Nets on the Net: 2/23/10 Edition
Feb 23, 2010 Brook Lopez, Izod Center, Nets on the Net
And we’re back….
The story of the day out of Nets practice yesterday was Brook Lopez and his lack of touches in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. In the Star-Ledger, Kiki Vandeweghe explains: “Defenses aren’t stupid,’’ coach/GM Kiki Vandeweghe said when asked why Lopez seems to have so many hot starts/cold finishes. “They’re going to load everyone around him and when he catches they’re running guys at him.
Lopez, sounding a little more frustrated than usual, told Al Iannazzone: “I just think when a player’s playing well, when a player’s hot, we need to get that guy the ball,” Lopez said after practice Monday. “But we just need to play team basketball.”
Fred Keber says: Brook Lopez may have to go a little Norman Bates if the Nets are going to avoid the infamy of the worst record in NBA history.
Bleacher Report writes that Nets fans no longer want to go to the Izod Center because of the Nets’ record. Did Nets fans ever want to go to the Izod Center?
Nets on the Net: 2/19/10 Edition
Feb 19, 2010 Izod Center, LeBron James, Nets on the Net
On Wednesday, the Nets couldn’t beat Miami without Dwyane Wade. Can they beat the Raptors tonight without Chris Bosh?
The Record talks to Nets fans about why they’re not showing up at the Izod Center. Money quote: “Obviously, the team and the crowds have gotten a lot worse over the seven years,” Walters said. “I’m considering whether to come back. It’s discouraging to watch a team with five wins. I used to come to every game no matter what. Now I pick and choose. Part of me feels like I already wasted my money to come here, do I want to waste my time, too?”
After the trade deadlines, Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News is getting the Canyon of Heroes ready for the 2010-2011 Knicks. Seriously.
John Krolik, of Cavs the Blog fame, breaks down the potential summer spenders over at NBC Sports.
Nets Moving To Newark Eventually
Feb 18, 2010 Brooklyn, Izod Center, Newark, Prudential Center
As the trade deadline passed, there were no trades announced by the Nets. There was a pretty big move announced today though, as the Nets have made it known that they reached an agreement and will be playing their games in the Prudential Center soon. The Star-Ledger has the details:
After months of speculation over whether the struggling NBA team would leave Izod Center in the Meadowlands for a two-year stay at the new Prudential Center in Newark, a deal was struck today to allow the Nets to break their lease for $4 million and move to Newark, according to officials involved in the negotiations.
The early termination fees could be offset in part by advertising, suite revenue and other credits.
The agreement came after the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority voted in secret to approve the deal at a special meeting this morning. A formal announcement is expected later today by Gov. Chris Christie.
This is a great move for the Nets. While there is no word on when the games are going to start being played in Newark, I am guessing it will be next year. I know the move is only temporary, but you know that Free Agents would rather play anywhere other than the Izod Center. I have also been in the Prudential Center (not as a fan), and I can say the locker-rooms and facilities are very very nice. This is a good place to play while waiting for Brooklyn to get done. I am not saying that the Prudential Center will draw fans on it’s own, but it is much more attractive than the Izod.
Plus, this is better for the fans. The Prudential Center is just blocks away from a train station. This means that there is finally a way to get to Nets’ games using mass transit, something that wasn’t all that possible for the Meadowlands. In the article, there was one final interesting note:
Additionally, the Nets agreed that it would not stand in the way of another NBA coming to New Jersey in the future — which leaves the door open to another team coming to the Prudential Center should the Nets finally move to Brooklyn.
Not sure that it would actually ever happen (in my opinion it all depends on how the Nets draw in the Prudential Center), but can you imagine having two New York teams and a team in New Jersey? That could be interesting as a fan…
Nets on the Net: 1/20/10 Edition
Jan 20, 2010 Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Izod Center, Kiki Vandeweghe, Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net
Tonight in Phoenix, there’s going to be a double dipping of Lopez’s.
Devin Harris talks to Dave D. about the team’s lack of intensity: “I love being in battle with these guys,” Harris said from the US Airways Center practice gym, where the Nets prepared for Wednesday’s game against the Suns. “But there are certain marks in a game – and every team goes through it – where there may be a three-minute mark, where you don’t play well and your teammates do.
Kiki Vandeweghe agrees in Fred Kerber’s version: “I think it’s very clear we don’t play hard,” said Vandeweghe.
Not counting Nets basketball games, the Izod Center is actually a pretty successful arena.
Mikhail Prokhorov: prospective owner of the Nets, electric car pioneer.
