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ON THE RUN: N.J. keeps Princeton-based offense, but adds some deviations
Nets' offense fit for a King
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/9/05
BY BOB CONSIDINE
STAFF WRITER EAST RUTHERFORD — In the age of re-invention, there have not been many upgrades to the revolving door.
Symbolically and systematically, that's why Lawrence Frank kept things simple last year when the Nets seemingly had more hellos and goodbyes than a telephone operator.
"If you are continually changing parts, you are starting over," said Frank, the Nets' third-year coach. "So we simplified everything."
So now, with New Jersey starting afresh with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson and a long list of complementary players with specific roles and strengths, Frank can now maximize his coaching mind. And what he and his staff have come up with may look familiar, but there will be different wrinkles.
That is, the Nets are going to get back to running.
And it may look a little more like the running, gunning style of the Sacramento Kings, than the breakneck approach the Nets utilized in their two NBA Finals runs a few years ago.
Still, Frank said there is an originality to the Princeton-based offense, based on deviations in the system that gear toward finding certain players' strengths on the floor and exploiting them.
"We can't be a facsimile of Sacramento," Frank said. "But there are a lot of similarities since (Kings assistant coach) Pete Carril is the granddad of them both.
"What we are able to do now is have a basic structure and format and it repeats a lot in details in terms of principles. But we are giving a little more freedom in movement with it.
"Before we would run a strict Princeton offense. With it, everything was based on a cut. We just feel this, with the strength of our team, will be a better fit. There is still going to be ball movement but (we're) looking to get (favorable) matchups, looking to get a player in a certain spot where we know he can be effective."
Just like the Nets' motion offense of pre-2004, the centers
will be key hubs, playing in the high post. For Jason Collins, a smart guy who has done it before, this will not be a problem. But now you have two newer pieces in second-year player Nenad Krstic and Marc Jackson.
"There's a lot of pressure on me," Krstic said. "I must make good passes. But I can play it. I think I can play inside and outside."
Frank has faith that this new system will work.
But some things remain to be seen. The Nets will need to dramatically improve their defensive rebounding from the get-go to get the motion going and improve their offensive rebounding to keep it moving.
Considering Kidd was their leading rebounder and the guy who is supposed to push the ball up the floor, that's not exactly the ideal situation. As an antidote to the team's lack of a single, dominant rebounder, Frank is putting an emphasis on blocking out.
"We have always been a gang-rebounding team," Frank insists. "We didn't add that one guy who is going to get us 10 rebounds a game. Instead, as we have done it in the past, we have to do it with a five-man philosophy."
There is the question of how Carter, specifically, will fit into this motion plan. Obviously, Carter is the Nets' main go-to guy in the offense. But his creativity is his strength and some wonder if he can be stifled by the parameters of time and floor position in this offense.
"All it is read and react," Carter maintained. "You just read how they play you and you just react to it."
"We're back to whoever gets the best shot possible," Jefferson said. "You put the five people you want on the floor that you believe can make the right decision.
"Nobody is going to try to be the hero here. Nobody is going to shoot a bad shot for the sake of their own glory. Everybody is going to try to get the best shot possible."
Dressing down
Count Jefferson as one of the many younger NBA players who are mostly against a mandatory dress code of sport coats and jackets after games. It also forbids jeans and doo-rags.
"I definitely think there's a certain amount of professionalism you should show coming and going from games, or at the podium," Jefferson said.
"But it's tough to say. With all the planes and traveling and getting into so many places so late, you're worried about the image being shown to people working the graveyard shift at the airport in Cleveland?"
NBA commissioner David Stern has yet to implement the dress code, but most expect him to before the season starts.
"I understand the image of the league and there was a time when we wore suits and a time when we got more comfortable," Jefferson said. "But we start fashion trends. We were the first ones wearing throwback jerseys, all of a sudden you see everyone wearing them. That's what it's about in the NBA, your freedom and ability to express yourself."
