Initial Report Card Grades for Every Key Brooklyn Nets Player
The Brooklyn Nets continue to struggle, and their overall grade is as close to an F as possible.
First-year head coach Jason Kidd has looked overmatched, and his flashy veterans have looked like caricatures of themselves.
The following player grades reflect the performance, durability and role of Brooklyn's top 10 players. The highest possible grade given is an A and the lowest an F.
Stats are accurate as of Monday, November 25, 2013.
10. Andrei Kirilenko SF
1 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 13.3 MPG, 5.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.75 SPG, 0.00 BPG, 18.1 PER
Grade: D-
Andrei Kirilenko has only appeared in four games for the Brooklyn Nets. He would've received an incomplete if he hadn't been plagued by injuries his entire career. AK47 has missed at least 10 games a year dating back to 2003-04—his third season in the league—and is well on pace to play fewer than 70 games this season.
Brooklyn brought the Russian forward in to fortify its depth and give the Nets a competent sixth man capable of starting when necessary, but the Nets haven't been able to cash in on that luxury.
In the games he has played, Kirilenko has been average on both ends of the floor. He has collected four assists, turned the ball over three times and remains without a blocked shot. He was energetic, as expected, but limited physically because of his ailing back.
9. Jason Terry SG
2 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 17.4 MPG, 5.3 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.27 SPG, 0.00 BPG, 8.7 PER
Grade: D
The Nets need Jason Terry to come off the bench and knock down shots, and that hasn't happened yet.
Terry is shooting a career-low 38.9 percent from the field and has been limited of late by a bruised knee. The Jet is 36 years old and may no longer be the dependable reserve scoring threat for which the Nets traded.
Via NBA.com, Terry is attempting 2.2 pull-up field goals per game and is knocking down only 0.5 of those attempts. He's also attempting 2.7 catch-and-shoot field goals per game and making only 1.2.
Terry's assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.4, and via NBA.com, he is averaging 1.5 drives to the basket per game, with the Nets scoring 1.5 points per game off of those drives.
8. Alan Anderson SG
3 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 21.1 MPG, 7.8 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.7 APG, 0.85 SPG, 0.15 BPG, 13.0 PER
Grade: B-
Alan Anderson has done a decent job scoring off the bench for the Nets. He's shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from behind the arc.
Anderson gets the B- grade here for making the most out of his opportunities as a reserve. Unlike Terry, Anderson wasn't expected to play a major role, but with the injuries that have occurred, he's elevated his game.
Unfortunately for Brooklyn, Anderson's ceiling isn't particularly high. He can't be relied upon as a go-to scorer, which the club lacks at the moment with Brook Lopez sidelined. Anderson is best as your second unit's second fiddle.
7. Shaun Livingston PG
4 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 24.4 MPG, 8.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.4 APG, 0.92 SPG, 0.46 BPG, 15.0 PER
Grade: B
Shaun Livingston has looked brilliant at times this year and shaky on other occasions. After Deron Williams went down against the Phoenix Suns on November 15, Livingston put together three really solid games against the Suns, Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers.
Over those three games, he averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 assists and 1.7 turnovers per game.
In his three games since then, however, he's shot 3-of-18, dished out 12 assists and picked up eight turnovers.
Livingston gets a B at the moment, but that grade will slip if he continues to turn the ball over in bunches. He's averaging 1.5 turnovers per game and his assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.4. Brooklyn will need Livingston to be stronger with the ball before the wheels completely fall off as they await Williams' return.
6. Andray Blatche C
5 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 22.6 MPG, 9.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.08 SPG, 0.23 BPG, 14.6 PER
Grade: A-
Andray Blatche has excelled in his role as Brooklyn's backup center, and he's elevated his game since the injury to Brook Lopez.
Against the Los Angeles Clippers, in 34 minutes of action, Blatche shot 8-of-11 from the field, grabbed eight boards, picked up two assists and finished the night with 19 points. Against the Charlotte Bobcats, Blatche was the Nets' leading scorer with 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting.
Blatche has matured this season, as well. After the 95-91 loss to the Bobcats, he had the following to say regarding Brooklyn's defense, via ESPN.
"Fifty-two points in the paint is unacceptable. Thirty-plus points in a quarter is unacceptable. It's our song all season. We keep saying it's early, but until we buckle down on defense, it's going to be the same results. We've got to take pride because it's embarrassing. It's real embarrassing.
