With Keyon Dooling hurt and Vince Carter ejected from Wednesday’s game in Detroit, the Nets wound up playing two young shooting guards at the point. Neither Chris Douglas-Roberts nor Maurice Ager embarrassed themselves, but pressing them into service must have made the Nets’ front office anxious. Ever since the off-season Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe have noted the need for additional insurance at the point. Wednesday afternoon, they saw what can happen without an insurance policy in place.

Last year, the Nets had Eddie Gill available behind Jason Kidd and Darrell Armstrong and although he didn’t last the year, he did provide valuable service. Gill is with the Nets’ D-League affiliate, the Colorado 14ers, where he puts up solid numbers. He’s but one of several guards who the Nets might turn to.

We take a look at some of the other possibilities, knowing that with the roster at 15, the team would have to drop or trade someone…and that players can be signed to 10-day contracts starting Monday.

Via Trade: Two members of the 2007 draft class look like they could be had for the right price. Sergio Rodriguez of the Blazers and Mike Conley Jr. of the Grizzlies are in their coach’s respective doghouses—again. Rodriguez is a court magician, with phenomenal passing skills…and a turnover rate to match. His biggest problem is his defense, and after playing a lot of back up this season, he has been replaced in the rotation by Jerryd Bayless, the #11 pick in this year’s draft (and Net scouts’ favorite last June). Conley is stuck in a bad situation as he and Kyle Lowry as stuck in a seemingly endless battle for minutes in Memphis. Conventional wisdom is that one of them will be traded, particularly since starting SG O.J. Mayo thinks of himself as a point guard too. The former #4 pick is still only 20 years old and like Devin Harris, lightning quick. He would be the more difficult to obtain and less happy, going from backup in Memphis to third PG in New Jersey.

Among veterans, there’s Earl Watson of the Thunder who said Friday the chances of him being traded look “very high”. That’s nice, but Watson, 29, is owed $12.8 million over two years. That’s more than Dooling will be paid over three. Dave D’Alessandro points out that Tyronn Lue, an expiring contract worth $2.2 million, is available from the Bucks. Lue, 31, would bring something no other Net has: championship experience. Marcus Williams returns? The Nets dumped him knowing they’d have a shortage of point guards and nothing he has done with Golden State has changed their opinion of him. In fact, he has done nothing at all in Golden State. What about Darrell Armstrong, who recently worked out for the Suns? Neither he nor the Nets have shown any inclination to reconnect…at least publicly.

D-League Call-up: It would seem that Eddie Gill is the most likely of the D-League’s point guards to get a call-up from the Nets or another NBA team. He has the experience, having had five different roster stints with the Nets organization in summer league, preseason or regular season. He’s also averaging 15.4 points and 7.8 assists for the 14ers. Another possibility is Will Conroy, the 6’-2” former Clipper who played well for the Nets in the Orlando Summer League in 2008…and is thus familiar with the dribble-drive offense. He’s averaging 24.8 points and 7.8 assists for Albuquerque. There’s always Smush Parker, who was hanging around with Net players last summer and is now at 17.9 and 7.8 for Rio Grande Valley. Gill is 30, Conroy is 26 and Parker 27.

Overseas: If Triumph Lyubertsy was willing to let Nenad Krstic go, would other Russian League teams let their NBA imports leave? The top choice in Russia would have to be Jannero Pargo, who played so well for the Hornets last year and who the Nets have pursued the last three summers. He plays for Dinamo Moscow (with Boki Nachbar), a more financially secure Russian team, but like Krstic has a big contract and rumors abound that he’s trying to leave. He’s averaging 15.5 and 5.2 in the Russian League, 10.3 and 3.3 in the Europe-wide ULEB Cup. Darius Washington plays deeper in Russia, with Ural Great in the city of Perm. The once promising Memphis product is averaging 10.3 and 2.0 for Ural. He was the Spurs’ third point guard last season, backing up Tony Parker and Jacque Vaughn. Last summer, there were reports he had worked out at the Nets’ practice facility in hopes of getting a training camp invite. He’s recently recovered from an injury. Since we’re talking Russia, there’s always Zoran Planinic, who since leaving the Nets has played well in the Spanish League, the Olympics and now in the Russian League with CSKA Moscow, the best and most financially secure Russian team. He’s currently averaging 9.3 points and 2.9 assists in the Euroleague. It’s hard to imagine either Pargo or Planinic wanting to play behind Harris and Dooling, and even harder to imagine a Planinic return, but stranger things have happened.

