Deron Williams bullies young Knicks fan for being a Knicks fan.

"It's not really a rivalry yet," said man, who just pushed over a kid for being a Knicks fan.

Via: Deron Williams Instagram

The Round Up - April 4th, 2013.

Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images

Rolling Thunder: In a game that could potentially decide the number one seed of the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder ties the season series on the San Antonio Spurs in the victory on Thursday night. More importantly, the Thunder takes the tiebreaker in the win, which means unless the Spurs finish with a better record, OKC will take the top spot, even if they are tied by the end of the season. The Spurs trailed early in this one, down 11 at the end of the first quarter. But they are the Spurs and like the Spurs, they would fight back, cutting the lead to 8 by half time. Unfortunately, they would only get as close to 3, coming up empty in the fourth quarter in the eventual 12 point loss to the Thunder. San Antonio did miss a couple of guys, Tony Parker, who did play, left after 25 minutes of limping. The reason is unknown, and it is still uncertain if he is available for the next game. Manu Ginobili was out with a strained hamstring, his target return is in the next 3-4 weeks. In their absence, Tim Duncan pulled all the weight with 24 points (9 of 19), 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Kawhi Leonard stepped up for another 24 points, 14 boards and 6 assists. Russell Westbrook shrugged off all of his previous struggles against the Spurs, going off for 27 points on 9 of 21 shooting, 7 rebounds and 7 dimes. Kevin Durant added 25 on 10 of 20, 9 boards and 6 assists, including a late three point dagger that sucked the life out the Spurs' rally. Derek Fisher, the ancient Spurs killer, was huge off the bench hitting 5 of 7 from three for 17 points. There is pretty much nothing you can do if the 10,000 year old on the rival team gets hot from beyond the arc. Better luck next time, Coach Pop and Co.

Stampede: Without Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, Marco Bellinelli, Richard Hamilton, and Taj Gibson, Coach Tom Thibodeau rode the Chicago Bulls starters to oblivion (like he always does) in the 16 point comeback victory against the Brooklyn Nets. It should be noted that the Bulls won a game where Vlad Rad registered actual minutes, yes, Chicago is that desperate for bodies. Carlos Boozer led the charge with a team-high 29 points on 12 of 22 shooting, and 18 boards. The Nets on the other hand, had all of their players, but only needed two. Deron Williams had 30 points (9 of 16), and 10 assists. While his center, Brook Lopez, went for 28 (10 of 19) and 5 rebounds in the losing effort. Despite of the nice little line, Brook did not end the game well at all, turning the ball over late in the fourth that led to a what would be an eventual Nate Robinson game-winning floater. He, then followed it up by getting blocked by historical figure, Nazr Mohammed on a layup attempt and topped it off with a miss on the potential game winner for the Nets. Rough.

Gold Rush: The Denver Nuggets defeated the Dallas Mavericks on a game winning Andre Iguodala layup, but nothing matters more than the health of Danilo Gallinari, who reportedly suffered a season ending ACL injury late in the first half of this game on a no contact drive against the Dallas Mavericks defense. The Nuggets are now in serious peril once the playoffs start, with Ty Lawson possibly out for the opening week, the chances of a deep playoff run is more than unlikely. If the NBA needs a reason to cut the regular season shorter, this week should be more than enough to convince them so, no one wants to see players get injured before they battle it out in the post season, especially in games without any significance.

Deron Williams dunks for the first time this season. 5000 year old, Jerry Stackhouse dunked too.

He finally did it, guys. Deron Williams finally got past the trauma that Blake Griffin left him after obliterating his first dunk attempt earlier in the season and dunked for the first time all season. It's been a long road to recovery since the aforementioned traumatic experience that sent the Brooklyn Nets point guard to the ground with a sprained wrist.  He still sees Blake Griffin catching him in mid air and snatching the basketball out of his hands at night, and often struggles to fall asleep when a flash of red hair appears in his mind. But Deron has fought through it all and is now ready to get his revenge. Of course to properly get ready for such a task, he had to practice, even though the dunk came against the Cleveland Cavaliers, it doesn't take away that Mr. Panther Tattoo finally got past his ankle issues, started to actually look like his former all-star self since the break and most importantly rediscovered his jumping ability. That is unless someone old, like 5000 years old, we are talking walking human fossil old, someone like Jerry Stackhouse dunked on the same team on the same night.

