Nets Are Scorching

In anticipation of Wednesday’s Court of Appeals hearing in Albany, where opponents of the Atlantic Yards development will argue about the proposed use of eminent domain for the building of the Nets new home in Brooklyn, NetsAreScorching has spoken to filmmaker Michael Galinsky, who is working on a documentary about the Atlantic Yards process entitled “Battle for Brooklyn.”

Galinksky, who resides in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, has been working on the film for nearly six years now, amassing more than 300 hours of footage. One of the focal points of his film is Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, whose Pacific Street apartment sits where the Nets’ Barclays Arena would be built.

We’ve included the “Battle for Brooklyn” trailer for your viewing pleasure. For more information about Galinsky’s work, please visit his site.

NAS: Given that the eminent domain hearing in Albany is considered by some to be a last legal stand for opponents to the Atlantic Yards development, do you plan to capture any footage for your film that day? If so, what’s your planned filming approach for the day?

Michael Galinksy: We will certainly be shooting on the day of the hearing.  While it’s the last stand for the opponents to fight the eminent domain issue, I think that there are several other law suits in the works regarding the process.

Our film is a character-driven, verite documentary that mostly follows a few of the people fighting the project, so we’ll want to get their take on the situation. The idea of a verite documentary film gets confusing because most people are used to Michael Moore or old school PBS docs.  We aren’t journalists and we’re not activists either. The idea of this film isn’t to get to the bottom of everything that’s happened along the way but instead to follow characters as they deal with some of the situations that they face. Not even Norman Oder could put together a book that covers everything and is still readable. As such, we have to be very selective in what scenes to focus on.  So the short answer is: yes we’ll be shooting, but who knows what will end up in the film. With over 350 hours of footage shot, only about 0.5% of what we shot has any chance of making it in to a 90 minute film. Read more…

Just wanted to thank all of you for entering the contest and submitting the answer, and I can honestly say that I was blown away by the number of responses…I didn’t realize we had that many readers…anyway, the winner of the contest is Ralph Nasar. He gets two tickets to the Nets game vs. the Celtics at The Rock. Congrats man, and for those who didn’t win, we will be doing this on the 20th, before the Nets next game in Newark so pay attention…

UPDATE: The answer was Keith Van Horn, but you all know that…

Al Iannazzone is reporting that the Nets backcourt should be together and healthy for the first time tomorrow night.

You know who’s been impressive so far this preseason? Brook Lopez and Chris Douglas-Roberts.

Tony Battie talks about some of the changes he’s seen with the Boston Celtics.

NetsDaily looks at the salary cap debate regarding who has more - the Knicks or the Nets?

Lawrence Frank commends the athleticism of Sean Williams who’s a “super good person.”

An exhausting list of everywhere you can get some worthwhile NBA news and analysis (including a link to yours truly).

The WSJ talks about Wednesday’s Court of Appeals hearing on eminent domain for the Atlantic Yards development.

Here’s a column in the Moscow News about Mikhail Prokhorov and the Nets that’s certain to infuriate some Nets fans and New Jersey residents.

Earlier today we had a little trivia contest for 2 tickets to the Nets game at the Prudential Center vs. the Celtics tomorrow night.  The winner was Dennis Mortensen Jr., who was the first one to e-mail the correct answer of Buck Williams.  Congrats Dennis!  We got two more tickets to give away for tomorrow, so here goes nothing.  Remember, e-mail the answers to contests@netsarescorching.com:

Which former Net was acquired in the 2008 Jason Kidd/Devin Harris trade?

Good luck everyone!

Today at 12:30 I will have the honor of joining Chris Sheridan in a chat over at ESPN about the New Jersey Nets.  It will run until 1:00, and it is in Cover-It-Live format (you guys should remember that from our Draft Lottery/Draft Day chats).  Come over and ask your questions and Chris and I will answer them.

UPDATE: I just wanted to say thanks to all of you guys who showed up.  There were a lot of Nets fans and it was a pleasant surprise!  Also I would like to say sorry if I didn’t get to your question, it was a little crazy in there from that standpoint…so many…

UPDATE 2: Here is the chat replay:

Team: Washington Wizards

Last Year’s Record: 19-63 (5th, Southeast Division)

Head Coach: Flip Saunders

Comings: Mike Miller, Randy Foye and Fabricio Oberto.

Goings: Darius Songaila, Oleksiy Pecherov and Etan Thomas.