Nets on the Net: 12/30/09 Edition
Dec 30, 2009 Brook Lopez, Brooklyn, Izod Center, Kiki Vandeweghe, Nets on the Net, Salary Cap, Yi
Brook Lopez, one of the few Nets to play in every game this season, is looking to move on from his rough game Monday night, which was capped off when he walked out on the media afterwards: “I hold myself to high standards and I didn’t meet them and then obviously the loss (factored in), too,” Lopez continued. “Then after the game I felt I didn’t hold myself right, I didn’t act right. It was just a lot of stuff altogether.”
Dave D’Alessandro looks into what could be frustrating Brook Lopez: Lopez averages only 14.2 shots per game — that is the second-lowest average among the top 25 scorers in the league. And the befuddling part is that his shots have dropped sharply (to 10.0 per game) in the three games that the Nets’ top shot-taker (Chris Douglas Roberts, 14.3) has been absent. So something is askew. They’ve stopped running pick-and-rolls for him. They rarely look for the lob over the top when he is fronted. They never re-post it when he sends it out against a double-team.
Kiki Vandeweghe and company are not willing to sacrifice their salary cap space and minutes for their younger players just to get a veteran that would add a couple of wins: “If we can improve it without impacting next year, you always try and do that. To me if we can add assets going forward, that’s important. We’re not looking to bring in veterans to take the time of young players. To bring in somebody here to take Brook’s minutes, or Devin [Harris’] minutes, Yi’s minutes or Courtney’s minutes – we’re not looking to do that. If we can augment, we’ll augment.”
When it comes to the Nets, the Izod Center is in its finals days: A concessionaire selling T-shirts and sweatshirts said he could not lower his prices, as one customer hoped. “But just wait, it’ll be free in a few weeks,” he chuckled.
CCTV talks about how Yi Jianlian’s career high in points Monday night was overshadowed by the Nets loss.
HoopsWorld breaks down each team’s performance after 30 games, including the Nets, who get an “F.”
After Bruce Ratner’s eminent domain victory in Brooklyn last month, Norman Oder of the Atlantic Yards Report takes a walking tour of Brooklyn.
Nets to Newark? Not So Much…
Dec 16, 2009 Brett Yormark, Brooklyn, Bruce Ratner, Izod Center, Mikhail Prokhorov, Newark
Barely 24 hours after the Nets organization got good news about the sale of bonds for the Barclays Arena in Brooklyn, talks to temporarily move the Nets from the Izod Center to the Prudential Center in Newark have apparently unraveled, according to a report in the Star-Ledger this afternoon:
“I don’t know that it’s dead, but from what I’m hearing, any sort of activity … will have to await the next administration,” conceded Jerold L. Zaro, who had been working to broker the deal on behalf of the Corzine administration.
The proposed plan had the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the New Jersey Devils working together to book events at both arenas and share revenues, while allowing the Nets to break their lease at the Izod Center and move to the more modern Prudential Center. The Nets would move again when the Barclays Arena opened in Brooklyn. But the Sports and Exposition Authority has apparently pulled out of talks, and is not looking to negotiate the lease for the Nets at this time, according to the Star-Ledger.
Brett Yormark told reporters that the organization is not giving up just yet on its proposed plans:
“We continue to be encouraged about the prospect of making an interim move to the Pru Center,” said Brett Yormark, the president and chief executive of Nets Sports and Entertainment.
Meanwhile, in related news, Bruce Ratner finalized the proposed deal to sell an 80 percent stake in the team to Mikhail Prokhorov. Russian’s richest man must be approved by the NBA before he can take control of the team.
This report is a total bummer. While the move to Newark would have only been temporary, it would have helped breathe some new life in this organization while they waited for their official new start to begin in Brooklyn in a few years (potentially). If all sides can’t come back to the table, the Nets will likely continue to languish at the Izod Center in front of sparse, disinterested crowds, who are only going to grow more bitter and angry as the team starts packing up for greener pastures in Brooklyn. The city of Newark proved at the two preseason games in October that they were eager for a chance to host a basketball team, and while there was certainly no guarantee of nightly sellouts at the Prudential Center if the Nets moved there, between the passionate city population and the arena’s accessibility to mass transit, I would have to guess they were going to be a better draw than at the Meadowlands. If this is politically motivated because Corzine lost the election in November, then shame on everyone.
Nets on the Net: 12/15/09 Edition
Dec 15, 2009 Brooklyn, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Develop Don't Destroy, Izod Center, Nets on the Net, Prudential Center
What division? Chris Douglas-Roberts on Twitter: Just had a great team dinner. Everybody kind of opened up. We all laughed & kicked it w/each other for the first time. I think this is big.
CDR in a quick Q+A with USA Today: What you would be doing if you didn’t play basketball: “I have no idea. I never had a backup plan. That’s why I put 1,000% into this. … I’d be doing something in sports.”
An arena truce bill would put a $3 surcharge on all Prudential Center and Izod Center events in New Jersey, but could help facilitate the Nets temporary move to Newark. Here’s NJ state senate president Richard Codey in The Record: “We shouldn’t have two New Jersey institutions competing against each other and hurting one another economically,” Codey said. “This legislation would help ensure the financial stability of both venues.”
