Goodbye, Jason Collins

It's been over a year since I posted anything on the blog, but with the recent turn of events I found it only fitting. I would have posted more but after awhile there are only so many ways you can make six fouls and zero points funny.

In case you haven't heard, the Nets traded Jason Collins to the Memphis Grizzles straight up for Stromile Swift. Yes, that is correct. The Grizzlies are a very poorly run organization. Swift has tremendous upside, Collins has tremendous downside. As you can assume, I was shocked and in jubilation when I heard the news. Finally, the most worthless player in the NBA could go set his great screens and play his tremendous help defense for another group of frustrated fans.

Now that he has played his last game as a New Jersey Net in the legendary Izod Center, let's take a brief look back at his career:

- Collins averaged 4.4 points per game and 3.2 fouls per game. This all came in a mind boggling 24.5 minutes a night. Per 48 minutes that's an average of 8.6 points per game and 6.3 fouls per game.

- In 510 career games, Collins managed to score 20 points once.

- On 4/19/05 Jason Collins went nuts. For some reason he decided it was time to attempt five three pointers, and he connected on two of them!!!!! Since that historic day in long distance shooting, he has only attempted two, making zero.

-Collins free throw shooting has gotten progressively worse over the last six years and currently shoots an anemic .389 from the foul line. Earlier in the year I heard Marv Albert say the following, "Jason Collins has made only seven free throws this year, and two were banks!"

Enough is enough though. I could go on forever about how bad he is, but this is a blog and not a book. Do I have anything personal again Jason Collins? No. From all I've read he's a great guy who is very private and a model citizen. The thing is, there is no reason he should start for an NBA team, and it bothered me. I wish him (and the fans) the best of luck in Memphis, and maybe he can become an all-star. For now, my attention turns to Antonie Wright, who is a bum.

GAME 14: CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

It was an event that is only seen in very rare circumstances in the history of Jason Collins. With his monster 7 point performance against the Bobcats, it was the first time since the historic April 5th and April 7th games of the 2004-2005 season that Collins had managed to put up at least 7 points in back to back contests. The suddenly hot Collins is now being promoted by the Nets for all kind of league awards from the MVP to Coach of the Year. However, his recent propensity to shoot the ball, has caused massive issues within the team. Despite combining for 15 points in his last two games, the Nets have now dropped six straight contests. This confirms my theory that the more times Collins touches the ball the lower the chance of a win becomes.

The final line: 35 minutes 6 rebounds 1 assist 1 turnover 2 steals 1 block 3 fouls 7 points

In addition to the outburst in points recently, Collins played a season high in minutes against Charlotte. The simple fact that Collins is getting more playing time almost guarantees defeat. No wonder they pathetically lost at home to the lowly Bobcats. If the Nets have any desire to turn this streak around, they need to play Collins less and make sure to minimize his touches against Boston.

GAME 13: LOS ANGELES LAKERS

With Kobe Bryant in the house, Jason Collins had to step up his game. For years Collins had been jealous of Kobe for stealing the spotlight that he felt he deserved. The crowd came to see Kobe vs Carter, but left the game with only Collins on their mind. Collins exploded for a season high 8 points and tossed in 7 boards. Watching Collins almost getting a double-double is like seeing Haley's Comet. It comes once almost every 200 years. It was clearly Collins best game of the season, and despite the team's loss, he left the arena with his ego high.

The final line: 33 minutes 7 rebounds 2 turnovers 1 steal 1 block 4 fouls 8 points

The big man from Stanford resembled an actual NBA player. The remarkable part of the night is that Collins scored eight points on only four shots. If the Nets knew what they were doing, Collins would get the 24 shots that Kobe got for the Lakers. Also, Collins hasn't had a double-double since the 2004-2005 season. However, if you were allowed more than 6 fouls he surely would have accomplished this feat. The budding NBA legend will take on the Bobcats in his next game.

On a side note, this picture of Collins is my favorite of the season. Perhaps at the All-Star Break, I will rank them all.

BREAKING NEWS: COLLINS TO PORTLAND?

Rumors are swirling around the NBA of a possible blockbuster trade that would send Jason Collins to Portland for Jamal Magloire. When asked about this trade Collins said, "This is the only team I've been on, the only team I've known." He stated several times he does not want to leave New Jersey. Other big men Melvin Ely, Brendon Haywood, and Anderson Varejao have also been mentioned in connection with New Jersey.

