No, this is not about "Man, NJ looks scary" becuase in a playoff series we would destroy them.


This is about NJ, and Miami. They are now destined to meet in the second round, and NJ presents Miami with the same problems we present Miami with;

The dreaded Shaq killer, the pick and roll., AND a scorer that they cannot contain on the wing.

IF, NJ does somehow grab that 2seed, they have a very real chance at beating Miami in a best of 7. I'm almost convinced that they won't need home-court if Shaq is still banged up, along with Zo.

All this of course hinges on wether or not NJ can stay healthy, and that is a huge IF.

Also remember that NJ learned some important things last year against the Heat, and that could be invaluable.

I said before this is where losing Eddie Jones and Damon Jones would kill Miami.

Jason Kidd no longer is forced to stay at home defensively and on the glass, and Miami has NOBODY that can even bother VInce Carter, let alone contain him.

The last 3 times NJ has played Miami, it hasn't even been a close game. NJ has handled them easily.

yeah, i saw the game. NJ did what ever they wanted to do.
they scare me more than the heat do. they're a big man away from being a contender, IMO

yeah, i saw the game. NJ did what ever they wanted to do.
they scare me more than the heat do. they're a big man away from being a contender, IMO

Yeah, if they had a bruising PF/C who could board and slug fuckers I'd be scared. Their 1-3 rebound better than any backcourt in the league, but it wouldn't be enough against us.

Much as that may be true, that won't happen this season and I'll worry about next season when next season happens.

The Nets are really playing some scary defense right now.

The Nets are really playing some scary defense right now.
not that scarey. Its definately geared towards keeping you out the paint though via zoning it.. The longer the rebounds, the better for them.

The Nets are really playing some scary defense right now.
not that scarey. Its definately geared towards keeping you out the paint though via zoning it.. The longer the rebounds, the better for them.

Good take Gutz (I'm switching to positive reinforcement).

Nenad Krstic is much improved. He's getting better.











[smilie=arnold.gif] Only Prince can blossom here.


-M1

As good as they look and as funny as it would be to see them knock off the darling Heat, I can't see it happening. Tough second round match up though.

Updated: April 3, 2006, 2:27 AM ET
Streaking Nets seek Heat seat
By Chris Sheridan
ESPN Insider

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Striving to be second-best, the New Jersey Nets are suddenly within reach of the No. 2 seed in the East.

"Right now they're playing the best basketball of anybody in the NBA, there's no doubt," Miami coach Pat Riley conceded Sunday after New Jersey notched its 12th straight victory -- one shy of the longest winning streak in the league this season -- by knocking off the Heat 90-78.

New Jersey won the season series 3-1 and moved within three games of the Heat in the loss column with 10 games remaining. It's still a long shot, but the Nets have a chance of catching Miami and securing home-court advantage for a possible meeting of the teams in the second round of the playoffs.

Most importantly, the Nets left the Heat pondering their total inability to stop Vince Carter, who went for 43 Sunday after dropping 51 on them in Miami back in December when the Nets became one of just two Eastern Conference teams to win on the Heat's home court.

Carter scored 20 of his points in the third quarter when the Nets broke the game open, then polished off the victory after Miami had rallied with a vicious two-handed slam on a backdoor cut off a line-drive alley-oop pass from Jason Kidd. We've all gotten used to seeing Carter make spectacular dunks, but this one still stood out as among his best.

"For him, everybody talked about his past, being soft, or a guy who doesn't like to compete when it gets tough, and he's shown us everything but that. He's been right there when it starts to get tough, and he wants the shot, or he wants to play defense," Kidd said of Carter, who eclipsed 20 points for the 17th consecutive game and the 54th time this season.

New Jersey is closing in on the franchise record of 14 consecutive victories set two years ago, and Kidd believes this streak is more impressive because of the quality of several of the victories (included are wins at Detroit and Washington, a 38-point blowout of Phoenix and an 11-point win over Dallas).

"As a whole, as a team, our confidence has grown. We never panic," Kidd said.

The Nets also feel they never get the respect they deserve, and they were playing that card to the hilt after Sunday's victory.

