Getting Set For the Nets

There's nothing like a game against a historically awful team to help wash the awful taste of a fourth quarter collapse against a divisional opponent away, so let's all take a moment and praise the scheduling gods for giving Portland an easy match-up against the hapless New Jersey Nets tonight (amen). The Nets are currently 5-51, which looks bad enough on its own and even worse when you consider that means that they've won less than 10% of their games this season (in case you were wondering, the 1972-73 76ers set the current mark for futility at 9-73, which comes out to an 11% winning percentage). So in theory this should be an easy win for a Portland team that is getting as healthy as they will get his year.

But this is still the NBA, and even a historically bad team like the Nets can surprise you at any time. They may not have superstar players, but New Jersey does have some talented players and could conceivably upset Portland tonight. I don't think it will happen, especially after a humbling and embarrassing home loss to the Jazz on Sunday night. The Blazers should be very focused and ready to play, which doesn't bode well for New Jersey as their best hope for victory on a nightly basis is to be underestimated and overlooked by the opposition.

As far as match-ups go, the Blazers should do very well across the board, especially up front. Offensively, LaMarcus Aldridge should have his way against the likes of Yi Jianlian either facing up or in the low post. Yi isn't exactly a physical beast and probably won't be willing to bang bodies with LA (which is only the best way to take Aldridge out of a game), so look for LaMarcus to have a big game tonight. I'm not sure how New jersey will counter that match-up, and on the other side of the ball Aldridge's foot speed and length should help contain the Chinese forward on the perimeter.

But as the Dude might say, "the Chinaman is not the issue here!" (Asian American is the preferred nomenclature) The match-up I'm really interested to see is Brook Lopez against Marcus Camby. If there has been a silver lining to this season for the Nets, it's Lopez, who has played strong, consistent basketball all year despite the fact that he's toiling for a team who's only motivation to win is to avoid being crowned the all time worst team in NBA history. Lopez is physically gifted, skilled and has a soft touch that extends out to 18 feet and beyond, making him a tough assignment for most of the NBA on a nightly basis. Marcus Camby has enough length to counter Lopez and is mobile enough to stick with him on the perimeter, but Camby won't be able to help out on defense (his biggest strength) and will be drawn away from the hoop for much of the night. The other Blazers will have to do a good job of containing dribble penetration tonight to keep Marcus in position and to prevent the Nets from creating open looks on the perimeter.

In the backcourt, it will be interesting to see how Andre Miller and Devin Harris play against each other, as they represent opposite ends of the NBA's spectrum of point guard types. Miller is crafty, methodical and physical, while Harris is a lanky speedster that thrives on quickness, dribble penetration and getting into the teeth of the defense. I don't know how well Miller will do against a speedy guard like Devin Harris, nor am I optimistic about Harris' ability to guard Andre in the post. I'll give Andre the edge here because Devin Harris hasn't been great this year while Miller has been everything Portland could have hoped for and then some. The Blazers will probably put Bayless on Harris for stretches to match his athleticism, though I'm not sure that Portland will even need to given the way Harris and the Nets have played this year.

Portland should win this game easily, although it is the first of a back to back which can be a trap if the players start thinking about the next game before this one is over so we'll just have to wait and see. If Brandon Roy is feeling good tonight, I doubt there will be another collapse like the one we saw on Sunday against Utah. it will be important for the Blazers to get on the Nets early and then keep the pressure on in the hopes that they will fold and resign themselves to a fate that seems inevitable. If Portland plays some defense (they almost always do), takes care of the ball and controls the glass (shouldn't be a problem), then they'll be in great shape to start this road trip off on the right foot.