duncan228
03-03-2008, 09:56 PM
I'm getting an early start. I'll get the AP and Spurs previews in when they come out.
The Nets play all 5 teams in the Southwest division in this 7 day trip. Damn.
http://www.nba.com/nets/news/Nets_Southwest_3_3_08.html
Nets Head to the Southwest
By Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com
East Rutherford, N.J. -- Even with their 93-83 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night, the Nets (26-33) still toe their own playoff destiny. As they hold down the eighth seed – the Atlanta Hawks are a game behind, the Philadelphia 76ers a half game in front – they would be in the playoffs if the NBA all of the sudden shifted to a 59-game schedule.
Obviously, that has not happened but the fact remains that the playoffs are in their sights.
But now it gets tough. The team boarded the buses and headed for the charter at around 1pm today on their way deep into the heart of Texas. Beginning in San Antonio on Tuesday, the Nets will play the entire Southwest Division – that’s five teams - on the road over a seven-day period. Memphis is not very good, currently at 14-45, but the other four teams – the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Hornets, Houston Rockets, and Spurs – all have at least 39 wins on the season. Only two teams in the entire Eastern Conference can claim the same.
As of Monday, the combined record of New Jersey’s opponents on the trip is 172-122. Excluding Memphis, it’s 158-77. At home, those top four teams are a combined 90-27.
This is all daunting when you look at the trip as a whole but for the team it will be important to take it all one game at a time.
“I think we have to embrace the challenge,” said Head Coach Lawrence Frank, before packing up his bags. “The whole trip – you look at it – is going to be a great challenge and you look forward to it.”
“We’re excited about it,” said Richard Jefferson.
“It’s not different than any west coast trip, or than this trip we’ve had in the past.”
Beyond how tough it looks on paper, the trip will also feature some interesting story lines as well as some ghosts of Nets past. There will be Jason Kidd, Antoine Wright, and Malik Allen in Dallas; Jason Collins in Memphis; and former Head Coach Byron Scott in New Orleans.
There will also be marquee individual opponents: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili in San Antonio; Rudy Gay in Memphis; Chris Paul in New Orleans; Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard in Dallas; and Tracy McGrady in Houston.
It will all start, however, with the next game on the schedule and that is in San Antonio Tuesday night. Having played the Spurs on Sunday at IZOD Center should help the Nets know what they need to do to a certain extent, though San Antonio has rolled off nine wins in a row and is the defending NBA Champions.
“From a big picture there are some things we can do better,” said Frank.
“Specifically in some of our sets we can make some adjustments and we’re obviously going to have to do a better job on (Tony) Parker. We just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be. When you’re playing a team like San Antonio, your margin-for-error obviously is less so that means your attention to detail has to be greater and we just have to do some things on both ends…better.”
Parker had 25 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
“Obviously, we didn’t play very well,” said Devin Harris, who followed up his 21-point Net debut against the Bucks with 21 against the Spurs.
“We take out the things that we did well and try to emphasize that a little bit more. And obviously defensively see what was working and try to keep these guys out of the lane.”
“We’re going to need everyone,” continued Frank. “It was disappointing yesterday in that it wasn’t the fact that we didn’t come to play. We just didn’t play as smart or as physical or as well as we needed to. It’s very uncharacteristic for us to have eight assists. It’s very intriguing because we got a pretty decent percentage of uncontested shots and this is unfortunate. When you’re missing shots, it makes the game a whole lot uglier. But you have to give credit to San Antonio’s defense. It’s not the first time they’ve done it to a team and it’s not the last and we’ve got a great opportunity to come back and see what we’ve got tomorrow.”
The Nets play all 5 teams in the Southwest division in this 7 day trip. Damn.
http://www.nba.com/nets/news/Nets_Southwest_3_3_08.html
Nets Head to the Southwest
By Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com
East Rutherford, N.J. -- Even with their 93-83 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night, the Nets (26-33) still toe their own playoff destiny. As they hold down the eighth seed – the Atlanta Hawks are a game behind, the Philadelphia 76ers a half game in front – they would be in the playoffs if the NBA all of the sudden shifted to a 59-game schedule.
Obviously, that has not happened but the fact remains that the playoffs are in their sights.
But now it gets tough. The team boarded the buses and headed for the charter at around 1pm today on their way deep into the heart of Texas. Beginning in San Antonio on Tuesday, the Nets will play the entire Southwest Division – that’s five teams - on the road over a seven-day period. Memphis is not very good, currently at 14-45, but the other four teams – the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Hornets, Houston Rockets, and Spurs – all have at least 39 wins on the season. Only two teams in the entire Eastern Conference can claim the same.
As of Monday, the combined record of New Jersey’s opponents on the trip is 172-122. Excluding Memphis, it’s 158-77. At home, those top four teams are a combined 90-27.
This is all daunting when you look at the trip as a whole but for the team it will be important to take it all one game at a time.
“I think we have to embrace the challenge,” said Head Coach Lawrence Frank, before packing up his bags. “The whole trip – you look at it – is going to be a great challenge and you look forward to it.”
“We’re excited about it,” said Richard Jefferson.
“It’s not different than any west coast trip, or than this trip we’ve had in the past.”
Beyond how tough it looks on paper, the trip will also feature some interesting story lines as well as some ghosts of Nets past. There will be Jason Kidd, Antoine Wright, and Malik Allen in Dallas; Jason Collins in Memphis; and former Head Coach Byron Scott in New Orleans.
There will also be marquee individual opponents: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili in San Antonio; Rudy Gay in Memphis; Chris Paul in New Orleans; Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard in Dallas; and Tracy McGrady in Houston.
It will all start, however, with the next game on the schedule and that is in San Antonio Tuesday night. Having played the Spurs on Sunday at IZOD Center should help the Nets know what they need to do to a certain extent, though San Antonio has rolled off nine wins in a row and is the defending NBA Champions.
“From a big picture there are some things we can do better,” said Frank.
“Specifically in some of our sets we can make some adjustments and we’re obviously going to have to do a better job on (Tony) Parker. We just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be. When you’re playing a team like San Antonio, your margin-for-error obviously is less so that means your attention to detail has to be greater and we just have to do some things on both ends…better.”
Parker had 25 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
“Obviously, we didn’t play very well,” said Devin Harris, who followed up his 21-point Net debut against the Bucks with 21 against the Spurs.
“We take out the things that we did well and try to emphasize that a little bit more. And obviously defensively see what was working and try to keep these guys out of the lane.”
“We’re going to need everyone,” continued Frank. “It was disappointing yesterday in that it wasn’t the fact that we didn’t come to play. We just didn’t play as smart or as physical or as well as we needed to. It’s very uncharacteristic for us to have eight assists. It’s very intriguing because we got a pretty decent percentage of uncontested shots and this is unfortunate. When you’re missing shots, it makes the game a whole lot uglier. But you have to give credit to San Antonio’s defense. It’s not the first time they’ve done it to a team and it’s not the last and we’ve got a great opportunity to come back and see what we’ve got tomorrow.”