A Star Is Born

Devin Harris no longer is an emerging star. He’s already a star, at least that’s how I feel from what I’ve seen since that Pistons’ game a few weeks back.

Before then, I wasn’t sure if Harris was going to be as good as we all were hyping him to be. After all he started slowly and we – meaning me and sportswriters in general – are cynical so there was doubt.

I judged Harris too early. Again, I knew he was good, but I kept waiting for that game where you say, ‘OK, this kid is going to be a star.’ We’ve seen how many now? I’m saying at least six or seven and definitely the last three games of the Thanksgiving trip.

What he did in Utah, along with the Nets as a whole, was incredible. To follow that up less than 24 hours later and do it in Phoenix, in the getaway game, tells you a lot about Harris, Vince Carter and the Nets.

They showed everything they didn’t show last year basically after Vince Carter injured his ankle and Jason Kidd said what he said in Utah. Kidd was right because the Nets did, but they were following their leader since he mentally let go.

We’re splitting hairs here because we’d still like to see Harris set up his teammates a little more. If he does that, he could be Chris Paul-esque.

Still the most impressive thing is that Harris, who had 47 points in Phoenix Sunday and made all 17 of his foul shots, seems to be taking it as a challenge when he faces these elite guards.

His terrific play started with his game against Allen Iverson, continued against Mike Bibby, who most people probably would have said was better than Harris before this season, and then in back-to-back nights he torched Deron Williams and Steve Nash.

These numbers are staggering: 81 points, 14 assists and 25 foul shots in the last two games of a 3-1 trip. He's now fourth in the NBA, averaging 25.3 points per. Harris has to be the Eastern Conference Player of the Week - he was - and I think Lawrence Frank has to get some love for Coach of the Month.

To be 9-7 at this point – no one would have expected that. And now you have to start thinking playoffs. It’s early, but you have to.

Right now, by the way, the Nets are the sixth seed and now play the Wiz, Wolves and are at Philly. Overall, the Nets next seven games are against teams with worse records then them and play 10-of-15 at home.

When the Nets had good teams, we used to look at the schedule and say here’s a chance for the Nets to get off to a good start and make up for some lost ground. Now we’re saying here’s a chance for them to build and put some distance between them and the cluster of teams just below them in the East. And who knows? Maybe they can keep climbing.

But they have to play well at home, which they haven’t. Golden State, Phoenix, Indiana, Cleveland – all won with relative ease at Izod.

The Nets can’t exhale with the East’s worst Wizards in town tomorrow and then another bad team in Minnesota coming in on Friday. They have to play with the same passion and intensity that they displayed in all but about 1 ½ quarters out West.

This is now a critical stretch for the Nets. They have to treat it with the same urgency they treated the trip. They have the heart, pride and passion and as we’ve seen they also have the talent and star power, especially in the backcourt.

***

Josh Boone had an MRI on his left ankle today. The results will be released tomorrow. Boone has missed the past nine games.

Comments

[Chasin Cash]

We'll see, I m ready to get excited but I cant quite yet because we all know it is a long season, and we are very young in alot of areas. Lets just hope that we can continue to grow, and get better as we move forward.

[Rich]

Good point about Devin setting up teamates better... one thing - the only thing - I complained about over the Turkey day coming of age was the lack of movement by the 4 'other guys' when Devin drove to the rack. They stood there agog, mouths agape, watching (ostensibly in awe). Can't blame them too much given his sickening smackdown on Beno, Deron, and Stevie. Any off-ball movement was merely a setup corner three. Not dynamic enough since eventually coaches will be able to stop a one man show.

In contrast let's look at the Suns and Nash. Whenever Nash drove to the hoop all his mates trailed into the passing lanes and got easy buckets from a nice Nash assist. Did somebody notice Amare... anyone? In summary, there really is no fault on Devin for the one man show methodology. Our complementary cast has to stop ogling Devin and start playing team offensive basketball if we're going to progress to the next level. By the way, I did predict 3-1 (you can ask the reknowned Dave D). By the way2, is there a better basketball writer in the country than that feller?

[Tristram]

In his ankle-injury game, Devin was so excited to realize he could play at this level. That's why he came back in and ran the numbers up even more. He's like a kid discovering he has a super-power. It doesn't seem like a fluke, like a hot shooting streak for example. No, it seems like it would take an injury or other major problem to knock him far off this pace.

[NetNut]

We need to be careful saying things like "and they have 10 of the next 15 at home" like it's a good thing. The Nets do not play well in their half empty apathetic home. Having said that, I am really excited about this team.

Rich, we all like DD, but praising him on AI's blog without at least acknowleding AI's talents is not cool. Keep up the good work Al.

[rich]

Al, you are top-shelf, no doubt about that. No slight intended. Superb, insightful coverage. Poor judgement in nfl team allegiance. Great connection with your readers (namely fellow Dads of Elmo fans). Nice touch. Indeed.