The Nets have to win tonight. Not because they are trying to avoid records (though, longest losing streak of all time is up for grabs, and while we’re at, 0-82), or because Charlotte, despite playing better of late, is a totally beatable team.

The Nets have to win tonight, because I’m absolutely tired of talking about this losing streak. If they can’t do it for themselves, at least do it for the bloggers, and the sports writers out there who just want to move on to covering Tiger Woods’ affairs, or where LeBron James is going to play in 2010.

Never have there been truer words spoken by Chris Douglas-Roberts then what he said at practice yesterday:

“It seems like everybody I talk to … I really just get angrier,” CDR said. “It really doesn’t make me better. It’s just, ‘Okay, keep your head in it. Keep playing. … Whatever you do, stay focused.’ I’m really just tired of hearing it, honestly.”

Preach on, CDR.

Seriously, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski is a great basketball writer, but it’s a bad sign when he, and other national writers, are following a specific team like the Nets like it’s their beat. It’s even worse when that press coverage is coming in December, and not say, May, or better yet, June. Besides, I can never spell his name right the first time when I’m trying to credit him in our daily link dump.

I preferred the good old days of late October, when the Nets were heading into the 2009-10 season as a bad, yet anonymous, team. The Nets were so vanilla, they weren’t scheduled for a single game on national television. Now, I have to turn on NBC’s Today Show in the mornings and hear about their losing streak as part of their headline news.

This losing streak has gotten so out of hand, ESPN’s Chris Sheridan is utilizing it for some writing exercises reminiscent of J-School. You know – that sights and sounds, “show me, don’t tell me” stuff for all of you aspiring writers out there?

Don’t believe me, check out these two paragraphs from Sheridan on Wednesday night:

I am sitting where no man has ever sat before, typing this sentence while sitting against the back wall of the locker room of an 0-18 NBA team, and I am getting a dirty look from a security guy who doesn’t seem to like the idea of someone hacking away on a laptop inside this den of misery.

On the bright side, that means there’s still someone on the Nets, even if his nickname is Pinkerton, capable of producing a fiery look in his eye.

That’s some deep stuff there – casting the scribe as a character in the story. Capturing dirty looks from a security guard who in reality was probably more interested in what was left on the post-game buffet spread than what some reporter was clacking away about on his laptop.

So there you have it Nets. This is all on your shoulders. You’re tired of it. We’re tired of it too. Just win a damn game tonight, and hopefully all of this negative attention will go away – until you’re stuck on 5 wins for the season and the calendar reads April 1.

Ex-Net Rory Sparrow, a member of the original 0-17 1988-89 Miami Heat, is feeling sorry for the Nets organization.

Kiki Vandeweghe wants to put the “fun” back in basketball.

USA Today looks at the tough task ahead for Kiki.

Another profile of European coach Ettore Messina, a potential long-term replacement for Lawrence Frank.

The naming rights deal for the Barclays Arena is reportedly worth half of what was originally expected.

The Daily News looks at the worst NBA teams of all-time.

The losing streak has actually improved TV ratings for the Nets.

The New York Times City Room blog looks at the history of futility in New York-area sports.

The Times is also seeking your opinions on how the Nets can market their future games at the Izod Center.

Looking back at the history of the Izod Center, and all of its previous iterations.

The AP takes a cue from Nets Are Scorching, and blames everything on Bruce Ratner.

Some comparisons with the 1988 Baltimore Orioles.

Jay Mariotti calls the Nets as currently constituted, “consumer fraud.” Meanwhile, CDR continues to question the heart of this team.

Should we pity the ticket scalpers working Nets games? Seriously, is there any angle of this losing streak the Times hasn’t covered?

Some audio of Lawrence Frank on WFAN yesterday.

One observer: don’t feel sorry for the Nets.

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.

Are the Nets cursed?

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.

The New York Times talks with Nets players about the losing streak. Chris Douglas-Roberts said he ran out of things to say about it six games ago.

Gary Sussman looks back at the “Little General.”

An AP report talks about how the Nets are stuck between a hopeless present and a hopeful future.

ESPN’s Chris Sheridan: the Nets are a mess.

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel thinks the losing streak ends on Sunday against the Knicks.

Bleacher Report jokes that dismissed Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weiss has been named new head coach of the Nets.

The LA Times looks at Mikhail Prokhorov’s bid to own the Nets and the current state of foreign ownership in sports.

The Blowtorch makes fun of Courtney Lee.

In practice yesterday, Nicholas Lozito of the Star-Ledger, and the New York Post’s Fred Kerber, spoke with players about the historic implications of tonight’s game.

Here’s Lozito talking with Lawrence Frank, who win or lose could be coaching his last game with the Nets tonight:

“It’s just a different test,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “It’s a different type of test, and you have to embrace the challenge, and there are certain things we have to do in order to win games and that’s what we focus on.

“There’s no doubt that it wears on you, but I think what you try to focus on is just today. You know don’t let the past determine your future.”

Meanwhile, Kerber talks with Devin Harris, who’s return to the team last weekend, and return to the starting lineup on Friday, has done little to stem the tide of losing:

“Guys were angry,” said Devin Harris, who played far more aggressively after halftime in the Nets’ 109-96 loss — he got to the line 14 times in the second half alone of the 109-96 defeat, their 16th in a row, equaling the franchise-worst streak.

