Netlinked 9/6/12: Sending Off Sundy Gaines to Indy

The zero on Sundiata's jersey certainly wasn't representing his effort level, but his shooting level? Quite possibly.

On today's edition of Netlinked, we look at how the Indiana Pacers have yet again poached away a free agent Net. After signing Gerald Green in July, Indy has signed Queens native Sundiata Gaines to a minimum contract with an invitation to training camp, similar to the deal the Nets gave Andray Blatche a few days ago. Gaines, a gritty 6-1 point guard, spent the last two seasons with the Nets and played a total of 67 games, averaging 5.2 points, nearly 2 boards, and 2.3 assists per game.

However, Sundy's contribution to the Nets was mainly in the defensive aspect of the game where he was  major pest and ballhawk, sticking with the better offensive players in the NBA when tasked with guarding them. Averaging nearly a steal per contest, Gaines, who the Nets picked up from the D-League in February 2011, was able to cause many turnovers in his limited playing time that often led to fast-break points for the Nets, a rare stat for the team to come by since Vince Carter and Jason Kidd were traded away years ago.

Like Gerald Green, we wish Sundy the best with the Pacers and hope he's put in an environment and role where his attributes can be better used as his skill set doesn't really help a bottom-feeder like the Nets that much. He is able to produce so much more when on a winning, playoff team, shown by the contributions (mainly this shot) he made to the Utah Jazz in 2009-10, when they made it to the postseason.

On another note, the Pacers also signed guard/forward Sam Young and point guard Blake Ahearn to similar contracts as they did with Sundiata. Young was rumored to have some interest in the Nets this offseason but, obviously nothing came out of that.

Season-In-Review: Gerald Green

Gerald, we hope the Pacers and their fans like your dunking ability, because us Nets fans certainly miss it

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with the upstart Gerald Green. I covered Gerald Wallace last.

Gerald Green was rescued from the NBA D-League's Los Angeles D-Fenders by the Nets on February 27th, 2012, and the swing-man never looked back. Originally, the Nets, an injury-depleted mess of a team, were just looking for any small forward who could go into games and simply not be terrible. With a low-risk, 10-day contract, the Nets signed Green to fill that role and oh boy did the Nets get some return for their investment.

After his first 10-day contract with the team, Gerald signed another 10-day and then eventually signed on with New Jersey for the rest of the season after showing the coaching staff that he was one of, if not the best, healthy Nets players on the court at some points in the condensed 2011-12 campaign.Green is most notable around the NBA for winning the 2007 Slum Dunk Contest while a member of the Celtics, in his first go-around of the NBA.

Gerald has absurd athleticism and hops, which is what the Nets were assuredly lacking of last year and is what he brought to the team last season, capped off by a crazy, alley-hoop windmill jam he threw down against the Rockets in March. However, the former 1st-round pick of Boston brought much more to New Jersey after the All-Star break than just his dunking ability, he displayed an incredibly well-rounded repertoire in his game that simply wasn't present in the five seasons he was in the NBA before heading overseas and to the D-League.

Game 52 Recap: Nets 100, Pacers 84

A quick recap tonight of the Nets' best win since trading for Gerald Wallace two weeks ago. Against a playoff-bound Indiana team that had previously beaten the Nets 10 straight times, a beaten-up New Jersey squad (without Anthony Morrow and Jordan Farmar, along with the rest of the injury crew) came out with a passion and intensity that hasn't been seen often at home this season. Sure, Paul George had his customary 22 points on 8-13 shooting but other than him, the Nets played swarming defense that held Danny Granger to five points, Roy Hibbert to five points, and even Darren Collison to nine points.

Normally, the Nets would give up around 105 points to an offensively-sound team like the Pacers but tonight was much different. After coach Avery Johnson chewed out his team after an ugly blow-out loss to Utah at home on Monday, his crew responded for an even 100 points on nearly 50 percent shooting. Deron Williams was on fire for 30 points and 11-19 shooting while Marshon Brooks broke out of his slump for 17 points, with most of those points coming on drives to the paint.

Well, as you would expect, not everything was perfect for New Jersey last night as, you guessed it, there were more injuries. Shelden Williams was sent to the hospital with an apparent eye injury he suffered on a hit from Tyler Hansbrough in the 2nd quarter. The outlook isn't great for Shelden according to some of the Nets beat-writers in Twitter but nothing is known right now. Jordan Williams suffered from concussion-like symptoms and, like She-Will, wasn't able to finish off the game. It wasn't clear when J-Will got hurt but his condition isn't known right now. The Nets need these guys to stay relatively healthy because without them, Kris Humphries and Johan Petro would be the only healthy power forwards and centers left on the roster.


Looking Ahead
The Nets head out to the West Coast to take on the new-look Golden State Warriors and former YES Network broadcaster Mark Jackson at the helm. Let's keep this momentum going.

Game 31 Recap: Pacers 93, Nets 88

Danny Granger, who returned from injury tonight, was the spark behind the Pacers' win

The Nets' longest winning streak of the season was extended to eight games tonight at the Arena Formerly Known as Conseco Fieldhouse as the Pacers won 93-88. Much like their game the night before, New Jersey was able to keep the game pretty close throughout and even held an 8-point lead after the 1st quarter. The Nets found themselves with a 1-point lead after the 3rd quarter but in the 4th, Indiana was able to break away from the overmatched New Jersey team with important contributions from back-up point guard and Long Island native A.J. Price and the aforementioned Danny Granger, who showed no ill effects from the injury he returned from in the game as he scored a game-high 32 points.