Finally, there’s Julius Hodge, who is tearing up Australia’s NBL again. The last player dropped by the Nets in October, he is once again averaging close to a triple-double, his 26.3 points and 6.0 assists per game are both league-leading. He’s also credited with 8.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per outing. And he could be available. Media reports out of Adelaide say he sat out two practices this week because money he was owed hadn’t shown up in his account. The 36ers’ owner suggested it was Hodge’s fault. But is he a point guard? He didn’t look like one in training camp. He does know the system, however. Washington is 23, Planinic 26, Pargo 29 and Hodge 25.

The Nets’ trade assets are somewhat limited, with Stromile Swift’s $6.2 million expiring contract the biggest draw. Ager also has a small expiring contract at $1 million. Sean Williams has been shopped as well. He has two years left. The Nets also have two extra first round picks. While the 2010 Mavs’ pick will not be used to acquire a third string point guard, the heavily protected 2011 Warriors pick might. Finally, the Nets have a $1.26 million trade exception obtained in the Marcus Williams deal.

The D-League team Sean Williams joined Tuesday is one of the better ones in the NBA’s minor league with a wide open game and two other NBA players on assignment. Like the Nets the Colorado 14ers were flush with big men until Tuesday’s Two of its top three scorers are 6’9” forwards who’ve been the league’s players of the week the last two weeks and another 6’9” forward is the team’s best three point shooter.

But on Tuesday, one of those two, James Mays, went down with a torn achilles. The 14ers coach said Mays is likely done for the season…giving Williams a greater opportunity.

Still, the team’s two best players are faces Williams will recognize: Eddie Gill, the 6’-0” point guard who has had five turns with the Nets, on summer league, preseason and regular season rosters, and Josh Davis, a 6’9” power forward who played with Williams in the Orlando Summer League a year ago.

Gill has played 181 games for five NBA teams, including two stints with the Nets totaling 21 games. He’s also played 114 with the Pacers, 23 with the Grizzlies, 22 with the Blazers and one with the Sonics. He has twice figured in Nets history, being the player the team traded for in the ill-fated 2004 deal that shipped the Nets first round pick to the Blazers. He also started for the Nets against the Knicks last season when Jason Kidd famously backed out because of a migraine. He’s averaging 14.7 ppg and 7.4 apg.

Davis, 28, is the reigning D-League Player of the Week, having averaged 20 ppg and 8 rpg over three games last week, all of which the Broomfield-based team won. He’s played 52 games for five NBA teams, 42 with the Sixers in 2004-05 and a handful of games with the Hawks, Bucks, Rockets and Suns. He has also had tryouts with the Magic, Pacers, Trailblazers, Timberwolves, Bulls and Nuggets. He has played in Italy and the CBA where he was both All-CBA Newcomer of the Year and Most Valuable Player. He’s averaging 15.3 ppg and 6.8 rpg for the season.

Until he went down, the 14ers also had the 6’9” Mays who was undrafted out of Clemson but played with the Nuggets in preseason and was the last man cut by George Karl. Mays, 22, was averaging a team high 19.8 ppg and 9.2 rpg for the 14ers. He had been D-League Player of the Week before Davis, averaging 25.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in three games. He highlighted that run with a 37-point night in his team’s Dec. 9 win over Rio Grande Valley, the high game in the D-League this season.

Gill, Davis and Mays are all free agents.

The 14ers also have two players on assignment from the Nuggets: Sonny Weems, a 6’6” swingman who’s averaging 14.2 ppg and Cheikh Samb, a 7-1” center who was acquired in the Allen Iverson-Chauncey Billups trade. He’s averaging 10.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Weems is 22, Samb 24.

The 14ers are the D-League affiliate for the Nets and Nuggets.

Another player who could be competing with Williams is the team’s 6’9” three point specialist, the aptly named Trey Glider. Glider, who has no NBA experience, is shooting better than 40% from deep and is averaging 9.7 ppg.

