Free Ballin’

Continuing my NBA VIEW

New Jersey Nets:

The funny thing about the Atlantic division is that the two teams that are in the best shape are the Celtics, the favorites for the championship and the Nets, who have yet to win a game this season.  [Note: I say that the Celtics are the favorites only because I find myself incapable of averring that status to the Lakers.]  As everyone knows by this point, Brook Lopez is legit—and not just because he looks like Sam the Eagle.  Lopez’s success is a good reminder about (part of) what’s wrong with NBA scouting.  All I read was: Lopez is skilled and has good size, but isn’t very athletic.  So he might be a good pro, but his upside was limited.  What that really means is that Lopez doesn’t jump high or run fast.  And it’s true.  The same is true of Carlos Boozer, but like Boozer, Lopez is exceptionally coordinated for a player his size, handles the ball smoothly with either hand, and can also finish at the rim with either hand.  Coordination, body control, and “touch” are significant aspects of athleticism.

It’s funny to think how amid all the measurements that they take in draft camp, you don’t hear much about a player’s ability to use his off hand.  Just consider Brandon Jennings’ game right now.  It’s extraordinary how effective he has been, at his size, considering he never goes right.  If you look at clips of his games this year, you’ll see him taking some incredibly awkward body-twisting shots (and making a number of them,) because he can’t use his right hand.  It makes a ton of shots he takes that much harder to make.  Brook Lopez may not have a huge burst of speed going to the rim, but because of his coordination and handle, he moves more efficiently, more under control, and takes easier shots.

As for the rest of the team, if Devin Harris has peaked, that’s fine.  He’s not amazing, but he’s quite good and plays to his contract.  Courtney Lee is cheap and can contribute.  Terrence Williams is pretty unknown to me at this point, but I read good things about his talents and I’ll root for any player that wears a Sponge Bob Square Pants backpack and has pink Barbie socks, (or is the other way around?)  I don’t know how good Chris Douglas-Roberts can become, but he’s probably a rotation guy; and he’s cheap, as well.  And Yi…

I figure the only reason the NBA still lists Yi Jianlian as being 22 year-old (he’s 25) is to maintain their always tricky relations with China.  His age isn’t as problematic as the fact that he’s a very, very poor man’s Brook Lopez.  He’s pretty coordinated for a player of his size, and he can handle the ball fairly well for a player his size, and he’s a halfway decent shooter.  But when a player is that tall, he has to be a very good ball handler and very coordinated to opperate from the perimeter or from the high post.  And if he can get into the lane, he has to have the strength to finish.  And it helps a ton if he can finish with either hand.  Yi isn’t that guy.  Rather, he’s pretty much the same as most of these very tall European players who come over and don’t succeed.  The only benefit of being as tall as they are is that they have an easy time getting their shot off.  But compare those guys to Danilo Gallinari.  Maybe he doesn’t run and jump like crazy, but he shoots the lights out, and can handle the ball well enough to penetrate and either look to finish or (even rarer for a guy his height) pass accurately off the dribble.  I’ll take that over Tyrus Thomas’ 40″ vertical any day.