Yeah they have the potential to go far. But don't buy the hype just yet. Like Oakley 'owning' Woodville, Toronto aren't that great a competition to gage by.

Detroit and Cleveland could very easily shutdown the Nets role players. Kidd's health will be the key to how far NJ can go.

spot on pilo. u make some very good poitns. they are deep and have few holes.they are experienced and everyone knows their role on the team.
i agree with u 100 percent

East is absolutely wide open

e-hem e-hem...toronto arent good competition? and this is not like oakley, this is nba playoff basketball....the raptors were one the best in the east this year and probably have more talent than the nets...their inexperience is just letting them down and guys arent handling the pressure well...and besides - the way kidd and carter are playing i doubt anyone at the moment could stop them...especially when theres a third all-star in jefferson who could easily light it up with 30-40...everyone compliments everyone on that team and this is one of the most complete nets teams we've seen in a while...theyve been struggling with injuries but now everyones healthy...and at the right time too which gives them a swagger and a confidence..they will dispose of the cavs easily enough - they are too reliant on lebron and no one (except gooden in game 2) will step up for them...1 allstar cant beat 3...and not only that...the cavs...despite being up 3-0 on the wiz, are actually having trouble against them!! no arenas, no butler, and they still just escape with wins...they should be putting them away early in the game and bron should be resting in the fourth...and by the way - kidds health is fine...the most hurt hes been in a while was game 3 of this series...and what happened??? OH! thats right...he had that memorable game where he dropped 16pts 16rebs and 19ast - one of the best of his career and in nba history...and hes recovered from that!!! whats a healthy kidd gonna do! and healthy or not, this is playoff basketball and kidd is one of the all time greats...he is gonna play everygame regardless and is one of those gutsy players who u no will give 100 percent

for a guy who can 'easily' light up for 30-40, he sure doesn't do it much. nets will lose next round

pilo12 are you really JAY-Z? Sure Brooklyn is the best move for the Nets? Haha

Agree Kidd is awesome, but disagree that the Raptors are a proven test. Nets will lose next round, but will make it more interesting than what the Raptors would.

i think NJ can make some noise with there playoff tested roster on paper there team is better than Cleveland. Jersey like to get out on the break the same formula that has worked for Phoenix and Golden st, all teams with 3-1 series leads.
ive got $5 on jersey to win the East paying $32.

in saying that ive got $40 on Detroit to win the east from the start of the season paying $6

jefferson doesnt light it up for 30-40 lately 'eastern gorillia...' because kidd and carter are the top guns and his role is not to do that...when carter has a bad game..see game 1 of this series...he then steps it up and has 28...not to mention he just got back from injury...go and look at his game-by-game stats from last season when he was healthy and see what he brought to the team. and people need to stop underestimating the raptors - like i said...its the inexperience and nerves that are getting to them..its not thier ability to play basketball. oh and this cavs team that is meant to demolish the nets is actually losing by 10 to the wizards as i write this...yes...the wizards...

and no one is talking up the bulls...because this forum...is about the nets...(see title)

pilo12, the Nets may have to beat the Bulls to win the East so it follows that other teams will be discussed when your original question was "Nets - can they win the East?".

IMO, the real conference finals are being played 2nd round between Detroit and Chicago.

fair point - but detroit should have no problems with chicago..they are too good...and a sweep of miami is impressive...but wade was not even close to himself, watch out for the heat next season - dwayne wade has decided to have surgery this offseason and will be 100 percent next year

No I don't think the Nets can win the East. They don't have a dominant presence in the low post. Moore, whilst is having a break out season scores all his points in transition, and put backs. If the Nets still had Nenad in the block then I'd say they have a good as chance as anyone.

The Nets don't have anyone to compete with the Wallaces, McDyess's and Big Z's of the East. The Nets also don't have an intimidating defensive big either or a defensive stopper. They play okay team defence. Defence wins play-off games, offence doesn't (see Dallas).

The Nets are lucky that this is the Raps first playoff appearance in years and that Bosh has gone into hiding.