While D-League coaches are not required to play those players on assignment from NBA teams, the 14ers coach, Bob MacKinnon, has a reputation for player development and is the son of a former Nets coach.

Individual Nets continue to put up big numbers, comparable to the league’s elite, as they head into the second trimester of the NBA season.

After 28 games, Devin Harris is one of only three players in the NBA to currently average at least 24.0 points and 6.0 assists per game. The other two are named Dwyane Wade and Lebron James. Wade is averaging 29.0 and 7.0; James 27.6 and 6.3, while Harris is at 24.0 and 6.8.

Harris has dropped a bit in road scoring. After being the top scorer away from home for most of December, he now has the league’s fourth highest scoring average in road games while Vince Carter is ranked fifth.

Again, the company is elite, with James, Kobe Bryant and Wade just ahead of the Nets’ duo. Harris is averaging 26.7 ppg in 11 road games, Carter is right behind at 26.3 in 13.

Harris also holds the league’s highest point increase from 2007-08 to now (minimum 50 games played last season). The player with the highest point increase has traditionally won the league’s Most Improved Player award.

Harris has gone from 14.8 to 24.0, a 9.2 ppg increase. Marquis Daniels of the Pacers has gone from 8.2 to 16.0, a 7.8 increase and John Salmons of the Kings has improved from 12.5 to 19.9.

Harris and Carter continue to battle Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry for top scoring due. Nowitzki and Terry currently hold a 0.1 ppg lead, 47.1 to 47.0, over Harris and Carter. The two Nets are also the highest scoring back court in the league, averaging almost 10 points better than Wade and Mario Chalmers. Harris currently ranks sixth in the league in scoring at 24.0, Carter ninth at 23.0.

Harris and Carter are also among the league leaders in clutch shooting as well. Harris is third in fourth quarter scoring at 7.5 ppg, just behind James at 8.2 and Wade 8.0. Harris is also second in free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, just behind Dwight Howard and eighth in assists, at 1.7. Overall, he ranks first in free throws made, ahead of Wade, Chris Bosh, James and Paul Pierce and third in free throws attempted. In crunchtime–described as fourth quarter or overtime, less than five minutes left, neither team ahead by more than five points–Carter ranks sixth and Harris ninth. On a per 48 minute basis, Carter puts up 48.2 points in the clutch, Harris 45.6. They each have a buzzer beater win, Carter over Toronto, Harris over Indiana, both on the road.

Brook Lopez is also among the league leader in blocks. He’s averaging 1.96 bpg, fifth in the league and first among rookies.

Rod Thorn said Friday the Nets intend to take the full week to decide whether to match the Thunder’s offer sheet for Nenad Krstic. They won’t get the offer sheet til Monday. Offer sheets must have all the contract details. All that’s been reported is that it’s $4.8 million, $5.2 million and $5.6 million over three years, with the first year pro-rated. That means Krstic will only be paid a percentage of that $4.8 million depending on when he joins an NBA team, whether it’s the Thunder of the Nets. Right now, that would mean a commitment of about $3.5 million this season since the season will be roughly one-third over by the time the Nets make a decision.

What’s not known is whether the offer sheet contains options, team or player; buyout provisions; performance bonuses, signing bonuses, etc., etc. Any of those could effect the Nets’ decision. (Since Krstic is buying out his Russian League contract, any NBA team that signs him can give him $500,000 towards the buyout.)

Moreover, offer sheets are not contracts and things can change. Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe know all about offer sheets, contracts and sign-and-trade deals.

Back in 2004, the Nuggets—that would be Vandeweghe—told the Nets—that would be Thorn—they were prepared to load up an offer sheet for Kenyon Martin. It would include all sorts of onerous provisions the Nuggets hoped would scare the Nets off, including a signing bonus up front, a trade bonus at the back, and a requirement that the first year’s salary be paid immediately. If the Nets had matched, they would have had to pay Kmart $23 million upfront. Thorn’s response was send it along. Vandeweghe didn’t, instead preferring the certainty of a sign-and-trade. It was all chronicled recently by the Rocky Mountain News, which said bottom line, “the Nuggets blinked”.

The Nets decided to retain Krstic’s rights when he signed with Triumph Moscow this summer for a reason. They didn’t have to but decided to carry Krstic’s $2.7 million qualifying offer on their salary cap. If an NBA team wanted him, they didn’t want to lose him for nothing. They had invested a lot in him, just as they had with KMart.

