Terrence Williams Draft Video
Aug 21, 2009 2009 Draft, Terrence Williams, Videos
Over at Terrence Williams’ blog, RookieChronicles.com, Terrence posted some video he shot during the draft with his flip camera:
This video is just plain awesome in so many ways, but my favorite part is just seeing all the nervous energy from all of the players, including Terrence. They are about to realize their dreams, and you can see it in their faces and they way that they interact with each other.
Posted by Sebastian Pruiti
Nets Are Scorching Interview – Terrence Williams
Aug 7, 2009 2009 Draft, 2009 Offseason, Audio, Interviews, Terrence Williams
Remember when I said Ben Couch’s interview with me was the best one I have done? Well, that didn’t last too long. Today I was able to interview Terrence Willaims, who I once Twitterviewed, over the phone. It is a bit short (only around 10 minutes – because of me, not him), but there is a lot of real good stuff and it is an awesome listen if you can get over me acting like a nervous 12 year old girl. For those who can’t, the transcript is after the jump. You can listen to the windows media file here, or you can just click play on the MP3 file below.
Again, a big thank you goes out to Terrence Williams. He took the time out of what I am sure is his busy day, and he let me interview him. Transcript can be found after the jump.
My Take On Ben Couch’s Interview With Kiki Vandeweghe
Jul 27, 2009 2009 Draft, 2009 Offseason, 2010 Offseason, Kiki Vandeweghe
Kiki Vandeweghe has been with the Nets for 18 months now, so Ben Couch decided to sit down with the Nets’ General Manager and ask him a few questions. It is broken down into two parts (part 1 and part 2 here) and it is a great read for any Nets fan. Ben Couch also put together a complete list of all the moves Kiki has been involved in. Ben asked some great questions, and some of Kiki’s answers really got my wheels spinning (These are bits and pieces from Kiki’s answers. Again to see the complete answers check out Part 1 and Part 2 of Ben Couch’s interview):
NJNets.com: Looking back at the past 18 months, how do you feel about where the team is now — and where it could go — relative to its position when you joined back in December 2007?
It’s difficult to replace great players, but our players were getting older. And in 18 months, we’ve gone from a sort of older team that did not have any cap flexibility and no real good way to improve to a team that has four or five really good young players who can play together for a long time, great cap flexibility – probably as much or more than anybody in the league – some extra draft picks. We also lowered the cost of the team and moved all the real big long-term contracts. We’ve got shorter term contracts at lower numbers, which is where you need to be if you want to improve, so I would say we’re as well-positioned as anybody in the league to improve in a very short time.
I like our young players very much: Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Jarvis Hayes, Yi Jianlian, Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Terrence Williams and Josh Boone, who are all young and all have big upside; they’re good players now, but they can continue to improve. I like our veteran group: Rafer Alston, Eduardo Najera, Keyon Dooling, Bobby Simmons, the addition of Tony Battie, Trenton Hassell. I like our group, we’ve got a nice mix of players.
Improving in these challenging economic times, it’s about flexibility, and I would say we’ve got as much flexibility as anybody. We’ve done a 180 and we’ve done it about as quick as I’ve seen it done. And it’s been great working with Rod — I’ve learned a ton already. It’s a tremendous opportunity for me to be a part of this. To me, the way I personally look at it, the real work begins now because you’ve created the opportunities to improve. Now you’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities: you’ve got to use your extra draft picks wisely, you’ve got to use your cap space wisely. That doesn’t come around all the time. But these are opportunities and I think that if history is any indicator, with rod and myself, we’ll be able to do some good things.
I know that fans want their teams to be competitive every year, but it is the GM’s job to pay attention to the future. Kiki is a great GM that understood Nets weren’t going to reach their ultimate goal with the current roster they had, so he (along with Rod Thron) decided to rebuild. It is also comforting to know that Kiki and Rod don’t think the job is done, and that there is work to do. I think they have made a ton of great personel decisions so far (I still think we have the best young core in the NBA), and I hope they continue to draft well for the next couple of years and add that one free-agent who will be able to put us over the top.
