After some conflicting reports, Rod Thorn tells beat writing stalwart Dave D’Alessandro that it’s “time for me to go.” A replacement will be hired in a timely matter and should not impact free agency, Thorn said.

Mitch Lawrence mentions Raptors executive Maurizio Gherardini as a potential replacement for Thorn – sure to bring international flavor to the roster though if he had a hand in signing Hedo to that awful contract he has some ’splainin to do.  Dime runs down some other potential GM candidates.

Forget GMs. Henry Abbott and Marc Stein have separate pieces discussing the impact of good ownership on recruiting free agents. Both mention Mikhail Prokhorov as a major plus and lure for the Nets.

When discussing the Nets summer plans for recruitment, Al Iannazzone baits us all with this nugget: “There’s something else big that’s coming, too. Just wait.”

Goodnight and good luck to Keyon Dooling. A class guy all the way who was officially waived today.

For you summer basketball junkies, the Nets released their summer league roster today.

In a report from Fred Kerber, Devin Harris is pushing strong for Avery Johnson as the next head coach: “He knows how to win, simple as that,” Harris said. “He’s a great coach, a great motivator. Now whether we had problems there or not, we won games.”

Kentucky coach John Calipari denies interest in returning to the NBA.

Nets players are giddy about the prospects of Mikhail Prokhorov and his billions: “It’s definitely a huge opportunity for us,” said Brook Lopez, a Nets’ cornerstone. “We’ve been trying to cut costs a bit these last few years to save money with all the stuff going on. First and foremost, it’ll help bring players in, bring in players who want to be part of a winning equation.”

Dave D’Alessandro captures my sentiments perfectly about the end to last night’s game: Terrence Williams waited until there was 13.9 seconds left in the game to show that he had had enough. Of course, the Hawks were asking for it: They were up 23 and pressing in the backcourt with 34 seconds left, which is a good way for winners to announce that they don’t care much about basketball decorum.

Dave D. also talks to the players about the importance of 10: “I want to get three wins more than anything,” Courtney Lee said. “We don’t talk about it, but I think it’s on everybody’s mind. You can see there’s a sense of urgency about it, because it comes up a lot. And it’s going to come up a lot more if we don’t get some wins soon.”

Rod Thorn is watching lots of college basketball: “I have watched more games than I normally would,” Thorn said. “I watched all the tournament games last week until the power went out.”

Would Knicks forward Al Harrington be interested in coming to the Nets?

Keyon Dooling wants another chance with the Nets after this season.

Devin Harris talks about Avery Johnson coaching and John Wall at PG over at Hoops World.

Courtney Lee was equally miffed by the weather, according to Fred Kerber: “This is pretty brutal,” guard Courtney Lee said. “I’ve been in snow situations all my life, growing up in Indianapolis and then in Kentucky and this was probably the worst. [In Indy], we got snow like this once a year.”

Is Tony Battie a buyout candidate?

Nets fans disappointed by the team’s lack of activity at the trade deadline last week should hear what Marc Spears of Yahoo is reporting: Thorn said most of the teams talking to the Nets were focused on acquiring center Brook Lopez(notes) or guards Devin Harris(notes) and Courtney Lee(notes). Thorn considers all three to be key pieces of the Nets’ future – regardless of whether Thorn is around to call the shots after the team’s sale is completed. The New York Knicks, meanwhile, made deals to allow them to potentially sign two top-tier free agents.

If you want reasons for why the Nets have been more competitive the past week, you should probably check out Keyon Dooling’s defensive effort, according to Dave D’Alessandro: Dooling is dueling the other team’s chief handler and playmaker, and treating his defensive challenge as if it’s a personal affront. Indeed, in his last three starts, the backup point guard has removed his primary matchup from the equation entirely.

Expect a formal announcement this week regarding the Nets temporary move to the Prudential Center in Newark, according to the Daily News.

Matt Moore at Hardwood Paroxysm is enamored by the potential turnaround of the Nets organization, looking at their cap space, draft picks, move to Brooklyn, marketability of Yi, and other factors.

Check out this “Keep the News in New Jersey” shirt.