ON THE RUN: N.J. keeps Princeton-based offense, but adds some deviations
Nets' offense fit for a King
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/9/05
BY BOB CONSIDINE
STAFF WRITER EAST RUTHERFORD — In the age of re-invention, there have not been many upgrades to the revolving door.
Symbolically and systematically, that's why Lawrence Frank kept things simple last year when the Nets seemingly had more hellos and goodbyes than a telephone operator.
"If you are continually changing parts, you are starting over," said Frank, the Nets' third-year coach. "So we simplified everything."
So now, with New Jersey starting afresh with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson and a long list of complementary players with specific roles and strengths, Frank can now maximize his coaching mind. And what he and his staff have come up with may look familiar, but there will be different wrinkles.
That is, the Nets are going to get back to running.
And it may look a little more like the running, gunning style of the Sacramento Kings, than the breakneck approach the Nets utilized in their two NBA Finals runs a few years ago.
Still, Frank said there is an originality to the Princeton-based offense, based on deviations in the system that gear toward finding certain players' strengths on the floor and exploiting them.
"We can't be a facsimile of Sacramento," Frank said. "But there are a lot of similarities since (Kings assistant coach) Pete Carril is the granddad of them both.
"What we are able to do now is have a basic structure and format and it repeats a lot in details in terms of principles. But we are giving a little more freedom in movement with it.
"Before we would run a strict Princeton offense. With it, everything was based on a cut. We just feel this, with the strength of our team, will be a better fit. There is still going to be ball movement but (we're) looking to get (favorable) matchups, looking to get a player in a certain spot where we know he can be effective."
Just like the Nets' motion offense of pre-2004, the centers
will be key hubs, playing in the high post. For Jason Collins, a smart guy who has done it before, this will not be a problem. But now you have two newer pieces in second-year player Nenad Krstic and Marc Jackson.
"There's a lot of pressure on me," Krstic said. "I must make good passes. But I can play it. I think I can play inside and outside."
Frank has faith that this new system will work.
But some things remain to be seen. The Nets will need to dramatically improve their defensive rebounding from the get-go to get the motion going and improve their offensive rebounding to keep it moving.
Considering Kidd was their leading rebounder and the guy who is supposed to push the ball up the floor, that's not exactly the ideal situation. As an antidote to the team's lack of a single, dominant rebounder, Frank is putting an emphasis on blocking out.
"We have always been a gang-rebounding team," Frank insists. "We didn't add that one guy who is going to get us 10 rebounds a game. Instead, as we have done it in the past, we have to do it with a five-man philosophy."
There is the question of how Carter, specifically, will fit into this motion plan. Obviously, Carter is the Nets' main go-to guy in the offense. But his creativity is his strength and some wonder if he can be stifled by the parameters of time and floor position in this offense.
"All it is read and react," Carter maintained. "You just read how they play you and you just react to it."
"We're back to whoever gets the best shot possible," Jefferson said. "You put the five people you want on the floor that you believe can make the right decision.
"Nobody is going to try to be the hero here. Nobody is going to shoot a bad shot for the sake of their own glory. Everybody is going to try to get the best shot possible."
Dressing down
Count Jefferson as one of the many younger NBA players who are mostly against a mandatory dress code of sport coats and jackets after games. It also forbids jeans and doo-rags.
"I definitely think there's a certain amount of professionalism you should show coming and going from games, or at the podium," Jefferson said.
"But it's tough to say. With all the planes and traveling and getting into so many places so late, you're worried about the image being shown to people working the graveyard shift at the airport in Cleveland?"
NBA commissioner David Stern has yet to implement the dress code, but most expect him to before the season starts.
"I understand the image of the league and there was a time when we wore suits and a time when we got more comfortable," Jefferson said. "But we start fashion trends. We were the first ones wearing throwback jerseys, all of a sudden you see everyone wearing them. That's what it's about in the NBA, your freedom and ability to express yourself."
