Nets Blog

Nets waive May after fractured foot

September 07, 2010 , ι By FRED KERBER

The injury curse that hampered Sean May through four NBA season has struck again, ending his Nets career before it started. The Nets on Tuesday waived the 6-9 power forward after he fractured his... Read on

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Nets release full schedule

August 10, 2010 , ι POST STAFF REPORT

The Nets will be starting earlier in Newark.The team’s scheduled was released today with the news that the team’s home games were moved from 7:30 p.m. to 7. October Wed. 27 Detroit 7:00Fri. 29... Read on

The Nets will be starting earlier in Newark.
	 
The team’s scheduled was released today with the news that the team’s home games were moved from 7:30 p.m. to 7.
	 
October
	 
Wed. 27 Detroit 7:00
	 
Fri. 29 Sacramento 7:00
	 
Sun. 31 Miami 1:00
	 
November
	 
Wed. 3 Charlotte 7:00
	 
Fri. 5 AT Orlando 7:00
	 
Sat. 6 AT Miami 7:30
	 
Tue. 9 Cleveland 7:00
	 
Wed. 10 AT Cleveland 7:30
	 
Sat. 13 Orlando 7:00
	 
Mon. 15 AT L.A. Clippers 10:30
	 
Wed. 17 AT Utah 9:00
	 
Fri. 19 AT Sacramento 10:00
	 
Sat. 20 AT Denver 9:00
	 
Tue. 23 Atlanta 7:00
	 
Wed. 24 AT Boston 7:30
	 
Sat. 27 AT Philadelphia 7:30
	 
Sun. 28 Portland 7:00
	 
Tue. 30 AT New York 7:30
	 
December
	 
Wed. 1 Oklahoma City 7:00
	 
Fri. 3 AT Charlotte 7:00
	 
Sun. 5 Boston 1:00
	 
Tue. 7 AT Atlanta 7:00
	 
Thu. 9 AT Dallas 7:30
	 
Sun. 12 L.A. Lakers 1:00
	 
Tue. 14 Philadelphia 7:00
	 
Thu. 16 Washington 7:00
	 
Fri. 17 AT Toronto 7:00
	 
Sun. 19 Atlanta 1:00
	 
Tue. 21 AT Memphis 8:00
	 
Wed. 22 AT New Orleans 8:00
	 
Mon. 27 Orlando 7:00
	 
Wed. 29 AT Oklahoma City 8:00
	 
Fri. 31 AT Chicago 3:00
	 
January
	 
Sat. 1 AT Minnesota8:00
	 
Wed. 5 Chicago 7:00
	 
Fri. 7 AT Washington 7:00
	 
Sat. 8 Milwaukee 7:00
	 
Wed. 12 AT Phoenix 9:00
	 
Fri. 14 AT L.A. Lakers 10:30
	 
Sat. 15 AT Portland 10:00
	 
Mon. 17 AT Golden State 4:00
	 
Wed. 19 Utah 7:00
	 
Fri. 21 Detroit 7:00
	 
Sat. 22 Dallas 7:00
	 
Mon. 24 Cleveland 7:00
	 
Wed. 26 Memphis 7:00
	 
Fri. 28 AT Indiana 7:00
	 
Sat. 29 AT Milwaukee 8:30
	 
Mon. 31 Denver 7:00
	 
February
	 
Wed.2 Philadelphia 7:00
	 
Fri. 4 AT Detroit 7:30
	 
Sun. 6 Indiana 12:00
	 
Wed. 9 New Orleans 7:00
	 
Fri. 11 AT Charlotte 7:00
	 
Sat. 12 New York 7:00
	 
Mon. 14 San Antonio 7:00
	 
Wed. 16 AT Boston 7:30
	 
Fri. 25 AT San Antonio 8:30
	 
Sat. 26 AT Houston 8:30
	 
Mon. 28 Phoenix 7:00
	 
March
	 
Fri. 4 Toronto **3:00
	 
Sat. 5 Toronto **3:00
	 
Wed. 9 Golden State 7:00
	 
Fri. 11 L.A. Clippers 7:00
	 
Mon. 14 Boston 7:00
	 
Thu. 17 Chicago 7:00
	 
Fri. 18 AT Milwaukee 8:30
	 
Sun. 20 AT Washington 1:00
	 
Mon. 21 Indiana 7:00
	 
Wed. 23 AT Cleveland 7:00
	 
Fri. 25 AT Orlando 7:00
	 
Sat. 26 AT Atlanta 7:00
	 
Tue. 29 Houston 7:00
	 
Wed. 30 AT New York 7:30
	 
April
	 
Fri. 1 AT Philadelphia 7:00
	 
Sun. 3 Miami 6:00
	 
Tue. 5 Minnesota 7:00
	 
Wed. 6 AT Detroit 7:30
	 
Fri. 8 New York 7:00
	 
Sun. 10 AT Toronto 6:00
	 
Mon. 11 Charlotte 7:00
	 
Wed. 13 AT Chicago 8:00
	 
** Games played in London

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Nets will play in London

August 09, 2010 , ι By FRED KERBER

They've got a Russian owner. They've got preseason games in China.So now the Nets get regular season games in Europe."The NBA will be playing its first regular season games in Europe on March 4 and... Read on

They've got a Russian owner. They've got preseason games in China.
	 
So now the Nets get regular season games in Europe.
	 