As shown in the Kmart example, once a player signs an offer sheet, things change. That’s why Martin never actually signed a sheet. The Nets and Nuggets can’t do a deal outside the offer. They can’t demand a pick in return for an agreement to let Krstic go.

BUT if the three parties—the Nets, Thunder and Krstic—agree, the offer sheet can be rescinded at anytime during the seven-day period and then talks can start in earnest. The question is what would be the Thunder’s interest in doing that. If they thought the Nets would match, they might rescind.

In that case, there’s a number of possibilities. For example, one sign-and-trade could involve OKC’s second round pick. An OKC second round pick will be the 31st pick and with only a minimal amounts of smarts could be a better than a late first round pick, since teams don’t have to be commit to a two-year contract. And the Nets don’t have a second rounder this season. (There are some indications the Thunder might owe the pick to the Suns, however.)

They could also ask for DeVon Hardin’s draft rights. A teammate of Ryan Anderson’s at Cal, he was drafted at #50 by the Thunder in June. Hardin is a 6′11″ hyper-athletic big man with a 7′3″ wingspan. The Nets worked him out in 2007 and 2008 and gave indications they liked him. After the Thunder picked him, they asked him to go to Europe to get some experience. He was headed for Turkey when he suffered a stress fracture in his leg. He’s expected to get clearance to play in the next few weeks. The Nets would not have to sign him immediately.

Then, there are players on the Thunder roster the Nets could be interested in: Chris Wilcox, who they have long coveted; Joe Smith, a solid veteran presence; Earl Watson, a potential third point guard/swing man. Watson has two years remaining. Wilcox and Smith have expiring contracts.

The simplest thing would be for the Nets to dump someone on the roster and match the offer. The Nets could make a trade this week—a 2-for-1 or a 3-for-2. That way, they could drop below 15 roster spots and maybe even reduce their payroll. Even if they don’t, the Nets, unlike a lot of teams, don’t have to worry about the luxury tax. They’re $9 million under the tax threshold.

The Nets will be patient. Expect to see rumors fly. Here’s one we predict early in the process: with Lebron James hinting he will re-sign with the Cavs this summer, does that mean the Nets don’t need to conserve as much money as they once thought they did?

One big question is Krstic’s state of health. Hard to tell how extensively the Nets scouted Krstic in Russia. He didn’t play that well if you look at the stat sheets, but it was a bad team and a bad situation. He was playing before 2,000 people at most in a grubby suburb of Moscow. The team also had money problems, as do a lot of Russian teams. He played well enough this summer in the FIBA Europe Qualifying Tournament and the Nets did have scouts there. Krstic has also expressed a great deal of bitterness at the Nets’ rehab program, saying it made him regress, not improve last year. The Nets aggressively defended their program, but chalked up Krstic’s anger to his frustration of not getting back to his previous form…and losing tens of millions of dollars in the process.

If he has returned to top form, or appears to be close to returning, he’s a bargain. He was averaging 17 and 7 and had two games of 25+ the week before he went down. He is only 25 years old. But is he a bargain for the Nets? That is the biggest question and OKC’s GM Sam Presti knows it. Could he, Brook, Lopez, Yi Jianlian, Josh Boone and Ryan Anderson, etc., etc. co-exist upfront? Is there room? Will the addition of the talented but admittedly injury-prone Krstic slow the development of those guys, particularly Lopez? Is he worth it? That has to be the bottom line for the Nets.

It would seem doubtful that Krstic will ever wear a Nets uniform again, but the Thunder offer may have forced the front office’s hand on any pending deals.

Dynamo, with Boki Nachbar and Jannero Pargo, beat Triumph, with Nenad Krstic and Alan Anderson, 93-79 Friday in Moscow. Boki, who is playing the best of any NBA imports from this summer, had 27 while Krstic, who has been inconsistent, had 18 to lead their teams. Boki is averaging about 16 ppg while Krstic is averaging about 12 ppg. They played in front of 2,000 people. No further word on Russian teams’ financial woes, but both of these guys have outs after this season, and again the Nets continue to retain Krstic’s rights…meaning they have the right of first refusal and an standing offer of $2.7 million for one year.