Al Iannazzone wearing his Nets Insider hat: “The Nets have to concentrate their effort on the defensive end. They’re a step slow, a few strides behind and aren’t getting help when they get beaten. More talking, better rotations, more focus all would help.”
Dave D’Alessandro also warns that the Nets need to get their defense together for tonight’s matchup with LeBron James and the Cavs: “Or think of it this way: In their last three games, the Nets have essentially turned into the laissez-faire defenders of ’08-09, yielding an average of 114 points on 50 percent shooting, while making stars out of the likes of C.J. Watson, Tyler Hansbrough, and Mo Evans. Now they’ve got to deal with LeBron James, perhaps the most perfectly engineered offensive specimen the sport has ever seen, and one who has averaged 36.7 points in his last four games.”
Scenes from yesterday’s “junk bond” demonstration by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the lead opposition for the Atlantic Yards development.
Former Nets coach Byron Scott is ESPN’s newest studio analyst.
Nets on the Net: 12/10/09 Edition
Dec 10, 2009 Brooklyn, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Izod Center, John Wall, Nets on the Net, Newark, Rafer Alston, Terrence Williams
So apparently, Terrence Williams is in trouble with the team not because of his antics on Twitter, but because he missed the team bus to the morning shootaround on Tuesday, and was out later than he should have been Monday night.
A proposed plan that would land the Nets at the Prudential Center in Newark for the next two years would create a surcharge for all events at the Izod Center and The Rock.
Rafer Alston rips his teammates after last night for not sticking together more on the sidelines.
Those who like their basketball with a side of business should check out Forbes Magazine’s annual valuation report. The Nets are still losing money, which is a shock to no one.
Chris Douglas-Roberts talks about some of the physical mismatches he’s experienced playing SF.
There’s a screening at 7 p.m. tonight at NYU’s Cantor Center for Atlantic Yards Development-centric documentary, “The Battle for Brooklyn.”
A New York State Senator is calling on Gov. Paterson to step in and stop the Atlantic Yards project.
Just a little article about likely #1 draft pick next June, John Wall.
Nets on the Net: 12/3/09 Edition
Dec 3, 2009 Coaching Moves, Del Harris, Izod Center, John Wall, Kiki Vandeweghe, Losing Streak, Nets on the Net, Rod Thorn, Yi
Chris Sheridan of ESPN is inside the Nets locker room last night, being all nice and observational.
Ian Thomsen of SI is the next in line to question the Nets “heart.”
As part of the 0-18 celebration, Ken Berger looks back at 18 moments of infamy for the Nets.
Here’s Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski’s take on the record.
The always great Basketball Prospectus dissects the Nets woes.
Some signs of the times. Literally.
Here comes the calvary, and it includes new assistant coach Del Harris.
Rod Thorn and the rest of the front office need to live with the choices they made.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban throws his support behind the Nets.
Jason Kidd, always sympathetic. Dirk Nowitzki on the other hand has Kiki Vandeweghe’s back.
Deadspin live blogged last night’s game.
Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News is circling next week’s game against the depleted Bulls as potential victory #1 for the Nets, which would bring their record to 0-20.
John Brennan of The Record talks about the Nets futile start, and their plans to move to Brooklyn, is affecting attendance at the Izod Center.
Fanhouse makes the case for new Nets coach, Patrick Ewing (?). Stan Van Gundy certainly makes the case as well.
NBA.com speculates that people will want to coach the Nets moving forward.
Chad Ford of ESPN Insider continues the NBA 2010 draft discussion, and predicts the Nets would go John Wall if they got the #1 pick in June.
Nets Daily looks at the relationship between Yi Jianlian and Del Harris.
Hey, Yi might be back next week.
Nets on the Net: 11/18/09 Edition
Nov 18, 2009 Brooklyn, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Courtney Lee, Izod Center, Lawrence Frank, Nets on the Net
The Baseline interviews Lawrence Frank, who says he still sees spirit from his squad.
After last night’s game, Chris Douglas-Roberts said his numbers don’t matter if he’s labeled a “loser.”
Frank says he’ll have some difficult decisions to make regarding the rotation once some healthy bodies come back.
The Indy Star looks the bad luck of Courtney Lee, who’s an Indiana native.
Daily News recap talks about how the “10 is enough” promotion to sell tickets didn’t draw many fans last night.
According to the Star-Ledger, a ruling by the New York State of Appeals on the Atlantic Yards eminent domain case, could come as soon as Thursday.
Ken Berger at CBS Sports thinks Lawrence Frank could be gone as early as December.
Can’t Stop the Bleeding mocks the Nets “10 is Enough” ticket promotion.