Nets Are Scorching

(Of all the mascots in the NBA, the Chicago Bulls mascot is my favorite of all time…)

Team: Chicago Bulls

Last Year’s Record: 41-41 (2nd, Central Division)

Head Coach: Vinny Del Negro

Comings: Jannero Pargo, James Johnson (No. 16), Taj Gibson (No. 26)

Goings: Tim Thomas, Ben Gordon, Linton Johnson, DeMarcus Nelson, Anthony Roberson

Blogger Thoughts -Matt McHale Bulls by the Horns

“On paper, the Bulls have a good chance to win around 45 games and earn the fifth or sixth seed. Maybe even the fourth seed, depending on the strength of the conference. But in reality, that may be a long shot. Why? Well, some people think personnel is the problem. I disagree. It’s scheduling.

The Bulls play 10 of their first 15 games on the road and face 10 playoff teams (Spurs, Celtics, Heat, Cavaliers, Sixers, Lakers, Blazers, Jazz and the Nuggets twice). In January, they play another 10 of 15 games on the road, including a seven-game Western Conference road trip to finish up the month. Add that to the fact that they have a league-high 22 sets of back-to-back games and, well, you see the problem.Because of that schedule, I predict the Bulls will (as always) start off slow and then have to scramble to make the playoffs.”

Thought On The Nets:

“No offense, but when I look over the Nets roster, I see one borderline All-Star (Devin Harris) and a bunch of journeymen, castoffs and a couple “maybe” guys (Brook Lopez, Terrence Williams). Last year, after a semi-solid start (11-8), Devin Harris infamously said, “We knew we were going to be a playoff team.” Only they went 23-42 the rest of the way the rest of the way and ended up in the lottery…and Terrence Williams hasn’t been setting fires in the preseason. Bottom line: they won only 34 games with Vince Carter last season, and I see no reason to expect a better team performance this season, unless something miraculous happens.”

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With another game at the Prudential Center coming up tomorrow, we have another 4 tickets to the game against the Knicks that we will be giving away today.  Same rules apply as last time, the first person to e-mail us the correct answer over to contests@netsarescorching.com wins 2 tickets.  To be fair, the two winners from last time won’t be eligible to win again this time.  Later in the day we will be running another question.  For now, here is question number 1:

What New Jersey Net replaced Karl Malone, on the 2003 American Olympic Qualifying Team?

Have at it guys, and from what last winners told us these are pretty good seats.  So use that for some motivation.

Team Name: Detroit Pistons

Last Year’s Record: 39-43 (3rd place, Central Division)

Head Coach: John Kuester

Comings: Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Austin Daye (no. 15), Jonas Jerebko (no. 39), DaJuan Summers (no. 35), Chris Wilcox and Ben Wallace.

Goings: Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Amir Johnson, Arron Afflalo and Walter Sharpe.

Blogger Thoughts, Dan Feldman of Pistons Powered:

I have the Pistons winning 44 games and finishing fifth in the East. They made a lot of additions by subtraction in the offseason (Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace and Coach Michaely Curry) and some addition by addition, too (Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and maybe even Ben Wallace, Austin Daye or Coach John Kuester). Last year was a miserable season, and Detroit still made the playoffs. This team is improved.

On the Nets:

I project the Nets to win 30 games and finish last in the East. They have a bunch of players who could be starters on good a good team down the road. But those guys aren’t ready yet. And none looks like they can be the focal point of a team at any point, let alone now.

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A huge part of the Nets roster is up in the air.  I don’t just mean the rotation either, there is a good amount of players on this roster who don’t have a set position yet.  This has lead to a number of discussions about who should play where, and in all of this excitement, there is one name that is usually forgotten by Nets fans (shoot, I do it myself), and that is Keyon Dooling.  More specifically, Keyon Dooling and the position he will play this year.

We have touched upon this a little while back when it was a topic of discussion for most Nets fans, but then the preseason started, and that sort of shifted our attention away from Keyon and towards the guys who have been playing, and even though Keyon might be missing another week or two, I wanted to bring this up once again.

Now, nobody really knows what position Keyon will be playing when he comes back, not even the players (remember Rafer’s “friend” said he wanted out because he didn’t want be the third string PG behind both Devin Harris and Keyon Dooling), but like I said in the past, the smart move would be to play him at the SG spot exclusively next year.

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Don’t expect Devin Harris back for Wednesday’s preseason game in Newark.

The NBA is beginning its background check on Mikhail Prokhorov. While the list of owners who were rejected for ownership isn’t terribly long, Prokhorov is no slam dunk to be come the first Russian oligarch to own an NBA team.

Chris Douglas-Roberts and Terrence Williams have developed a friendly rapport and rivalry with each other in practice. Meanwhile, CDR blogs about his time at the SF.

Josh Boone is impressing Lawrence Frank in practice on the defensive end, which naturally contradicts every observation I made about the Nets frontcourt in my rotation piece today.

