The Circus in the Swamp
Feb 10, 2010 Del Harris, Kiki Vandeweghe, Opinion, Rod Thorn
As if watching the Nets chase all-time infamy wasn’t bad enough for fans, those working in the front office appear to be emulating the comically inept and embarrassing play on the hardwood – to the point that the resignation of an interim assistant coach has seemingly exposed the complete and utter chaos that has swallowed this organization.
The recent and unexpected resignation of Del Harris as assistant coach has produced somewhat conflicting stories regarding the circumstances behind his departure. The Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Alessandro reported earlier this week that Harris’s agent asked team President Rod Thorn about Del becoming the next head coach, returning Kiki Vandeweghe to the GM spot, an idea which Thorn rejected. A Peter Vescey report from Tuesday, says that Kiki, Harris and Harris’ agent allegedly concocted a plan behind unbeknownst to Thorn where Harris was promised the head coaching spot later this season, moving Kiki back to GM, where he could hypothetically prove his worth before the house cleaning that is certain to commence when Mikhail Prokhorov takes over as owner.
This morning, Al Iannazzone reported that Thorn is now investigating the details from the Vescey report. If a side deal was made behind Thorn’s back, Kki could get the axe.
All of these stories contain elements that are both plausible and outrageous. Regardless of who’s got the story right here, what ties all of these accounts together is the reported lack of cohesion in the front office.
Nets on the Net: 2/10/10 Edition
Feb 10, 2010 Chris Douglas-Roberts, Del Harris, Kiki Vandeweghe, Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net
Al Iannazzone rehashes more about the Del Harris resignation situation (read NAS’s take on it later today).
Chris Douglas-Roberts was asked about his DNP-CD last night and he confirmed he was in fact ready to play if needed: “It is what it is,” he said.
Will Leitch, formerly of Deadspin fame, now of New York magazine, lets the Knicks know that it’s okay: they could be the Nets.
Paul Jones of Sportsnet Canada wonders if Bryan Colangelo of the Raptors might jump ship to the Nets once Mikhail Prokhorov takes over.
Former Net Ed O’Bannon is making progress in his lawsuit against the NCAA.
Nets on the Net: 2/8/10 Edition
Feb 8, 2010 Chris Douglas-Roberts, Del Harris, Nets on the Net
Something we didn’t get to yesterday (apologies, that’s what happens when you move from one end of New York City to the other), but Dave D’Alessandro and a few others are reporting that Del Harris left his spot as assistant to Kiki because Rod Thorn bluntly told the veteran coach he would not be considered for the head spot.
Well CDR might have to hold off from the idea of being reunited with his “Memphis People”: “We’re not looking to trade Chris,” Thorn said. “He’s more guard than forward but through circumstance, has played forward and still had very good moments. I can understand why [teams] like him. He has talent and a small salary.”
Nets on the Net: 2/4/10 Edition
Feb 4, 2010 Del Harris, Devin Harris, Nets on the Net, Newark
Al Iannazzone writes that one of the reasons Del Harris left the organization Tuesday was because the players weren’t relating to him. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo seconds that take speaking about the Nets maturity issues.
It’s like a vicious cycle for Devin Harris and the Nets, according to John Schumann: The Nets are as bad as they are because Harris hasn’t been playing well, and Harris hasn’t been playing well because the Nets are as bad as they are.
NJ Gov. Chris Christie is not talking about whether or not the state would enforce a $7.5 million penalty if the Nets jumped the Izod Center for the Prudential Center in Newark.
And…. holy crap that’s Vanilla Ice performing at halftime last night:
Nets on the Net: 2/3/10 Edition
Feb 3, 2010 Chris Quinn, Del Harris, Lawrence Frank, Nets on the Net, Vince Carter
In an interesting reunion of former Nets, Lawrence Frank is in Orlando to give the struggling Vince Carter some advice.
Given that he really didn’t talk to the YES crew after the game, here’s Del Harris’ statement on why he’s leaving the team.
Good old Dwyane Wade has taken to using the Nets as a barometer for how bad it can get, after talking to Rafer Alston and Chris Quinn: “When I was a little younger, I’d have been ready to explode,” Wade said of the Heat’s performance. “As I get older, I understand you take the good with the bad. In this league to come back and fight another day is always a blessing . . . of course there are times when you’re angry. Everyone has those times. But I look at Rafer some times and I think, ‘You know what? It can be worse.’ I talk to Quinny all the time. It’s worse other places.”
Hoops columnist Peter Vescey talks about the Nets proposed move to Newark and throws some cold water on the Amare Stoudamire trade rumors.
