Hope Springs …
Sep 8, 2009 2009 Offseason, Blast From The Past
The off-season in any major sport is usually one filled with hope and optimism. We hear about players losing weight and coming to camp “in the best shape of their lives.” Teams acquire players that are going to be missing pieces to the puzzle. Teams that are being doubted by the pundits, talk about their potential and how they’re going to surprise people.
It’s no different right now over in Nets-land as an open practice in early September has brought out many key members of the team who are feeling confident. Brook Lopez thinks playoffs are a real possibility, Jarvis Hayes is taking over the leadership mantle from the departed Vince Carter and Yi Jianlian is exciting coach Lawrence Frank after putting on some bulk and playing well in the FIBA Asia Championship.
However, this is the Nets we’re talking about, and this isn’t the first time fans have been told to get excited by coaches, players, the press, or a combination of all three. In slightly sadistic fashion, I compiled a short list to remind Nets fans of past seasons where the optimism was high and the vibes were good, but the end results ended up bad or worse.
1994 – Derrick Coleman is a “Nice Person”
From the day he was drafted with the #1 pick in 1990, Derrick Coleman was known for having a world of talent, but also a major ego problem. After making his first all-star game (with teammate Kenny Anderson) in the 93-94 season, Coleman was looking for a new contract and was making waves with the front office. But at the start of the preseason in 1994, DC was going for an image makeover, telling the press that his disagreements with past coaches were being taken out of context and any criticisms he levied towards his teammates were being misinterpreted. “I’m a nice person,” he told the New York Times. Later in the season, he caused a stir when he referred to Karl Malone as an “Uncle Tom” and he also became the Sports Illustrated cover boy for “prima donna” NBA ballers when he handed then-coach Butch Beard a blank check for all the fines he expected to incur for not following the team’s new dress code. He was finally traded the next season for the great Shawn Bradley.
Looking Back At The Calipari Era
Aug 21, 2009 Blast From The Past, Jayson Williams, John Calipari, Keith Van Horn, Kendall Gill, Kerry Kittles, Sam Cassell
As someone who was first introduced to the Nets in the 1990s, I’ve retained some real fondness for the 1997-98 team. While only winning 43 games and getting swept away by the eventual NBA Champion Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs, the 97-98 group was just an entertaining group of players: Sam Cassell hitting big shot after big shot, Keith Van Horn when he was “the next Larry Bird,” Jayson Williams owning the boards, Kerry Kittles streaking down the court and lining up for a three. And that team was led by a young, intelligent coach coming off a great little run in the NCAA – you might have heard of him the past 24 hours – John Calipari.
When it comes to Nets lore, the 97-98 team probably gets lost in the shuffle. The Jason Kidd era showed how the Nets could be both fun and talented. Plus the following season was a disaster for the Nets. The 1999-2000 season was already shortened by the lockout, and when play resumed, a Nets team that had shown so much promise, nosedived. You got the sense that Calipari, who was about as energetic and wiry as they come, was starting to rub his players the wrong way. Jayson Williams, who would later tarnish his own legacy with other issues, was very candid about his dislike for Calipari. They started the season 3-17 and Cailpari was fired. It wasn’t until they exchanged Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd that the Nets were a relevant part of the NBA again.
I guess that’s what Calipari does. While it may not be intentional, he now has a solid steak of coming to a team and giving the fans some hope before leaving behind a path of destruction. Yesterday, it was revealed that the NCAA was stripping the 2008 University of Memphis Tigers of its tournament victories for using an ineligible player, which is believed to be Derek Rose, now of the Chicago Bulls. That Memphis team (with current Net Chris Douglas-Roberts) made it to the championship game and was coached by Calipari. Calipari was also coach of the 1996 University of Massachusetts Final Four team, which had to vacate its record because then-player Marcus Camby accepted gifts and money from an agent. Calipari was cleared of any wrong-doing, but all of this has to make you think why controversy always seems to be following a Calipari.
I will always have my memories of the 97-98 Nets team. I’ll always remember how they almost caught the Bulls napping in game one of their series, making, what was by all accounts, an invincible team, have to scratch and claw their way to a victory. I remember Slam Magazine putting Cassell, Van Horn, Williams, Kittles and Kendall Gill on the cover – marking the first time I ever purchased Slam. But when I go back and recall the Calipari era in New Jersey, I always get a bitter taste in my mouth. And it seems like now Memphis Tigers fans will now get the taste, when they look back at their own Calipari years.
Posted by Mark Ginocchio