The Brooklyn Nets' lineup is filled with studs, that's for sure. Their starting five is undoubtedly packed with All-Stars, but the fact is the Nets will have to be as good on the floor as they are on paper. Kevin Garnett is a first ballot Hall of Famer and the same could be said about Paul Pierce. However, as these guys are aging; it will be interesting to follow their production in 2013-2014.
On paper, the Nets are great in numerous areas. If the numbers from 2012-2013 translate into this upcoming season, the Nets starting five of Pierce, Garnett, Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson can put up amazing numbers. Combined, the five would score 88 points per game, meaning the bench would only have to score 12 points per game to help the Nets finish with 100 points every night. With Garnett and Lopez alone, the Nets can average three blocks per game, add Pierce and Williams to the mix and the Nets can block a little over four blocks per game. Between Pierce, Garnett, Lopez and Johnson, the Nets' starting five would bring down about 24 boards per game, excluding Williams since he's not much of a rebounder. Johnson and Williams will handle most of the assisting and average over 10 per game combined.
Believe it or not, Johnson, though he's 32 and younger than both Pierce and Garnett, is currently the weakest link in the starting five. His strength is scoring, but even then, he only averages about 16 points He only averages three rebounds, matching Williams' average, 3.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.2 blocks per game. Garnett might not be the prolific scorer that he once was, but he can block, averaging almost one per game. Lopez isn't the best rebounder, but he can block as well and he was the Nets' leading scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game in 2013. Pierce is an average scorer (18.6) and rebounder (6.3), but he provides defense as well, averaging just a little over a steal per game.
The Nets also have the ability to shoot threes. Johnson knocked down 37.5 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, while Williams and Pierce were right around 38 percent. The Nets will be a deadly team on the outside as well as close range. The paint will be fortified by Garnett and Lopez, who looks to play a prominent role scoring on the inside, while the perimeter shooting of Johnson, Williams and Pierce will give defenders a lot of trouble.
Again, however, the question is, can they translate this on to the floor? Jason Kidd will be coaching for the first time ever, Garnett and Pierce are both aging. Can they keep it up for 82 games and beyond in their attempt to dethrone the back-to-back defending NBA Champion Miami Heat? It will be fun watching Brooklyn, but anything short of a title will be a disappointment to the the fans and the organization.
