[Mogriffjr]

Remember the past few seasons of the core of RJ, K-Mart and Kidd? It was fast break city...we could run with the best of them. Add Kittles to the fray and that was just a sight for sore eyes. But our problem was in the half-court set. K-Mart really couldn't make things happen...he had moves but his aggressiveness led to some fouls on his part. RJ's perimeter game wasn't totally there although u knew it was coming. Also in the offense, he was among K-Mart and Kidd as options as no one really was a #1 option.

Now this year...we get Carter...RJ goes down. By force, we've moved to a half court offense. It has served us well. Carter is a great guy to have in a half court set. Krstic, another guy who can create good shots for himself is another solid addition. Add RJ, who has shown he's now a legit option in the half court set as well.

More importantly with this team, we're running now and when we get two athletic wing players running down court along with Krstic, that's all gravy. Add Vaughn, who has made a consious effort to be Kidd's mate going down court is also good. In a way, I feel better about this team overall. We've lost some shot blocking...I know...as well as a PF who was tenacious. But we've added more scoring, and the players now have to work as a team to play defense. Yes we have 3-4 legit defenders on our team (Kidd, RJ, Vaughn, Cliffy) but we have to work harder out there...we scrap, we fight, we show grit..I love this team...Dare I say...more than last years...

 

[kdub]

^

blasphemous!

haha just kidding, nice post and I really see what you're saying. Everyone knows this is a different team, but a lot of people wonder if it's a better one.

First off, the Nets are better than most in that they see their identity now and are building on it. Teams like Atlanta and Toronto either havn't created/found an identity or have lost it... and that really hurts a team's ability to succeed.

We're definitely a half court team now with Carter and Krstic. The great thing is, however, that the Nets have the ability to run when they want and need to, and I see that ability growing with the healthy addition of RJ.

 

[SeaNet]

Definitely still finding their way and their identity. I think when Carter and RJ are on the wings next year instead of Vaughn and (sometimes) Carter, the break will be much improved. Our half-court offense is way better than it was at any time last year. Keys are Carter and Krstic. Carter is the automatic points guy that takes a bad halfcourt team and singlehandedly makes it a good one. And Krstic is the low post player every team needs. When he's playing well out there, we are a very good team. When he becomes an every night count on him scorer (which I think is definitely in his future), we become a very good team again.