“It was the way we played,” Harris added. “We’re not playing like a team desperate for a win. We talked about we’ve got to will ourselves to win. . . . We’re not going to get certain calls. We’ve got to do it ourselves, and we weren’t playing like that type of team.”

It’s a bit astonishing to me that this team could possibly be playing like they’re not “desperate” for a win. There’s been a certain shift with this team since their heartbreaking one-point loss to Miami on November 14. The undermanned team that was laying it all out there but just coming up short against teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics and the Heat, started to get blown away by the Indiana Pacers and the Denver Nuggets, and playing only one half of competent basketball against the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings. Meanwhile, the team now has a rotation of 10 players, though Courtney Lee only played 3 minutes on Friday night against the Kings.

Harris is right, there’s no desperation and urgency with this team right now, outside of maybe Chris Douglas-Roberts (who Devin joked was on “suicide watch”) and Brook Lopez. If this team wants to be known as a bunch of all-time losers, I guess it’s their prerogative.

As a fan, this whole experience has been surreal. Both Sebastian and I thought the Nets were going to struggle this season, and we understood that the November schedule was especially brutal for even a fully healthy team. However, I never contemplated this Nets team being historically bad – just bad enough to not warrant any attention from the general NBA population.

Personally, I don’t see how this team doesn’t break the 0-17 mark and then some. They’ve already lost games against some very beatable teams (the Knicks, the Kings, the Timberwolves, the 76ers, the Bobcats), so who knows who they’re capable of beating – especially if there’s a cloud of inexplicable complacency hovering over this team.

Ken Berger of CBS Sports is reporting that there is “no change” in Frank’s status.

The LA Times writes that the Nets record says they’re bad, but they’re on the verge of being historically bad because of injuries to key players .

Rafer Alston was putting the team first last night when he gave the starting PG spot back to Devin Harris.

Hoops World revisits the Devin Harris-Jason Kidd trade.

Net Income of Nets Daily fame continues his fantastic analysis of the Nets-Brooklyn situation, with another FAQ about what comes next now that the Court of Appeals has made its ruling in favor of the development.

I personally thought the Nets matched-up better with the Knicks, which was why I was willing to go out on a limb last week and call it a got to have win last Saturday. The Knicks do very little right, but they obviously did just enough right (and got the right calls from the refs) to push the Nets losing streak onward.

As for the Kings, they are the worst defensive team the Nets have faced this season, currently 27th in the league in defensive efficiency giving up 107.6 points per 100 possessions. That’s a good thing for a team that has trouble scoring as much as the Nets do – who will likely insert all-star Devin Harris back into the starting line-up tonight. However, the Kings can score – they’re 11th in the league in offensive efficiency while the Nets toil at dead last in that category. So even if the Kings let the Nets score more than they’ve been able to do so far this season, the Nets still have to figure out a way to stop them on defense. That won’t be easy.

Fred Kerber in the New York Post today notes an important piece of coincidental history that could favor the Nets – when the Los Angeles Clippers got off to their 0-17 start in 1999-2000, a victory against the Sacramento Kings ended their losing streak. Of course, that was a Sacramento team that featured Oliver Miller and Jerome James.

Here’s what Brook Lopez thinks about the losing streak, from Kerber:

“It’s one game at a time. As good as those teams are, you’ve got to put it off,” said Brook Lopez, who is coming off his career game: a personal high 32 points and 14 rebounds (an NBA season-high 10 offensive) in the 93-83 loss to Portland, defeat No. 15, Wednesday. “Either way, you have to focus on the game you’re playing. You can’t play tonight worrying about tomorrow.”

For Nets fan looking for an injection of optimism, the Bleacher Report gives us five reasons why the Nets will win against the Kings. Some of the reasons include the aforementioned Kings’ defense, and the starting lineup return by Devin Harris, but the list also includes the Kings’ weak rebounding abilities, and the Nets “growing confidence” coming off a game where they battled the heavyweight Portland Trailblazers well into the 4th quarter before running out of gas.

Of course, the Nets have showed pluck and fight most of the season, with a few notable exceptions (hello Tuesday’s game against the Nuggets).  None of this has led to a victory. And the article’s last reason doesn’t exactly inspire confidence:

THE LAKERS AND MAVERICKS ARE NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE. The first of those two games is at Staples Center. That means Friday’s game in Sacramento is pretty much New Jersey’s only chance for salvation. The Laker game is an automatic loss and the Mavs game is close.

Update: Over at the TrueHoop mother site, Chris Sheridan talks about the Nets chances for tonight, Lawrence Frank, and three games the Nets should have won this season: against Minnesota opening night, the heartbreaker against Miami, and last week’s second-half meltdown against the Bucks. I would have also added at least one of the two games against Philadelphia to Sheridan’s list, probably the home game where the Nets had three chances to tie or go-ahead and couldn’t hit a shot in the final minute.

Randy Hill looks at the Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are battling each other for the worst record in the league.

The Daily News and the Bergen Record, react to the recent eminent domain ruling that sets the stage for the Nets to move to Brooklyn.

Fred Kerber of the New York Post believes tonight’s game against the Sacramento Kings is the Nets best shot to end their losing streak.

Brook Lopez credits his patience, along with some sage advice from assistant coach Roy Rogers and teammate Chris Douglas-Roberts for his good night against Portland on Wednesday.

Hoops World looks at franchises that are in big trouble right now.