Blogger Reactions: Terrence Williams
Jun 28, 2009 2009 Draft, Terrence Williams
Like I told you last night, Rookie Chronicles asked me to do a little write-up of my reaction to the Terrence Williams pick. Well, he also asked for some other bloggers reactions, and you can find the entire thing (including my awesome post that you should read again) right over here.
Draft Day Quick Thoughts
Jun 26, 2009 2009 Draft, 2009 Offseason, Analysis, Rookies, Sad
I was a part of the TrueHoop Network’s Live Draft that lasted for 8 hours and 23 minutes so I am just getting my thoughts down. We will have more to come about everything, but right now, here are my quick thoughts in run-on sentence form. I am just letting everything go here…
Well it was an interesting draft day for the Nets. The most interesting thing happened hours before the draft. So here is who we had leave the team:
- Vince Carter
- Ryan Anderson
Here is who we added to the roster:
- Rafer Alston
- Courtney Lee
- Tony Battie
- Terrence Williams
It was real sad to see Vince leave (check back tomorrow morning for something special), but it is the right move for the future of the team. I would have liked to see us make one more run at the playoffs, but doing that could have meant us not getting as much value for Vince, and it would have completely ruined our small (very small) chances at LeBron.
It is also a little disappointing seeing Ryan Anderson go. He really won me over during the year (I remember thinking he was going to be a huge bust after seeing him in his first preseason appearance), and he was a valuable part of the team (he also made for great comedy with Brook). With this trade, the Magic got two guys who can contribute immediately.
As for the guys we got, we made out pretty well in this deal (Especially considering the rumors for other trades that we shot down). In Rafer Alston, we got a PG who was a starter for long stretches, including the playoffs & finals. He is going to be a solid backup that will allow Keyon Dooling to move to the backup SG spot. Tony Battie adds toughness to a frontcourt that lacks it. I don’t know if he will be the starter for this team, but this trade shows the confidence that the front office has in Yi and his health, since they traded away his only competition.
The real crown jewel of this trade is Courtney Lee (which is why he gets his own paragraph). He is going to be a special player in this league. I have seen few rookies play with the swagger that Courtney Lee played with this year. He does a lot of things well, and few poorly.
In the draft with the 11th pick, we took Terrence Williams. This is a guy who can play 3 different positions and he is crazy athletic. Williams is also a playmaker who said he wants to mold himself after LeBron, but not the scoring LeBron, the LeBron who does everything. Getting assists, rebounding, and defending.
So what does our roster look like now? Well here is what I think it might look like on opening night:
- PG – Devin Harris/Rafer Alston/Keyon Dooling
- SG – Courtney Lee/Keyon Dooling/Jarvis Hayes/Terrence Williams
- SF – CDR/Bobby Simmons/Terrence Williams
- PF – Tony Battie/Yi
- C – Brook/Boone
There are other guys on this team, but these are the guys who will probably get the minutes. The thing is though, we are probably not done with the moves. We are over on our roster spots and will probably have to lose 1 or 2 guys. Who? Well, I know we already said we were picking up Hayes’ option, but did that happen already? If not, he could be the guy. I also see the Nets trying to trade Bobby Simmons to clear roster space and leave the SF spot open for CDR and Terrence Williams.
Our finances? Well, they no longer look too bleak…quoting Dave D’Alessandro:
Cap space for 2010-11 before the Vince trade — $9,724,569 (10 players). That was with a $46,775,431 payroll.
Cap space for 2010-11 after the Vince trade — $27,303,344 (9 players). And that’s with a 29,196,656 payroll.
The thing is, I don’t really think this is for LeBron. I mean if he wants to come to NJ (Brooklyn), I won’t turn him away, but with us drafting T-Will, I can see us going for Chris Bosh with all our extra cash.