"
Blatche may not be a force defensively, and he may not protect the rim as well as Lopez does, but the effort has been there all year from him. The Nets can depend on him leaving his all on the court.
5. Kevin Garnett PF
6 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 22.5 MPG, 6.5 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.83 BPG, 10.1 PER
Grade: B-
Kevin Garnett started the season abysmally on the offensive end. He couldn't knock down a jumper and looked ready to retire.
Since sitting out against the Los Angeles Clippers, however, it appears as if Garnett has found his stroke.
In his last four games, KG shot 8-of-19, 2-of-2, 4-of-6 and 2-of-9. Garnett's role on the Nets is more defensive—he's supposed to be Brooklyn's anchor—but he still needs to knock down open shots and be efficient on offense in order to keep the floor well spaced.
Although he's done his part on the glass, grabbing at least eight rebounds in each of his last four games, he hasn't done enough to make Brooklyn an elite team on the defensive end. It's doubtful that Garnett—who is already giving everything he has left—can do much more to correct Brooklyn's defensive woes.
4. Paul Pierce SF
7 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 29.8 MPG, 13.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.75 SPG, 0.17 BPG, 12.8 PER
Grade: C+
Paul Pierce is another Nets player shooting a career low from the field, checking in at 37.9 percent. Via NBA.com, the Truth is shooting 25 percent on close shots (within 12 feet), 29.2 percent on catch-and-shoot chances and 37.8 percent on pull-up shots.
Pierce shot the ball well to start the season, knocking down 55.5 percent of his field goals through his first four games. But he has cooled immensely since then. Over his last seven games, Pierce has attempted at least 11 field goals and hasn't knocked down more than five in any game.
His grade could be lower—based on expectations and his inability to find the basket—but thanks to his efforts on the glass and as a passer, it's not. Via NBA.com, Pierce is averaging 5.7 assist opportunities per game.
3. Joe Johnson SG
8 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 33.5 MPG, 15.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 2.6 APG, 0.46 SPG, 0.15 BPG, 15.7 PER
Grade: B-
Joe Johnson has been a bit sporadic this season. There have been games when he laid brick after brick—see his 6-of-19 and 5-of-17 shooting performances against the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers—and there have been moments when he looked brilliant—like against the Detroit Pistons when he knocked down 8-of-10 three-pointers and finished with 34 points.
With Lopez and Williams sidelined, the Nets are desperate for offense. Johnson will need to be closer to brilliant than sporadic to help keep his team afloat. He'll also need to keep distributing the ball well out of the 2 spot.
Johnson has dished out 19 assists over five games, spanning from November 16 against the Clippers to November 24 against the Pistons, and he's getting 5.6 assist opportunities per game, via NBA.com.
2. Deron Williams PG
9 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 24.1 MPG, 9.3 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 6.0 APG, 0.56 SPG, 0.22 BPG, 13.2 PER
Grade: C+
Deron Williams' season hasn't gone as smoothly as one would hope. He nearly missed all of training camp due to injuries, and he's picked up four DNPs so far.
When he was on the court, Williams wasn't his typical self either.
He struggled with his shot, posting a field-goal percentage of 40.5 percent, and was a little too loose with the ball, turning it over at least three times in four separate outings.
Williams has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.3. As a comparison, Chris Paul, who is averaging 2.9 turnovers per game—0.2 more than Williams—has a ratio of 4.27. Williams has also had 11.4 assist opportunities per game, via NBA.com, to Paul's 22.1 per game.
1. Brook Lopez C
10 of 10
2013-14 Statistics: 30.5 MPG, 20.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.63 SPG, 2.75 BPG, 28.0 PER
Grade: B+
Brook Lopez would've been handed an A had he grabbed at least seven boards per game—he's gotten 14 chances per game, via NBA.com—and not missed multiple outings with injury.
He was Brooklyn's most competent scorer and shot less than 50 percent from the field only once in the eight games he appeared in, which was his 6-of-13 performance against the Indiana Pacers on November 9.
Lopez's PER leads the Nets, and his scoring and blocks per game haven't been replicated by his teammates since succumbing to injury. Opponents took 9.1 shots at the rim per game against Lopez and connected on only 31.5 percent of those opportunities, via NBA.com.
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