crash are here.

There isn't that much to fix depending on what your looking at.

-Upgrade at PF
-Build a complete bench
-Find a new coach

I'd give Wallace one more chance before looking at getting rid of him.


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[deepblueday]

few thoughts:

"we have no heart." "deron and brook should win games by themselves." this is the most regressive, uninteresting, uninformative analysis conceivable. deron and brook will win games for us when we surround them with system and personnel conducive to winning. while they are by no means blameless for our losses, they are certainly not the heart of our problems. they arent perfect, but they are winning pieces, i think that should be clear to anyone who remotely understands the game. our problems are the same as theyve been all year.

we cannot defend the pick and roll. at all. evans sucks, brook sucks. moreover, we're generally undisciplined and confused defensively.

we are playing two useless, braindead offensive players, and a third who gives you nothing whatsoever when he isn't isolating. our wings stand around when they dont have the ball, we cant run a 1-4 pick and roll and have the big find a shooter, we can't space the floor, we can't kick to our 3 off of penetration, we can't dump the ball to our 4 under the rim, we can't find our 2 cutting the rim, our low post big man still can't pass for ****... we just can't play quick, fluid offense, with instantaneous passes and decisions, because the only player in our starting line-up who plays that way is deron. the other four players either suck, or have some of the slowest, most methodical games in the NBA. all year weve stagnated vs quality defenses that take away our iso heavy game. we shouldn't have been surprised to see this continue.

and you can say well we blew a huge lead despite all this... to me that's not of much interest. games are played over 48 minutes. an opposing player got hot and our tactical and personnel weaknesses were exposed. no heart translates to us being utterly incapable of stopping a soul.

i said it in the game one thread, can you imagine deron and brook surrounded by young athletes and shooters? instead we have... this.

[CalamityX12]

Why is everyone so mad with Crash? He's still better than any lotto pick we rightfully deserved. That's why King is extended!!!!

we blew a 14 pt lead late in the game... this is **** tarded.....

there's no meanbone or a thirst for kill on this team...

[deepblueday]

and ill say this, this matchup zone chicago is playing where they basically ignore both evans and wallace and every defender flat out stares at the strong side... do you know easy that is to decimate if you have a great pg and smart, explosive off ball movement? remember the princeton? how kidd taught kerry and rj and kenyon to explode towards the basket the second their man turned their head? our players literally stand still when they dont have the basketball. i mean its all well and good because these guys cant finish at the rim anyway, but man times have changed

[Paradise]

Why is everyone so mad with Crash? He's still better than any lotto pick we rightfully deserved. That's why King is extended!!!!

we blew a 14 pt lead late in the game... this is **** tarded.....

there's no meanbone or a thirst for kill on this team...

It all started with the CJ missed dunk. After re-watching the game, they were looking to run clock instead of build the lead.

That's the biggest issue before the 14 point blown lead because the Bulls were totally demoralized. They let Wallace get a wide open dunk with no body stopping him, Jimmy Butler started making bad passes and Noah started yelling at him. They were done.

Now, instead of looking to pour it on. They basically relaxed and figured there was no way they could come back then when it's time to pour it on once it's down to double digits, they had no momentum and shots stopped falling, free throws started missing.

At the end of the day, It's mental. Not a talent issue, mental atleast for this series anyhow. We outplayed them for the majority of the game and relaxed because it looked like an easy win and it actually happened in Game 1 but the lead was so big, they couldn't make a comeback which was the only difference.

That stems from leadership and coaching but most importantly player leadership. So, all isn't lost but this team has the mental capacity of a rookie team.

[JoseRizal]

I'll say it again. Ths team has no spine...

[enetric]

and ill say this, this matchup zone chicago is playing where they basically ignore both evans and wallace and every defender flat out stares at the strong side... do you know easy that is to decimate if you have a great pg and smart, explosive off ball movement? remember the princeton? how kidd taught kerry and rj and kenyon to explode towards the basket the second their man turned their head? our players literally stand still when they dont have the basketball. i mean its all well and good because these guys cant finish at the rim anyway, but man times have changed

Funny that you made these specific comparisons to Kidd. Basically...this is what I have been saying for months. And I am glad you used the word TAUGHT. It so perfectly points out a big part of the issue. We have become afraid to point out the obvious. And that is, we DONT have a great floor general.

After the Clippers game as CP3 was directing a pair of offensive duds in his starting lineup to roll to the basket I pointed...out see it can be done! Is Deron a great scorer? Yes. Can he pile up assists? Yes. Does he have a great command of the floor...does he see how to orchestrate his offense? No.

And that needs to be said too. Sure, lets hope we can upgrade our role guys. But every team has role guys. No one has 8 stars. The Nix have one star, one great defensive player, one mentally ill bench guy who is having a career year and beyond that a floating cast of broken old guys who have all manners of flaws. But...they execute. We do not.

So we do have to expect more from Deron as well. It is on him to run his team as a floor general. He does need to get his guys going to the hoop when their man doubles off them...and he has to actually have a pass first mentality when he drives into an expected double team that meets him in the lane. I am not saying he cant look for his shot...but I am saying...the instincts for reading the D need to be better. He needs to see when to change tempo. And he has to push his open players where he needs them to be in between plays. He has to see what the D is giving him and make sure his guys are reacting.