Yi Jianlian & Free Throw Rate
Jan 13, 2010 Advanced Statistics, Clifford Robinson, Del Harris, Kiki, NAS At Practice, Yi
I wrote something on this a little while back for the Daily Dime, but that was only three games in, so wanted to revisit it today (10 games since his return). Free Throw Rate measures how many foul shot attempts a player gets compared to the number of shots he takes. His Free Throw Rate at the time of my Daily Dime piece was .44, today it sits at .46. This is good for 34th in the league and is a tremendous upgrade from his Free Throw Rate of last year (.25).
So why is Free Throw Rate so important that I am talking about this again? Well getting to the line is important when you are looking for consistency in a player. In past years, Yi would put together a nice string of games, but then drop off, and it all had to do with his shooting. He was a feast or famine player when it came to his jumper and if his shot wasn’t going down, he wasn’t being a productive player.
Getting to the foul line resolves this issue. I mean, look at Yi’s last game against San Antonio. He was just 4-17 from the field in San Antonio, but he was able to score 16 points because he got himself to the line 10 times (hitting 8 of them). Yi is a good enough foul shooter that when he gets to the line he is basically getting free points. Not only does that help you in terms of production, but getting to the foul line also helps shooters get out of funks. If you are in a shooting skid, and go to the foul line, that is where you work the kinks out. You get 10 seconds and of no defense to take a shoot, get your stroke down, and most importantly you get to see the shot go in. Yi was in a big time shooting funk last year, and in my opinion, he didn’t get to the line often enough last year to break out of it. This year is a totally different story. He has attempted 74 foul shots so far this year in 14 games compared to the 123 he took all of last year.
So where did this come from, a lot of people (including myself) has speculated Yi’s new toughness was a result of his injuries this year, and when he came back, he was just a hungrier player. This may be true, but what nobody really has talked about was Kiki and Del’s effect on Yi’s attacking ways. It’s impossible to teach toughness though right? That’s what I thought too, but then I saw Yi working with Kiki, Del Harris, and Clifford Robinson yesterday:
Free Throw Rate measures how many foul shot attempts a player gets compared to the number of shots he takes.
Say what you will of Kiki’s coaching style, but it is obvious that Kiki knows that being able to take shots and still get his shot off is a key to Yi’s success. He has been stressing it to him all year, and it is obviously working. Another fun stat, Yi’s And 1 rate (And 1s/Field Goals Attempted) is up from 1.6 last year to 2.5 this year.
“Change” The Theme Of Nets’ Practice Today
Dec 21, 2009 Chris Douglas-Roberts, Del Harris, Jarvis Hayes, Kiki, NAS At Practice, Rafer Alston, Yi
I was once again allowed to go to Nets practice today, and the theme of today’s practice was “change.” Before we get to the Kiki interview I got, I wanted to go over some things I noticed. First, it was a long practice, the media assembled around noon in the waiting room, we weren’t allowed in practice until 1. When everyone entered the practice, the team was still running through some things. I have only been to 3 practices this year, but I have to say the energy was different. Everyone on the court were going through in game situations, and they were going hard. The team looked like they were enjoying themselves as well. They were celebrating after every big play, and looking like a real team. Also, from what we saw, the team was doing everything together as one unit. When Lawrence Frank was coaching the team, he had everyone split up, but Kiki had everyone together.
The other thing that the media got to see, was Del Harris coaching the Nets up. The part that we got to see was the Nets working on their pick and roll defense and offense, as well as doubling the big man and how they handle getting double teamed. Coach Harris was stopping play every once in a while to correct something or to give the guys something to look for. It was awesome to watch. As for coach Kiki, he wasn’t just standing around, he was pulling guys aside and coaching them up individually.
After the practice, when the media gathered around Kiki, he went out of his way to tell everyone this is the team’s first real practice. “This is the first chance we’ve had to have a real practice.” Kiki also talked about the length of the practice, “I am not a proponent of long practices, but today we needed it.” So what did they talk about? Well Kiki went on to explain, “We tried to do a couple things a little bit differently,” he went on, “Obviously when you come in and the team is 0-18, you have to change some things, and we have.”
One thing that won’t change is Kiki urging his team to run. “I think we are a very good transition team when we get out and run. Devin is very good in the open court. Our guys are scorers and they can take it to the basket.” Meanwhile stopping the break seems to be a problem, and Kiki is looking to correct it. “Transition defense is something we need to work on. As you guys can see, it is going to take a little while.”
The rest of the interview was talking about the team’s injuries. Kiki opened up these talks by joking, “Everybody is still injured.” But he then got serious and talked about the three guys who are still battling back from injury.
Yi:
Will he play Wednesday? “We don’t know, he practiced today, obviously he hasn’t played in 6-7 weeks. It takes more than 1 or 2 practices to be ready. He wants to play very badly, we just have to make a judgment call to see if it is the right thing to do,” Kiki said. I personally saw Yi running through some conditioning drills, and I was very impressed. He was running full speed with no sign of injury besides the wrap on his knee. He also looked very good when going through the live stuff as well.