"The NBA will be playing its first regular season games in Europe on March 4 and March 5 when the Toronto Raptors and the New Jersey Nets will compete at the O2 Arena in London," Commissioner David Stern announced this morning. "To me this is first step in the progression about what we spoke of before the Olympics, which presents opportunity for the growth of basketball in Europe and the United Kingdom."
	 
Stern noted that the Raptors and Nets both have an international flavor and were strong choices to help the NBA get regular season games in London before the 2012 Olympics there. And Stern noted that new owner Mikhail Prokhorov had inquired about taking part in such a venture to increase the whole global image of the Nets.
	 
Plus, it gets the Nets out of Newark for a couple days.
	 
Tickets go on sale Sept. 1.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Nets bringing Sean May to camp

August 06, 2010 , ι By FRED KERBER

Back in 2005, the Nets held the 15th pick in the NBA Draft and hoped that somehow, Sean May would slip to them. They tried to move, couldn't, then saw the power forward out of North Carolina go to... Read on

Back in 2005, the Nets held the 15th pick in the NBA Draft and hoped that somehow, Sean May would slip to them. They tried to move, couldn't, then saw the power forward out of North Carolina go to Charlotte at No. 13. The Nets then took Antoine Wright 15th.
	 
Yeah, that didn't work out too swell for either team.
	 
But the Nets finally are getting May who will come to training camp on a make-good contract. May has agreed to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract. If he makes the roster, he'll get the veteran's minimum of $854,000.
	 
The son of Indiana great Scott May (who played on the Hoosiers' unbeaten 1976 title team) never has lived up to his promise. Injuries and conditioning have dogged him – last season he played 37 games for Sacramento, a career high. In 119 career games, he has averaged 6.9 points and 4.0 rebounds.
	 
With the Nets roster showing only Kris Humphries and rookie stud-in-waiting Derrick Favors at power forward, May is a decent gamble. If he makes the club and stays healthy, maybe the 6-9, 266-pound can contribute in his fifth season. If not, it costs nothing.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(1) Comments

Nets will play two preseason games in China

August 04, 2010 , ι By FRED KERBER

The Nets, without traded Yi Jianlian, and the NBA formally announced the team is headed to China to play the Rockets, with Yao Ming, in two exhibition games, the NBA's fifth annual China Games. The... Read on

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Nets promote Marks to assistant GM

July 26, 2010 , ι By FRED KERBER

Bobby Marks has had more staying power than anyone else on the Nets' basketball side. And now Marks has an assistant general manager's title.Marks, who has served the Nets for 15 seasons in numerous... Read on

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Thorn says goodbye to Nets

July 16, 2010 , ι By FRED KERBER

He remembered all the good, like two trips to the NBA Finals. He recalled much of the bad, like the last two years and that Milt Palacio shot that will live in Nets infamy. He recalled how it was,... Read on

He remembered all the good, like two trips to the NBA Finals. He recalled much of the bad, like the last two years and that Milt Palacio shot that will live in Nets infamy. He recalled how it was, remarked how it is and speculated on how it might be.
	 
