Game 78 Preview – Nets vs. Celtics

OK, I know my last game preview was for Game 1, but hey we won that game, and I think I might be good luck.  Here goes nothing!

• The Celtics are 3-0 on the season against the Nets, winning on average by 18.7 points.
• This game is at Boston, and the last time that we played over there, we ended up losing by 32.  However, the last time we played the Celtics we only ended up losing by 4.
• The Celtics are 7-3 over their last 10, while the Nets are 4-6 over the same span.
• The Celtics are 32-6 at home while the Nets are 15-23 on the road.

Nets Starting Lineup

• PG – Devin Harris
• SG – Keyon Dooling
• SF – Vince Carter
• PF – Ryan Anderson
• C – Brook Lopez

Celtics Starting Lineup

• PG – Rajon Rondo/Stephon Maurbury – Rajon sprained his ankle in practice on Monday and is questionable for the game, my guess is he will start.  But the C’s may hold him back to prevent any further injury right before the playoffs.
• SG – Ray Allen
• SF – Paul Peirce
• PF – Glen “Big Baby” Davis
• C – Kendrick Perkins

Their Mismatches

• Ray Allen vs. Keyon Dooling – Ray is an all-star with a smooth and silky stroke.  It also seems like he has turned it on in the absence of Kevin Garnett.  He is going to be too much for the smaller Dooling.
• Paul Pierce vs. Vince Carter – This is going to be a great matchup, and I am only putting it up here because Pierce has a slight edge.  And that edge is physicallity.  If Paul decides to, he can put his head down and take it to the hole all day against Vince.  Vince just needs to work on defense, also he needs to be agressive on offense.  Make Pierce work on both ends.

Our Mismatches

• Devin Harris vs. Stephon Maurbury- This all depends on whether or not Rajon Rondo is starting (He is questionable as of right now).  If Harris gets Maurbury, he has the quicks to get by him all game.

Key Matchup

• Kendrick Perkins vs. Brook Lopez – Since the Celtics are without Kevin Garnett and could possibly be without Rajon Rondo, I see this game staying close to the end.  Usually, in Celtic wins in close games, Perkins usually has one monster jam or tip slam to swing the momentum and the crowd in their favor.  Brook needs to keep this from happening.  He needs to keep a body on Perkins, keep him out of the paint, and outwork him.  I believe he can do this, but will he?  That’s the big question.

The Result

• It’s going to be a close one, but the Nets on the road won’t be able to handle a late Celtics push.  The C’s win this one, and the Nets look to get a few more ping pong balls.

Nets Town Hall

Not really sure when this happened, my guess would be after media day or right before, but this is a great video of most of the NJ Nets talking to fans/season ticket holders in a Town Hall style meeting.

That sure does get me pumped for the season!  I will try to get some more stuff up later today.

The Weekly Preview

This is going to be a weekly feature here, and until I can figure out a clever name for it, “The Weekly Preview” it is.  Id like to give you guys, the readers, a good idea of what you will be expecting to see each week.  Usually this will get posted on Monday morning, but since this blog just started up yesterday, Tuesday is going to have to do.  So here is what is coming up for this week:

• Tuesday – Nets Randomness/Blog Sprucing Up
• Wednesday – What Addition of Yi Means
• Thursday – Preseason Game vs. Sixers Recap/Look At The Nets Forwards/Look At The Nets Guards
• Friday – Look At The Nets Centers/Knicks Preseason Game Live Blog
• Saturday – Why Coach Frank Should Be Fired
• Sunday – Knicks game recap/season outlook

Well, there you go a full slate of Nets posts which makes me happy and I hope will make you happy.  Like they always say, you can only make one first impression.

New Nets Blog On The Scene.

Alright.  Finally I am back on the team blog scene.  There is a good chance that you have no idea who I am, well unless you are a Bulls fan and used to/or still read MVN.com.  Anywho, what you probably don’t know is that along with being a Bulls fan, I am also a die hard Nets fan due to my strategic location in central New Jersey (don’t worry, when the two teams meet, I am always rooting for the Nets).

Before we get to the Nets, I guess you guys should know a little bit about myself – also known as Sebastian.  It’s only fair right?  Well besides being from central NJ, I have been a huge basketball fan since I can remember (been to at least 3 Nets games a year) thanks to my dad.  Despite only getting as far as the high school level in my own career, I feel like I have a great knowledge (modest right) of the game, especially when it comes to the Nets, and hopefully I will be able to prove it to you all.

There are a ton of great New Jersey Nets blogs out there, and I am hoping to be able to add to that total.  We are going to be getting to the reviews, previews, and news in the next couple of days, so bear with me as I get things going.  In terms of bearing with me, please bear with me with the layout of the blog, I am still looking for what will fit best for my blogging style.  So if you see a bunch of different themes in the next couple of days, it’s just me fiddling around, I will still be here I promise.

I will try and get something up tomorrow, even if it is just a silly video or news post, but there will definitly be some analysis by Wenesday the latest (since I know that is what you guys are waiting for!).  Hope everyone enjoys their stay here!