Nets Are Scorching

For a franchise that has been defined by so much failure and futility, the 2000s may have marked the most successful decade in New Jersey Nets history. In that ten-year span, the Nets made the playoffs six consecutive years, and they took their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals (which they then followed-up with another trip to the Finals the very next year). They had one of this generation’s best point guards at the helm for the majority of the decade in Jason Kidd. They featured charismatic scorers like Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, intimidating defenders like Kenyon Martin, and one of the most unlikely head coaches in recent memory with Lawrence Frank. During the 2000s, the Nets even got involved with the turbulent real estate market, as they spent the better part of the past decade trying to get a new arena built in Brooklyn, seemingly succeeding before the start of 2010.

Personally, from the moment Kidd was acquired by the Nets, until very recently, the New Jersey Nets never stopped entertaining me through this decade, which is a tough thing to say considering the current state of the NBA and its perceived entertainment value. With 2010, and a new decade upon us, I thought it would be a great opportunity to relive some of my favorite moments of the past 10 years. By limiting myself to 10 moments, there are going to be some obvious omissions, so feel free to use the comments section to share in some of your own favorite memories.

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I am going to do something that I have been doing since after the Minnesota game.  Gush over Yi.  I already wrote a couple Daily Dime pieces on him, but he just continues to impress.  You rarely see a guy change so much from year to year, but Yi is coming in with a new mentality and I love it.  What I liked the most about tonight’s performance is that he only took two shots from outside 15 feet, and he was 0-2 on those shots.  If he had a shooting performance like this last year, it would have been one of those rough nights for him.  This year though, Yi just decided to take it to the basket.  He was 6-9 at the rim, 2-3 inside 10 feet, and 1-2 inside 15 feet finishing with 22 points.  The fact that he is driving the basketball now is what will make him a consistent player in this league.  Nights the shots don’t fall (like tonight) he will be able just to put his head down and drive.  Nights he’s on, watch out.

Rafer Alston picked up a DNP-CD (did not play, coaches decision) tonight, and I think that is a sign that he isn’t working out as a Net.  I don’t think the Nets will make any moves, but if they do, he is probably the guy who will get shipped.  He just hasn’t fit here in New Jersey, and this is coming from someone who thought he was going to be a great fit, but I was using Orlando Rafer Alston as a template, but that isn’t the Rafer Alston that arrived in New Jersey.  I don’t know why (maybe because he is in his contract year/maybe it’s just because he isn’t on a good team), but he has seemed to revert to that guy who played in Houston and Miami, pounding the ball on the floor as hard as he can and just shooting it.  It seems that he was the guy who was in the middle of the “division” and now Kiki and Del aren’t giving him minutes now that Keyon Dooling seems to be 100%.  You could see it against the Thunder when he came in, the ball just stuck in his hands.  The pace and the feel of the offense was noticeably different with Rafer Alston in the game.  Tonight, Del and Kiki didn’t give him the chance to effect the game.

This was only the second game that the Nets had their original opening day starting lineup (they are 1-1 | .500 baby!).  With the right guys finally all on the court, you can see what Kiki and Rod Thorn had in mind when they built this team.  You had 6 out 8 guys who played score in double figures.  What that means is the offense can’t load up on one specific guy.  At one point in the fourth quarter, you had CDR dribbling against Dalino Gallinari.  If you have Trenton Hassell, Josh Boone, or Rafer Alston on the court while this is happening, the Knicks would have been able to send whoever was covering one of these guys to double CDR and force him to give up the ball.  Since everyone on the court could score, no double came, and CDR just attacked the basket, hitting the big lay-up.  With everyone back, it also allows for guys to settle in their natural roles, most specifically Courtney Lee.  Nevermind the fact that we thought he could be a number 3 scorer, it is becoming apparent that he isn’t ready for that at this point in his career.  Where he can help the Nets is being defensive guy (tonight he got his hands on a ton of basketballs), who hits a shot here and there.  Now that everyone is back, he can do this.  A few more tidbits after the jump.

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Outside of the Nets victory over the Knicks last night (more to come on that in a bit), there isn’t a tough of Nets-related news out there this a.m. besides some Brooklyn-related tidbits.

First, Nets CEO Brett Yormark talked with the YES Network before last night’s game and mentioned some tidbits about Brooklyn (“Brooklyn is here”), Mikhail Prokhorov (“he wants to build a championship team”) and the temporary move to Newark and the Prudential Center (“it serves as a great sampling environment to our fans in New York who can take rail”).

The New York Observer discusses Bruce Ratner’s next financial challenge in building the Barclays Center. He must raise $324 million by next December or he will have to refund the bondholders’ money: Some of this money will come from Mikhail Prokhorov, the tentative new buyer of the Nets, who has agreed to pay $200 million for 80 percent of the team and 45 percent of the arena-to-be. He has also, according to bond documents, agreed to fund at least $60 million in losses by the team until the arena is complete, though this amount is unlikely to be sufficient given that the Nets have been posting more than $70 million a year in pre-tax losses lately.