And through his entire hour-and-a-half plus session with beat writers today, Rodney King Thorn was just "Rod." He is stepping down as Nets president after a 10-year run that directed the most successful era of the team's frequently famished history.
	 
He was "Rod," the guy who never put on pretenses, the guy who picked up his phone, who loved talking about the St. Louis Cardinals. So he sat laughing at memories of the ABA, marveling at the quality of the storied NBA rivalries, and touched on some of the high and low points of his regime that saw the Nets in the playoffs six times.
	 
Had the Nets gotten LeBron, he would have stayed.
	 
But that's another story.
	 
His top memory?
	 
"That fifth game against Indiana. I’ll never forget that game," said Thorn, conjuring up one of the greatest games in NBA history, the Nets' 120-109 double-overtime victory over the Pacers and Reggie Miller that propelled them to their first Finals trip (and the Lakers sweeping them away, another Rod memory, one on the negative side).
	 
"I’ll never forget that game we lost to Boston over Christmas my first year, when Lucious Harris inbounded the ball to Palacio. I’ll never forget that one," recalled Thorn of the game where he admitted he had his winter coat on and was ready to go, secure in the belief of a victory.
	 
But that game only re-affirmed Thorn's Yogi-like credo that he used for so many trades ("Nothing is done until it's done.")
	 
And that was the game where, he now admits, he went "nose to nose" with Eddie Jordan in the coach's office. Everyone knew it. People heard them in Bayonne.
	 
There were so many individual games and moments – Vince Carter beating the Raptors in Toronto; Vince Carter knocking on death's injury door once a game, nine times a week, 47 times a month but usually responding.
	 
And of course there was his relationship with Jason Kidd.
	 
Thorn wants to recall Kidd as the guy who would ask in game to take on the toughest defensive assignment and would then promptly shut down the opposing scorer. Thorn recalls the Kidd who split his head open in a playoff game in Charlotte, got stitched up and then played the next game and directed a win. He recollects the Kidd who night after night, game after game arose when it mattered. He was the player who transformed a franchise.
	 
So Thorn tries not to remember the migraine.
	 
"That was a tough one," said Thorn, admitting it took, "a long time" for him to get over it.
	 
"We had a really good relationship, it was tough," Thorn admitted. "Not to be maudlin about it, but I just felt the reputation he had built up was not good for him either. On his level. But he would maintain to this day he had one."
	 
Some still swear the Earth is flat.
	 
"It kind of went down hill after that," Thorn acknowledged.
	 
That led to the trade of Kidd.
	 
"They say you never get close to players. That’s probably smart because you never know when you have to trade him. In his case he traded himself," Thorn explained. "But this guy, you just had a special feeling for him. Because of who he was and what he was and what he did for all of us. When he came he just totally changed the culture of the team virtually by himself. He made everybody believe they could do something. He was unbelievable."
	 
* * *
	 
Thorn spent a lot of time reminiscing about his ABA days, which began when he took his wife, Peggy, from Seattle, bypassing a shot at U of Washington Law School, to come to New Jersey for $15,000 to be Kevin Loughery's assistant. His wife "thought I was crazy."
	 
But he landed in the ABA where he marveled at Julius Erving on a nightly basis and later as the head coach in St. Louis, he worked with the cross known as Marvin Barnes.
	 
Thorn recalled how he constantly got on Barnes who simply didn’t get by a 24 and 12 guy had to adhere to rules. Finally, Thorn tried a different approach. He'd try sugar. So after a particularly good game, Barnes was summoned to Thorn's hotel room. They talked for hours. Thorn felt he made headway. Barnes saw the light. The new Barnes, a team leader, a team player would emerge.
	 
He missed the team flight the next day.
	 
* * *
	 
In Chicago, before Michael Jordan there was Quintin Dailey, one of the first NBA players to find his way to drug rehab. Dailey was confused when Thorn drafted Jordan.
	 