]]> http://netsarescorching.com/2010/02/02/nets-on-the-net-2210-edition/feed/ 2 http://netsarescorching.com/2010/01/29/nets-on-the-net-12910-edition/ http://netsarescorching.com/2010/01/29/nets-on-the-net-12910-edition/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:09:41 +0000 Mark Ginocchio http://netsarescorching.com/?p=6865 Henry Abbott from the TrueHoop mothership talks about Devin Harris’ awful season, but then makes a comparison to another PG in Nets history who could never turn the team around – Stephon Marbury. This article has apparently rankled some Nets fans out there so let me quickly react and say, while there are many reasons to be down on Devin Harris this season (injury prone, can’t shoot, no defense), the one thing I haven’t heard anyone say about him that would make him Marbury-esque is that he’s being too selfish. In fact just the opposite this season, where all reports from the beat writers suggest the guy is following the team’s mantra of feeding the bigs down low to a fault. So I think Abbott’s comparison is a little off the mark here, though I appreciate his ability to get people talking about it.

Al Iannazzone reports that the Nets are doing their due diligence by letting teams know they are willing to make a trade. Will it work?:  One source said they don’t expect the Nets to make a big trade before the deadline, but added there is still plenty of time and things can come together quickly.

CC Sabathia, Nets motivational speaker?:  “I was in Cleveland for a couple of years when we lost everybody,” Sabathia said, referring to the 7-1/2 seasons he spent with the Indians. “So it’s tough (at) times, but you just have to grind through and keep playing hard because these times will make you better.”

Even WFAN radio man Chris Carrino is affected by the Nets poor play: “I will never complain about this job that I dreamed about doing since I was a little kid,” Carrino said. “But the thing I miss is really being able to dig down, get emotional about the game, get excited about the game, deliver big calls, get into important strategy.”

After his terrific performance Wednesday, the Nets were heaping praise on Kris Humphries at practice yesterday: “Kris is probably one of those guys who’s talented enough to be a starting power forward in this league,” Dooling said. “He just hasn’t found that right situation yet and he’s making the best of this situation.”

As Dave D’Alessandro reports, maybe the Nets snapped themselves out of their funk on Wednesday because Keyon Dooling snapped himself out of his: “Over the last three weeks, I’ve fallen victim to the frustration — I let it get to me, I wasn’t lively, I wasn’t talking a lot,” Dooling said Thursday after the team’s practice session. “I had a talk with myself, and then I had a talk with Kiki. And we agreed that I just had to get back to who I am – being positive, being the guy who lightens up the room.

The Huffington Post (?) posted some video of TWill’s dunks from Wednesday night. Classic reaction from one reader on the blog: No one cares you lowly intern. go work at espn.

A great edition of Dave D’Alessandro’s mailbag. I’m going to touch on this in a bit.

Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star tries to give Nets fans a boost: So, yes, the bar has been set high in this regard. Can the Nets really threaten it? Well, they lost their first 18 games – after 16 of which Lawrence Frank was gassed as coach – and set a record there. Still, it seems 7-31 the rest of the way is a long shot. Plus, record attempts usually fall apart. The 1993 Dallas Mavericks were 9-71 and threatening, but won their last two games. The 1998 Denver Nuggets also ended 11-71.

The Bright Side of the Sun blog runs through potential Amare Stoudamire to the Nets scenarios.

LeBron James has single-handedly produced more wins than the Nets (and the Timberwolves and the Pacers).

Chris Douglas-Roberts has been glued to the gym, trying to turn his fading season around: “Just the whole situation, the record, my game fell off and I just let that weigh on me in a negative way instead of doing what I usually do and turn it into a positive. So that’s the whole reason I’m getting back with Jerry and the whole reason I’m clocking in hours like I was in the summer.”

Keyon Dooling reacts to the lost weekend out west: “This was the worst road trip of my life,” the nine-year veteran said. “We got blown out every game. We weren’t competitive. We’re just not a very good team right now.”

Devin Harris is still suffering from his wrist injury and will probably not play against the Clippers tonight: “It’s on me at this point,” Harris said Tuesday  at practice about determining when he will be back. “When it’s healthy enough to play you’ll definitely see me in a game.”

Al Iannazzone thinks the Nets have some “winnable games” this week.

