NET NOTES AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The fouls came early, and so did a place on the bench. That might have been the reason for one terribly inefficient number from Nets center Jason Collins in Game 1 against the Pistons: two rebounds.
Don’t jump to conclusions, Lawrence Frank said.
“What we look for is, when you’re going against Ben Wallace, you’re looking at your block-outs. We’re not looking at rebounds,” Frank said. “It comes down to three things: There are those who can block out and can’t rebound; there are those who can rebound and can’t block out; and there are those who can block out and rebound. And there aren’t many of the third.
“So you’ve got to pick what you can do,” Frank continued. “For us, the priority is to keep Ben Wallace off the boards. So statistically, you really treasure the effectiveness of the guys we have because they’re doing everything they can. The rebound disparity is the fact we shot 27 percent.”
* In 20 previous playoff series in the Nets’ NBA history, they lost Game 1 12 times. Three times, they managed to come back and win Game 2, twice on the road.
In 1993, they defeated Cleveland in Game 2 of a first-round series they eventually lost. Last year, in the Finals, they beat the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 2. Their Game 2 home win after a defeat was in 2002, when they responded to a loss against Indiana.
* With so much discussion going on about rhythm jumpers, end-of-clock shots and the like, Kenyon Martin offered his simple plan for improved offense in Game 2 tonight. Get it inside. And be aggressive.
“Attack the rim. That’s the bottom line. I don’t shy away from anything,” said Martin, who was 4-of-11 in Game 1’s 78-56 loss. “I’m pretty sure guys on our team feel the same way. We have to attack the rim. If they block it, they block it. Oh, well. We just can’t not go because they have a couple of shot-blockers. You have to attack the rim.”
* Talk about a man possessed. Frank was asked if he was going to have time to watch the final episode of “Friends.” His response: “Whose friends?” He was kidding. We think. We hope . . . Nets still have tickets available for Game 3 on Sunday, which stunningly occurs in the same millennium as Game 2, and also for Game 4 on Tuesday.