New Jersey Nets - We can't get much worse [3-2]

[Phil89]

Settings

Game: NBA Live 10
Console: PS3
Qtr Length: 8 Min
Sim Length: 12 Min
Play-Offs: 7-7-7-7
Difficulty: All-Star

Team: New Jersey Nets
Wage Cap Remaining: $17.44m
Rosters: Default updated to trade deadline day.

Roster

Starting Line-Up
C: Brook Lopez
PF: Yi Jianlian
SF: Courtney Lee
SG: Keyon Dooling
PG: Devin Harris

Bench
Bobby Simmons
Terrence Williams
Chris Quinn
Tony Battie
Jarvis Hayes
Josh Boone
Chris Douglas Roberts

[Phil89]

Off-Season

I started reshaping the squad before I played any games. Some of these deals may look unrealistic, but in terms of player ratings they are pretty fair.
My main focus was bringing in good young players with high potential. No superstars would join my team so I hope to make my players into stars.
I may have to re-sign a couple of the players with expiring contracts, so I'll keep an eye on them to see who deserves a new contract.

Trades

New Jersey
Yi Jianlian - 22 - PF - 72 ovrl - 2 years - $3.14m
<->
Boston
Glen Davis - 23 - PF - 72 ovrl - 1 year - $4.94m

Yi Jianlian was traded to Boston for Glen Davis to give me more options in the next off-season, as he has an expiring contract.
----------

New Jersey
2010 draft first round pick
<->
Toronto
Andrea Bargnani - 24 - PF - 76 ovrl - 5 years - $6.46m
2010 draft second round pick

I traded my first round pick for Bargnani because I needed another forward. I never get anyone good in the draft so I took the risk.
I like that he is 7 ft but has a good shooting range and can hopefully take some of the scoring load.
----------

New Jersey
Josh Boone - 24 - C - 69 ovrl -1 year - $1.36m
Chris Quinn - 26 - PG - 69 ovrl - 1 year - $1.00m
<->
Oklahoma City
James Harden - 20 - SG - 68 ovrl - 4 years - $4.00m
BJ Mullens - 20 - C - 64 ovrl - 3 years - $1.10m

I did this trade for 2 reasons. I needed some longer contracts and I liked these 2 rookies.
Mullens is so fast and was always an impact player off the bench in my OKC game. Harden is handy as well.
----------

New Jersey
Brook Lopez - 21 - C - 77 ovrl - 2 years - $2.25m
Courtney Lee - 24 - SG - 72 ovrl - 2 years - $1.27m
Keyon Dooling - 29 - PG - 74 ovrl - 2 years - $3.52m
<->
Memphis
Marc Gasol - 24 - C - 73 ovrl - 2 years - $3.20m
OJ Mayo - 21 - SG - 79 ovrl - 2 years - $4.17m
2010 draft second round pick

This might seem somewhat lopsided, but if you take reputation out of it and just look at the ratings its pretty fair.
Obviously I'm hoping Mayo can be a big scorer for me.
----------


Free Agent Signings
Von Wafer - 24 - SG - 74 ovrl - 1 year - $5.30m
Linas Kleiza - 24 - SF - 71 ovrl - 1 year - MLE ($5.85m)

I signed Wafer and Kleiza as backup for Mayo and Davis respectively. Both 1 year deals as I wanted to keep my options open for next season.
----------


Starting Line-up
C - Marc Gasol
PF - Andrea Bargnani
SF - Glen Davis
SG - OJ Mayo
PG - Devin Harris

Bench
Von Wafer
Linas Kleiza
BJ Mullens
James Harden
Terrence Williams
Bobby Simmons
Tony Battie

Inactive
Chris Douglas Roberts
Jarvis Hayes

Now I have 5 starters that I'm happy with and enough cap room next season to be able to sign a max contract free agent.
My aim is to make 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. I don't think that's a totally unrealistic goal.

[Phil89]

28/10/09

New Jersey Nets [0-0] vs Minnesota Timber Wolves [0-0] (Away)

NJN - 19 17 26 25 87
MIN - 22 18 15 9 64

Notes
Minnesota collapsed in the second half, only managing 24 points.
Bargnani, Mayo, Gasol, Davis and Mullens all played well in their debut for the Nets.

Player of the Game: Andrea Bargnani

Top Scorers
Andrea Bargnani - 18
OJ Mayo - 18
Devin Harris - 16
Kevin Love - 12
Corey Brewer - 12
Al Jefferson - 10
Jonny Flynn - 10
BJ Mullens - 10

Assists
Devin Harris - 5
BJ Mullens - 5

Rebounds
Al Jefferson - 13
Marc Gasol - 9
Andrea Bargnani - 8
Kevin Love - 7
Glen Davis - 6
BJ Mullens - 6

[|)e8*]

I miss Lopez already. lol

[Andrew]

Interesting moves, looks like they might pan out though. Good luck with this one.

[Phil89]

30/10/09

New Jersey Nets [1-0] vs Orlando Magic [0-1] (Home)

NJN - 23 11 16 18 68
ORL - 21 29 15 28 93

Notes
New Jersey's new players are taking time to gel together and Orlando took advantage.
The second quarter was decisive as the Nets' poor shooting allowed the Magic an easy win.