Kiki Vandeweghe tells the Star-Ledger that a team can still recruit free agents with a bad won-loss record:  “Having been through this before, having been down the recruiting process, having had a lot of cap space, having had a really bad rebuilding season, I was never asked once by an agent or a free agent about our record the year before,” Vandeweghe said. “You’re judged by not necessarily on your record, if you fast forward to July, you’re judged on the assets you have in place and what the free agents are going to come join. Having been through this, we had a 17-win season, we recruited all the best free agents available in that year and never asked once about the record.”

Nets react to the Gilbert Arenas suspension (per Al Iannazzone):  “It’s unfortunate,” said Jarvis Hayes, who played with Arenas in Washington. “I’m at a loss for words. It’s a serious matter. Commissioner Stern did what he thought he had to do to gain control of the situation I guess.”

Keyon Dooling defends the perception of the NBA in light of the Arenas situation:  “I think our league is a great league,” Dooling said. “However, there are slip-ups. Sometimes one bad apple can have an effect on the whole bunch. Me personally, I would like some of our positive things to get the same attention as our negativity, because people do so many great things.”

In news that has my 1993-self marking out, the arcade classic NBA Jam is making its return with a rumored Wii-exclusive. One blog takes a gander at who the twosomes will be. Can you guess the Nets twosome?

Quick, someone let Brook Lopez tell Brook Lopez about The Onion.

A little late to post, but NBA.com looks at the impending summertime showdown for free agents between the Knicks and Nets.

Speaking of free agents, Hawks free agent to-be Joe Johnson cares about the record of the team he signs with next summer.

In former Nets news, John Hollinger argues against the Heat picking up Rafer Alston.

Video Clip of the new Atlantic Terminal Pavilion opening, which will eventually tie-in to the Nets new arena in Brooklyn (hat tip NetsDaily).

Some of the good news that came out of practice earlier this week was with Yi set to return tonight, and Hayes and Dooling soon after, the Nets might finally be whole for the first time this season (Chris Doulgas-Roberts returning from his ankle sprain would help this process along as well). However, in today’s practice report from Fred Kerber, some comments made by and about Hayes and Dooling describe their imminent returns as tenuous at best:

“With a hamstring, at this point, if he hurts it again, he could be done,” (Kiki) Vandeweghe said. “So it’s just not worth it. You’ve just got to be safe with it. As much as we need him, you’ve just got to be safe.”

and

“I had pretty major surgery. It’ll be a process. I’ll be back to normal, probably next year. This year is going to be a struggle for me,” Dooling said. “It was a pretty serious surgery for me.”

I don’t even think this needs much reading between-the-lines. To boil it all down, if Hayes reinjures his hammy, he’s probably done for the year, and Dooling never really  going to be healthy this season, so he’s going to be on and off the injured list.

Now, I know these guys are only role players, but I take both of these morsels as pretty dispiriting news items. Please remember that it was Jarvis Hayes who organized the voluntary preseason practice sessions in late August – back in happier days where the Nets weren’t taking veiled shots at each other in the locker room and in the press. And is it any coincidence that Dooling’s short-lived return a few weeks ago occurred just as the Nets won their first two (and only) games of the season?

While the Nets probably have enough talent on their roster to avoid all-time infamy this season, I think it will be a lot easier to move pass 10 wins and end this talk of “worst ever” if these two specific guys can get back on the court and give consistent minutes off the bench. Not only will their three-point shooting provide some more spacing (provided that don’t pull a Bobby Simmons), but these two are the truest definition of “intangible” guys who torture statheads with their lack of numbers, but still make teams better regardless. Here’s to hope that these comments were just of the conservative, expectation-lowering variety.

The Nets trio of point guards are going to try and help the team out of its offensive muck.

The Nets say they’re looking forward to this road trip. They’re also looking forward to getting more practice time together.

Terrence Williams may finally see some of his playing time return tonight. He would help his cause if he drove to the basket more.

Meanwhile, TWill tells the Lousville Courier-Journal that he’s “happy with the Nets.”

Citing a separate case involving Columbia University and the Empire State Development Corporation, Atlantic Yards opponen want another day in court.