[jerseyjac]

Mediocre star? He's got 30 and 10... Yeah we get it E, he's not Lebron or Durant, but the dude is a beast.

Stop it. He had a good game in regulation specifically in the third quarter. But where was he down the stretch? Where was he for one bucket in 3OT's?

COme on man. He was putrid game 2, game 3, and the 3 OT's. Call him out for what he deserves.

He is NO beast. He is more than capable....but for years you ripped Melo as he dropped far bigger averages. So what? At some point its not just box score stats. Is he a star? yes. Is he winner?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

So far he is a star capable of driving a team to the middle. Honestly...you sound like those people that used to defend Chuckerson. There are box scores...and then there are winners.

I'm late to the party, but I have to say that has to be one of the most disappointing losses I have ever watched as a Nets fan...and there is enough to compete with this one but after 3OTs and losing to Bulls team which executed significantly better through the last 3min of the 4th and 3 OTs...I must say one thing comes to mind...

I was waiting to send a plate of crow to that Chicago beat writer (on MY9 half time interview w/ Sarah after calling out the Nets as soft and Deron as disappearing late in games, etc...) However, he was spot on...though I do not question this team's heart or backbone, just their execution and ability to consistently make a shot when we need it...

I for one think Deron loses focus and or just gets caught up in the game rather than realizing what he has to do ....IMO, Kirk out played Deron during the final 3 min and the 3 OTs....Kirk played better defense and most importantly created for his teammates who are less capable than us in getting their own shot...combined that w/ Nate's performance and some timely buckets from Boozer, Deng and Noah...and you have a big fat, classic collapse by the Nets...

I'm not here to call anyone out, because this was a team loss, specifically on the defensive end...though again, it is really deflating when Deron more times than none cannot penetrate the lane and create an open shot or an easy shot in the paint area...

But I saw a lot of mistakes on defense...the Bulls really got our defense to collapse on dribble drives and Nate made a bunch of big shots along with others...

As much as this is disappointing, once again I am not surprised because we are still learning how to play together ...we're still very green, and we still are not executing on either side of the floor when it really counts...honestly, I was through the roof on defense and some of the buckets we gave up...Yeh you could be happy with some of Brook's blocks and handful of steal, etc...but those don't add up to good defense when you make numerous defensive mistakes and let a offensively challenged Bulls team shoot 53%...

[enetric]

I think the hardest thing for me was...I wasnt watch a team on hte edge of my seat thinking..come on guys you can do this like I did in the SPurs finals series or those great battles with the Pistons...or after the Reggie Miller game...or following the collapse game to Boston or the greatest game ever the OT Pistons game.

I sat there feeling like...OK...lets see how these clowns blow this game to a team of B leaguers who want it more than we do. Who have a higher BBIQ. Who are getting step up play from non superstars when we cant get that from our stars.

I hated that feeling. Its the only time I can recall feeling that way about a Nets playoff team.

[jerseyjac]

well maybe that its... especially the run they went on and he we couldn't stop it much like the Boston game...I was anticipating disappointment, realizing we had a better chance of losing that one than pulling out a win...Hell, most of it stems from the two prior games, which was ultimately my fear from day 1...1st round deflating series loss to a team we think we should beat on paper...

Give credit to the Bulls, they're doing a great job...

As for us, you can always take one game at a time and try to win one at home, take one in Chitown and come back home for close out game...honestly, I'm not counting these guys out, I'm more curious how they play with their backs against the wall...you cannot push anyone closer to the edge and get to see how they react...

For me, I thought we slightly overachieved with a couple more wins in the regular season and getting the 4th seed...3-4 was high, I thought we would of ended up 5-6, but that has as much to do with the NBA and other teams as it has to do with us...

Now, as a whole, losing in the first round, in the position we came in...and going behind in this series how we have, I'm really not surprised but I cannot deny the disappointment in our execution...especially when you believe maybe this team is peaking at the right time or that they will show up when it matters...

I think it has a lot to do with how much I want this team to prove me wrong, but I walk away hating to say it, fool's gold...

[enetric]

JJ...I DESPERATELY wanted this team to prove me wrong. SO far only Lopez has turned it up. And even then he goes in spurts where he falls in love with his long range shot and if its falling he just keeps taking it further and further out until he goes cold and disappears. Overall...he has stepped up...but i have felt a full effort through to the end of games.

The rest of this team has failed to prove anything to me. I am so utterly disappointed with Deron above all, I have made that abundantly clear by now. I know that irks some who still want to believe in staf stuffing ability...but I can see that others around here agree.

I agree with you..give the Bulls credit. But playoffs are about the cream rising. This isnt NCAA where some CInderella beats a top 4 seed in round 1. Playoffs upsets are rare and most of the time EXPOSE your star players.

If they were a healthy 5 seed with a star player you could say...hey classic 4/5 first round evenly matched. But no Rose, Noah on one leg and Deron, JJ and Lopez are getting schooled by Boozer/Hinrich/Nate????

Hard for me to forgive that 3 games in a row.

Honestly...even if we win tonight...I wont feel better. To me if they want to show some pride...have to get to game 7. Sure...they lose game 7 and many of us will put them right back in the doghouse...but right now I just want to see something that says...I know on paper we are much better than you. Time to play like we are in the park and take over the next two games.

Cant do that...I dont think I will be able to find a silver lining in this group...especially with our top guy.