Richard Jefferson kept insisting over and over how the Pistons and the Heat were the two best teams in the East, because that's what their records show and because those two tams went to the conference finals last year, and how nobody should be claiming otherwise. Jefferson even dismissed the Nets' 3-1 season series edge as a fluke caused by several factors that conspired against the Heat in each of the losses (they were without James Posey, Alonzo Mourning and Jason Williams on Sunday, and Shaquille O'Neal was saddled with five fouls late in the third quarter after a pair of questionable calls went against him in quick succession.)

"When you have a guy like Stu Jackson running stuff, it's obvious why the referees are the way they are. It looks like there's an agenda to me," O'Neal said.

Riley also reiterated his complaint that players are using both forearms to hinder O'Neal from establishing low-post position, and he was aghast that four of O'Neal's fouls came on the offensive end.

"If you bitch too much, they lay a big fine on your ass, so we're trying to have a little class with it," Riley said.

So while the Heat grumbled, a few of the Nets, including Carter, acknowledged how important it was for them to measure themselves against a team that went 7-0 against them a year ago and swept them from the playoffs.

And then there was Jefferson, who seemingly has never heard a premise he didn't disagree with.

"You don't prove yourself until the playoffs."

OK, we'll give Jefferson that.

But to say this victory was no more important than any other would do it a disservice.

Dwyane Wade, O'Neal and Riley know full well that Miami has no one who can contain Carter (think they'll miss Eddie Jones in the playoffs?). And if the Heat stumbles through their last nine games, it's not out of the question to suggest that they might just have to stop Carter on the road in a Game 7. It's still a mathematical long shot, but at least the Nets have the Heat thinking.

"I'd like to secure what we've had all season, the No. 2 seed," Riley said. "We have to gather ourselves and get back on track."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/basketball/14241526.htm


Nets pose a threat to Heat, Pistons

By ISRAEL GUTIERREZ
igutierrez@MiamiHerald.com

Jason Kidd better be careful he doesn't overexert himself while dragging around that heavy bag of sand.

''We are just out here playing,'' the Nets point guard said of his scorching-hot team. ``We will let Detroit and Miami carry all that [burden]. Let them be the guys fighting for the Eastern Conference title. We are just playing and trying to get better and see what happens.''

Of course, it's kind of hard to downplay your team's success when that group has put together one of the most impressive stretch of games any team has displayed this season.

So don't fall for Kidd's modest ways. The Nets do have enough to contend with either the Heat or the Detroit Pistons, and they're finding that out at just the right time.

New Jersey, labeled all season long as an inconsistent perimeter team that is incapable of making noise in the postseason, has shaken that tag with its double-figure winning streak this month. It's not just who the Nets have beaten, which includes six playoff teams, that makes the streak so impressive. It's not just where the Nets have won, which includes Detroit and Washington. It's not just the style of wins, which includes blowing out the usually high-scoring Suns and grinding it out with the Pistons.

What proves that this team is not only playoff-ready but versatile and dangerous, is who has been getting it done on the offensive end, and how effective the team has been defensively.

Calling the Nets a one-dimensional perimeter team these days is suddenly as silly as calling the New York Knicks a playoff contender. With the continued development of center Nenad Krstic, the Nets can now boast a true inside-outside game that only the Pistons, Heat and maybe Indiana can match. For the season, Krstic, a second-year player, is averaging 13 points, six rebounds and shooting 50 percent. But during the first 10 games of New Jersey's winning streak, the 7-foot Krstic has scored 16.3 points with 8.2 rebounds and shot 51.2 percent from the field.

`BIG FOUR'

''We may have to change that Big Three to the Big Four,'' Nets general manager Ed Stefanski said. ``We thought Krstic would get better, but we didn't think this. Now I want to be selfish and hope there's more there.''

Combine Krstic's play with the efficient performances of Richard Jefferson, and the Nets can easily get away with the inconsistent shooting of Vince Carter and Jason Kidd. Jefferson, who not too long ago complained that the Nets tend to go away from what's working, shot nearly 54 percent from the field as the Nets ran off 10 straight wins, averaging 20.2 points.

