NetsAreScorching – New Jersey Nets Blog – Nets News, Rumors, Analysis, Podcasts, Salaries, & Statistics » 2009 » August » 04

Thoughts On The Schedule

As you probably noticed from my previous two posts, the Nets schedule was posted today.  I took some time to examine it and here some of the key points:

Zero Nationally Televised Games (Not counted 2 NBATV games) -  While this isn’t too surprising, but seeing that it was on Friday, I was hoping to get the VC return game on national TV

We have a rough 4 game road trip within a rough start - When you have a young team with a lame-duck  coach (let’s face it, that is what Lawrence Frank is) a good (or at least average) start is important.  You get off to a fast start, and your young guys begin playing with a confidence/swagger.  Get off to a slow start, and your young guys may drop their heads a bit and they can begin to lack confidence.  I don’t know if the Nets are going to be able to get off to a good, let alone average start.  Looking at the schedule through November (First 17 games the final 4 will be against the Nuggets, Blazers, Kings, and Lakers on the road), a quick little evaluation has us at 5-12 (at best – we could very well go 0-17), and that won’t impress anyone.  In fact, that kind of start might even get coach Lawrence Frank fired.

LeBron Coming To The New Jersey- LeBron is coming to NJ to see the fans on a team that he may play for on January 2nd.  Not the best day to have a full crowd show up and get loud (conspiracy anyone?).

What were the schedulers thinking? – My nominee for least attended game in the entire NBA?  Sunday December 6th, Nets at. Knicks at 12:00 PM.  The Jets don’t play that week, but the Giants have a home game against Dallas.  Safe to say nobody (besides myself) will be worrying about the Knicks or the Nets that day.

Home For The Holidays – The Nets have a 7 game homestand starting on December 19th and ending on January 5th, and they don’t play on any of the big holidays.  I don’t know if it is too big of a deal, but for a young team, it couldn’t hurt.

Pack Your Bags – The Nets don’t really have any long roadtrips, but they do have a few medium sized ones.  Their longest is a 5 game stretch, but they do have three 4 game road-trips.

When Do The Wins Come? – The easiest stretch for the Nets to pick up some wins comes in the middle of their 7 game homestand that I mentioned before.  They play Minnesota, Houston (without Yao), Oklahoma City, and New York.  Too bad these games are bookended by the Lakers and the Cavs, which stops any momentum we could get from this run.

Full Nets 2009-2010 Schedule

I am still trying to digest it, but here is the schedule.  My opinions coming shortly:

October
Wed 28     @ Minnesota       8:00pm
Fri 30     vs Orlando       8:00pm
Sat 31     @ Washington       7:00pm
November
Mon 02     @ Charlotte       7:00pm
Wed 04     vs Denver       7:30pm
Fri 06     @ Philadelphia  7:00pm
Sat 07     vs Boston       7:30pm
Wed 11     vs Philadelphia 7:30pm
Fri 13     @ Orlando       7:00pm
Sat 14     @ Miami       7:30pm
Tue 17     vs Indiana       7:30pm
Wed 18     @ Milwaukee       8:00pm
Sat 21     vs New York       1:00pm
Tue 24     @ Denver       9:00pm
Wed 25     @ Portland       10:00pm
Fri 27     @ Sacramento       10:00pm
Sun 29     @ LA Lakers       9:30pm
December
Wed 02     vs Dallas       7:30pm
Fri 04     vs Charlotte       8:00pm
Sun 06     @ New York       12:00pm
Tue 08     @ Chicago       8:00pm
Wed 09     vs Golden State 7:30pm
Fri 11     @ Indiana       7:00pm
Sun 13     @ Atlanta       5:00pm
Tue 15     @ Cleveland       7:00pm
Wed 16     vs Utah       7:30pm
Fri 18     @ Toronto       7:00pm
Sat 19     vs LA Lakers       8:00pm
Wed 23     vs Minnesota       7:30pm
Sat 26     vs Houston       7:30pm
Mon 28     vs Oklahoma City7:30pm
Wed 30     vs New York       7:30pm
January
Sat 02     vs Cleveland       1:00pm
Tue 05     vs Milwaukee       7:30pm
Wed 06     @ Atlanta       7:00pm
Fri 08     @ New Orleans   8:00pm
Sun 10     @ San Antonio   7:00pm
Wed 13     vs Boston       7:30pm
Fri 15     vs Indiana       8:00pm
Mon 18     @ LA Clippers   3:30pm
Wed 20     @ Phoenix       9:00pm
Fri 22     @ Golden State  10:30pm
Sat 23     @ Utah       9:00pm
Wed 27     vs LA Clippers  7:30pm
Fri 29     vs Washington   8:00pm
Sun 31     vs Philadelphia 6:00pm
February
Tue 02     vs Detroit       7:30pm
Wed 03     @ Toronto       7:00pm
Fri 05     @ Boston       7:30pm
Sat 06     @ Detroit       7:30pm
Tue 09     @ Cleveland       7:00pm
Wed 10     vs Milwaukee       7:30pm
Tue 16     @ Charlotte       7:00pm
Wed 17     vs Miami       7:30pm
Fri 19     vs Toronto       8:00pm
Sun 21     vs Memphis       6:00pm
Tue 23     vs Portland       7:30pm
Sat 27     @ Boston       1:00pm
Sun 28     vs Washington   6:00pm
March
Wed 03     vs Cleveland       7:30pm
Fri 05     vs Orlando       8:00pm
Sat 06     @ New York       7:30pm
Mon 08     @ Memphis       8:00pm
Wed 10     @ Dallas       8:30pm
Fri 12     @ Oklahoma City 8:00pm
Sat 13     @ Houston       8:30pm
Tue 16     vs Atlanta       7:30pm
Wed 17     @ Philadelphia  7:00pm
Sat 20     vs Toronto       7:30pm
Mon 22     vs Miami       7:30pm
Wed 24     vs Sacramento   7:30pm
Fri 26     vs Detroit       8:00pm
Sat 27     @ Chicago       8:00pm
Mon 29     vs San Antonio  7:30pm
Wed 31     vs Phoenix       7:30pm
April
Sat 03     vs New Orleans  7:30pm
Sun 04     @ Washington       6:00pm
Wed 07     @ Milwaukee       8:00pm
Fri 09     vs Chicago       8:00pm
Sat 10     @ Indiana       7:00pm
Mon 12     vs Charlotte       7:30pm
Wed 14     @ Miami       8:00pm

Mark October 30th On Your Calender

Vince Carter won’t have to wait long to play in New Jersey again.  The Magic come to town October 30th for the Nets home opener.  You can find the schedule here, I am going to get it posted and get my opinions on it soon.

Also to note, we have a 7 game home-stand over the holidays (Christmas and New Years), which is pretty good for a young team.

Oh and no nationally scheduled games (except if you count NBATV).  More on the schedule soon.