COACH JOHNSON ON REMATCH IN LONDON
Coach Avery Johnson recaps Friday night’s win and talks about Saturday’s game against the Toronto Raptors in London.
From the Booth
March 5 by Leave a Comment
From the Booth
March 4 by Leave a Comment
NETS TOP TORONTO IN LONDON OPENER
Marv Albert and Mike Fratello break down the Nets’ 116-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors in London, England.
Gameday Dish: Nets, Raptors, Chips and Ale
March 3 by Leave a Comment
The NBA comes to Europe on Friday and Saturday: two games, two teams – one from New Jersey, U.S.A. and the other from Toronto, Canada. The Russian-owned Nets currently have three non-US born players on their roster. The Raptors have six players who were born overseas. In fact, about 20 percent of the 450 players in the league this 2010-2011 season started their hoops journeys outside of the 50 and D.C.
The National Basketball Association has maintained a global presence for at least 25 years. Games are broadcast in over 200 countries and it is now accepted in sports as well as advertising discussions that Dr. Naismith’s recreational invention is second only to soccer in popularity and fandom on Earth.
Friday at 8:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time and 24 hours later on Saturday, the Nets play ‘host’ to the Raptors in London, England for a historical back-to-back set overseas. These Eastern Conference, Atlantic Division squads will compete in the very first regular season games in Europe. The games will be broadcast live at 3:00 PM ET in both NJ and Ontario back in North America.
The Nets are 17-43 and on a six-game skid. However, in Newark this past Monday they almost snagged one for the left-hand column, losing to the Phoenix Suns 104-103 in an overtime heartbreaker. Newly acquired All-Star PG Deron Williams had a season-high 18 dimes in the Suns’ contest, his third since he was traded to the East and his first at the Prudential Center.
In fact, the sixth-year lead guard must feel a little like he’s still in the West since his first two games under coach Avery Johnson were against the Spurs and Rockets. Friday’s international setting at London’s famed O2 Arena will be the one-time Final Four Fighting Illini’s first taste of an intra-Atlantic Division 48 minutes, appropriately located on the other side of THE Atlantic.
The Raptors, with ballers from France, Spain, Italy and Lithuania, beat New Jersey on December 17th in Toronto 98-92. Fifth-year player and first overall pick of the 2006 draft Andrea Bargnani, a Roman, was the high scorer in that game with 32 points. Sixth-year PG Jose Calderon, proud son of Villanueva de la Serena, Spain, handed out 14 dimes in the victory.
London is hosting the Games of the XXX Olympiad in the summer of 2012. The English sports scene is normally a crowded, heated, rivalrous setting. And with the added buzz, anticipation and global attention already beginning to focus on the ‘The Square Mile’(London) and ‘The Old Dart’(England) for the upcoming premier quadrennial sporting event, the atmosphere is prime for the NBA’s first official foray into Europe.
Fratello Fundamentals
March 2 by Leave a Comment
When you lead by 2 in the final seconds of a game, do not under any circumstances allow your opponent to get behind the 3-point line and launch a shot.
Monday night’s Nets-Spurs matchup was a nail-biter that came down to the final two possessions in overtime. Anthony Morrow scored 9 points in last 20 seconds of the fourth quarter and knocked down a huge, off-balance shot as the clock wound down to keep the Nets alive and take the game to overtime.
New Jersey had a 2-point advantage with 9 seconds remaining in OT, but Phoenix had possession. So the Nets had to get up there and play the Suns at the 3-point line. If the Suns scored inside the arc it would still be a tie game. But the Nets could not afford to allow them to get behind the 3-point line and win the game with a single shot as Channing Frye had done the previous night in Indiana when he sank a 3 at the buzzer for the win over the Pacers.
The Suns set up the inbounds play, Gortat set a screen for Frye, and Frye managed to get open for the pass. He stepped back, lined up a 3 and buried it to give the Suns the 1-point lead with 6.6 seconds left to play. When the Suns needed it most, Frye delivered again. The Nets nearly converted on their subsequent possession, but Humphries’ tip-in was just a fraction of a second too late, so the Suns held on for the 1-point win in overtime: 104-103.
When you see your teammate screened you have to switch out and get to the 3-point shooter. What happened was Nash faked a slice, and Humphries was anticipating the switch with Nash so he did not follow Frye off the pick right away. Frye stepped off the screen and parlayed the trigger from Hill into the game-winner for the second night in a row.
[nba-video vid=teams/suns/2011/03/01/fryewinners110301wmv-1576186]
Channing Frye was deadly from the arc firing back-to-back game-winners against the Pacers & Nets.
From the Booth
February 28 by Leave a Comment
MIKE AND IAN ON NETS’ OT LOSS
Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello talk about the Nets’ rough one-point overtime loss to the Suns on Monday.