All the while, the much-ballyhooed Carter has done nothing special, shooting 41.6 percent to get his 24-plus points a game. And Kidd, who has played phenomenal defense and still dished out 9.1 assists per game, shot less than 38 percent from the field in those games.

The key to the Nets' chances of getting past either the Heat or the Pistons (or both?), is the team defense. No, the Nets no longer have the interior defensive presence that Kenyon Martin gave them when New Jersey made consecutive Finals appearances. But as a whole, the Nets are showing a similar defensive ability, holding teams to 80.4 points in that 10-game stretch.

Power forward Jason Collins deservedly receives a lot of the credit for keeping the paint clear for New Jersey, but the 33-year-old Kidd is also playing a large role on that end.

KIDD'S DEFENSE

Kidd helped keep Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups scoreless through three quarters and held Steve Nash without a point for an entire game on back-to-back nights.

Kidd, who took all last season to truly recover from knee surgery, said he's playing as well as he can recall.

''I feel great,'' he said. ``A little bit smarter, maybe a little bit wiser. I feel like when I was in Dallas. Maybe I just can't dunk, but besides that, you know limitations and you go with that.''

Kidd and the Nets didn't just decide to turn it on at this point. The team just happens to be realizing its potential at a very convenient time. The 2003-04 Heat team did the same thing when it made a run to the Eastern Conference semifinals and took the Indiana Pacers to six games.

These Nets have more experience than that Heat team did, and might just be good enough to crash the Heat-Pistons Eastern Conference finals party.

Nets don't scare me. I'd like them to take out the Heat though because I can't stand them. Only RJ scares me (i think we can wear down Kidd and VC in a 7 games series). I also think Sheed yould abuse Kristic over a 7 game series too. VC is the only Net cabably of winning a game by himself. The Heat have Shaq and Wade that can do that.

I still dont see them as a supreme threat to us. but they can push us to 6 games. but so could miami. but thats only if we lay an egg. i'd prefer them over the heat. Kristic does not strike worry into me. Shaq is more of a problem than anyone on jersey. Wearing guys down with all his fatass weight. The Nets have no real post presence outside of jefferson. And they depend on the ISO plays waaaayyyy too much.

But like someone else said. If they magically got a serious big man, they'd be trouble.

Miami could beat us IMO. You have two superstars, with superstar calls that could go off at any time. They only need that to happen 4 times in 7 games to beat us. That means two steller games from each. It could happen, though I would certainly pick us. You have to remember that those two guys will get a LOT of calls for them, and we have a tendancy to complain when we feel we are being wronged. I'd hate to let the refs into our heads.

I'd much rather play NJ and avoid it alltogether, even though I think we are a superior team to Miami.

Fugazies.

The issue New Jersey has is Carter chasing around Hamilton for a seven game series. One game isn't a big deal, but to do that night in and night out for a stretch of games will effect ones game. If New Jersey beats the Heat and we meet them in the conference finals, Carter will have come off guarding Wade for six or seven games and Kristic would have been tenderized like a piece of meat by Shaq and probably Zo at that time.

I can't believe Stromile Swift took the MLE from Houston rather than taking the MLE and heading to NJ.

No, sorry. I have seen enough Piston-Nets games to be very worried about the Nets and I think the rest of you at the least take them as a serious threat if we meet them in the playoffs.

NJ matches up against the Pistons possibly better than any team in the NBA. These are the reasons the Nets have enjoyed success against the Pistons the past 3 years:

1.) Kidd is big enough to negate the usual advantage Billups has against smaller guards. Chauncey cannot post Kidd nor use his upper body to get off shots like he does.

2.) Kidd's healthy again.

3.) the Nets struggle against teams that have a dominant post presence. As far along as Krstic is he is very foul prone. Too bad the Pistons lack a serious post player. Dice is as close as it gets and even then he is still a 10 foot pick n pop guy. Sheed is the X-factor here.

4.) Princes well documented struggles against RJ. Tay over a 7 game series won't get the better of this match up.

5.) Carter playing serious again. Sure he would have trouble chasing rip but Rip has to guard him on the other end too.