I can't really fault the Nets' effort in this loss as they faced a Pacer team that matches up extremely well to a height-challenged roster than just doesn't have the healthy bigs right now to defend players like Roy Hibbert and David West. Without Brook Lopez and Mehmet Okur, two 7-foot centers, due to injury, the Nets don't have the size to collect all of the defensive rebounds which the athletic Pacers were able to scoop up and turn into 2nd-chance points. Overall the rebound numbers between the two teams were comparable (39 for NJ, 40 for IND),  but the difference can be found in offensive rebounds, a category in which the Nets were outgained by six. Those additional offensive rebounds helped to account for the six more FG attempts and 10 more FT attempts that Indiana had in the game. 


Not surprisingly, D-Will had another big scoring game with 29 points but just wasn't able to find his teammates open for good shot attempts as the star point guard only had four dimes. Kris Humphries rebounded from a tough game on Wednesday against Memphis with one of his best performances of the season with 24 points and 10 boards. Hump's mid-range shot looked to be spot-on in the game and he also helped his shooting percentage with a few open dunks that Kris created with nifty pump-fakes he put on his defenders in order to get to the hoop. 

Game 31 Preview: Nets (8-22) at Indiana Pacers (17-12)

With his breakout play and athleticism he has shown in his sophomore NBA season, Paul George has established himself as one of the better young small forwards currently in the league.

Update: Danny Granger will play for the Pacers and Shawne Williams will be out for the second straight night for the Nets, according to Mike Mazzeo.


After a disheartening loss to the Memphis Grizzlies last night in NJ, the Nets look to snap a season-high seven-game losing streak against the team that has had their number in recent meetings, the Indiana Pacers. Indiana is also mired in a season-long losing which currently stands at five game and the Pacers are also coming off a brutal loss last night, which was against the subpar Cleveland Cavaliers. The difference between Indiana and the Nets, two teams playing their worst ball of the season right now, is that the Pacers have depth while the Nets do not as Indiana can run out around nine suitable rotation players every game while the Nets are lucky to get five solid (and healthy) players per game.

Background on Indiana 

The Pacers, widely considered a darkhorse contender in the East, are one of the most team-oriented clubs in the NBA as they draw most of their success from their extreme depth rather than the talents of one specific star player. In previous years when Indiana wasn't as good on the court, small forward Danny Granger, who is day-to-day for tonight's game, acted as the team's de-facto star. However, in recent years, Granger has taken a bit of a step back on the offensive end of the floor in order to help the rest of the team develop as a cohesively strong unit that can win a lot of games and even make waves in the playoffs. Disregarding the current losing streak, Indiana is a very dangerous team mainly because of their massive depth and the talented players that make up that depth.

Game 22 Recap: Pacers 106, Nets 99

Granger was frustrated by the Nets defense the whole game

The Nets lost a really tough game in Indiana tonight by the score of 106-99. The Nets were able to really stick with the Pacers for the whole 1st-half and then faded in the 3rd quarter and early parts of the 4th quarter, finding themselves down by 18 at one point. New Jersey then unleashed a 20-5 run cutting the Indiana lead to 102-99 with a minute left in the game but the comeback was too little, too late as the Pacers were able to hold on late for the win. The loss is the 2nd straight for the Nets and is their 9th straight loss in general to the Pacers.

This effort showed that the Nets (i.e: Deron and Anthony Morrow) had a ton of fight and weren't willing to give up and take the loss, even when the Nets are down by 18 points. D-Will and Morrow were the only Net players who scored in the 4th, as Deron had 14 of his 34 points in the final period and Morrow had 13 of his 28 in the 4th as well. With injuries across the board, Deron and Morrow knew they would have to step up if the Nets were going to compete and they did, but their efforts couldn't get a win because they weren't really healped out by anyone else on the team. D-Will and Morrow were seriously locked-in this game as they each had 4+ three-pointers and both made at least half of their shots.

Game 22 Preview: Nets (7-14) at Indiana Pacers (13-6)

Danny Granger normally kills the Nets will his all-around scoring ability, let's hope that doesn't happen tonight

The Nets will try to rebound from a drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Raptors on Sunday against the upstart Indiana Pacers in Super Bowl-host city Indianapolis tonight. The injuries continue to pile up for the Nets as Marshon Brooks (broken toe), Mehmet Okur (back), DeShawn Stevenson (knee), Damion James (foot), and Brook Lopez (foot) will all be out for this game and presumably for tomorrow night's match-up against Detroit. Indiana has been very good this year, especially at home, and has clearly improved with their offseason signing of David West. Tonight's game will not be easy for a banged-up team like the Nets.


Background on Indiana
The Pacers are one of those teams that doesn't have a clear-cut superstar, but has a bunch of really good players who seem to work very well together on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Indiana' real strength lies in their depth as they have a deep bench highlighted by George Hill, David West, and even New Jersey-native Dahntay Jones that can produce in a multitude of ways for the Pacers, a team that is 4th n the NBA in scoring defense. This depth and defensive prowess will spell trouble for the oft-injured Nets who are missing a bevy of key players for tonight's game.