Game #76: Toronto Raptors 109 - Brooklyn Nets 114

[big boi]

If we had a Shaq or Duncan type of big sure.........we don't.

So only go inside if you have an MVP calibre centre? Okay, Got it.

[mcHAPPY]

JV was our only answer to Lopez tonight. Granted, Lopez torched him, but JV fared far better than anyone else. Could his D improve? Absolutely. Is that my take away from this game? No. The perimeter "defenders" allowed Brooklyn guards to blow by them at will, which left our bigs in a constant half help / half "I know I can't leave Lopez" mode. They were put in an awful position, and they had their hands full enough trying to guard their man. This defense is BROKEN. JV was not the big problem tonight.

By the way, Lopez has been torching everyone lately. JV is not the first.

Well said.

[The Great One]

So only go inside if you have an MVP calibre centre? Okay, Got it.

Only if you have a big that actually has a POST UP game.

JV's post game is improving but he's not there yet. No way i would give him the ball specially in crunch time.

[ball4life]

every guard torches us. every single night. no news here, just take a chill pill and enjoy our road to the top!

easy for you.. you won the bet tonight. drink away my friend...

[big boi]

Only if you have a big that actually has a POST UP game.

JV's post game is improving but he's not there yet. No way i would give him the ball specially in crunch time.

JV has a fine post up game. His foot work has improved a lot over the last year. He is very often a higher percentage option than some of the awful shots that get thrown up by our guards. And if he was involved more, it would actually help the ball movement and he may actually have been learning how to read the double, and pass out of the double to an open shooter. But that takes development. PT and touches. He is the best asset this club has and along with many other facets of our team, he has been managed poorly.

Bigs take time to develop. In the short term we're not doing anything or going anywhere, so why wouldn't you prioritize development and living and dying with the future of the franchise through positives and negatives, and by the way, play amuch better style of basketball where the ball actually moves.

[DanH]

Strange to see absolutely zero minutes of Hayes in this one, considering what Lopez did to every single big we had out there.

How the heck do you put GV back in there? If it's to run the offence - great job, we just ISO'd DeMar every time down the floor. He was like 80% of the defensive issues this game.

Missing Amir and Lowry is tough, but losing to this Nets team is brutal. Oh, and if we are going to be losing to crappy teams anyway, playing our crap defense and predictable offence (for the second half), might as well rest Amir so he doesn't ruin his already ruined ankles just in time for the freaking playoffs.

Good game from DD until he fell in love with the hero ball at the end. A good game for him to review the film and compare halves. Overall a continuation of much improved play from him. JJ was solid as ever. Great effort from JV dealing with the bulk of Lopez's minutes, and rolling hard into the paint, either drawing the defence in for others to operate, or the defence forgets to draw in and good passing led to easy buckets, oh, and rebounding 1-on-2 all night long. Patterson did well until late when he threw the ball away and forgot how to box out. Lou was good as well. Have to stick with him against quicker PG's. Vasquez was just a disaster.

[The Great One]

JV has a fine post up game. His foot work has improved a lot over the last year. He is very often a higher percentage option than some of the awful shots that get thrown up by our guards. And if he was involved more, it would actually help the ball movement and he may actually have been learning how to read the double, and pass out of the double to an open shooter. But that takes development. PT and touches. He is the best asset this club has and along with many other facets of our team, he has been managed poorly.

Bigs take time to develop. In the short term we're not doing anything or going anywhere, so why wouldn't you prioritize development and living and dying with the future of the franchise through positives and negatives, and by the way, play amuch better style of basketball where the ball actually moves.

First paragraph - I call his post up game "improving" he's improved a lot over the last year. But he's not there yet and you know it. Most of his points tonight came from layups, tip ins. Easy shots.

Secind paragraph - What are you talking about? this team is trying to WIN games NOW. We're not the Timberwolves. This is a playoff team. You put your best team out there. You're doing your team disservice by putting a guy like JV who's CLEARLY not ready to play primetime mins.

[Scraptor]

Garbage finish to a fun game. Our lack of a real centre behind JV was glaringly apparently at the beginning of the fourth. Playing PP/Handsbro against Brook Lopez is just silly, I'm not sure why we even have Steamer or Bebe on this roster at all.

Some nice work by DD but goddamnit I wish we would call a timeout and draw up a play at the end of a game for once. I have absolutely no faith in our ability to finish a game, now I always feel this resignation that we'll just screw everything up somehow.

[JimiCliff]

Man I'm really proud of Demar. He looked like a legit, top-tier NBA basketball player. Not just a scorer, but a complete basketball player.

For the first three quarters anyways. No need to get greedy.

Edit: oh yeah and I guess there was that godawful blown assignment on D Will that gave him an open 3 to pretty much win the game, as well as the clear path foul at the very end. Whatever. Baby steps.

[Scraptor]

Secind paragraph - What are you talking about? this team is trying to WIN games NOW. We're not the Timberwolves. This is a playoff team. You put your best team out there. You're doing your team disservice by putting a guy like JV who's CLEARLY not ready to play primetime mins.

"WIN games NOW" is the same excuse we've been hearing the last three years. When exactly do you think JV will be ready for fourth quarter minutes if he never gets any? 2025?

"WIN games NOW" is also pointless when our ceiling is a 60% shot at making it out of the first round. You develop your core so that it raises that ceiling. Losing on the road to Brooklyn without our best player is not the end of the world and even if Jonas was the reason we lost--which he wasn't--if he's out there getting experience I take that loss 10 times out of 10.

Jack said it so many times I'm not sure how people still don't get it: our perimeter D has been the prime culprit in our defensive struggles. You can't allow 10,000 blowbys and missed assignments on the wing and expect the bigs to clean everything up.

[DDelight]

Garbage finish to a fun game. Our lack of a real centre behind JV was glaringly apparently at the beginning of the fourth. Playing PP/Handsbro against Brook Lopez is just silly, I'm not sure why we even have Steamer or Bebe on this roster at all.

Some nice work by DD but goddamnit I wish we would call a timeout and draw up a play at the end of a game for once. I have absolutely no faith in our ability to finish a game, now I always feel this resignation that we'll just screw everything up somehow.

We did run out of timeouts though. Used our last one when GV over helped on Joe Johnson leaving Deron Williams wide open for a 3. The DeRozan shot was still better than a halfcourt Lou 3, but I wished he would have tried to drive like the previous play when he got a layup. Joe Johnson's length made it tough for DeMar there

[KHD]

TRex all over this thread with idiotic comments. Business as usual.

[caccia]

Get Eric Maynor to back up Kyle next season.

I was happy with Nando de Colo. He showed flashes of real talent, only he was a bit wild at times, like JJ. Plus, he is tall as Vasquez, but with faster feet.

[caccia]

Not for nothing, but Ross went through yet another game without a free throw. Fearless is not his middle name. He has 54 attempts in 75 games.

[007]

Well, that was a sad way for my streak to end...

Best of luck for the next game thread maker!!!