Blogger Thoughts – Kyle Weidie, Truth About It:

“The Wizards could come together and compete with Cleveland, Orlando and Boston in the East for home court advantage in the playoffs. Of course, this tough mountain to climb will be contingent on a myriad of factors. Gilbert Arenas will have to find balance in his game as both a facilitator and a scorer to make thing easier for his teammates. The supporting cast of Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood will have to stay healthy … especially Haywood, since without him, the defense is pretty bad. The Wizards have a deep team, but that doesn’t mean much unless young guys like Andray Blatche and Nick Young step up their effort and focus. The most important aspect is that there’s cohesiveness in the locker room and every player has been open and receptive to Flip Saunders.”

On the Nets:

“The Nets, I’m not so high on. I think they’ll be hands down the worst team in the East and will probably battle with the Kings and Timberwolves in the lottery ball contest. But hey, John Wall and Devin Harris could make a helluva combo for years to come. The good news is that there will be plenty of opportunity for the young guys to develop … as long as Rafer Alson doesn’t start spreading any cancer in the locker room.”

Comparing the Starters:

Starting PG – Gilbert Arenas (13.0 ppg, 10.0 apg, 18.92 PER) vs. Devin Harris (21.3 ppg, 6.9 apg, 21.65 PER): First, the obvious question: is Gilbert Arenas healthy? After only appearing in two games last season and 13 the year before because of knee injuries, it’s logical to be doubtful. Now, a middle-finger injury has been described by coach Flip Saunders as a potential “middle-finger” situation for Arenas. Arenas’ True Shooting percentage, which accounts for three-pointers and free throws has steadily declined since his standout 05-06 season (58.1, 56.5, 52.9, 43.3), when he averaged 29.3 points per game and was fifth in the league in offensive win shares with 11.2. Once considered “quick with the ball” it will be interesting to see what kind of quickness he has left after three knee surgeries. There are also questions if he’s a competent enough ball-handler and passer to effectively run the point for Washington. Defensively, you never know what you’re going to get from Agent Zero.

Advantage: Nets – Devin Harris is not exactly the most durable player either, but he’s been considerably more healthy than Arenas in recent years. Harris has also had a higher True Shooting percentage than Arenas every year since 2006-07. If Arenas regains his form from four seasons again, than this is an entirely different conversation, but is that likely?

Read more…

Alright, Mark alluded to it yesterday, and here it is.  We got our hands on 4 tickets to tomorrow’s Nets vs. Celtics game at the Prudential Center, and we are going to be giving them out to you, the reader.  So here is how it is going to work, we are going to ask a Nets trivia question here, and the first one to e-mail the correct answer to contests@netsarescorching.com gets two tickets to tomorrow night’s game.  Here we go:

Who was the last Nets number to be retired?

Alright.  Remember, don’t answer the question in the comments.  E-mail the answer to contests@netsarescorching.com.  You will get an e-mail back from me if you won.  Good luck!

P.S.  We are going to be doing another question at some point today, so keep checking back here.

For a few years now, Newark has been an oft-proposed alternate destination for the Nets if their controversial move to Brooklyn ever falls through. The Prudential Center, which opened in 2007 as the new home for the New Jersey Devils – who had toiled alongside the Nets at the inaccessible and undesirable Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ, for years – has been received warmly by attendees and is just a short walk away from Newark-Penn Station, providing access from both New York and New Jersey.

The Nets have always been coy about these proposals, which have been made from a wide-range of sources, including diehard New Jersey-based fans, opponents of the Brooklyn plans, and politicians like Newark Mayor Cory Booker. A lot of time, energy and most importantly money, has been spent on trying to making the Brooklyn Nets a reality. Publicly being open to a “Plan B,” while “Plan A” is under assault in the court of law and the court of public opinion, would be a poor strategic decision for ownership, which is currently trying to amass financing before the end of the year to qualify for tax-exempt bond status.

Or so we thought. While ownership is still publicly saying “Brooklyn or bust,” the team has agreed to play two preseason games at the Prudential Center over the next two weeks, including the first of two tomorrow night against the Cetics. And last week, the organization held its “Netstoberfest,” a free pep rally, at the Prudential Center rather than in Brooklyn or at the Izod Center.

“We’re promoting our preseason games in Newark,” a Nets spokesman told the Bergen Record last week about all of the Newark events.

Read more…