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Sports InsiderDallas Made A Big Mistake! 2: They should have kept Devin Harris
November 19th 2008 06:32
Since the Dallas Mavericks settled with a veteran point guard in Jason Kidd, their future star at that position went to the New Jersey Nets.
Devin Harris is on his fifth year as a pro and he has already realized how to get along with how the NBA handles its business after getting traded from Dallas in the last mid-season.
The Nets are on a rebuilding phase after getting rid of Kidd and trading Richard Jefferson in the off-season to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jian Lian and Bobby Simmons. The Nets' current roster is being led by Vince Carter who is playing the role of everybody's big brother in the team.
Harris' role in the team is simple. Just play his game within Lawrence Frank's system and unearth the vast potential that he has that should have belonged to the city of Dallas. He should blossom with the Nets and soon enough his all-star caliber type of play will come busting right out of the gates!
To be realistic, there is nothing much to expect from the Nets this season mainly because that their rebuilding program had just begun and they are working with a new nucleus in its first full year. That means there won't be so much pressure on the Nets who won't be much favored in most of their match-ups especially against playoff teams.
Isn't that the perfect situation for a developing player like Harris to explore and expand the range of his game? Take this, as the Nets improve, so does Harris. He will be the gauge of the franchise as they plod along into competence in the very near future.
New Jersey, as usual, had a lukewarm start in the season but it was in their won game against the Detroit Pistons that signalled the rise of its second star player beside Carter.
Harris finished the game with 38 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in 39 minutes of playing time while going 9 of 15 from the field and 20 of 24 from the free throw line leading the Nets to a 103-96 home win against the previously unbeaten Pistons who were playing for the first time with their recent acquisition Allen Iverson.
In that game, harris showed his aggressiveness and savvy. His ability to draw contact and capitalize from the free throw line was also showcased. Of course it helped that Detroit is experiencing familiarity problems in that game, but nevertheless, it still is a quality win by the Nets.
After such splendid performance, Harris went inactive for the next three games because of a nagging sprained left ankle. He missed two games against the Indiana Pacers and one versus the Miami Heat. New Jersey lost all of those games with Harris on the sidelines.
When Harris came back, he just picked up from where he left off. The Nets were in a back-to-back affair with the previously promising Atlanta Hawks who were coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Boston Celtics, their first ever loss of the season. Just when we were anticipating Atlanta's higher level of confidence to kick in, Harris dashed all of that. He averaged 31.5 ppg, 9 apg, 4.5 rpg, and 2 spg in both meetings with the Hawks and both were wins for the Nets.
Currently, Devin is averaging 23 ppg just a shade under Vince Carter's own norm. Harris' recent scoring surge is pretty much attributed to his ongoing streak.
As we see it. the Nets just might have figured it out that Devin Harris is the type of player that will determine the type of direction thet the franchise should follow. We reckon that from here on in, Harris is now a definite cornerstone of the Nets.
Quotes:
“He’s got some grit, It shows what he’s got inside of him. Devin’s a competitor and he continues to keep growing.” ,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said of Harris’ effort.
“Confidence does amazing things. Maybe I wasn’t being aggressive enough, maybe I didn’t fully understand what I needed to do. You never know until you try. The Detroit game kind of opened my eyes.” Harris said as he tried to explain his sudden scoring surge.
Photo courtesy of AP.
Devin Harris is on his fifth year as a pro and he has already realized how to get along with how the NBA handles its business after getting traded from Dallas in the last mid-season.
Devin Harris is a future all-star and he will only get better as his career progresses.
The Nets are on a rebuilding phase after getting rid of Kidd and trading Richard Jefferson in the off-season to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jian Lian and Bobby Simmons. The Nets' current roster is being led by Vince Carter who is playing the role of everybody's big brother in the team.
Harris' role in the team is simple. Just play his game within Lawrence Frank's system and unearth the vast potential that he has that should have belonged to the city of Dallas. He should blossom with the Nets and soon enough his all-star caliber type of play will come busting right out of the gates!
To be realistic, there is nothing much to expect from the Nets this season mainly because that their rebuilding program had just begun and they are working with a new nucleus in its first full year. That means there won't be so much pressure on the Nets who won't be much favored in most of their match-ups especially against playoff teams.
Isn't that the perfect situation for a developing player like Harris to explore and expand the range of his game? Take this, as the Nets improve, so does Harris. He will be the gauge of the franchise as they plod along into competence in the very near future.
New Jersey, as usual, had a lukewarm start in the season but it was in their won game against the Detroit Pistons that signalled the rise of its second star player beside Carter.
Harris finished the game with 38 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in 39 minutes of playing time while going 9 of 15 from the field and 20 of 24 from the free throw line leading the Nets to a 103-96 home win against the previously unbeaten Pistons who were playing for the first time with their recent acquisition Allen Iverson.
In that game, harris showed his aggressiveness and savvy. His ability to draw contact and capitalize from the free throw line was also showcased. Of course it helped that Detroit is experiencing familiarity problems in that game, but nevertheless, it still is a quality win by the Nets.
After such splendid performance, Harris went inactive for the next three games because of a nagging sprained left ankle. He missed two games against the Indiana Pacers and one versus the Miami Heat. New Jersey lost all of those games with Harris on the sidelines.
When Harris came back, he just picked up from where he left off. The Nets were in a back-to-back affair with the previously promising Atlanta Hawks who were coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Boston Celtics, their first ever loss of the season. Just when we were anticipating Atlanta's higher level of confidence to kick in, Harris dashed all of that. He averaged 31.5 ppg, 9 apg, 4.5 rpg, and 2 spg in both meetings with the Hawks and both were wins for the Nets.
Currently, Devin is averaging 23 ppg just a shade under Vince Carter's own norm. Harris' recent scoring surge is pretty much attributed to his ongoing streak.
As we see it. the Nets just might have figured it out that Devin Harris is the type of player that will determine the type of direction thet the franchise should follow. We reckon that from here on in, Harris is now a definite cornerstone of the Nets.
Quotes:
“He’s got some grit, It shows what he’s got inside of him. Devin’s a competitor and he continues to keep growing.” ,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said of Harris’ effort.
“Confidence does amazing things. Maybe I wasn’t being aggressive enough, maybe I didn’t fully understand what I needed to do. You never know until you try. The Detroit game kind of opened my eyes.” Harris said as he tried to explain his sudden scoring surge.
Photo courtesy of AP.
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