Here is the first of what will be periodic reports on some statistics that have recently caught my eye.

I. With a 6-6 record, the Nets are not surprisingly in the middle of the pack in most team statistical categories. Here’s a rundown:

–The Nets are hitting 44.6% of their field goal attempts. That ranks 14th in the NBA.
–The Nets are hitting 77% of their free throws. That’s 13th.
–The Nets are averaging 4.6 blocks per game. That ranks 19th.
–The Nets are drawing 21.8 fouls. That’s twelfth most.
–The Nets are holding their opposition to a 45.5% field goal percentage. That’s twentieth (below average, but not as bad as everyone thinks.
–The Nets are committing 12.7 turnovers per game. That ranks as 8th fewest, which qualifies as above average. However, their opposition is just committing 13.3; the differential is tenth best.

There are a couple of things that they are doing well, though:
–The Nets are hitting 38.6% of the three-point attempts. That ranks seventh.
–The Nets are attempting 27.8 free throws per game. That ranks fifth.

On the negative side:
–The Nets are committing 25.6 fouls per game. That’s the worst. As a result, the opposition is attempting 31.8 free throws, which is second worst in the league. The free throw differential is fourth worst.
–The opposition is hitting 41.8% of their three-point attempts. That’s second worst in the league in perimeter defense.

These stats, though, include the first few games, when the team was still figuring out how to play together, and the three games when Devin Harris was out with his injury and the team was shelled. Have the Nets played any better since his return (and since Brook Lopez was inserted into the starting lineup, which happened at the same time)? Let’s take a look.

Over the past five games:
–They have given their opponents a ridiculous 159 free throw opportunities over the five games—that’s 31.8 per game, for those counting, the same as their season average. Only Milwaukee has committed more fouls over their past five games than the Nets. The silver lining? They have ATTEMPTED 165 free throws themselves.

–They have allowed the opposition to shoot 46.6% from the field, which has actually gotten worse. On the plus side, though, they have hit 48.3% of their shots; only Phoenix (49.7) has shot better than that for the entire season.

–The Nets are hitting 43.8% of their three-point attempts, which is an improvement over their season-to-date numbers, and would lead the league if they could have shot at that rate all season. However, they are allowing the opposition to hit 44.6% of their three-point shots over the past five games. As shown above, that is several percentage points worse than the Nets’ season-to-date mark. The opposition is also attempting more threes than the Nets–about 4.6 per game more.

–Over the past five games, the Nets have committed slightly fewer turnovers than the opponents, 56 to 64. That’s only 11.2 per game, an improvement over the first seven games, and would be the lowest average in the league if they could have done that the entire season.

–Also, over the last five games the Nets have tied for the highest PPG average in the league, at 111.4 (tied with Golden State). They’ve given up the second most, though (108). They’ve averaged 2.0 more steals per game than their opponent, which is seventh-highest in the league over that span.

UPSHOT: It’s pretty unlikely that the Nets can continue to shoot as well as they have recently. To continue to be successful, then, they have to either reduce the opposition’s three-point shooting percentage, or reduce the number of times they send the opponent to the line. Or both. I would say that these are two of the key factors for the upcoming road trip, in addition to getting some production from the two starting forward positions.

II. Here’s a stat that I thought I’d break out into a separate section for emphasis. This hasn’t been covered by the press, but believe it or not, the Nets have recently been dominating their opponents on the glass. Over the past five games, they’ve grabbed 58 offensive rebounds in 202 opportunities, a 28.7% success rate. Defensively, they’ve allowed 45 offensive rebounds by the opposition, in 195 opportunities, a 23.1% rate. That’s a pretty nice spread; on average, they’ve grabbed 2.6 more offensive rebounds than their opponents, which would lead to roughly 2.5-3 points per game. If they can keep this up, it will go a long way to helping them remain at or even surpass .500.

III. With all this talk about how bad the Nets have been at defending the perimeter, I thought we should take a look to see if they have at least been successful at defending the area inside the arc. That would not only include the paint, but also your typical 12-15 foot jump shot. The way I’ve done this is to remove the three-point baskets and attempts from the opposition’s overall shooting percentage, and then compare the resulting percentage to that of the rest of the league. It turns out that, among two-point shots, the Nets are holding the opposition to a 47% shooting percentage. That is exactly 15th in the league, and not a whole lot worse than ninth best (46.6%). The Celtics rule here, holding the opposition to just a 40.8% shooting percentage inside the arc. Cleveland is next, at just over 44%.

