Nets on the Net: 9/9/09 Beatles Day Edition
Sep 9, 2009 Brook Lopez, Brooklyn, Bruce Ratner, Nets on the Net
Some more round-up of the new Barclays Arena renderings courtesy of the Daily News, the New York Times, the New York Post, the Brooklyn Paper and Crain’s New York.
Curbed NY sits down with the architects and Bruce Ratner and comes up with 12 Notable Things about the new arena design. Said SHoP Architects Gregg Pasquarelli: “The building will change from day to night. Literally, the skin is responding to the program inside. It becomes more transparent when it needs to be, with lightness and form embedded in it. The skin [of the building] sits several feet away from the weather enclosure of the stadium. At night, when lit from inside, it will glow.”
The New York Times architecture critic weighs in.
In advance of his trip to London for the Adidas 5 NBA United Tour, Basketball 24/7 talked with Brook Lopez where Brook confirms he’s not “your average NBA player.” He also repeats his prediction that the Nets are potentially playoff-bound this year.
Speaking of Brook, Dime Magazine pegs him as being one of five new players that will average 10+ rebounds this season.
The Orlando Sentinel is running a reader poll regarding whether or not the Nets practice jersey sponsorship deal is a good thing for the NBA.
New Barclays Renderings
Sep 9, 2009 Brooklyn, Bruce Ratner, Develop Don't Destroy
9/9/09 will not only be known as Beatles day around the planet. Forest City Ratner has released their latest iteration of renderings for the Barclays Center, the prospective future home of the Brooklyn Nets. The designs are a collaboration of architectural firms Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects.
In a statement found on the Barclays Center web site Nets owner Bruce Ratner said:
“The Barclays Center will quickly become an iconic part of the Brooklyn landscape. The design is elegant and intimate and also a bold architectural statement that will nicely complement the surrounding buildings and neighborhoods. The Barclays Center will be innovative in its look and use of materials, including weathered steel and glass, and will be the best place in the world to watch a basketball game and other forms of sports and entertainment.”
Project oppoents Develop Don’t Design Brooklyn have already weighed in on the design. “It’s all lipstick on a corrupt pig, window-dressing on a boondoggle,” DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein said in a statement today. The statement also notes how the renderings only include the arena and not the rest of the proposed development.
Yesterday, Nets CEO Bret Yormark told Fox Business News he expects ownership will receive the financing it needs to start construction before the end of the year, with a move to Brooklyn likely for the 2011-12 season. There are still a ton of legal obstacles to overcome, most notably a hearing up in Albany on October 14 on the eminent domain issues connected to the project.
More renderings after the jump.
Celebrating Michael Jordan vs. the Nets
Sep 9, 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame, Michael Jordan
As someone who came to basketball in the early 1990s, Michael Jordan was undoubtedly the greatest professional athlete I ever saw and is the greatest basketball player to ever walk the Earth. With his induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame this week, I thought NAS could honor his airness by listing some of his greatest career accomplishments against the Nets.
While the Nets certainly won’t strike many as one of Jordan’s great foes during his career, he’s actually had a number of career highlights against them. Some of the personal bests achieved by Jordan against the Nets include most free throws in a game (26), most defensive rebounds (15), most steals (10), most steals in a quarter (6) and most free throws made without missing (15). Some of these highlights, and many others against the Nets, may rank among some of the best games of his career. Here’s the NAS list. Those who have focused their fandom on Jordan and the Bulls (and Wizards) may like to quibble and we welcome the input.
#5 March 16, 1996 – Owning the Glass
Jordan proved why he would do whatever it took for his team to win a game. With Dennis Rodman ejected for headbutting a referee earlier in the game, Jordan took over for the rebounding specialist, grabbing 15 defensive boards (a career high) and 16 total for the game. Jordan also added 37 points and 3 blocks, negating Chris Childs’ first-career triple-double in a 97-93 victory in New Jersey. The post-game focus was on Rodman, with now Nets president, then NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Rod Thorn, telling Rodman, “You do not hit an official, that’s for sure.” Jordan, on the other hand, ensured another victory for his team that was already without Scottie Pippen who was sitting out with an injury.