The Brooklyn Nets Take Up Archery With Jarrett Jack

On Wednesday, when the “Deron Williams” game didn’t materialize because of a strained hamstring (Writer’s note: There was no evidence of the Brooklyn water causing this!), leave it to his replacement at point guard to make everyone wonder if things may have been better if Williams stayed or not.

The Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks played a very entertaining overtime game in which the Nets lost… again, to the Mavericks, 119-118. But this game actually had a game within a game started by Wesley Matthews and Jarrett Jack. I like to call it “Air Archery”.

I hope this does not disrespect Nike or his “Airness”, Michael Jordan, for the use of the word “Air” but it applies in this case.

We’re going to fast forward straight to overtime after Thaddeus Young, who went nuts in this game to send the game into overtime with a three pointer with a hand in his face. More on that later.

The “Air Archery” competition started when the Mavs’ Wesley Matthews knocked down a three and got into touch with his inner ‘Robin Hood’ and shot a fake arrow at the Nets bench. Then Jarrett Jack knocked down a three-pointer of his own and broke out his ‘Sheriff of Nottingham’ outfit and shot a fake arrow of his own.

Then all of this carried on throughout overtime with the Nets and Mavericks benches playing a bunch of fake ‘Prince of Thieves’. All of this stuff came to an end when Jarrett Jack missed a jumper at the end to lose the game… again.

This is a microcosm of why Jarrett Jack is driving Nets fans nuts…

1.) The Dallas Mavericks are a better team than the Brooklyn Nets.

Let’s just skip the Deron Williams thing, shall we? Most people are tired of reading and hearing about Deron Williams just as much as reporters are of talking about him. Let’s focus on the fact that the Dallas Mavericks have been a pleasant surprise in the Western Conference after the DeAndre Jordan debacle. The Mavericks have collaborated a collection of players behind the leadership of Dirk Nowitzki, who passed Shaquille O’Neal in the all-time scoring race to corral yet another playoff run.

The Brooklyn Nets are sitting in purgatory. They are 8-21 after the loss to Dallas, with the losses starting to pile up. Remember that four-game home winning streak? Me neither. The Nets have no draft picks, no playoff chances, and no tangible future plans. The Brooklyn Nets need to win games, period, and build on their culture to attract free agents, not playing childish games from a veteran point guard who should know better.

2.) Wesley Matthews is a better player than Jarrett Jack.

I’m not saying that Jack should back down in any way in overtime, but look at it this way. Jarrett Jack has been in the league longer than Wesley Matthews, so he should be able to control his emotions a lot better than he did in this situation. He’s the point guard leading the team. He needs to keep a clear head and stop jawing with Matthews and the Mavericks bench. Jarrett Jack always struggles when he gets into this one-on-one situation with players in games. Remember the Golden State game during the Nets’ first West Coast trip? The Nets had the Warriors dead to rights until Jack couldn’t pass the ball ahead to avoid the eight-second call. If the ball gets past half court, game over, and the Brooklyn Nets are in the national headlines. Instead, the Nets add to their loss tally. Matthews is a big free agent signing for the Mavericks, who will be around Dallas for awhile. Jack is a stop-gap while the Nets try to convince Mike Conley Jr. to join Lionel Hollins in Brooklyn.

Speaking of Jarrett Jack and stop gap, I’m not finished…

3.) When J.J. Barea gives you 30… you really should shut up.

Jarrett Jack should be ashamed of himself getting lit up by J.J. Barea, a career backup. Like the backup for the guy that Jack backed up last year. J.J. Barea exploded on the Nets for a career-high 32 points and 11 assists, basically getting anywhere on the floor he wanted… especially the paint. Thank goodness Shane Larkin returned to the lineup after suffering a concussion or Barea could have gone for 40.

With Barea basically taking Jack ice skating, Dallas knocked down 10 of their first 13 three-point shots. Oh well, there goes that New Year’s resolution on getting better on three-point defense. Barea was in on the act too, knocking down four of his own on his way to 22 points in the first half.

I said it once, and I’ll say it again… Jarrett Jack’s defense is so bad that opposing point guards send limos to make sure Jack gets to the game on time.

4.) Thaddeus Young was going nuts all night long… WHY NOT GIVE HIM THE DAMN BALL!

Not to steal former-New York Jets wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson’s thunder here, but it applies. Thaddeus Young had an out-of-body experience in this game, scoring 29 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He hits the game-tying three pointer and then blocks J.J. Barea’s last-second shot to end it in regulation. He was the main reason why the Nets outscored the Mavs, 58-40, in the paint. Young shot 10/15 from the field. All of these facts stand to reason that he would get the ball coming out of a timeout.

BUT…

Jarrett Jack is the Brooklyn Nets’ point guard.

Instead of finding Young in the post, on the wing , on the bench, in the parking lot, wherever… Jarrett Jack wanted to be the hero… again.

Jack misses, Nets lose.

WHERE IS DERON?!