"We draft Jordan and Quintin says to me, 'Why'd you draft him?' And I said, 'Because I think he's a pretty good player.' He said, 'He plays the same position I play.' I said, 'Yeah, he does.' His next thing was, 'You're not just going to give him my job are you?' It was like, 'We need other things,'" Thorn recalled laughing throughout.
	 
* * *
	 
Thorn moved on to the NBA office were he was head of Basketball operations, or as Karl Malone once called him, "The NBA Police." Thorn admitted during his tenure there, he had five chances to leave and head up another team.
	 
He offered a "no comment," but yes, one of the teams was the Knicks. He was all set to replace Al Bianchi but withdrew when the move became public. Bianchi was rehired.
	 
* * *
	 
He expressed regret at the way the Kiki Vandeweghe situation went down. Vandeweghe did the job he was asked to do – he got the Nets under the cap, significantly under the capo.
	 
"Kiki certainly helped in what we were doing," Thorn said. "Owners come in, have certain ideas about how things were and how things weren’t as they were coming in because they have people talk to them about things. Had it been done a little bit differently, I think Kiki might have stayed on as GM."
	 
* * *
	 
So he definitely is not retiring but the time had come in New Jersey for him. He expresses confidence all will be well and sees a bright future, brighter than the one he inherited in June, 2000, when he actually gave out his home phone number at his introductory press conference.
	 
"I think it’s good. I really do. I think Avery’s going to do a really good job coaching for them, and I think Billy’s going to do a really good job. Now, you have the wherewithal (if) there are some pieces that you need that’ll put you in the luxury tax, you just get them," said Thorn.
	 
Of course, it won't be Thorn doing the getting.
	 
"I just want to look at the options I have. Whether it’s to do what I’m doing now or be a consultant or do something on the broadcast side, I want to see what options I have. Right now I have some, but we’ll see what transpires," he said.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(2) Comments

New Nets GM has time to get it right

July 15, 2010 , ι By FRED KERBER

Usually, a guy taking over after a 12-win season – outside the NFL, of course – finds an organization in shambles, players in near catatonic state, a team with warning signs just a notch below:... Read on

Usually, a guy taking over after a 12-win season – outside the NFL, of course – finds an organization in shambles, players in near catatonic state, a team with warning signs just a notch below: "Lepers, Beware."
	 
But that's not the case with Billy King who finds a young, energetic and athletic Nets team with the holes basically filled in, more than $14 million in cap space, a new coach, a new owner with pockets deeper than the Pacific, and a new home set to open in two years.
	 
"I thank Rod for the roster," said King, who was formally introduced as the Nets new GM on Thursday, with the intro performed by the man whose act he must follow, Rod Thorn. "I was worried if they didn’t sign people I would be coming into the position and a lot of free agents would be gone. Rod has worked hard with his staff and Bobby (Marks) to bring players in. Everybody is under 30."
	 
See? Piece of cake. Well, not exactly.
	 
"The owners have set high expectations and high goals. We’re not striving for anything but a championship," said King who had two idle years after a 10-yerar run in Philadelphia. "It may take a couple of years to get there but we’re going to do our best to get there and bring one here."
	 
So while the Nets' marketing gang drives that "It's All New" stuff down everyone's throat, King – like owner Mikhail Prokhorov before him and coach Avery Johnson before that – asks for patience. Rome wasn't built in a day.
	 
Neither were the Lakers.
	 
King, who agreed with the assessment of everyone with a working pulse around the Nets that the power forward position remains a must address aspect, noted how the Lakers went about getting Pau Gasol.
	 
The Lakers were patient, persistent and opportunistic. King intends to be the same. And he won't spend just to spend, either. He called cap space "sacred," sort of like Nets archive film of Chris Dudley making a free throw or Yi Jianlian defending.
	 
"If you look at the free agent market left out there, there are some good players but I don’t know how many of them are going to be game-changers."
	 
But those guys do show up.
	 
"You’ve just got to be prepared," King, a Duke product, explained while discussing the Nets quest for a hold-the-fort four until Derrick Favors is ready. "There’s some guys I’ll call, because we have the flexibility. I’ll make some calls today. And I’ll make some calls tomorrow – to the same people, because I think you have to be a pest, you have to be a nuisance, and then they either do the deal or don’t. I think that’s how the Lakers got Gasol. They just kept calling and calling. Mitch said it took a year, but they got him."
	 