This is the moment we've all been waiting for. Every year the Nets pretend to be interested in replacing Collins with the likes of Chris Wilcox and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Now they are getting our hopes up again with this most likely false trade rumor that is part of the Collins Conspiracy. A couple of things strike me from this.

1) When was the last time Collins was actually asked to comment on a basketball related issue. He probably had not seen a reporter for months before one accidentally bumped into him and felt the obligation to ask him for the eloquent 13 word statement he delivered.

2) Why in the world would Portland have any interest in Jason Collins? In two games this season, Collins has combined for 5 points and 9 fouls against the Blazers. If performances like those sparked Portland's interest in anyway they should automatically be contracted from the league.

3) Of course Collins doesn't want to leave the Nets. If he went anywhere else in the league, he'd play about five minutes a night. A word of advice to Mr. Rod Thorn. Don't listen to Jason Collins. We've gone through with your little cruel joke for too long now. Enough is enough.

GAME 12: PHOENX SUNS

With his efforts in his last game against the Portland Trailblazers, Jason Collins did something he only did once all of last season. The remarkable feat that he accomplished was having an asisst in six straight games. Let's take a moment to look at the impact of this streak. Since he only has accomplished this once before in the previous season, the question arises what is he actually doing with the ball? He's clearly not shooting as shown by his point totals. Now we see he's clearly not getting assists. This leaves us with four possibilties. 1)He rarely tocuhes the ball. 2)He only touches the ball in meaningless points of the game, such as when other players are trying to get down court. 3)He is committing turnovers whenever he gets the ball. 4)He's committing offensive fouls whenever he gets the ball. It is clearly a situation worth looking into, and answers will be had. As for his game with Phoenix, it went something like this.

The final line: 25 minutes 4 rebounds 2 turnovers 1 block 4 fouls 2 points

Collins failed to extend that impressive streak to 7 games. He only played 25 minutes, so he probably did not have enough time to accidentally throw it to an open teammate. It was the ninth time in 12 games that Collins failed to score more than he fouled. Basically, he's just taking up space so far this season. It's one of those rare situations where a team would benefit from playing 4 on 5. Next up is the Los Angeles Lakers as the Nets continue their west coast swing.

GAME 11: PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

It was only two games ago that these teams took battle in an epic East Coast vs. West Coast showdown. Despite Collins chipping in a solid 1 point, the Nets surprisingly lost lost by 28 points at home. For seem reason I did not notice that during these last team;s contest, Collins attempted a three-pointer. The reason for such a foolish play is undetermined, and obviously the attempt did not go in. Last year Collins was allowed to attempt 5 3-pointers in the final game against the New York Knicks. With another game against the Blazers on the schedule, perhaps Collins would find that shooter's urge again.

The final line: 34 mins 8 rebounds 3 assists 1 turnover 1 block 4 fouls 4 points

It was actually one of the better games of the season for Collins. He logged a season high in minutes and also turned in a season high in rebounds. One discouraging sign is that for the second straight game, he attempted a season high four shots. It comes as no surpise the Nets lost these games considering the game plan is typically keep the ball away from Collins. Next up for the Nets are the high-flying Suns against the slow footed Collins.

GAME 10: SEATTLE SUPERSONICS

It's rare that you would associate the number one with Jason Collins, but going into this game that was the hot number for Collins. You may be saying now, I would only combine these words if I was saying, Jason Collins is not number one. Or perhaps you are saying yes I had always known it, Collins is in fact number one. I'm sorry to disappoint both parties, but Collins and the number one are not associated in those ways at all. The reason for this discussion is that Collins last game against Seattle he had 1 point, and in his last actual game he also had 1 point. Would he combine those ones to make 11 against Seattle? And now your answer.

The final line: 27 minutes 4 rebounds 1 assist 2 turnovers 5 fouls 3 points

Rod Thorn and company was hoping that Collins may continue his streak of ones with a nice one foul game, but all Nets fans that if Collins has 1 foul at the end of the game, he got hurt with 10 minutes left in the first. Since his 7 point outburst, Collins has had 4 points in the following two games. One Collins achievement of note is that he still hasn't fouled out this season. Hopefully, Collins can continue this streak next game against Portland.