Long, Drawn Out But Very Personable NBA Previews: New Jersey Nets

THE NBA IS BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!

And, you know, we here at Pick and Pop try to keep it as fresh and quirky as possible.  So, my plan for the next 32 (or some odd) days is to not break down how a team will do.  That’s for sportswriters with degrees and such, although I guess a night before the season tips off Colin and I will do something like that. 

Instead, I’m giving every single player in the league, even some guys that won’t even make the roster, a little ink.  Because not all players are created (and adored) equally by yours truly, some will have much longer anecdotes/analysis or what have you than others.  Case and point: would it be fair to give Dirk Nowitzki and Adam Morrison the same amount of space?  I haven’t gotten that far yet, but I’m willing to bet I won’t do that.

I guess to make sure the pecking order of the NBA isn’t completely ruined, I’m going to go in ascending order in terms of how I predict the teams will finish.  Next up we have the New Jersey Nets.

 

Dude... it's bad enough that the Mavs traded you, Devin Harris. But do you really have to blow by J-Kidd like that? Photo by Bill Kostroun/AP

Star

 

 

Devin Harris

While I don’t think he would have blown up had he stayed on the Dallas Mavericks, there’s no denying how much the Mavs miss him these days, especially when their current starting point guard defends like he’s standing in quick sand on a nightly basis.  He was the perfect point guard for that team: an athletic, slashing guard who could defend both guard positions.  OK, let me stop crying about Dallas… sorry.  With Vince Carter gone to Orlando and very little help surrounding him, I expect Harris to put up substantially higher numbers than he did even last season.

The Other Starters

Brook Lopez

 B-Lopes is one of the last of a dying breed in the NBA: a pure back to the basket center who plays well on both sides of the ball.  He’ll have a break-out, 18 and 10 kind of year.  To this day I still don’t know how he slipped past the Knicks in the draft, but Nets’ fans should be happy that this guy is on their side.  I still think it’s weird that him and his brother Robin specialize in trifling Walt Disney trivia, but hey, I like the T.O Show, so who’s weirder?

Yi Jianlian

I’m not quite ready to get off the Yi train yet.  He’s had brief bursts of greatness, but mostly his first two years have been wildly inconsistent.  He can score 20 one night and then go like three straight games without scoring more than four.  Right now, he has two things going for him: his versatility and his youth.  Don’t give up on him yet.

Courtney Lee

Although he’s a tad undersized, I like Lee.  He’s passed the “Justin Cherot Chinky Eye Test” with flying colors, but I was shocked at how good his shooting numbers were, especially from deep.   He might have ultimately wanted to see the Magic all the way through to a championship, but he’ll get plenty of minutes at the two spot.  I mean, seriously… who’s there to challenge him? 

Bobby Simmons

If I were an NBA GM, I definitely wouldn’t get caught up in the hype of a journeyman having one, maybe one and a half solid seasons.  Under no circumstances would I have given Simmons over $10 million.  So far on my NBA journey, he is the most overpaid player in the NBA.  Thankfully for Simmons, that’s sure to change as I make my rounds.

Bench

Keyon Dooling

Here’s a guy I swore would have been out of the NBA, but teams keep giving him chances because with his size, strength and athleticism he brings a lot to the table.  Props to him for sticking with it, and hopefully he can build on a career season last year.

Jarvis Hayes

My boy Hakeem thinks that Hayes has the sweetest looking shooting motion in the NBA.  I compare that to me playing the saxophone in high school.  My teacher told me, “You have great technique, probably more so than any of my other pupils… but…and I don’t know how to put this delicately… you sound like shit.”  True story.

Tony Battie

I was about to go into rant about who in their right mind would have taken Battie with the 5th pick in any draft… until I just went to InsideHoops.com.  As it turns out, 5th might not have been high enough.  The ‘97 Draft gets absolutely no pub about being one of the worst drafts ever, probably because the headliner in the group–Tim Duncan–is one of the best to ever lace ‘em up.

Josh Boone

Shawn Douglas, where are you?  If you’re reading this, I just want to give you props.  You went toe to toe with this dude in high school, and you completely shut him down.  I think he may have snuck eight points in on Colin, but all in all, it feels good to know that we took down South Carroll… right before they got Marshall Strickland and set the world on fire.

Eduardo Najera 

Najera is the definition of a gritty player.  What he lacks in talent he makes up for in hustle plays, elbows and crotch grabs.  Okay, I made the last one up.

Rafer Alston

A.K.A “The Screen Name”, since my screen name has been Rafer11 on AIM for the past eleven years.  Seems so weird now that I think about it.  Anyway, I won’t get all nostalgic, I promise.  How he goes from starting in the finals to being the 3rd best point guard on a team I have no idea, but I see Dooling playing a little more two with the back-up unit this year. 

Chris Douglas-Roberts

He’s raw, sure, but eventually they’ll take the reigns off and the CDR revolution will begin.  Maybe.

Terrence Williams

Talk about a guy shooting up the charts!  Here’s a guy that, because of his athleticism and versatility should be in the rotation by the end of November, with a chance to start down the line this season. 

Sean Williams

“I was going to get good at basketball, but I got high…”

Trenton Hassell 

Keep my dreams alive, buddy.  Keep them alive!

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