Hey, start calling Miami. See if they're sick of that LeBron guy yet.
	 
Yes, the Nets need a four. And it looks like they aren’t really looking for a Grade B stopgap. They want quality, but want to keep their flexibility.
	 
"Just because we need it, we can’t be desperate," King stressed. "Because I don’t think there’s a player out there in the free agent market that you can say we’ll sign and it’s ‘that’s gonna guarantee us 10 more wins.’"
	 
Johnson said on Wednesday that it might take up to training camp before the Nets plug the four hole
	 
* * *
	 
Rod Thorn steps down today. He'll meet with the media in the a.m. and then probably start taking calls from King who joked he'll call the outgoing pres constantly for advice.
	 
"It’s not very often that you get to introduce your successor in this business, that’s for sure. In this case I’m very happy and very privileged to," Thorn said, describing King as a man I’ve known for many years, a man who has seen all of the aspects of professional basketball, a man who has seen the vagaries, a man who has seen the highlights, a man who has the experience, who has all of the qualifications it takes to succeed in this job."
	 
* * *
	 
Thorn will address his exit today but he did say that when he comes back to the Nets some day as a fan as a visitor as whatever, he'll take a certain pride.
	 
"When I come back and look in the rafters, there will always be (banners for) two conference championships, four division championships up there and I'll always have something to think about and be proud of with all those great players that we had," Thorn said.
	 
* * *
	 
King did say that Bobby Marks, a 16-year Net lifer and currently the VP of Basketball Operations, will become more or less his special assistant. Marks, the team's contractual whiz, also has been saddled with travel arrangements, scheduling, all the stuff others would swallow broken glass to avoid.
	 
"He’ll continue doing exactly what he’s doing, but I’d like him to give up some of the things like travel – let some other people do that – and really focus more on assisting me with the cap and coming up with ideas, trade-wise. I’ll look at him being my right-hand in basketball operations," King said.
	 
* * *
	 
Nets officially signed their first round rookies: Derrick Favors, the No. 3 pick gets $4,133,280 this season and $4,443,360 for the next (DeMarcus Cousins, the No. 5 pick, gets $3.374 mil this season – see why he wanted to be third?). Damion James will receive $1,156,320 and $1,243,080 for the upcoming two years. The team hold the third and fourth year options."
	 
* * *
	 
Avery Johnson had significant input into the hiring and even Thorn said that's not a bad thing as they're going to be working together. Johnson praised King's track record.
	 
"From a distance I thought he did a heckuva job (in Philly)," Johnson said. "Obviously, he was an assistant coach before so he understands the stress levels of coaches. He's had direct contact with players from that standpoint. Overall whenever you look back over the moves he made there, I think for the most part he did a heckuva job."

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(1) Comments

Nets to name King general manager

July 14, 2010 , ι By FRED KERBER

Former 76ers president and GM Billy King will be the Nets next GM. King, who was with Philadelphia from 1997-2007, will be formally introduced as Rod Thorn’s successor on Thursday. "I am very excited... Read on

Former 76ers president and GM Billy King will be the Nets next GM.
	 
King, who was with Philadelphia from 1997-2007, will be formally introduced as Rod Thorn’s successor on Thursday.
	 
"I am very excited about joining the Nets organization," King said in a statement. "I want to thank Mr. Prokhorov and his executive team for the opportunity to oversee a franchise that has such a vibrant owner, an outstanding coach in Avery Johnson, and possesses the combination of young talent, cap space and draft choices that will allow us to build a squad that will be able to contend for an NBA title."
	 
King was relieved of his position with the 76ers in December 2007 and replaced by former Nets GM Ed Stefanski. He will now have the task of helping to rebuild a team that went 12-70 last season.
	 
One of King’s best moves with the 76ers was drafting Andre Iguodala with the ninth pick of the 2004 draft.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Nets statement on George Steinbrenner

July 13, 2010 , ι POST STAFF REPORT

New Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov released a statement on the passing of George Steinbrenner: “I would like to express my deepest condolences to the Yankees organization and the Steinbrenner family on... Read on