Oh wait, that did happen.

Brooklyn fans cheer on Reggie Evans at the free throw line.

It's funny because he can't hit his free throws and his coach kept him in the game, despite being up up 15 points or more, for the Wizards to employ the Hack-a-Reggie strategy.

The Round Up - March 8th, 2013.

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

Long Range Bomber: Deron Williams broke a NBA record for most threes made in a half, hitting 9 of his total 11 threes (just one shy of the game record) in the first two quarters. He would finish with 42 points on 15 of 24 shooting, 11 of 16 from three, and five assists in the 17 point Brooklyn win. Reggie Evans grabbed a career high 24 boards to go with his 11 points in the effort. More details of this game is recapped here.

Vino Splash: In his 17th season in the NBA, Kobe Bryant has yet to slow down, as the Laker erupted for 41 points on 11 of 22 shooting, 6 rebounds and 12 assists against the visiting Toronto Raptors. Dwight Howard added 24 points (9 of 15) and 13 boards. Steve Nash also stepped up with 22 points of his own, hitting big shots down the stretch to pull out of the Staples Center with the overtime win. The Raptors had this game wrapped up, but miscommunication and interesting shot selections in the final minutes of the game costed them the W. DeMar DeRozan went off for 28 points (12 of 18), 5 rebounds and 5 dimes in his homecoming. Rudy Gay did not have the greatest night in terms of shooting, he was ice cold for much of the game, hitting only 7 of his 26 shot attempts for 17 points. There is nothing else left to say, but watch the video below to see the unbelievable things Kobe did to force overtime and win it for his team.

Burning Towns: The Miami Heat improves to 17 straight, in the victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Miami is just one win away from passing the Los Angeles Clippers for the longest win streak this season. LeBron James had the usual 25 points (10 of 17), 10 boards and 5 assists, while Dwyane Wade added 22 on 9 of 16 shooting. The Sixers, lacking an offensive punch last night, had to rely on Thaddeus Young's 25 points (12 of 15) to stay within reach of this game.

Green Company: The Boston Celtics maybe old and riddled with injuries, but these guys will not back down without a fight. With the game tied at 94, both teams had a chance to put their opponents away, but a KG miss on one side and a Josh Smith miss on the other, led to overtime. Boston would eventaully come out on top, thanks to Jason Terry's late game heroics. Paul Pierce had a team-high 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting, 7 rebounds and 7 dimes. Where as, the Hawk's Josh Smith, Al Horford and Jeff Teague combined for 80 of their team's total 102 points.

Italian Dressing: Down by 1 with less than 14 seconds to play, the Chicago Bulls came up with a huge offensive rebound on a Marco Bellinelli miss, that found its way back into the Italian's hands, who, on his second attempt hits the three to win the game for the Bulls. Marco finished with 22 points on 7 of 14 shooting in the night where he hits his third game winning shot of the season. Carlos Boozer chipped in for another 22 points and 10 rebounds. Desperately hanging on to their 8th spot in the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz is not doing themselves any favors by losing 6 of their last 7 games. If their slump continues any longer, they will have to make new plans for April.

Note: In what was suppose to be a high scoring affair between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors, no team shot over 38 percent from the field. Rockets' sophomore, Chandler Parsons, who has been on fire as of late, scoring an average 24 points in his last five contests, had 26 points (9 of 13), and shot 6 of 8 from downtown last night. James Harden lived on the line, going 3 of 17 from the field for 20 points, 11 of which were from the charity stripe. He also grabbed 6 boards and dished out 11 assists in the victory. Stephen Curry of the Warriors did not bring his shooting touch into the building, going 8 of 21 for 24 points and 8 assists at the Oracle Arena.

