Right. Now that the trade deadline has passed, signings like this are one of the few ways a team can improve itself before the playoffs. When Collins didn’t get a contract in the offseason I figured he would get picked up by a contending team that needed another big guy. It didn’t occur to me that that might not happen until after the trade deadline. The Nets aren’t championship contenders at all, but since they’ve smashed NBA records for highest payroll, they’re desperate to make the playoffs. They probably will, and if they win enough they might be able to avoid Indiana and Miami until the second round. So if Collins helps them, he’s worth the minimum salary he’s getting and I hope he plays well enough to get signed for the rest of the season. (Teams can sign a player to two consecutive 10-day contracts and then they either have to sign the player for the rest of the season or let them go.)
His stat line from last night: 11 minutes, 0 points (0/1 shooting), 2 rebounds, 5 fouls. The Nets outscored the Lakers by 8 while he was on the floor. He is going to wear 98 again for the Nets, continuing his reference to Matthew Shepard. He wore 46 last night, though, because I guess they couldn’t get that jersey made on short notice.
I saw this mentioned on Twitter, but there’s at least one other interesting aspect to this: the Nets are owned by Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire who opposes the country’s “gay propaganda” laws and ran an unsuccessful campaign against Vladimir Putin in 2012.
In the end of a game, sometimes a utility player is called upon to deliberately foul opposing players, especially if a team needs the ball back quickly to try to score or if an opposing player is particularly bad at shooting free throws. Collins is precisely the type I’d expect to be used in such a strategy. See Hack-a-Shaq.
I don’t think that’s what happened here. Collins’ first two fouls were an offensive foul and a foul on a Lakers’ guard. His other fouls were against big guys, but the Nets were comfortably ahead and I don’t see any indication they were hacking the Lakers. He was banging in the post because that’s his job, and maybe he committed some extra fouls because he was rusty.
I didn’t see the game, but it’s probably not just rust. A substitute defender’s job is usually to give up fouls – not exactly end-of-the-game intentional fouls, but being OK with with playing the kind of defense that leads to fouling more often. It’s no big deal if the sub fouls out, so why not use up all of his fouls (assuming they’re used in worthwhile situations)
I’m not sure I can judge if the fouls are worthwhile, but some are just a product of the job Collins is asked to do: set hard screens, box guys out, etc. It’s true that he’s only playing 8 to 10 minutes a game, so he doesn’t have to worry much about fouling out. He didn’t play much last night - just the last three minutes after the game was already decided. He got a long ovation when he checked in and wound up with a rebound, a steal, a foul, and one badly missed jump shot in the closing seconds. After his current contract is up the Nets are expected to sign him for the rest of the season.
Looking at his career numbers, it appears Collins has always been foul-prone. In his last full season, he averaged 8 fouls per 36 minutes, and has been at or above 6 per 36 minutes 5 of the last 6 seasons. He’s in Greg Oden territory.
After his current contract is up the Nets are expected to sign him for the rest of the season.