82games.com goes one step further, and breaks down stats by three point shots, two point jump shots, and “inside shots.” By their calculation, opponents are hitting just 35.9% of their two-point jump shots, which is the fifth stingiest in the league. Roughly 40% of the opponent’s total shot selection is classified in this category. The Nets are not so successful at “inside shots”, however: the opposition is successful at 61.8% of these shots, which is sixth worst in the league. On the plus side, however, only 30% of the opposition’s shots are considered “inside shots,” which is one of the lowest percentages in the league, so the Nets must generally be doing a decent job at closing off the paint. They’ve also given up just 28 dunks, which is the second lowest total in the league.

IV. Over the past five games–in other words, since Devin returned from his injury and Brook entered the starting lineup—the Nets have been outscored in just FIVE of the 20 quarters (21 if you include overtime). That’s it—five times (they’ve been even on two occasions). Moreover, there’s been no truth to the rumor that they’ve had the most trouble in the third quarter; they’ve been outscored just once in that frame over this time period (by Cleveland, by 15 points). Combined, they’ve outscored their opponent in every quarter overall: by two points in the first (the numbers brought down by a -11 against Toronto); by 11 in the second; by two in the third; and by 9 in the fourth. Three times they outscored their opponent in a quarter more than five points: once by 7, once by 8, and once by 9. Yet three times they were OUTSCORED by more than 9 (11, 12, and 15, the latter two in the same game). In other words, the few times that the Nets have lost a quarter recently, they have gotten totally bombed.

V. Brook Lopez is certainly catching on fast. In five games as a starter, he is now averaging 14.6 PPG on 59% shooting, with 9.0 rebounds (3.6 offensive), 1.6 blocks, and just 3.8 fouls and 1.0 turnovers in just over 32 minutes per game. Impressively, he’s hitting 69% of his free throws as well. Here’s a question: Last year, how many rookie bigmen averaged 14 and 8, on 50%+ shooting?

Answer: None.

How about in 2006-07? Answer: None. How about 2005-06? Answer: None (Charlie Villanueva comes closest, averaging 13 PPG and 6.4 RPG). How about 2004-05? Okafor! Except for the field goal component, but we’ll take it. Dwight Howard made the rebound and FG% cutoff, but averaged just 12 PPG.

Are you getting the sense that Lopez could be kind of special?

To be fair, I’m cheating a bit by throwing out Brook’s games as a reserve (I didn’t do the same for past rookies). And, of course, there is no guarantee that he can continue this pace his entire rookie season; five games is an awful small sample, after all. Still, though, it’s impressive, and shows how difficult it has been for rookie big men to put up those sorts of numbers. Even if he levels off at 13 and 6, he’ll compare quite well against other rookie bigs this decade.

Stats aside, Brook’s development has been startling. He is getting more confident in his post game, and has demonstrated strong rebounding skills. As shown in point II. above, he’s doing a fine job both grabbing offensive boards and limiting the number of offensive boards that the opposing center has pulled down. Suddenly Keyon Dooling’s proclamation that he could be a “top five center” by the end of the season doesn’t look quite so crazy. Still a little crazy, though.

VI. Now the Nets are off on their usual November West Coast road trip. It has become an annual Thanksgiving weekend tradition, the result of a scheduling conflict at the Izod Center. Reading what the beat writers and the armchair experts on the discussion boards are thinking, it seems as though the predicted outcome ranges between a 2-2 mark and a 0-4 mark. No one is daring to suggest that the Nets could actually win more than they lose on this West Coast swing. Thus, expectations are that the team will return from the road trip with an overall record somewhere between 6-10 and 8-8. This naturally led to the question: How would this start match up against the team’s record to begin prior seasons?