Fantasy Shoutouts: The Royal Quartet of DeMarcus Cousins (22 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists), Tyreke Evans (25 points), Isiah Thomas (27 points, 5 boards, 6 dimes, and 5 steals), and Marcus Thornton (23 points) shredded the Phoenix Suns apart in the Sacramento win. Not to be out done, Goran Dragic of the Suns got 17 points, 16 assists and 5 steals.

The Blazers Trio of Damian Lillard (35 points and 9 assists), LaMarcus Aldridge (26 points and 5 boards) and J.J. Hickson (23 points and 11 rebounds) annihilated the Tony Parker-less San Antonio Spurs by a margin of 30 points. Portland shot a ridiculous 62 percent from the field in the win.

Paul George went off for 25 points (8 of 12), 4 of 5 from the three, and 5 rebounds in the 29 point Indiana Pacers win over the Orlando Magic. Magic was horrendous from the field, hitting a less than ideal 39 percent of their shots.

Highlights

Quiet Talent: Kawhi Leonard is a spry young gentleman.

Bazooka: Alonzo Gee can manually and accurately launch a basketball from 70 feet and beyond.

Deron Williams hits 9 threes in the first half to break a NBA record.

On Friday night, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn exploded into cheers as their point guard, Deron Williams lit up the Washington Wizards with threes after threes. Deron, who has been spectacular since the All-Star break, knocked down 9 three pointers in the first half to set a new NBA record. He went 7 for 7 from beyond the arc in the first quarter and continued in the second, where he would hit his eighth straight and then  the record breaking ninth to finish with 33 points on 15 shots before heading into the break. The Wizards as a team only scored 33 points in those two quarters and it took them 50 shots. What is even more impressive was that Deron did all of that in 16 minutes, while Washington took 24. The Brooklyn point guard would eventually finish one three pointer shy of the all-time NBA record of 12 three pointers made in a game. Forget dunking Deron, if you can go 11 of 16 from downtown every night, you don't ever have to worry about getting into the paint and risk injury.

Deron Williams can't dunk anymore.

Deron Williams has been a shell of his All-Star self after signing a 5 year, $100 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets on an iPad. In this season, he is only averaging 17 points and 7 assists per game, the lowest since this sophomore year, if you count out the 12 games he played in the 2010-11 season. Injuries have definitely taken toll on the point guard, and it has completely taken away his ability to jump.

From New York Post:

Deron Williams admits his ankle injuries have hindered him and hurt him to the point he can’t even dunk. And after undergoing Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment and sitting out last week, the Nets’ star guard acknowledges he needs more time to fully recover... 

“Yeah, it’s definitely affected me a lot. I can’t jump. I haven’t dunked. I can’t dunk. Even if I tried off one leg, I can’t dunk. So it’s definitely affected me. 

His only dunk attempt of the season was annihilated by Blake Griffin, where he just so happened to also sprain his wrist after plummeting into the ground.

Maybe he should just take this as a sign to not dunk anymore, I mean if Dunk God, Blake Griffin blocks your only dunk of the season, you probably shouldn't try again. Not a great idea to deal with the Wrath of the Dunk God on injured ankles.

It is just best to look back on the good old days.

NBA Christmas Carols - Brooklyn Nets Edition.

The Brooklyn Nets really like to stick with the hip-hop vibe that Jay Z sort of created for them. Which makes a lot of sense, because the Nets are basically using Jay Z to suddenly become cool. The black and white jerseys, herringbone court, arena music selection are all credited to the HOVA. His "influence" has spread so deep that they even remixed 12 days of Christmas, only to do another terrible cover.

The trio of Jerry Stackhouse, Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez do have the voices to be Bass singers though. Boyz II Men still needs a Michael McCary. Maybe Jay Z can hook one of them up. Jerry would be my choice out of the three. For starters, he is closer in age and is actually good. USA National Anthem good. 