Jarvis Hayes:
Kiki talked about him briefly. “Jarvis practiced, got a good run in . We pulled him out a little bit early, as we should. It was great to see him back on the court.” Jarvis was pulled out before the media was allowed in, but Kiki is right, it is good to see him out on the court. Once Jarvis and Yi returns, the Nets have 2 shooters at their disposal.
CDR:
CDR put to rest any chance of him playing. He told reporters that he was doubtful for Wednesday, but he went out of his way to say that he wasn’t worried too much about the injury. He said that it was ok because it was just an ankle and not his knee. I would expect him back by Saturday, but ankle sprains are funny. Kiki said that we will know more when they re-evaluate after the game on Wednesday.
An interesting note here. The Nets were going starters for second unit, and Rafer and Devin were on the court with Courtney playing the three. That could be how this team approaches playing the Timberwolves without CDR. If Rafer and Devin are both playing at the same time, who is the backup point? Terrence Williams was taking PG responsibilities for the second unit.
Kiki Vandeweghe Hearts Yi
Dec 7, 2009 Del Harris, Kiki Vandeweghe, Yi
Since Kiki Vandeweghe and Del Harris took the reins of the coaching staff last week, there’s been a lot of buzz about how these personnel moves could positively impact the team’s younger players –especially Yi Jianlian.
As Nets Daily reminded us recently, Harris may be most responsible for unleashing Yi onto the basketball world. During the 2004 Olypmics, Harris, then coach of Team China, inserted a 16-year-old Yi into the starting lineup. When Harris and Kiki were hired by the Nets last week, Yi, who has been injured since early November with a sprained knee, and is expected to miss at least another week after getting 50 stitches in his lip at practice Saturday, reportedly was pleased with move.
Now it appears that Kiki is making more exceptions in order to cater to Yi. In today’s practice report, the Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Alessandro wrote that Jarin Akana has been invited to multiple practices by Kiki Vandeweghe. Who’s Jarin Akana? In the past, he’s functioned as a trainer, a coach on Jeff Bzdelik’s Denver Nuggets staf and, a part of Harris’ Team China staff. Currently, he works for NBA agent (and Yi’s agent) Dan Fegan. Most notably, he’s responsible for working with Yi, according Dave D.
What makes this move even more significant is the fact that Lawrence Frank had asked Akana to leave practice last year when he was brought in for the same reasons. Akana’s recent reappearance points to two things: yet another example of the rift between Kiki and Frank, and Kiki’s desire to make Yi as comfortable and happy as possible.
It makes sense. While most NBA observers think Yi still has plenty of potential, Kiki took a very calculated risk bringing him over from Milwaukee in the Richard Jefferson trade last season. Yi was starting to put together a solid season last year before injuring his hand, and he seemed to fall out of favor with Frank towards the end of the year. He got another chance this season, but got hurt before he was able to prove if he deserved it.
But with this new information, I think it’s safe to say Yi Jianlian is going to be a major part of the Nets future – at least as long as Kiki Vandeweghe is involved with the organization. As D’Alessandro noted, there’s nothing wrong with Kiki bringing in Akana – but considering his history with the organization and the team’s prior coach, this looks to be the first shot of many that Vandeweghe is going to take a very hands on approach with Yi.
Nets on the Net: 12/5/09 Edition
Dec 5, 2009 Brooklyn, Courtney Lee, Del Harris, Keyon Dooling, Kiki Vandeweghe, Nets on the Net
Larry Brown offered Kiki Vandeweghe some advice before last night’s game.
Last night, Courtney Lee was the shooter the Nets have been seeking all season.
Great profile of Keyon Dooling, which talks about his eventful summer and the recent death of his father.
Don’t forget, last night was also the Nets coaching debut of Del Harris.
Six Reasons to be optimistic about the Nets.
The Village Voice talks about the Atlantic Yards project.
So What Should Nets Fans Expect With Del Harris & Kiki Vandeweghe
Dec 3, 2009 Del Harris, Kiki Vandeweghe, Opinion, Playbook
Kiki Vandeweghe didn’t want to be the coach of this team, but Rod Thorn forced him into that role despite not having any coaching experience. Kiki was allowed to add Del Harris to the staff as a “co-coach,” though, and Coach Harris does in fact have a lot of experience, and let’s be honest here. Kiki might have the title of coach, but you know most of the decisions could (and should) be made by Del Harris. Del Harris has coached 14 seasons in the league and amassed 1013 and 556 (That’s a winning percentage of .549). He’s been around the block, and while going through the stats of his teams (and the teams that Kiki built in Denver), I noticed some trends that could help us as Nets’ fans figure out what to expect from here on out: