Nets Lose to Cavs, Clinch 6th Seed in East

nba.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 16th, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 85 Cavaliers 114

The Brooklyn Nets finished up their regular season with a blowout loss at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a tough start to the season starting (10-21) they finished (44-38), which landed them the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, and a first round match-up with the Atlantic Division winning Toronto Raptors.

Player of the Game: Andray Blatche

Jason Kidd elected to rest his starting lineup leaving his bench players to play nearly the whole game with just a seven-man rotation. Andray Blatche in the extended time was able to snag a double-double in the blowout in 39 minutes of play. Blatche finished with 20 points on eight for 18 shooting to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds. It will be interesting to see how much Blatche will be playing in the playoffs with the emergence of Mason Plumlee and the return of Kevin Garnett.

Positives:

The biggest positive of the game for Brooklyn wasn’t anything that happened from a player on the court, but the way things worked out for them in the standings. The Nets loss and the Washington Wizards win the Nets got the sixth seed, and with the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls both losing, it sets up a first round match-up against the Raptors. The Nets didn’t seem to want any part of the Bulls, and for good reason, so now they get a much better match-up against the young inexperienced Raptors.

W2W4: Brooklyn Nets vs Washington Wizards March 15th, 2014

barclayscenter.com

 By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

March 15^th, 2014

W2W4: Brooklyn Nets vs Washington Wizards

The Brooklyn Nets will be heading to Washington to face the Wizards on Saturday night, as the Nets are riding a hot streak after beating the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat this week so far. The Nets are now (34-30) on the season, which is 3.5 games behind the Raptors in the Atlantic Division.

Match-Up of the Game: John Wall vs Deron Williams

Easily the most fun match-up to watch in this game will be the Point Guard one, as it will feature two very good ones in John Wall and Deron Williams. Wall is having a great season for the Wizards, as with his great play he was well deserving of his All-Star Game selection this season. In the two Wizards victories over the Nets this season, Wall has averaged a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists per game to go along with five rebounds and 2.5 steals, as he has been great. Williams is coming off a down game against the Heat, but did hit a clutch shot late, so he will look to carry that big moments momentum into a solid game against the Wizards. This season Wall has outplayed Williams by a considerable amount, as Williams is just averaging 14 points and 6.4 assists per game.

Poor Execution Dooms Knicks Down Stretch Against Wizards

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Monday, December 16^th, 2013

Washington Wizards vs. New York Knicks

Post Game Recap

Another night, another way the Knicks lose a basketball game with the final score being 102-101. The Knicks heard boos in the third quarter falling down 15 but were able to get back on track and actually take the lead in the third quarter, reeling off a 22-5 run. But they met their demise in the fourth quarter in the form of second-year guard Bradley Beal, who was making his return from a nine-game absence. Beal killed the Knicks in the fourth quarter and was also responsible for the game-winning basket with 6.9 seconds left as he blew by Beno Udrih to the basket. Confused looking as ever the Knicks did not use a timeout as Carmelo Anthony took his time up the court and took an awful shot at the buzzer that fell short. It resulted in another tough loss as the Knicks record falls to 7-17 with their next game being Wednesday in Milwaukee to face the Bucks.

Player of the Game: Beno Udrih

Jim O'Connor/USA TODAY Sports

Udrih is getting the player of the game not because of stats that will blow you away but because of how he stepped up for the team tonight. With 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter Pablo Prigioni injured himself and was unable to return to the game. In stepped Udrih, who played the remaining 22 minutes of the game. Udrih finished the game with the highest +/- on the team at +14. His final stat line was 12 points, five assists, two rebounds, one steal and an important goose egg in the turnover column. Udrih did give up the game-winning basket, albeit the execution for the Knicks on the position was poor, and missed a free throw with 24 seconds left in the game but had a solid performance stepping up for the injured Prigioni.

-Positives

NBA: Eastern Conference Predictions

By Ryan McDonald (@RonnieMac90)

With the start of the NBA season just around the corner, it's time to play psychic with the regular season standings of the Eastern Conference.

The Miami Heat were the 1 seed last year, can they claim the 1 seed this year? Do they even care about being the 1 seed? I don't think so. Thus, this leads to the new 1 seed..

1. Indiana Pacers - (Last Season: 49-32) - Lost in the return of Derrick Rose is Danny Granger, who is returning to the Pacers after missing all but 4 games of last year. Once thought to be their franchise player, Granger will now hopefully come off the bench in a 6th man role.

In addition to Granger, they also added C.J. Watson and Luis Scola to their bench. Watson is the backup point guard the Pacers desperately needed in their series against the Miami Heat last year. Struggling to bring the ball up the court on numerous possessions, Watson looks to fix that problem and also bring some three point shooting as well. For Scola, he might not fit what they want in terms of defense, but he'll be able to replace the post scoring ability when Hibbert and/or West when they sit down.

Expect Paul George to continue to emerge as a star in this league. One of the best two way players in this league already, if he can improve his offensive game from last year, he can be one of those guys that fight for 2nd place votes in the MVP race (LeBron's winning again). And finally, one of the main reasons the Pacers only had 49 wins last year was due to Roy Hibbert's god awful play in the first half of the 2012-2013 season. Hibbert was shooting 41% from the field during that time. For a 7'2" center, that is god awful. It was mostly rectified in the 2nd half of the season, and especially during the postseason where he seemingly dominated a former defensive player of the year in Tyson Chandler. If Hibbert can average 48% from the field which is close to his career average, the Pacers should be able to attain the 1 seed with their top 5 defense.

Expected Record - 60-22

2. Miami Heat - (Last Season: 66-16) - The Heat didn't make any moves this off-season that improves their team unlike last season where they added Ray Allen. They'll have a full season of Chris Andersen instead of half, but everyone on this team is now a year older. Shane Battier and Ray Allen were considered old last year. As well as another year of wear and tear for Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

They still have LeBron, whom I expect to somehow improve like he does every season. However, I think they'll take more of a San Antonio Spur approach to the season which means lots of rest. They may have taken this approach if not for that 27 game win streak with their other players, especially Dwayne Wade who looked gassed in the postseason.

The Heat are no stranger to the 2 seed, in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 season, they finished in the 2 seed. They went on to the NBA Finals each year. They're an older team, they can't afford to exhaust themselves in the regular season when it's championship or bust.

Expected Record - 58-24

3. Chicago Bulls - (Last Season: 45-37) - The Bulls get their former MVP back in Derrick Rose. So clearly they're going to improve as long as he stays healthy.

The Bulls won the 1 seed when Rose was healthy the last two years, so why are they in the 3 seed now? Well, the other teams around them have improved since last Rose played. The Heat won 2 championships, and the Pacers who are in the Bulls division have gotten significantly better.

They'll still contend for the 1 seed, I just don't think they have enough to make it.

Expected Record - 55-27

4. Brooklyn Nets - (Last Season: 49-33) - This team improved the most this offseason with their blockbuster trade with Boston. Acquiring Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, and signing Andrei Kirilenko. However, their seeding is the same, 4.

The reason for this is because the teams above them aside from the Heat improved as well. They lost to a Roseless Bulls team in the playoffs, which was an embarrassment. Rose is now back.

KG gives them a great interior presence and Brook Lopez did improve in his help defense, but their backcourt struggled last year keeping bodies in-front of them. Paul Pierce and Jason Terry will only add to that problem.

Furthermore, the Nets hired rookie head coach Jason Kidd to lead the team. I like Kidd, I think he'll be a great head coach someday. But with this roster, and this pressure filled situation where it's championship or bust, is not great to learn coaching on the fly.

KG and Pierce will probably only play 20-25 minutes a game. Infact, I expect Kirilenko to average more minutes a game than Pierce does.

Expected Record - 51-31

5. New York Knicks - (Last Season - 54-28) - Last year, they were the 2 seed. How did they fall 3 seeds in one season? Last year, for the first quarter of the season, Carmelo Anthony was on fire. An early MVP candidate, Melo led the Knicks on a hot start but fell back to normal later. He suffered injuries late in the year which plagued him in the postseason. Melo rehabbed and looks back to his normal self. But is it enough?

Amar'e Stoudemire will most likely be on a minute cap of 20 for the entire season. JR Smith will be out the first month of the season recovering from offseason surgery. They lost Jason Kidd to retirement (and to the Nets).

They gained Andrea Bargnani who will look to start at the power forward position, moving Melo back to the small forward position. They also signed Metta World Peace to backup Melo.

 Bringing in Bargnani spreads the floor on offense as he can shoot the 3, but he can't rebound or defend. Amar'e, another power forward, also can't really rebound or defend. Kenyon Martin can do both, but can he get the minutes he deserves with these two on the roster? I guess you could play Martin or Amar'e at center to backup Tyson Chandler, but Martin would be undersized and Amar'e is just awful playing defense at center (great offensively).

Coach Mike Woodson will have to find a good mix with this roster.

Expected Record - 50-32

6. Washington Wizards - (Last Season - 29-53) - The Wizards. 6th. Someone had to be I guess. There's 5 teams I see fighting for the last 3 spots. I look at the Wizards roster and I think it's the best out of these teams.

John Wall hopefully will stay healthy this season and finally live up to all that potential he has. Bradley Beal will continue to improve off a strong rookie campaign. The drafting of Otto Porter Jr. gives them a good wing player and moves Trevor Ariza to the bench where he most likely belongs. They also brought in Eric Maynor to be their backup point guard which is a good signing.

No more 50 win teams though, that stops here.

Expected Record - 42-40

7. Cleveland Cavaliers - (Last Season - 24-58) - Where to start? They signed Andrew Bynum, they drafted Anthony Bennett. They get back Anderson Varejao from injury last year. They're one of the youngest teams in the league. But injuries.

Bynum is a huge question mark but what goes under the radar is that Kyrie Irving has yet to play a full season. Granted, he's only been in 2 seasons, but he also had an injury at Duke. He's injury prone. This is really a hit or miss team. If they can stay healthy, they'll make the playoffs easily, but it's a big if.

People forget however that Varejao was a beast before he got hurt. So I expect Bynum to only play 20 games (I'm probably being generous), I still think they make the playoffs with Varejao. They have a good young core and I expect Kyrie to play at least 70 games.

That being said, doesn't take much to snag one of these lower seeds in the eastern conference. Guess Cavs should be happy they're not in the West.

Expected Record - 39-43

8. Atlanta Hawks - (Last Season - 44-38) - They lost Josh Smith to free agency, still don't know why they didn't trade him. To fill the void, they signed Paul Millsap. Certainly a different skill set, and you lose something on the boards and defensively, but Millsap is the better offensive player currently.

They still have Al Horford, who is one of the better centers in the league. Elton Brand was also signed who is a serviceable big man at this point in time to come off the bench. Jeff Teague is a young point guard who can still improve.

Louis Williams should return mid-season from an ACL tear as well.

The negative is they're probably going to start Kyle Korver at small forward. They don't really have anyone better for the position, but Korver should be coming off the bench.  

Expected Record - 36-46

As for the snubs,

Detroit Pistons - (Last Season - 29-53) - They signed Josh Smith. They're going to play him at small forward. They're going to play Stuckey at shooting guard. This means, out of their starters, only Brandon Jennings can shoot threes effectively and he sometimes shoots too much.

The floor spacing is going to be terrible. Their frontcourt seems dominate on paper, with Smith, Monroe, Drummond. It's monstrous, but how effective can it be when 4 defenders have a foot in the paint at all times?

Expected Record - 34-48

Toronto Raptors - (Last Season - 34-48) - They get Rudy Gay for a full season, he's a solid player. I don't think he's a franchise player though, nor can he carry a team. Jonas Valanciunas had a decent rookie year, but I can't see him emerging as a legitimate post threat which is what the Raptors need.

Perhaps their season rests on the development of DeMar Derozan who's better known for his athleticism. If he can improve his range on his jumper, they'll do better than I expect.

Expected Record - 34-48

As for the Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks,  Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, and Philadelphia 76ers, they'll be competing for the number 1 pick.

2013 NBA Draft Grades

Michael Simmons/New York Daily News

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

The NBA Draft Thursday was as wild as people were expecting as there were trades were flying all night. Some teams did better than others tonight in a draft that was tough to navigate with no consensus number one pick, leading to surprises right from the first pick through the 60^th.  This is also the last draft that David Stern will be conducting as commissioner, as he is stepping down February 1^st, 2014. Here are the grades for each team with the players that they ended up with at the end of the night.

Nets Finish Regular Season with Win Over Pistons

nytimes.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 17th, 2013

Detroit Pistons vs. Brooklyn Nets

Final Score: Pistons 99 Nets 103

The Brooklyn Nets finished up their first regular season in their new home on a positive note by beating the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. The Nets finished their first season in Brooklyn with a (49-33) record, which gave them home court in the first round, as they are the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. 

Positives:

Interim Head Coach P.J. Carlesimo did a pretty solid job for Brooklyn after filling in for the fired Avery Johnson. Carlesimo finished the season with a (34-19), and that record is the best start for any coach in Nets franchise history. Carlesimo’s future with the Nets is unknown, as the Nets front office has made no commitment to him, but he’s got them ready to go for a big playoff series with the Chicago Bulls, and he’s done a great job getting the Nets to their regular season expectations.

Nets Beat Wizards Without Big 3

espn.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 15th, 2013

Brooklyn Nets vs. Washington Wizards

Final Score: Nets 106 Wizards 101

The Brooklyn Nets were able to have a comeback win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night, as despite resting the Big 3 along with a few others, Brooklyn’s normal bench players stepped into the starting lineup, and played good games.

Positives:

With the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference already locked up, with no way of moving up or down in the standings, Head Coach P.J. Carlesimo had the luxury of resting some of his core players. Carlesimo sat four normal Starters in Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Reggie Evans, and Brook Lopez. He also gave Keith Bogans, whose been dealing with a sore back, and Jerry Stackhouse the night off.

Knicks Roll Wizards for 13th Straight Win and Atlantic Division

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Tuesday, April 9^th, 2013

Post Game Recap

Final Score: Washington Wizards: 99 New York Knicks: 120

It is a great time to be a Knicks fan, the first time a person could say that in a very long time.  With the rolling of the Wizards the Knicks did tonight, they run their win streak to 13 games and also clinched their first Atlantic Division title since the 1993-1994 season.  The Knicks did it in convincing fashion tonight as they came out hot and just kept piling it on the poor Wizards.  The Knicks were unconscious from the field on offense and never let the Wizards get into the game.  The Knicks will have a little time to celebrate the Atlantic Division title but there is still work to be done as the second seed in the Eastern Conference is still up for grabs, but at this point looks like the Knicks have a stranglehold on it.  The Knicks will start a back-to-back in Chicago Thursday night; the same place the Miami Heat lost their lengthy winning streak a few weeks back.

-Positives

W2W4: Washington Wizards vs. New York Knicks April 9

Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Tuesday, April 9^th, 2013

Pre-Game News and Notes

Washington Wizards vs. New York Knicks

The Knicks will look to not only extend their 12-game winning streak tonight against the Wizards at Madison Square Garden, but also lock up the division title for the first time since 1993-1994.  The Knicks magic number sits at one currently, meaning their next win or Nets loss will give the Knicks the Atlantic Division title.  It has been so long since the Knicks won the Atlantic Division that two teams no longer residing in the division, the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, have won it more times than the Knicks.  This will be the fourth and final meeting between the Knicks and Wizards this season, with the Knicks winning two of the first three matchups but the Wizards giving them some serious problems in the last two meetings.  Here are some things to look for the Knicks to continue their win streak and lock up the Atlantic Division.