As for the carol, it was creative enough to take third place in my NBA Christmas Carol Power Rankings. Here is the list in order: 1. Dallas Mavericks, 2. Houston Rockets, 3. Brooklyn Nets, 4. Minnesota Timberwolves, 5. Denver Nuggets, 6. Golden State Warriors, 7. Los Angeles Lakers.

Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Brooklyn Nets [12/04/12]

Oklahoma City Thunder 117 - Brooklyn Nets 111

The Good

Thunder: OKC is never short of surprises, the young talent on this team just keeps improving. Serge Ibaka has already developed a nice mid range game and now Thabo Sefolosha is a legitimate threat from three. They do have the benefit of having Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant to draw defenses away for a ridiculous open look, but if they can keep this up, forget Harden. Losing him might turned out for the better.

It is evident that these guys love playing (BASKETBALL) with each other, just the synchronization of their defensive rotations shows the trust they have in their teammates. Add that with the length of each player, you can imagine how hard it is to make a pass inside, let alone getting an uncontested look in the paint. As for the offense, the Thunder shot 61 percent from the field in this game, if they were not getting easy looks from the Russ-KD pick and roll, they were getting free throws.

More on the two man game in the bad section of the Nets.

Nets: The short amount of time this team took to get things together is baffling. Although Avery Johnson's coaching is questionable at times, he has done a great job to implement all the new pieces his rich Russian owner got him. I mean, even Andray Blatche looks like a real NBA player, you got to give him credit for that.

Deron Williams is the key component of Brooklyn's offense. If he starts making his shots, everything else will follow. Consistency is an issue for Deron, one night he can show you why he is considered as the top candidate for the best point guard in the league and look completely average in another. But without Mr. Hair Helmet, his team scrambles to find a good shot in half court. His play making is vital, especially when Joe Johnson is not playing at the level that they expected from him.

Offensive rebounding and three point shooting kept them in the game. In the third quarter comeback, Avery went with a small line up that placed Gerald Wallace at the 4 to space out the Thunder defense. An issue arises for Serge Ibaka when he has to defend a 4 that can shoot, his tendency to stay in the paint to help after a pick and roll leaves his man at the top for open shots. As streaky as Gerald Wallace is, he knocked back to back to back threes to help outscore OKC by 11 in that quarter to be give them a real scare.

The Bad

Thunder: Considering how well the pick and roll/pop with Kevin Durant worked against the Nets defense, there were way to many Russell Westbrook isos. Having the second best player in the league watching you take a lower percentage shot is not an ideal possession.

The only other bad thing was KD missing a potential dunk of the year. This would have marked the end of Gerald Wallace's career.

Nets: Brooklyn's defense was not as bad as it sounded, they just didn't make the right adjustments for a team like OKC. Their biggest problem was over hedging. The purpose of hedging is for the defender of the screener (usually a forward) to show enough to deter the ball handler from driving into the basket and give your guy time to recover. Against an explosive guard like Russell Westbrook, it would only make sense to do this every time. But not when the screener is Kevin Durant, if you hedge for a second longer, a short pass from Russ will leave the NBA scoring champ open. It is really a pick your poison situation for the Nets, the best choice is to trust that your help will bail you out if Russ blows by D. Will.

Brook Lopez (Injury) is not good defender by any means, but the missing height in the front court definitely hurt them. And some inside scoring would have helped too.

Notes: Brooklyn Nets vs. Miami Heat [12/01/12]

Miami Heat 102 - Brooklyn Nets 89

The Good

Heat: The offense is rarely the issue for Miami, and will probably remain as potent with Dwyane Wade looking like himself again. His 34 points bailed out Chris Bosh's horrible night and fueled the comeback. They fixed their rotation errors and limited their turnovers in the second half to win this game. LeBron's passing from the post could possibly turn into a lethal weapon with the new personnel, he gets open shooters in great position, unfortunately, most of them didn't become an assist, but something to watch for nonetheless.