6.) Jason Collins is a very underatted defender.

I would still have the Pistons in 6-7 but history has shown me that it would be no surprise if the Nets won. Just my persepective.

the nets match well against us? no.

1.)Carters defense is so bad that dont be surprised if they put kidd on hamilton after awhile. Then Billups will abuse carter on his end. Basically i'd expect Cater to be a marked man and a bread and butter guy to burn.

2.)We are a capable team in the post. Dyess and Sheed both are. I do think that we'd exploit our advantage there. But thats up to Flip.

3.)Collins is not underrated on defense. he can't guard any of our frontline anyways outside of Ben. The guy has been non existent against us. only thing he can do damage to us at. is the boards if we dont box out.


The only real serious exploit could be guarding jefferson for a 7 game series. tough as nails guy to deal with regardless of his sissy voice and whiny attitude.

Sorry, I've seen Ben Wallace light Collins up too many times to consider him anything but mediocre.

I think the post stuff is blown out of proportion. I heard something the other day that Sheed puts up something like 20+ points a game against SA, Dallas, Miami, etc. Almost all his bad games where he is chucking threes are against crappy teams. Sheed gets up for big games. Prince also. He seems to be more aggressive in the playoffs. I have a feeling we'll have plenty of post plays come playoff time.

Personal opinions and projections aside Jersey is a bitch against us. No one can deny that they have been one of if not the toughest team to beat these past 3 years. I really don't care what your bias mind is telling you, look at the facts.

If anyone knows the head to head record the past 3 years I would like to see it posted. I will bet they have fared better against us than anyone other team in the league (minimum 10 games).

The problem for NJ is that they have no advantage except RJ over prince (not a huge one either), and a small bit of VC over RIP. If RIP can simply run VC like crazy, I think he can match VC's production. While I think RJ will outscore Prince, Billups will outscore Kidd and that will be nullified. It basically comes down to Sheed and Dyess and their inside scoring. Kristic would probably have a couple decent games, but that's it. I would expect us to kill them inside eventually. It would take 6 games though I think.

NJ poses a lot of the same challenges that PHX does.

They are undersized, athletic and move the ball very well.

If you sleep on them, they're not afraid to beat you.

Pistons record vs. NJ

Reg Season:
2005-2006 (2-2)
2004-2005 (2-1)
2003-2004 (2-2)
2002-2003 (2-1)

Playoffs:
2003-2004 (4-3)
2002-2003 (0-4)

Totals: 12 wins/13 losses.

The numbers tell a different story than what many here state. I am surprised that some here want to play the "well on paper" game.

The historical stuff is appreciated, but this is really a different team with Carter and without Martin. Believe it or not, Anthony Johnson was a big part of their success against us as well. They really don't have a good backup plan if Kidd goes down or gets in foul trouble these days.

That being said, if we hammer it down low, we should exploit the hell out of them, but should we decide to chuck away, those long rebounds are a great equalizer.

There are about 5 other playoff teams that I'd rather face than NJ, personally.

Wasn't the 03 playoffs when Billups hurt his ankle? In game 3 Prick benched Prince and Billups for most of the game (they played 14 and 18 minutes). He also started Curry part of the time. I throw that series out, since our lineup was drastically different and we had a stubborn coach that didn't know how to adjust in the playoffs. I consider us 12-9 in the last 3 years against them (which still isn't domanent by any stretch.

Your damn straight the historical stuff is appreciated. [smilie=donthate.gi:

NJ still wins the same way today they did when Kmart was on the team. The team lives and dies with Kidd - tThe lack of bench depth on NJ is noted.

This is not a sky is falling post if we play NJ rather just some perspective.

Plus, we don't have Darko anymore.

Plus, we don't have Darko anymore.

True, any stat prior to 2006 needs to be asterisked.

Plus, we don't have Darko anymore.

True, any stat prior to 2006 needs to be asterisked.
Also could i say that Indy was known for giving us "trouble" in the regular season before this one. and it didnt translate the same to the playoffs. Its hard to keep up with the Pistons for a 7 game series with no big time frontline.

And because of this, i doubt they get past miami.