Yao Ming Mania has the transcript and video from a recent interview with Nets coach Lawrence Frank given to Sina.com in China. In the interview, Frank talks some more about Yi Jianlian and how he might be used offensively this year, specifically in the low post.
Rory from Slippery When Nets talks about his experience this summer getting invited to the Nets training facility as part of a sales pitch to renew his season tickets. During the experience, he was pitched the now infamous reversible jersey promotion, which he initially liked.
Nets CEO Brett Yormark talks with Fox Business about the team’s newest business initiative, selling ad space on their practice jerseys. He also believes the move to Brooklyn is a certainty for the 2011-12 season and he disputes a variety of published reports this summer that the team is for sale.
The off-season in any major sport is usually one filled with hope and optimism. We hear about players losing weight and coming to camp “in the best shape of their lives.” Teams acquire players that are going to be missing pieces to the puzzle. Teams that are being doubted by the pundits, talk about their potential and how they’re going to surprise people.
It’s no different right now over in Nets-land as an open practice in early September has brought out many key members of the team who are feeling confident. Brook Lopez thinks playoffs are a real possibility, Jarvis Hayes is taking over the leadership mantle from the departed Vince Carter and Yi Jianlian is exciting coach Lawrence Frank after putting on some bulk and playing well in the FIBA Asia Championship.
However, this is the Nets we’re talking about, and this isn’t the first time fans have been told to get excited by coaches, players, the press, or a combination of all three. In slightly sadistic fashion, I compiled a short list to remind Nets fans of past seasons where the optimism was high and the vibes were good, but the end results ended up bad or worse.
1994 – Derrick Coleman is a “Nice Person”
From the day he was drafted with the #1 pick in 1990, Derrick Coleman was known for having a world of talent, but also a major ego problem. After making his first all-star game (with teammate Kenny Anderson) in the 93-94 season, Coleman was looking for a new contract and was making waves with the front office. But at the start of the preseason in 1994, DC was going for an image makeover, telling the press that his disagreements with past coaches were being taken out of context and any criticisms he levied towards his teammates were being misinterpreted.“I’m a nice person,” he told the New York Times. Later in the season, he caused a stir when he referred to Karl Malone as an “Uncle Tom” and he also became the Sports Illustrated cover boy for “prima donna” NBA ballers when he handed then-coach Butch Beard a blank check for all the fines he expected to incur for not following the team’s new dress code. He was finally traded the next season for the great Shawn Bradley.
1994 – Derrick Coleman is a “Nice Person”