To find the answer, I looked at the Nets’ overall record on the date they returned from the West Coast trip. The idea was that, regardless of the number of games that have been played, the part of the schedule ending with this annual road trip should be considered the “beginning” of the season. Obviously, the total number of games that the team had played up to that point will vary. Also, in some years, the road trip consists of four games (such as this year); in some years, five. With that in mind, here are their records to start the season each year this decade:

2007-08: 7-7
2006-07: 5-8
2005-06: 7-7
2004-05: 2-11
2003-04: 7-10
2002-03: 11-7
2001-02: 9-5
2000-01: 6-7

What we notice: Despite the pessimism surrounding the team’s fortunes prior to the start of the season, the Nets should return from this trip with a record no different than most other years this decade, the two Finals years notwithstanding. If the Nets go 2-2 on the trip, and return with an 8-8 record, they will have as successful a start to a season as they’ve had since 2002-03. A 1-3 trip (7-9 record overall) would be roughly equivalent to their AVERAGE start over the past five years; that average is a record of 5.6-8.6. For the decade, their average record has been a slightly better 6.75-7.75.

What else we notice: Wow, they sure were horrible back in 2004-05. Yet they still made the playoffs, when all was said and done. Maybe they made a trade or something.

Remember, too, that the Nets reached the playoffs six out of eight years this decade, and the finals twice. Maybe there is reason to be optimistic after all.

–Dumpy

Last June 26 was a day of big risks for the Nets–big risks with young players.

We’ll be providing occasional updates on the Gamble as the season progresses.

Waiting til Yi had his highest scoring game in a year has its advantages.

Twelve games into what was supposed to be a tough, long and harrowing rebuilding season, the Nets’ rebuilding plan seems to be paying off and a lot of it has been due to the play of the youngsters. Douglas-Roberts has been hurt, but Yi, Anderson and particularly Lopez have played well…in some cases, better and earlier than expected.

Yi has been the most inconsistent. His 27 points Saturday night were more than he had scored this season, but also more than he had scored in the Nets’ four previous games combined. It’s the highest single game point total by any of the four so far.

One big difference Saturday was his minutes, which in turn was due to his ability to stay on the floor. Yi played 38 minutes without picking up a foul. He had been averaging better than three a game…in limited minutes for a starter.

There were other positives for the 7-footer, a lot of them. He scored from deep and mid-range, executed a nice turn around in the lane and shocked Ricky Davis with a monstrous block, which he then recovered and turned into a fast break.

“I got some open shots and hit twos, threes, layups, fast breaks,” said Yi.

Yi now has 16 three pointers in 12 games. Last season in Milwaukee, he had six the entire season. At that rate, he would have 105 for this year, more than Keith Van Horn had in his best year for the Nets.

“Yi has had some games that are maybe a little ahead of schedule,” said Kiki Vandeweghe after Yi’s 24-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist game vs. Miami. “He hasn’t played a lot of US basketball.” The Nets are being very patient with Yi, believing strongly that long-term he is one of the building blocks.

The Nets couldn’t be as patient with Lopez who they inserted in the lineup after Josh Boone (who is still only 23, we might note) got hurt.

Picking Lopez has made the Nets’ front office look more like geniuses than any other move that night. In five games since he has started at center, the team is 4-1 and Lopez has looked like someone who should have been drafted a lot higher than #10. He’s averaged 14.6 ppg, shooting 32-for-54 or 59.3%. Some draftniks thought his rebounding was not NBA-ready. He seems to have disproved that, averaging 9.0 a game, including 3.6 offensive boards. Lopez is also averaging 1.6 blocks. He’s still getting into foul trouble, averaging nearly four a game. His first start, against the Hawks, was the best rookie debut by a Nets rookie center since Mike Gminski.

“I think you can’t be anything but impressed,” Lawrence Frank said. “I think he’s done a great job. Some of these things are going to be part of the learning curve — especially off the ball defensively — but I think he’s done a lot of good things.”

Anderson was supposedly a reach for the Nets at #21, but Gregg Polinsky, then chief scout and now director of player personnel, had good feeling about him. Again, the confidence seems to be justified.

John Hollinger ranks him among the top rookies in terms of efficiency when on the floor. Watching Anderson do the little things makes you wonder about whether his true age is 20. Forget the controversy of Yi’s age. Someone check the Hall of Records in Sacramento.