Nets: Brooklyn is at best when Deron Williams has the ball in his hands, he is the only player on his team that can read the Heat's overly aggressive defense and break it down. A majority of his 12 assists came from passing out of the double, and into a rolling/slipping big man for a easy lay in. The Nets have to let Deron be a little more ball dominant like he has been in his former teams. I know that he is now surrounded by better talent, who wants an equal share of the ball. But his play making ability (something people kind of forget) will take them where they want to go.

The Bad

Heat: I have mentioned earlier that Shane Battier is an integral part of the defense, and it definitely showed in the early parts of this game. His replacement, Rashard Lewis does not possess a hint of defensive instinct, and is always a step slow to rotate. There are few things Miami has to change on defense, because the ball handler trap off a pick and roll that won them a championship last season is catching on. I mean, teams are starting to get real good at predicting it and using it to their advantage. They need to start relying on their individual defense in certain situations, instead of opting for the double and hoping that the help is there. Especially when playing against one of the best point guards in the league.

Remember when I said LeBron was playing too passive in this season, well he did it again. The reigning MVP did not attempt a field goal until the 14th minute of the game. As the best player of his team and the rest of the league, he can not do that. It wasn't like his team was doing great without his offense, because Miami was still trailing in the third quarter, where LeBron finally decided to win this game.

Nets: The starting back court of this Brooklyn team have not shot well despite their success, Deron Williams is at 38 percent, while Joe Johnson is at a career low 41 percent. This team needs their scoring. With Brook Lopez out, it will be a struggle on offense if these two can't get their act together. For a team that usually out scores their opponent in the paint, they only put up 36 points compared to Heat's 52, which pretty much sums up the importance of Brook. The big man would have certainly opened up shooters, had he played in this game and evidence proves that an offensively skilled big man cause problems for Miami.

The defense crumbled in the second half, thanks to the consecutive turnovers they coughed up, completely shifting all the momentum towards Miami . This game may have a different result, if the Nets kept up any effort from the 1st half (scoreless for 7 minutes in the 4th quarter) and had actual bench production. The loss highlighted their problems with pick and roll situations. The big man is too slow to have any effect on the driving ball handler, and no help was present. Dwyane Wade carved this team up.

Notes: Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics [11/28/12]

Brooklyn Nets 95 - Boston Celtics 83

The Good

Nets: Defense and they left it on the whole game. Boston could not shoot without a hand in their face or a Net right beside them. The full court press by the second unit killed the Celtics. Barbosa and company didn't even know how to respond. In the other end, their shots were falling, the pick and roll with Deron opened everybody up. Even Jerry Stackhouse went 5 of 6 from the corner three, it helps when no one was ever there to bother him at all.

Celtics: The interior defense completely shut down Brook Lopez (9 points). Kevin Garnett, and Jason Collins did not give Brook any breathing space, every time he got the ball, he was immediately bodied up and forced into a tough shot. They held Brooklyn to only 38 points in the paint, no one in a black jersey wanted to go inside.

The Bad

Nets: I didn't particularly like the play that involved Gerald Wallace bringing the ball down. They ran this play a few times, where Deron Williams will be at the baseline, waiting for a off ball screen to come up and get the ball back from Wallace. It usually ends with the defenders on Williams, and a open shot for Gerald, which is not an ideal offensive weapon.

In the second half, they stopped moving the ball, and resorted to iso-ball. Plays were thrown out the window, everyone just stood still and watched Joe Johnson dribble, while Boston creeped closer.

Celtics: Rajon Rondo got ejected from the game (So did Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez for fighting). Without Rondo to penetrate and space the floor, the Celtics, who were already suffocated by the Brooklyn defense, had even more trouble getting a good shot. Like the Nets, they decided to not run plays and it was just chaotic.

On defense, they over helped inside too often, leaving their opponents open for easy jumpers. They were in way too deep, and had no chance to recover.

Blake Griffin's block sprained Deron Williams's wrist.

