how so? they still have to go on the road to play Detroit in the East finals if they make it that far, so being a 3rd or a 2nd won't make a difference.

if you don't think as a 3rd they can beat the Heat, how do you think they can beat the Pistons, who happen to be the best team in the NBA.

Posted by ultknicks524:

Give me a break. They wont get the 2nd seed and they wont get past Miami.

Miami loss at home to Orlando today. NJ is 2 games back with 6 games remaining. Miami has 5 they can catch them. NJ won the regular season series 3-1

Mia-NJ will come down to coaching Collins & Carter.

Frank can devise the schemes. If Collins stays out of foul trouble and Carter plays at the level he is capable of, NJ will win.

Nj's never beaten Shaq and people, playoffs is a new season.. In the playoffs, teams are forced to play half court sets.. If that's the case, NJ is done!!!!

They don't have a prolific frontcourt palyer that can dominate in the post.. NEnad is a jump shooting big men who can rebound..

Watch what happens when they have to battle Detriot and Miami.. Also the team to come out of the east must be able to be .500 on the road... So far , Maimi and Detroit has a .500 or better road record

The Nets have absolutely zero chance at beating the Pistons - they don't have the bench production, jump-shooting, or rebounding to do it. Nets bench - McInnis hasn't played ball in 4 months and will go against Lindsey Hunter (defender extraordinaire), Lamond Murray is a spot-up shooter, Planinic plays for the Nets, Padgett will shoot and miss 3s, and Uncle Cliff should join Mutombo in a nursing home. Notice that none of the above will create an open shot.

The Wallaces against Krstic and Collins is an especially interesting matchup because of the utterly apocalyptic destruction on the boards. As a tiny sampling, Ben Wallace's playoff average = 14 rpg. So I can only imagine it will be closer to 30 against the Nets. Since Kidd (7rpg) and Jefferson (7rpg) will need to forage for defensive rebounds to stay alive (and will be mildly sucsessful), Net fastbreak points start to approach 0 especially since Prince and a rather large afro will be waiting near the basket. The net result, which I'm sure will excite Nets fans, is more half-court offense.

Prince (10 yard wing span) will check Carter; in other words, to avoid shoting 30%, he will need to find ways to score other than failed crossovers and pull-up 3s. RJ is their 1 mis-match in the post against Rip. The help will come occasionally from Chauncey and the bricks will come frequently from Kidd (35% 3-point), enough atleast to lose the series handily.

Of course, there's no one to guard Rasheed in the post or on the perimeter. Chauncey/Rasheed pick and rolls will routinely yield an open shot. Doubling might be of slight concern to NJ --> Detroit is the 2nd best 3-point shooting team in the league at 39%. Hamilton will as usual get open a fair amount of times. Prince will be used as a spot-up threat rather than in the post against RJ.

NJ may opt to put Kidd on Hamilton to save Carter from playing tag on defense and possibly needing an inhaler for the rest of his life. I think this is by far the smartest move for NJ because Carter can give space and still contest Chauncey's shot. Kidd can at least attempt to run with Hamilton but that remains a Detroit advantage, albeit less dire.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that, unlike Detroit, NJ will get burned on every drive due to marginal interior defense and great Detroit shooting from positions 1-4. NJ drives will be met by a Wallace or two and Cheney-like shooting by Kidd and Jefferson.

The only way NJ beats Detroit is Tonya Harding style.

Jersey and Detroit split this year 2-2 with wins on each others homecourt.

Vaughn is the back-up point who'll be matched up with Hunter who himself missed most of the season but again colorful language

Posted by McK1:

Jersey and Detroit split this year 2-2 with wins on each others homecourt.

Vaughn is the back-up point who'll be matched up with Hunter who himself missed most of the season but again colorful language

Vaughn is garbage. He's not an offensive threat. He's barely a basketball player. But thanks for bringing him up as he's part of the NJ antique collection and also the reason why I drive especially fast on Henry Hudson.

If thats you're rebuttal, I have to say its insufficient and not colorful enough. Oh, and bad.

