“Hope? Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. It’s got no use on the inside. You’d better get used to that idea…”–Red (Morgan Freeman) from The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption is my favorite movie and I think I know exactly why. No, it’s not the incredible acting (Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman make up one of the best starring duos in cinema history in my opinion, the isolated yet beautiful setting (Stephen King’s, who wrote the story the movie was based on, home state of Maine as well as the coastal Mexican town of Zihuatanejo) or even the remarkable twist/escape (the Count of Monte Cristo of the 20th century, as alluded to in the film).
I really think it’s the aspect of the movie that focuses on the institutionalization of Shawshank State Prison’s inmates. Brooks and Red both attempt–or think about attempting–to break their paroles just to go back to jail. In my case, though, it’s my Nets fandom. Time and again, in my time rooting for them, they have built up my hope just to knock it down time and again. Do I keep wanting to return to my Shawshank–i.e: return to my fandom–? Yes, I certainly do.
Tonight’s game against the Heat at Barclays, a 95-91 loss, was absolutely no different from the rest of the Nets’ home losses to bad or injury-depleted teams this season. However, at least for me, it stung a little more.
With just under two minutes to go in the first quarter, the Barclays Center roof started leaking and play was stopped for roughly 30 minutes. At the time, the Heat were winning 24-21 and the delay was both embarrassing for the Nets and completely enervating in any way, totally sucking the life out of them. When play resumed, Brooklyn saw Miami increase its lead to eight by the end of the quarter, partially due to one of the worst missed traveling calls by a NBA official ever.
The next two quarters ending up being a near-complete wash for the Nets, who were without Brook Lopez for the fourth-straight game, as they went down by as much as 15 points in the second quarter and were within a single point of their opponent in the third. However, they found themselves in a 10-point hole heading into the final quarter they never were able to overcome.
Things weren’t looking too promising early in the fourth as the Heat went up 84-71 as Lionel Hollins confusingly refused to put his starters back in the game. I mean, why on Earth are Cory Jefferson and Jerome Jordan in the game when Joe Johnson and Deron Williams were now.
But a Johnson three and subsequent Mason Plumlee bucket had Brooklyn down just six points with 4:54 left to play. Then the Heat started to break away again before back-to-back triples from Johnson and Bojan Bogdanovic, following a pair of free throws from Mason Plumlee, cut the deficit to two.
Here is the moment when I, stupidly, thought maybe the Nets would pull off the comeback and either win amazingly in regulation or push the game to overtime and win it there. Like Brooks and Red, I made a major miscalculation, forgetting to realize just how dangerous hope truly is.
Brooklyn played great defense on Dwyane Wade with 12 seconds left, forcing him to heave up a three that had no chance to going in. The ball bounded off the rim and heading right toward Bogdanovic for an easy rebound but the rookie was called for a loose ball foul on Luol Deng that sent the veteran to the line for two freebies that he made. Looking at the replay, it appeared as if Deng actually held Bojan but the truth hasn’t stopped NBA officials from messing with games before.
Still, the Nets had a chance in this game before Jarrett Jack–in C.J. Watson playoff style–blew a wide open layup in transition to trim Miami’s lead to two again. So it didn’t even matter that Norris Cole missed two free throws which would have given Brooklyn another chance to tie or take the lead had Jack made the shot that 7-year-olds are taught to make in rec leagues across the country. As the great Kurt Vonnegut said, “so it goes.”
Assorted thoughts: The Nets, although a failure on the floor and on the roof, did an amazing job of honoring famous fan and Brooklyn native Jeffrey Vanchiro, also known as Jeffrey Gamblero, who died a few days ago. The team came out for pregame warmups wearing shirts honoring his neon undershirts as well as his trademark personalized jersey. Also, a video tribute was played on the Barclays Center videoboards a few minutes before tipoff. Very classy stuff from the Nets in the only thing they were able to do right on Tuesday night…Miami was without Chris Bosh (calf), Josh McRoberts (knee) and Danny Granger (illness) but got 28 points from Wade and 18 from Deng so it didn’t even matter. It even got double digit contributions from former Net Shawne Williams, Shabazz Napier and Mario Chalmers, who grabbed seven rebounds, dished out five assists and had four steals. Yeah, not good…Deron Williams put together his third-straight double-double (15 points, 11 assists) but was 1-of-5 from three-point range. The Nets as a team made just 28 percent (8-of-28) from long distance even though they had open looks all night. Adding in their 39 percent shooting from the field and just 71 percent free throw shooting, it’s a wonder this game was so close. Deron, along with Joe, Mirza and Bojan, needs to hit the wide open shots they get from three-point range or the Nets won’t be able to win any games. It’s really not that complex and NBA players, who are paid millions of dollars a season, shouldn’t have trouble knocking down open jumpers…Joe Johnson was pretty good overall and scored 16 points on his 14 shots, which seems like an acceptable amount of shots for him. However, he was able to beat Chalmers, Norris Cole or whoever else was guarding him tonight with relative ease so why he didn’t get more than 20 attempts in baffling. Jack, who played his worst game as a Net probably, kept shooting (1-of-6 from field and 0-of-3 from three with four turnovers) for some reason tried to get over this game with his shot, which isn’t very good. I don’t understand this sport/team…Jerome Jordan only played a few minutes (five to be exact) in the second half after not seeing any first half time. He played well and was a solid presence for the interior defense that was destroyed in the first two quarters. With Brook Lopez hurt, Jordan–and Plumlee–are the team’s best shot-blockers and should be on the court early and often against a team with the slashers of the Heat. Not a good game from Lionel Hollins overall, who should not be playing Jack anywhere close to 29 minutes when he’s as ineffective as he was this evening. Cut away nine minutes and give them to Mirza or Bojan, who could actually produce offense without playing outside of their means. There’s an idea.
On to the next one: Tonight in Toronto against the 19-6 Raptors. Don’t hold your breath.
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