@NBAGuru

In that photo, you see Deron Williams getting completely stuffed by Blake Griffin and Ryan Hollins in the air doing nothing to help. This is what happened after:

From ESPN:

"When I went up against Blake Griffin (to try to dunk the ball), I landed on it. I came down and braced my fall with the right wrist, and I jammed it," Williams said after the Nets defeated the rival New York Knicks 96-89 in overtime Monday night at Barclays Center.

That certainly does not help with the embarrassment, but I guess karma came through. Deron Williams went for 16 points and 14 assists against the New York Knicks last night, while Blake Griffin had a career low 4 points (1 of 9 from the field) in the loss to the New Orleans Hornets.

At least Blake Griffin still has his luscious red curls, to what ever that thing Deron has on top of his head that for some reason doesn't look like real hair.

Here is a reminder of said block:

The Round Up - November 20th, 2012.

Stats Rundown:

Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points, grabbed 6 boards and dished out 4 dimes in 28 minutes for the New York Knicks and it was more than enough to beat the young New Orleans Hornets.

Board Monster: Dwight Howard swatted away 4 shots to go with his 23 points (8 of 11 shooting), 15 rebounds, and 3 assists in the win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Dishin': Jose Calderon and Jrue Holiday got doubles doubles against each other, getting 12 assists for their respective teams.

Thief: Gerald Wallace stole the ball away from the Lakers 5 times. This achievement made him the 4th Nets player since 86' to get 5 steals and 3 blocks in a game. Lame fact (Via: @Nets_PR)

Rookie Watch: Jonas Valaciunas is pretty good, 11 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in 25 minutes for the Raptors.

Time Machine User: Which is from now on AKA Kobe Bryant watch. The Mamba finished with 25 points (8 of 15 shooting), 5 assists, and pairs of clutch free throws to seal the victory.

Defense: Andray Blatche is not very good at it, but he found a creative way to bother the shooter. (Via: @talkhoops)

An Actual Block Party: Dwight Howard sends the shot of the man he was suppose to play with into the first row and dances to celebrate.

Disrespect: Metta World Peace knocks down a three and rubs the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Avery Johnson's head on the way back to defense. If you did that to Chris Paul, MWP would have been left with two broken arms. (Via: @cjzero)

Skates: Deron Williams just toying with Darius Morris. (Via: @cjzero)

Unstoppable: Carmelo Anthony scored 19 points in the first quarter against the New Orleans Hornets. His teammates only combined for 10.

Fatty orders in threes: Raymond Felton scored 15 points, all of which were in form of threes. He went 5 of 6 from behind the arc.

Head Band: Jason Kidd head band watch is way more entertaining than Dwight Howard's.(Via:@jose3030)

FROLO: Still lookin' good. (Via: @Shirka17)

Highlight of the Night: Just Nick Young hitting a ridiculously difficult shot. We all know he would still take the exact same shot regardless of the shot clock situation. Not a bad day for the gunner, as he scored 32 points on the Toronto Raptors.

The Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors Rookies got new embarrassing bags.

The displeasure of Tyshawn Taylor's face must have broken Deron William's heart. I mean he went out and spent his some his money from his hard earned five year, $100 million dollar contract. And he got nothing back in return, those rookies need to learn their place. May I suggest you fill his car up with popcorn too?

Look at the Raptors rookies, not only did they embrace the gifts, they seem to love them. The smile on their faces say it all, no matter how ill matched the stuffed toys are to their respective bags, with the exception of Diego and Dora (No, I did not have to google it, I know my Dora the explorer, don't ask why, just accept it), they are appreciative of their new accessories.

Deron Williams picked Reggie Evans to help him fight off a zombie apocalpyse.

In recent interview with GQ, Deron Williams answered a question we really wanted ask (not really):

GQ: Lastly, an important question we've all been wondering. If there was a zombie takeover of Brooklyn, and you had to choose one teammate—current or ex—to fight them off, who are you taking?