TR - ...are u serious...the nets arent a good defensive team for starters? HUH?! they were 13th this season at opponents ppg...they have jason kidd..who incased u missed it was just named into the defensive team, so dont tell me they dont have a stopper...and low-post? what about jason collins, a guy who is known for his post defense...u corrected urself in that last sentence...chris bosh isnt hiding...hes being handcuffed by collins! collins is known for doing this againsts big named centers. thats why bosh isnt dominating the game because a-his teammates arent hitting shots so they dont have to get out and they can stay with bosh, and b-collins! to say - 'The Nets also don't have an intimidating defensive big either or a defensive stopper' is completely wrong...they do have a defensive stopper, and they DO have an intimidating big. 'scores all his points in transition, and put backs'...what are u basing that on?! do u watch the games? jason kidd gets him the easy baskets and isnt that a good thing!!!! if he scores on easy baskets isnt that what u want? AND mikki moore led the leauge in fg %. and no for those people who are gonna say 'yeah coz all he did was dunk it' hes got a sweet midrange jumper...also with kidd, carter and jefferson..the defensive attention is not worried about moore so he gets a lot of baskets that way...they have too many go-to guys to hold them offensively and they are very good defensively

Sorry, Kidd ain't a stopper in the Artest/Bowen league. Would you seriously cover Kobe, Lebron, Wade with Kidd??? Artest and Bowen guard multiple positions, Kidd is limited to the PG.

Bosh being handcuffed by Collins, c'mon, wake up... Bosh would normally use Collins as his toe rag. Collins is known for dick all bar having a twin brother that plays for Utah. If Collins was so good in the block why did the Nets trade for Mutumbo when they made the run to the Finals. Why is Nenad starting when healthy. Please, Collins usually holds the oppositions centres jock strap and that's all he's good for. If Collins is intimidating then Camby, Yao and the Wallaces must be outright scary...

Let the Nets come up a good defensive squad in Chicago and/or Detroit and let's see what happens. Raps are shite on the defensive end.

Individually the Nets are very average on the defensive end, I stated they play ok team defence (this relects on 13th in the league, thus given 30 teams in the league indicates to me they are average, not top notch but not bad).

Yeah, it is a good thing for Mikki Moore and the Nets to score easy baskets, but let's play Mikki Moore against either the Wallaces and lets see just how good Moore is.

No I'm not a support of either the Bulls or Pistons.

kidd is in the all-nba defensive squad...that says enough about that...as for stopping lebron, that is impossible but u can limit him, limit lebron and the cavs lose. u limit carter..its not the same...coz then in comes kidd, jefferson, nachbar, moore etc...cavs dont have a guy like that except for maybe hughes who is so inconsistant.

Yes bosh is being handcuffed by Collins...what explains his so far dismal performance? what he just decided to not play well in this series...usually use him as a toe rag...?? if theres ever a time to do so isnt that now? in the playoffs? hes doing a great job on bosh and bosh will be the first to admit it...ive seen many post game conferences and read enough articles and seen enough of the games to hear first hand that collins and moore are the reason for bosh's sub-par performances. and mutombo averaged 11 minutes when he played for the nets. nenad is starting becuase hes better...collins is nothing offensively...absolutley nothing....and that jockstrap call...hilarious...but he is known for his scrappy hard-nosed d and thats all there is to it. and yes u idiot - camby, yao and wallace are outright scary...what the hell did u think they were???? and they are great shot blockers as well...thats not what collins is, hes just a rough physical guy used to shut down the other teams star big guys...u think hes on the score points? he might be averaging 1 point this series if hes lucky..

and its not all about mikki moore playing well against the wallaces at all...those easy baskets are all jason kidd assists because they have so much space on the floor with all those scorers...against those guys..yes mikki moore will struggle to earn his own points, but becuase its a proven impossibility to stop jason kidd he is going to get his points and he IS going to be a factor.

And im not a nets fan either..far from it.

and mikki moore scoring 12 points say on easy baskets...or mikki moore scoring 12 hard earned points is the same thing...what does it matter? the nets dont need him to be a low-post threat...points are points

Cause he was, he's the best defensive point guard in the league, I have no issues with him being all-defensive, and yes, he's a good defender (never in the gloves league), but he doesn't come close to being a known lockdown defender.

Sorry Kidd is never going to win a scoring competition. IMO Lebron would school Kidd, absolutely monster him, same could be said for Kobe and Wade.

NJ traded for Mutumbo so they could go head to head with Shaq. That's the reason, and if Collins was so good then it was a dumb trade on Thorns behalf.