Posted by McK1:

Posted by codeunknown:

Posted by McK1:

Jersey and Detroit split this year 2-2 with wins on each others homecourt.

Vaughn is the back-up point who'll be matched up with Hunter who himself missed most of the season but again colorful language

Vaughn is garbage. He's not an offensive threat. He's barely a basketball player. But thanks for bringing him up as he's part of the NJ antique collection and also the reason why I drive especially fast on Henry Hudson.

If thats you're rebuttal, I have to say its insufficient and not colorful enough. Oh, and bad.

it wasn't a rebuttal. don't need to rebut rubbish

So far, you bring up 4 whole games of empirical evidence with 2 Detroit semi-blowout wins (10, 13 points), one close NJ 7-point win and one NJ win with 2 secs left on the clock. No sane observer would go on that and Vaughn's imprsonation of a basketball player.

If you're so against rubbish stop posting. Especially the crap you responded with. If you have a case, make it. Talk matchups.

judging by your initial post, you obviously have paid no attention to the way NJ plays

The Nets have absolutely zero chance at beating the Pistons - they don't have the bench production, jump-shooting, or rebounding to do it. Nets bench - McInnis hasn't played ball in 4 months and will go against Lindsey Hunter (defender extraordinaire), Lamond Murray is a spot-up shooter, Planinic plays for the Nets, Padgett will shoot and miss 3s, and Uncle Cliff should join Mutombo in a nursing home. Notice that none of the above will create an open shot.

Carter and RJ are a mismatch in the post for Rip and Prince, thats where the open looks will come from. Vaughn and Robinson are veteran players who know what the playoffs are about. They won't just fold-up.

The Wallaces against Krstic and Collins is an especially interesting matchup because of the utterly apocalyptic destruction on the boards. As a tiny sampling, Ben Wallace's playoff average = 14 rpg. So I can only imagine it will be closer to 30 against the Nets.

against NJ Ben Wallace is averaging 10 rpg. NJ has players in RJ, Carter and Kidd who'll fight with their bigs for rebounds. he'll get close to 30 is nothing but colorful language

Since Kidd (7rpg) and Jefferson (7rpg) will need to forage for defensive rebounds to stay alive (and will be mildly sucsessful), Net fastbreak points start to approach 0 especially since Prince and a rather large afro will be waiting near the basket.

you're forgetting Carter. RJ and Carters size strength skill and athleticism grossly underrated by you

The net result, which I'm sure will excite Nets fans, is more half-court offense.

Prince (10 yard wing span) will check Carter; in other words, to avoid shoting 30%, he will need to find ways to score other than failed crossovers and pull-up 3s. RJ is their 1 mis-match in the post against Rip. The help will come occasionally from Chauncey and the bricks will come frequently from Kidd (35% 3-point), enough atleast to lose the series handily.

Nenad Krstic can hit shots. So can Robinson. Neither Rip or Tayshaun Prince can not guard Vince 1-on-1 on the block. The help has to come. Same goes for RJ.

Of course, there's no one to guard Rasheed in the post or on the perimeter. Chauncey/Rasheed pick and rolls will routinely yield an open shot. Doubling might be of slight concern to NJ --> Detroit is the 2nd best 3-point shooting team in the league at 39%. Hamilton will as usual get open a fair amount of times. Prince will be used as a spot-up threat rather than in the post against RJ.

Nets have done a good job on Sheed all season. Kidd has prove nsince 2002 he can take Chauncey out of the game without any help. Prince used as a spot-up man is in NJ's favor. Prince has an OK shot. He is no Ray Allen.

NJ may opt to put Kidd on Hamilton to save Carter from playing tag on defense and possibly needing an inhaler for the rest of his life. I think this is by far the smartest move for NJ because Carter can give space and still contest Chauncey's shot. Kidd can at least attempt to run with Hamilton but that remains a Detroit advantage, albeit less dire.

Kidd guards Chauncey. if Carter can't stay with rip or to conserve him RJ can easily switch. Carter can guard your "spot-up decoy" and save even more energy.