Player of the Game: Dwight Howard

Top Scorers
Rashard Lewis - 25
OJ Mayo - 20
Vince Carter - 17
Andrea Bargnani - 17
Dwight Howard - 16
Jameer Nelson - 11
Devin Harris - 10

Assists
Rashard Lewis - 5

Rebounds
Dwight Howard - 17
Marcin Gortat - 13
Rashard Lewis - 7
Marc Gasol - 5
Andrea Bargnani - 5

[Andrew]

Ouch. The second and fourth quarters were very unkind to you in that one.

[Phil89]

Yeah, they were bad. Quarters like those against a team like Orlando are lethal. I still need to figure out who my scorers are.

[Phil89]

31/10/09

New Jersey Nets [1-1] vs Washington Wizards [0-2] (Away)

NJN - 23 24 21 28 96
WAS - 20 30 23 27 100

Notes
New Jersey were right in the game until the last minute. But they couldn't finish the Wizards off.
OJ Mayo had a fantastic night as he looks right at home with his new team. He finished with 44 points.

Player of the Game: OJ Mayo

Top Scorers
OJ Mayo - 44
Josh Howard - 25
Gilbert Arenas - 22
Al Thornton - 20
Mike Miller - 20
Andrea Bargnani - 12
Marc Gasol - 11
Devin Harris - 10

Assists
Gilbert Arenas - 8
Mike Miller - 6
Josh Howard - 5
Devin Harris - 5

Rebounds
Andray Blatche - 12
Al Thornton - 10
Josh Howard - 7
Devin Harris - 6

[Martti.]

Big Baby at SF? Trading Lopez? Don't like those moves, but if you play good despite it, good for you.

[Phil89]

Only reason I play him there is because it's his secondary position. Maybe I could swap him and Mayo, then bring Wafer into SG.
And I got Mayo in the Lopez trade. He's been good so far.

[Andrew]

Depends what works for you, but the more realistic lineup would be Davis at power forward and Mayo at small forward (or at the very least, Davis in the power forward rotation). Strange that they've got his secondary position set to small forward in the latest DNA rosters, PF/C would be more appropriate.

[Phil89]

I'm swapping Kleiza for Davis in my next game, as he's my best natural SF. Davis will now come off the bench for Bargnani at PF.

[Cleveland wins]

Very good moves, but why did you trade Yi, although i can understand Josh Boone. I love that Bargnani trade, he's always been one of my favorite young centers for years, i like the fact that you got Kleiza as well, he's a good shooter.

[kibaxx7]

I was gonna say about Davis at SF too, and start Kleiza. Good decision.

And also good that you got a very nice roster, and still have cap for a max FA in the offseason.

[Andrew]

I'm swapping Kleiza for Davis in my next game, as he's my best natural SF. Davis will now come off the bench for Bargnani at PF.

Sounds good.

[Phil89]

2/11/09

New Jersey Nets [1-2] vs Charlotte Bobcats [1-2] (Away)

NJN - 27 26 24 21 98
CHA - 22 18 22 19 81

Notes
The Nets new players finally seem to be clicking. OJ Mayo had another great game, finishing with 31 points.
Von Wafer came off the bench and scored 19 points. New Jersey recorded an impressive road win.

Player of the Game: OJ Mayo

Top Scorers
OJ Mayo - 31
Stephen Jackson - 22
Von Wafer - 19
Tyson Chandler - 16
Gerald Wallace - 13
Andrea Bargnani - 11
DJ Augustin - 10

Assists
DJ Augustin - 7
Gerald Wallace - 5

Rebounds
Tyson Chandler - 15
Stephen Jackson - 13
Marc Gasol - 12

[Phil89]

Very good moves, but why did you trade Yi, although i can understand Josh Boone. I love that Bargnani trade, he's always been one of my favorite young centers for years, i like the fact that you got Kleiza as well, he's a good shooter.

I wanted players that I'm familiar with. Plus Davis has an expiring contract, so it gives me more options in the off-season.
I've been fascinated by Bargnani. He was the top pick in 2006 but he hasn't fully lived up to his potential, a bit like Bogut.
Or at least I haven't noticed him since he plays for Toronto.

I was gonna say about Davis at SF too, and start Kleiza. Good decision.

And also good that you got a very nice roster, and still have cap for a max FA in the offseason.

That's what made me choose New Jersey over New York or Washington. They had a stable starting 5 contract wise and plenty of cap room.

[Phil89]

4/11/09

New Jersey Nets [2-2] vs Denver Nuggets [4-0] (Home)

NJN - 32 24 24 21 101
DEN - 23 18 19 27 87

Notes
New Jersey lead by as much as 24 in the third quarter. OJ Mayo had another good night, finishing with 35 points.
Andrea Bargnani fell just short of recording a double-double. He had 19 points and 9 rebounds.
The Nets bench players outscored their Denver counterparts 26-12.

Player of the Game: OJ Mayo

Top Scorers
OJ Mayo - 35
Chauncey Billups - 25
Andrea Bargnani - 19
Carmelo Anthony - 18
Devin Harris - 14
Von Wafer - 12
Nene - 12
Chris Andersen - 11
Glen Davis - 10

Assists
Devin Harris - 10
Chauncey Billups - 6

Rebounds
Andrea Bargnani - 9
Chris Andersen - 8
Carmelo Anthony - 8
Chauncey Billups - 7
Marc Gasol - 7
Nene - 5
Glen Davis - 5

[Cleveland wins]

Mayo went crazy and great job in contributing in the point category by Bargnani! I love the big's offensive game.

[Andrew]

Certainly looks like you're starting to get used to your team, nice couple of wins there.

[rise]

Tyson Chandler - 15
Stephen Jackson - 13

As a Bobcats fan, I like these stats.