Nets Are Scorching

More from Fred Kerber and the NY Post. During the same movie shoot at the Izod Center yesterday where Dwight Howard talked about Courtney Lee’s emotional anguish, Dwayne Wade, one of the other high profile free agents to be next summer, put to rest the idea that he’s looking to leave the Miami Heat.

“I’m not thinking about the Knicks or the Nets. Only when we play them,” Wade told Kerber.

No shock here. But something I did find interesting was Wade’s positive comments about the direction of the Nets franchise.

“It’s a class organization and when the time is right, they’re going to go get the players they need to get. I think people around the league see that. They’ve had success, especially when J. Kidd was here . . . so everyone knows this organization has the want to be great. It’s just about if they get the players. They’ve got some now. Devin Harris is a great, great star. He’s a centerpiece.”

Then the kicker: “the main chatter right now is about the other side, New York, but I’m sure the Nets are going to get some love as well.”

As a Nets fan, it’s comforting to see comments like these about the state of the franchise from one of the league’s established superstars. Living on Long Island and New York City my entire life, I’ve always had to deal with pulling for a team that was second fiddle to the Knicks. This was especially frustrating when the Nets were busy making back-to-back finals, and the Knicks were doing jack squat. I know there’s always a certain allure about playing in New York City, but the Knicks just don’t have as much talent to build around going into next season. The only selling point is the city itself and it’s not like guys like Wade and Lebron are going to be hurting for endorsements, regardless of where they play.

Posted by Mark Ginocchio

While he’s very likely to last all of the 2009-10 season, Nets head coach Lawrence Frank may be on thin ice according to ESPN’s John Hollinger during a recent chat:

Unless he shows up in a stupor like Shooter from Hoosiers he’ll keep his job because the Nets have no interest in paying two coaches at once. To keep his job beyond this season, however, is a different story. To do that he might need to win in the high 30s or low 40s, and I can’t see that happening with this roster.

I don’t know if I can see the Nets winning that many games this season either, but can Lawrence Frank really be made the scapegoat if the team performs poorly this season? I think if there was any time to fire Frank, it would have been years ago when the “Big Three” was healthy and in place but was still underwhelming in the playoffs. Thoughts anyone?

Posted by Mark Ginocchio

It was no secret that when the Nets acquired Courtney Lee in the Vince Carter trade in June, that Courtney was not the happiest of people. In fact, during his introduction to the press, the SG said he was in “shock” by the trade that took him away from a team that made the Finals and sent him to one that was in clear rebuilding mode, even if his acquisition was a major component of that rebuilding.

About a month or so later, it seems like Courtney still hasn’t embraced the change. Fred Kerber from the New York Post talks to former Orlando teammate Dwight Howard who said of Courtney, “he’s not just upset, he’s hurting.”

New teammate Bobby Simmons told Kerber, “once he gets here, his mindset will change. Once he gets here and meets the guys on the team, he’ll be fine.”

I have to admit. Something about this doesn’t sit right with me. Nearly two months after a trade, you don’t want to hear that the player your team acquired is in “shock” or is “hurting.” You would hope at this point the only things you’d be hearing from Lee’s camp is how he’s ready to work with his new teammates and embrace his new role, which quite frankly is going to be significantly more prominent than it would have been on the Magic.

Don’t get me wrong, from person-to-person, I understand where Courtney is coming from. Because the world of professional sports has been presented to fans as a hardened business, I think we tend to lose sight of the human elements behind the game. If I was working for a really successful company for a year and I was suddenly told to pack my bags and go to a new company, I would feel uneasy about that, even if the new company was offering me a corner office right out of the shoot.

But I do hope this is something Courtney Lee can get over, and sooner instead of later. Yes, he’s not going to have the same level of media scrutiny playing for the Nets as he would the Knicks, but if he gets off to a poor start this season, I can only assume that the storyline is going to shift to how Courtney Lee really doesn’t want to be here and that fact is backed up by his play. For that reason, while I understand it’s hard to keep guys like Dwight Howard from running their mouths, I hope this is the last we hear about Courtney’s reluctance to join the Nets. It’s difficult to get excited about the potential a player brings to your team when that guy doesn’t seem all that excited to be there.

Posted by Mark Ginocchio