Nets Are Scorching

Some Nets-related news from the past day.

• The venerable Al Iannazzone at the Bergen Record said the Nets have the makings of a good young nucleus, but questions the team’s ability to lure one of the big free agents next summer.
• Eduardo Najera talks to Dave D’Alessandro at the Star-Ledger about his health, sitting out the FIBA games and some of the new faces on the Nets.
• ESPN’s John Hollinger, in his latest heaping of toxic waste on the Nets chat questions whether the Nets will use their cap space next summer on any free agents and calls a 20-10 season for Brook Lopez “a major stretch.” (ESPN Insider Subscribers Only)
• Terrence Williams entertains the troops by playing Guitar Hero. He’s also tweeting about going online to find some people to play Madden ’10.
• On the Atlantic Yards front, a pro-development candidate for New York City Council said the non-profit she heads received “a little over a couple of hundred thousand dollars” from developer Forest City Ratner. Meanwhile, over at Atlantic Yards Report, documents show that the affordable house promised at the site is not a guarantee.
• Courtney Lee on his trade to the Nets. “I wouldn’t say ‘bitter-sweet.’ I would say, ‘sweet and sweet,’” Lee told HOOPSWORLD while training at IMG’s practice facility. “I made it to the Finals as a rookie. I got to play against one of the best players in the NBA (Kobe Bryant). Now I have the opportunity to play alongside another All-Star-caliber player in Devin Harris and have the opportunity to get better.”
• After Toronto Raptor Chris Bosh released his own iPhone app, Bethlehem Shoals at the Sporting News tries to think of other high-tech gadgets that could be marketed towards NBA players including a Brook Lopez ringtone generator from “a live feed straight to Brook’s mouth, 24/7, that constantly gives you a backlog of wacky soundbites to use as your ringtone.”

When I was in elementary school, every Monday, one of my parents or my brother would take me up the street to the local candy and stationary store with $1 of discretionary spending in my pocket. I would often pass on the candy, though getting 20 pieces of Bazooka Joe for $1 was always tempting, and instead gravitate towards the carousel rack of comic books, where I would grab a book, usually something Spider-Man related, though I was also quite partial to Captain America, X-Men and the Punisher, and depending on many years ago we’re talking about, sometimes even get a few coins of change in the process.

It’s a hobby I still maintain to this day, though much to my wife’s chagrin, I’m dropping more than a $1 an issue these days as I chase after 40 year-old comics with first appearances and origin stories. I guess, by definition, this makes me some kind of a geek, though I haven’t always been able to fully embrace the culture in other facets of life (Star Wars, great, Star Trek and all its iterations, not so much).

I’m providing readers with this TMI moment primarily because it ties-in to Nets center Brook Lopez. As a basketball fan, I was ecstatic that the Nets were able to draft Brook last year. But as a geek, having someone like Brook on the roster has made me beyond ecstatic. When I saw the chronicles of Brook and now, former, Net Ryan Anderson at NYC Comic Con earlier this year, I know a bunch of people were chuckling about what a bunch of big geeky kids they looked like. I, on the other hand, wanted to know what Brook bought and what else he has at home (and what kind of goodies can you get with an NBA salary).

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