I'm sure that Detroit and Chicago are shitting themselves over facing kidd, jefferson, nachbar, moore if Carter plays a dud.

Kidd wouldn't have the assists if Moore didn't put the pill in the basket.

NJ need a low post threat. The Bulls and Pistons have the individual and team defence to pin Jefferson and Carter to the outside and make them hit jumpers. Kidd can take as many jumpers as he wants, he won't kill you. If they had that low post threat then it opens the floor, Moore is a face the basket threat, not a back to the basket.

If Nenad was suiting then I'm more than willing to say they have a great chance of winning the East, without him or another threat then I'm thinking the Cavs knock out NJ. NJ doesn't have anyone to go with Lebron. Kidd will have his hands full with Larry Hughes.

by the way ^^^^ that anonymous is me - forgot to put my name in

oh and that ever important low-post threat u speak of...does not exists in the golden state warriors...they are killing the near-record-braking mavs

ok, this is going in circles, you say that the Nets could win the East, I'm saying they can't win the East. I expect the Cavs to support my theory.

Your correct, I can see Kidd running riot in this series, but Hughes is also no smuck on the defensive end. Hughes v Kidd, Lebron v Carter. Darkhorse is Jefferson. Who looks after Gooden and Big Z for the Nets. Big Z and Gooden is completely different to Bosh and Rasho.

Look at the shooting % of the Mavs as the clincher for this series. Biedris would disagree with you.

TR, i think your out of your league on this one..some of your arguments just plain dont make sense. you choose the benchmark-type players of the league (ie, kobe, wade, artest, bowen) to support your claims, which is just exagurated. its like saying simon goodwin is no chris judd. yeah, he aint as good, but thats not to say he is bad. also have a few questions of my own? what do you mean by Z and gooden being different to rasho and bosh? are you suggesting its easier to guard bosh and rasho, coz that cant be true...arent you on the cavs side here!? bosh is an allstar who plays way out of goodens league, he creates scores himself, whereas gooden relies on lebron (as does the entire franchise) to get him some brownie points. Z may be the softest center in the league, and rasho, steven a smiths favourite, like it or not, has 2 rings. yes with duncan, but that kind of experience cannot be bought. Yeah the mavs have shot bad, but andris biedrins defence on DESEGANA DIOP and ERIK DAMPIER has not been at all influential. to further clarify this, biedrins has logged less than half a game every game, and in game 1 he played only 8 minutes. hard to be influential there...5 points and 4 rebounds per game for the series so far, in 18 minutes a game...thats your dominant low post guy?? collins IS guarding chris bosh who IS a beast.
i dont think pilo is suggesting the nets are shoe-ins to win it all or anything, the cavs are certainly capable of winning that series, but hes just suggesting the quality of the team is perhaps underrated and needs to be looked at more because they match up well with anyone, and have 3 genuine stars. the post says 'can they win the east?' its a question, supposed to spark argument, whichis gold. unfortunately, it seems his basketball knowledge (nba) heavily outweighs yours, id leave it there mate.

obviously they can anyone can beat anyone if they show up on the night look at dallas losing

haha - yeah u pretty much got ur butt whoopped in that argument TR

Are the last three posts all from the same person??

I cannot recall TR losing an NBA related thread battle ever!

This is no exception. Cavs to back up T on this matter.

Back to school kids.

No, three separate people taking on TR. Anyone arguing for Collins instantly loses I think.

Im not arguing for collins

and im one person - three people arent taking on TR at all

u guys as a whole clearly have little nba knowledge, so u all agree with eachother...did u actually read what he wrote...or what my responses were? it couldnt be any clearer

pilo12, I don't think that the Nets can win the East. I think some people are making statements about Toronto not being the strongest of competition, not due to their regular season play which I thought was very good, but more to their lack of playoff experience. Hypothetically if Detroit and New Jersey make the ECF, how do you suggest that NJ will beat Detroit in a 7 game series when they have failed to beat the Pistons in 4 games this season?

teams play differently in the playoffs...u guys need to stop putting words in my mouth...read the tittle of the post - CAN they win?????? it even has a question mark there for those who dont know what a question is...i understand detroit is a huge test for anyone - but my point is that they should be considered and taken far more seriously...god damn it...