More on all of this stuff over the next couple of days, but I am exhausted right now, and I want to let this sink in…
Another Draft Rumor
Jun 25, 2009 2009 Draft, Rumors
So we got another draft rumor. There will probably be a ton more tonight, but we will talk about that in the Live-Draft. Which is why you should join it. But the Magic may be interested in VC. From Chad Ford:
The New Jersey Nets are in serious talks with the Magic about a deal that will send Vince Carter to Orlando for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee, two league sources told ESPN.com.
The talks have reached a point that a deal could be done by the end of the day Thursday, according to sources.
So like I just said, it looks like Thorn is seriously considering rebuilding. Rafer and Tony are expiring contracts, and Courtney Lee really played with some swagger in the playoffs. I don’t know how I feel about these trade rumors yet.
Two Big Nets Rumors As We Approach Draft
Jun 25, 2009 2009 Draft, Rumors
Via the DraftExpress live blog:
-A complicated three-way trade involving New Jersey, Minnesota and Memphis, which would send Devin Harris to Minnesota, the #5 and #6 picks to Memphis and Ricky Rubio and Craig Smith to New Jersey.
-New Jersey is also heavily shopping Vince Carter around in exchange for expiring contracts. It looks like they could be starting over from scratch, especially if both of these rumored trades go through.
It looks like Rod Thorn might be thinking about rebuilding. If this is the plan, who knows, it seems like we would have a good base. Craig Smith is a beast, he was just struggling to get minutes.
That being said, I would love to see this team try and compete for one more year before blowing things up.
TrueHoop Network’s Live Draft-Day Chat
Jun 25, 2009 2009 Draft, Draft, Live-Chat
Update: Turns out I’m an idiot and don’t understand time-zones. Draft starts in an hour!
TrueHoop Network Draft Day Live-Chat
Jun 25, 2009 2009 Draft, Live-Chat, Network Live-Chat, Truehoop Network
The evening of the draft lottery, I had a a Live-Chat over here and it was awesome. We had a great turnout and chatted about us getting the 11th pick. We are doing again tonight, although it will be a tad bit different. This time, the whole TrueHoop Network will be joining us in the chat, so come in, chat, have some fun, and represent the Nets!
Draft Q&A With David Aldridge
Jun 24, 2009 2009 Draft, David Aldridge, Earl Clark, Terrence Williams, Vince Carter
Sup everyone. With the draft now only a day away, David Aldridge was kind enough to do a blogger Draft Q&A. I was forunate enough to have a couple of questions answered. Here they are:
- David, in my opinion the Nets are deciding to choose between Earl Clark and Terrence Williams. Who do you think has the highest potential ceiling? Who do you think would have the biggest impact their rookie year? (Nets Are Scorching)
DA: I think they’re going to take Terrence Williams. He’s a guy that fills a couple of needs for them. I think he’s an excellent defender, I think he will become a very very good offensive player for them. I think playing for Rick [Pitino], Rick does a pretty good job of developing guys, getting them ready to be pros. Not that Earl couldn’t become a very good pro, but I think right now Terrence’s consistently level is a little higher than Earl’s
- Do you think Vince Carter will be a Net at the start of the season? (Nets Are Scorching)
DA: Honestly I don’t know. I thought San Antonio was a destination, but that’s obviously changed today, so I don’t know at this point.
It was awesome having a NBA insider answering some of my questions. What is also interesting is that he thinks the Nets are higher on Williams. I wasn’t expecting that, but after hearing it, it does make sense. Williams could potentially become the 3rd PG, the 3rd SG, and the backup SF. He can get minutes at three different positions, which is awesome considering that it will help him develop more if he gets more minutes.
As for VC, it was interesting hearing that the Spurs were trying to get VC for expiring concerts. With that now out of the way, you would think there wouldn’t be too many other landing spots for Vince, but DA isn’t too sure. For Nets fans who still want VC on their team, they are going to be holding their breath this offseason.
For the whole Q&A, it is after the jump.
Update: NBA.com link to the Q&A