Oh, no question. Reggie Evans. He's tough. He's crazy. He'd have my back in any situation. You don't want someone who's going to run away and leave you when those zombies are coming at you. Reggie, he'd be there ‘til the end. I know he'd be fighting every last one with me.

  

Okay, I am not an expert in the field of zombie killing unless it came down to video games, but I can damn sure choose a better partner. Reggie Evans stand 6 foot 8, with a physically imposing body, would be an obvious choice to go against a mass horde of zombies. But, testicle grabbing is not a skill that will be of use when your brains are in danger because zombie testicles will likely fall off on their own. And neither will excessive flopping be of any effect. Zombies will attack only attack non zombies, so acting like you died by lying on the floor is not going to work.

I feel like it is my mission, nay my duty to help Deron out in this situation by going through his team (Brooklyn Nets) and picking the best possible person for the job. Jerry Stackhouse is clearly out of the question, as he is already a zombie waiting for a chance to pounce. Gerald Wallace will just give himself up early by trying to fight off a bunch of undead creatures at once. Kris Humphris might be good because he has already gone from hell and back. His marriage with Kim Kardashian will provide much needed experience. Upon further review, I have concluded that none other than Joe Johnson is the perfect candidate.

He will not only go under the radar, his possession of a zombie like personality, can easily fool his undead counterparts, lead Deron to safety and when necessary, turn on his killer instinct in the last minute to save the day. If everything else fails, screw the players, take your owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, he is a Russia gangster, has assault weapons at disposal, and last time I heard, guns can actually kill zombies.

Source: GQ

The Feed: Brooklyn Nets vs. Miami Heat [11/07/12]

Recap:

The Miami Heat torched the Brooklyn Nets 103 to 73 in an impressive defensive clinic. The Heat held the Nets under 19 points in every quarter except of the first (22), while going crazy on the offensive end as well.  LeBron Jame flirted with another triple double tonight, finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Dwyane Wade helped with 22 points (12 in the 2nd quarter alone) and 5 rebounds.

The Nets kept it close in the first half by going inside to their big men, Brook Lopez (8 points and 7 rebounds) and Kris Humphries (11 points and 11 rebounds) to take advantage of Heat's missing height. But Spolestra came out in the second with a different defensive approach and as you can see, the final score pretty much told you how it worked out.

Deron Williams led all Nets with 14 points, his struggles against the Miami defense, made him lose the ball 7 times to add to Brooklyn's total of 19 turnovers, which led to 31 Heat points.With no help from the bench, the Nets crumbled in the American Airlines Arena.

Offensive End:

If you couldn't tell already, Miami really likes to run and there is no better team to do so. Their ball movement tonight was beautiful, extra passes and just good decisions. In the half court, the Heat trio will draw doubles every time they get the ball and there will always be a lonely shooter waiting behind the arc. The Heat don't really run set plays, except for this consistent off ball screen to free Ray Allen.

I have got to give props to Mario Chalmers, I used to really hate this kid, because he was cocky on a team with 3 future Hall of Famers, but his play has been improving every year and if he can set guys up like he did in this game, I can't imagine how good he will make this team.

Brooklyn went to their big men early, and it was effective until the second half. Deron Williams will create opportunities via dribble penetration. Not much pick and roll play today, probably due to Miami's great rotations, but he found some points in this play. He will pass the ball to Joe Johnson in the wing and then go by two screens to either get the ball back up top if there was nobody open or get into the corner for a open shot.

Joe Johnson has yet to get going in his new black jersey, going 4 of 14 and forcing lots of ugly shots.

Defensive End:

I know I go on about the Heat's defense a lot, but how can you not, they are so disciplined and knows their places so well that it is weird to see a mistake. They do like to pack the paint, especially against Brooklyn's bigger players and could still get out to shooters in time to affect the shot. In pick and rolls, they know how to take away lanes and if you try to get by, the ball will be gone and into the your basket in less than 2 seconds.