A Net will visit your home, office, or school for one hour for just $25,000 or 4 courtside tickets to 10 Nets games. Yet another marketing ploy from Brett Yormark.

Opponents of the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, the proposed site that would contain a new arena for the Nets, filed another lawsuit today at the State of New York Supreme Court designed to sink the project once and for all.

In the suit, project opponents, which include the group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and 19 other community groups charge that the Empire State Development Corporation illegally abandoned the original purpose of the project, which was to remove blight from the Propsect Heights, Brooklyn neighborhood.

“Victory by the petitioners would doom the besieged development plan,” said a statement released by DDDB earlier today.

Cause for the suit come from a recent deal made between Forest City Ratner, the developer (and current Nets owner Bruce Ratner’s development company), and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over the 22-acre rail yard site needed for the development. As explained in a Reuters report, Ratner originally agreed to buy the site for $100 million in cash at the time of closing, but the agreement has been revised to allow him to pay $20 million at closing and the remaining $80 million over a 22-year period. DDDB claims in its suit that this new payment plan will keep the site blighted and underdeveloped for decades.

Click here for more details of the suit from DDDB.

This is the fourth lawsuit filed over the site. Last week, a hearing was held in the Court of Public Appeals in Albany to contest the use of eminent domain for the project. Project opponents also filed a separate suit last week challenging the “sweetheart” real estate deal which involved the MTA selling the Vanderbilt Rail Yard to Ratner.

Not to sound like a broken record here, but at the end of the day, this all comes down to timing. December 31 seems to be an unofficial deadline for financing to be in place and construction to start on the Barclays Arena. In addition to any legal merit these lawsuits may carry, they also ensure that this timeline is disrupted, ultimately making this a game of clock management. The reason why this is important from a basketball standpoint is no Brooklyn means no Mikhail Prokhorov and his billions, and it also means this team will probably be up for sale again. And unless an ownership group looking to keep the team in Newark comes forward, who knows what that means for the future of the “New Jersey” Nets.

(I love dunking mascots…)

Team: Indiana Pacers

Last Year’s Record: 36-46 (4th, Central Division)

Head Coach: Jim O’Brien

Comings: Luther Head, Dahntay Jones, Solomon Jones, Earl Watson, Tyler Hansbrough (No. 13), A.J. Price (No. 52)

Goings: Maceo Baston, Marquis Daniels, Jarrett Jack, Rasho Nesterovic, Jamaal Tinsley

Blogger Thoughts – Jared Wade – Eight Points Nine Seconds

“The Pacers season could go one of two ways. In scenario one, Mike Dunleavy, Jr. plays 60-70 games, performs productively and the Pacers contend for the 7th or 8th seed. In scenario two, MDJ plays fewer than 50 games while struggling with knee problems and the team wins 30 games. This season will come down to Mike’s knee. If he doesn’t recover fully, things could get ugly in Indianapolis.”

Thoughts on the Nets

“I like the Nets future, but the present will not be great. Devin, Brook, Courtney and CDR comprise a good nucleus, Terrance Williams has some promise and Yi may become a decent pro yet. But even while waiting for tens of millions of dollars of cap space to free up next summer, I think the team still has the chance to flirt with 40 wins if all the cards fall into place. (My in-depth look can be found here.)”

Blogger Thoughts Part 2 – Sean Stevenson – Indy Cornrows

“Depending on how much you valued Jarrett Jack and how optimistic you are on the injury status of Mike Dunleavy and rookie Tyler Hansbrough, you’re expectations for the Indiana Pacers season could vary greatly. While it’d be easy to expect another 36-win season behind the helm of all-star Danny Granger, it’s the second-hand, bench players who will make or break the season. The additions of Dahntay Jones, Earl Watson, Solomon Jones and Hansbrough suggests a change in team philosophy to defense. But will it be enough to sneak into the playoffs or are the Pacers headed back to the depths of the lottery? Based on previous years on under coach Jim O’Brien’s lead, the team is headed to 33-37 wins.”

Thoughts on the Nets

“Similar to the Pacers, the Nets are a team starting over and on the rise (fingers crossed) in a wide-open Eastern Conference. Stay healthy, find some great team chemistry and get some good luck and teams such as the Nets and Pacers could sneak into the playoffs. The Nets have the future in Courtney Lee and Brooke Lopez, now it’s just finding the pieces to build around them. Seems eerily similar to what we’re feeling in the heart of Indy. Better get your flu shot before this season begins, we’re all going to need it.”

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There have been 7 of these?  Good lord…Anyway, in this week’s episode Mark and I talk about preseason performances (mostly coming from Friday night’s game) and some stuff we like and some stuff we don’t like (Bobby Simmons).  The podcast is after the jump, you can view it here or check it out on iTunes.  Oh and in case you are wondering, and I am sure you are, we will be doing the podcast weekly from now on. Read more…