Just when you thought this team learned their lesson and was focused on playing solid basketball at both ends, they forget to come back in the second half.

Simply put, this team is just going through growing pains. There are a lot of youngsters here that are developing and as much as Devin Harris and Vince Carter are capable of, they cannot lead this team to victory all by themselves every single night.

It’s not going to happen.

Especially when you take into consideration the fact that Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons are so inconsistent. Neither one of them can be counted on to produce and can go from legitimate to ghosts in a matter of minutes. As far as being a coach in a situation like that, it must be downright scary. With Jarvis Hayes out and Eduardo Najera still injured, the Nets are missing guys that can be plugged in and provide a jolt if they have to.

These guys also give players like Jianlian and Simmons the marbles they need to get out on the court every night. The way Simmons has played this season, he’s lucky he’s not on the bottom of the depth chart. How he got to the top, I have no idea.

The same thing goes for Jianlian, whose defense has been spotty all season. I know Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe likes his offensive ability, going as far to compare him to Dirk Nowitzki, but as far as I’m concerned, the guy has looked extremely tentative out there and has shown a total lack of poise, especially down-low where you’d expect him to naturally take advantage of his size and strength. Instead, he looks like a small forward trying to play power forward.

However, one guy who is playing well off the bench right now is Trenton Hassell, who is hauling his rump on the boards and shooting pretty well as well. His stats may not be amazing, but the effort, combined with the results he’s gotten in limited time, have quickly made him one of my favorites off the Nets bench.

The same goes for Ryan Anderson and Josh Boone, even though they seem to always be battling some kind of consistency problems. When they show up however, these guys are solid bench players and guys I’d keep around for the long push. When they don’t show up like they did tonight and Jianlian and Simmons are virtually useless though, this team doesn’t win.

So what can be done?