Just by going over their Brooklyn's roster, there is already a problem on defense, they just can't keep guys in front of them. Their rotations were decent in the first half, and then it disappeared in the second, when Miami killed them repeatedly in transition.

Rookie Watch:

No notable performances, just 3 points from Mirza Teletovic, who went 1 of 8 on the floor.

The Feed: Toronto Raptors vs. Brooklyn Nets [11/03/12].

 Recap:

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors 107 to 100 in their first regular season game in the brand new Barclays Center. The Raptors came out to a blazing hot start scoring 35 points in the first quarter at 62.5%. But the Nets manage to fight back into the game, scoring 33 points in the second quarter to take the lead at halftime, a lead that Toronto never managed to comeback from.

On a night, the supporting Raptors struggled, Kyle Lowry (28 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds) and Demar DeRozan (25 points) put the team on their backs and carried 53% of the offense. The 8 turnovers in the second quarter killed Toronto and destroyed the beautiful ball movement they had in the first quarter.

Brooklyn outscored Raptors in paint 52 to 34, much thanks to Brook Lopez who led all Nets with 27 points, Deron William added 19 points and 9 assists. Raptor's early reliance on the jumper, which did hit early came back to haunt them and only resorted to attack the basket late in the game.

Offensive End:
The Raptors like to look for Andrea Bargnani and Demar Derozan early. Andrea usually set a a pick early and instead of rolling hard like the other big men on the Raps, he flares out for a jumper. Demar Derozan get freed by off ball screens (2 of them and allows him to get the ball at the other wing).

Kyle Lowry likes to push the ball off a missed shot, in this game, he took the first shot available. If the defense is set, he will run a pick and roll to attack the basket and will kick out to the open man if given the opportunity.

Jose Calderon is a lot different, he likes to slowly dissect the defense and often (basically all the time) use the pick and roll to create offense.

From what I can remember Brooklyn didn't have specific offensive tactic, the only thing was the deep baseline screen, used to free the player that will likely shoot the ball upon catching it. Otherwise, it is just Deron William's dribble penetration to create chaos within the defense. They did start sloppy early, especially Joe Johnson, who did struggle tonight shooting 5 for 13, with 14 points. He forced a lot of shots, but did not revert back to ISO-JOE, which is a good sign for the Nets.


Defensive End:

Toronto looked great in the 1st quarter, rotating in symphony, reading the offense well and timed the help perfectly, but it ended there. There was a period of good defense in the fourth quarter comeback, it was just too late.

As you would have predicted, the Net's defense was not great either. They do hedge the pick and roll surprsingly well, other than that, they need to work on their rotation, they were slow to recover and the Raptors bailed them out by taking jumpers. When Reggie Evans is on, the defense turns to another level, he really bothers the bigs.



The Moments:

• Brook Lopez has a serious T-Shirt tan, distracted and bothered me the entire game.
• The Betty White temporary tattoo promised, did not happen. Which makes Deron Williams the worst person ever.
• Not once did Jay Z and Beyonce looked excited when the camera was on them. It is no Knicks vs. Net, but it was still a tight game.

Rookie Watch:

Jonas Valanciunas didn't get much action today, got in foul trouble early, finished with 2 points and 3 rebounds.

Deron Williams and Reggie Evans filled up Marshon Brooks's car with popcorn.

Just a guess, but I think they are just catching up on the rookie hazing that they missed out on, during the lockout season, since Marshon Brooks is a sopohmore now. And they didn't hold back either, they actually pulled off  a good one, where as last time, they just made the rookie carry a hot pink purse around. Did not need to see Reggie Evans half naked though and he better lay off the popcorn, putting on all that weight, might break a back on his flops this season. On second thought, go ahead Reggie, eat up!

Expected a lot more of an reaction, but hopefully it leads to revenge, the calm one always hit back hard.

He better tip that guy good, getting that popcorn butter grease off your car is practically impossible.

Update:

Whoa, he got PSY to clean his car.

Sources: @DeronWilliams, @Marshon2