He remains one of the NBA’s top three point shooters, dropping a bit from last week’s 66.7% to 55.0%. That now ranks him #3 in the league. Yi ranks #9, meaning the two youngsters who man the power forward position are shooting a torrid 26-for-52 from deep, or 52.8%. Atlanta surely doesn’t want to see him again. In the back-to-back vs the Hawks, Anderson shot 9-for-12 overall, including 6-for-6 from deep. He also shot 8-for-9 from the foul line.

Anderson has run into a slump lately, hitting only one of his last five three’s, but in preseason he was 1-for-7 and that turned around…as everyone expects this one will.

“The first day I came and watched him shoot, I knew he was a capable shooter,” Devin Harris said. “He has a nice stroke, uses his legs well, takes good shots. That’s the most important thing.”

CDR is the only one of the four who has yet to show what he can do. After a terrific preseason in which he had an 18-point game vs. the Heat, he saw only limited minutes before going down with a grade one knee sprain on November 5. It’s supposed to keep him out for two to four weeks, but with the Nets playing well, there’s no rush. He is expected back around Thanksgiving, Lawrence Frank said Saturday.

The team had given him some time at the point, a position he played in high school and he might get some minutes there on this return.

Bottom line: the Nets seem to be in good shape after their big gamble.

GM’s can fix their squads with one-sided deal so why don’t they?

by Ric Bucher

If an NBA team’s primary goal is to win a championship, clearing cap space for the 2010 free agent class is a close second. Players who otherwise would have been tasty trade bait by now–Vince Carter, Josh Howard, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Kaman and Jason Richardson, to name a few–have stayed put because no one wants to take on hefty contracts that run beyond the Summer of Lebron.

Which raises this question: If a championship really is the No. 1 priority, shouldn’t some teams be taking advantage of the current stagnation? It’s the simplest of counterstrategies, rooted in Wall Street fundamentals. Plenty of sellers offering talented big moneyed players in exchange for little more than expiring deals (say, Carter for Wally Szczerbiak and Anderson Varejao) provides the perfect opportunity to land immediate help. Doesn’t that beat waiting for the chance to bid on Lebron, Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade with the horde of other cash-flush suitors? “You’e better off spending now when there’s less competition,” says one West exec. “I, that is, your motive is to win.”

The Cavs, Suns, Mavs and Raptors are four teams that can go either way. All are one quality player away from being serious contenders. All also have the expiring contracts that put theim in positon to enter the 2010 sweepstakes. Only the Raptors, though, claim to be looking aggressively to bolster their lineup now. Sources say Toronto has inquired about Al Harrington and Gerald Wallace and GM Bryan Colangelo says he happily would give up his place at the free agent table two years from now for an upgrade today. “I’m a realist,” he says. “There are only three prize guys and we’re trying to keep one of them (Bosh). I’m in the market to do something.”

Of course, only Colangelo knows if the is just talking, a front office version of false hustle. Several GM’s say most owners are toying with fans by making them think they’re preparing to chase the Class of ‘10 when their real goal is just to cut costs. “It’s a good way to be cheap,” says a GM. “Pretending to do something.”

That’s a bold accusation.

The Nets continue to be in trade discussions with Charlotte, which is desperate for frontcourt help, but they don’t have the expendable post player Larry Brown wants. The Bobcats are willing to part with Gerald Wallace for a player of consequence, but are more actively pushing Matt Carroll or Adam Morrison, mindful that the Nets are shooter-crazy these days.

It’s as if Devin Harris has had two starts to the season, the first in late October and then the start to what he calls “being more aggressive”, meaning the last three games.

Just how dramatic has the turnaround been? Take a look at all his stats in the last three games, compared to those in the first three.

The obvious difference is his scoring, jumping from 12.3 ppg in the first three to 33.7 in the last three!

But all of his stats have improved.

Overall, he’s shot 36-for-47 or 55.3% in the last three, compared to 10-for-33 or 30.3% in the first three.

Beyond the arc, he’s shot 4-for-10 or 40.0% in the last three, 0-for-4 in the first three.

The most dramatic change, of course, is at the foul line. In the first three games, Harris went 17-for-20, or 85%. Since then, he’s been an astonishing 45-for-50 or 90%.

He’s also averaged 4.7 rebounds–up from 3.3; 6.7 assists–up from 5.7; 1.7 steals–up from 0.3; and 1.0 turnovers, down from 2.3.