October 25, 2009

Harris Healthy, in Transition

Running full speed down the floor as the media entered the PNY Center on Sunday, Devin Harris drew an extra defender, feeding Chris Douglas-Roberts for a long jumper. A few plays later, he drove and again dished to an open CD-R (who missed the corner 3), taking a bump from Josh Boone as he released the pass. A few after that, Harris snagged a rebound and raced upcourt, hitting Brook Lopez in stride at the rim for a layup.

And then after airballing a three, the next time the defense offered an opening, Harris burst around the corner – blowing by two defenders – and dropped in a finger roll. All this recounted to indicate: He's healthy.

Working his way back, perhaps, but healthy enough to cut without thinking about the strained right groin that sidelined him for 11 days, and healthy enough to joke that he was taking charges on defense. He's most concerned about not having consistent timing with the three "blue team" players (Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Terrence Williams) he doesn't have a lot of on-court experience with.

They've each played well in Harris' absence. Douglas-Roberts (18.0 PPG) and Lee (16.2) are running 1-2 atop the team in scoring average, while Williams has begun to flourish as the backup point guard in the team's last two games. But the All-Star starter doesn't envision their surge meaning much of an adjustment issue.

"I don’t think so," Harris said. "It’s my job to get those guys off early, then find spots to be aggressive. But as long as we’re running in transition, everybody’s going to get their turn. And that’s the way I play the best, finding spots in transition."

One quirk Harris did notice during his injury break was that Yi Jianlian has continued last season's trend of producing at impressive levels when other points are initiating the offense. In the Nets' last three games, in which Harris hasn't played, Yi's averaging 17.0 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting .475, twice posting 20-10 double-doubles and not attempting a three.

The outburst has left Harris as baffled as anyone ("Maybe there's less transition, and more spot-up opportunities for him?") – especially when he claims that Yi's regularly his first look off screen-and-roll play. Harris astutely pointed out that he created 5-7 open jumpers for Yi while the media was watching, and that there's no way to control if those coincidentally aren't falling when he's on the floor.

They were Friday, when Yi hit a pair of early second-quarter jumpers to keep the Nets' lead advancing north. And the third-year forward didn't stop there, continuing on to make several solid post manuvers and help limit Sixers forward Elton Brand to 11 points (4-11 FGs) and eight rebounds.

"Yi was awesome," Harris acknowledged. "The way he shot the ball, the confidence he had, the strong moves to the basket – he’s talented. He has that capability."

Hayes Still Swishes
A week off didn't seem to affect Jarvis Hayes' shooting stroke, as the swingman converted all four attempts in Friday's game against Philly, even throwing down a two-handed dunk from a standstill. He totaled 11 points, three rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes.

"Heck, if we can pencil that in every night, we’d be great!" said Nets coach Lawrence Frank. "Jarvis had a lot of pop, had good legs. I thought he looked very good."

T-Will Thrills
Rookie Terrence Williams filled the stat line Friday (23 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals), played power forward and point guard in the same game, and also took advantage of several transition opportunities to throw down crowd-pleasing dunks.

"Terrence is an amazing athletic human being," Harris said. "He can do so many different things on the court. You saw a little bit of that bulldog in him when you saw him play on Friday night. That’s the type of energy you want from him. But he can play so many different positions: you saw him at the 4 on Friday, but you didn’t see him back down; he fronted the post, he switched, he was aggressive. That’s the kind of action we need from our younger guys."

extra Updates
Eduardo Najera kept to non-contact drills today with what Coach termed a "hip flexor situation." ... Tony Battie completed half of practice; he's been limited off-and-on due to arthritic knees ... Coach said he'd likley be playing nine guys and "maybe a 10th," depending on the situation, but declined to identify the individuals for now.