Author Archive

• Your daily Blatchemaredrama update: It's still going to happen, but it's going to take a little longer than expected. Blatche needs to take care of some other business before an official agreement can be addressed. What other business needs to happen to make a backup big man sign a non-guaranteed vet minimum deal, I couldn't tell you. 

• Speaking of Blatche, here's a little story by Kyle Weidle from ESPN TrueHoop's Truth About It regarding your new Brooklyn Net's Twitter usage. It's pretty interesting. 

• The Barclays Center is starting to look completely, totally, amazingly, ridiculously awesome. 

• Royce Young and Eye On Basketball is ranking the top 100 Elite players and Joe Johnson comes in at 33. 

• Spanish team Unicaja is reportedly interested in signing Bojan Bogdanovic. His current team, Fener, didn't release him to the Nets this season, so I have a hard time seeing this work for Unicaja. But, if he does sign there, it would take two more years before we see him in Brooklyn. 

• Kris Humphries participated in New York Fashion Week. He came in looking the most "normal," as we can now all laugh at Tyson Chandler's shoes. 

• Last night, while America was tuned into Cowboys-Giants, Mirza Teletovic hit a buzzer beating three for BiH. Take a look:

• Speaking of last night's game, after scoring two touchdowns in the Cowboy win, Kevin Ogletree donned a Brooklyn Nets hat in the locker room for his post-game media session.

• Interested in playing D-league basketball? The Springfield Armor are holding an open workout in New Jersey on September 22 and in Springfield on October 21.

• Ever wondered where Avery Johnson stands on education? Following a motivational speech at Dunbar High School, he met with reporters to share some words on the subject.

According to Marc Spears of Yahoo!, it appears the Nets have agreed in principle to a vet-minimum contract with free agent F/C Andray Blatche.

The deal comes in the wake of a reported workout Saturday morning with the team.

Blatche was recently amnestied by his former team, the Washington Wizards, after several conditioning and off-the-court issues. In his last season with Washington, he averaged 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

• Joe Johnson received a tour of the nearly-completed Barclays Center. During the tour, he met with fans and construction workers as well as getting an up-close view of the court. His visit is documented here.

• Add the Rolling Stones to bands who will be playing the Barclays Center soon. They will be touring a 50th year anniversary thing and it looks like they will be stopping in Brooklyn. I don't know about you, but I will be anxiously awaiting a sale date of those tickets...

• With both the Nets and Knicks getting a uniform change this upcoming season, www.nj.com asks the age-old question: Which one's are you anticipating more?

• Boxing returns to Brooklyn with an Oct. 20 fight between Danny Garcia and Erik Morales.

• NBA.com's John Schuhmann did a feature story on the Nets' offseason. You really got to love all the Nets hype this season, let's just hope they can live up.

• Is a toymaker with McFarlane Toys’ NBA figurines the first person to leak the Brooklyn Nets' new uniforms? Looks to be the case. This jersey on this Deron Williams figurine matches the exact descriptions we've been given and aren't these. This could be a possibility. Stay tuned.

• Not so fast Donté Greene. After breaking his ankle yesterday, the Nets may have moved on in their backup small forward quest. Fred Kerber reports that names like Josh Childress, Sam Young or Damion James could call Brooklyn home soon. Chris Haynes is also reporting that Derrick Brown could be on the Nets' list as well.

• Could this be the location of the Brooklyn Nets' new practice facility?

• While shooting some photos for Red Bull, Deron Williams decided to play a fan one-on-one at Tillary Park in Brooklyn. Here is some video evidence of the beatdown. Although it was for a photoshoot, I'd like to point out the hilarity of Deron Williams schooling a guy while wearing his own Nets gear.

• Jay-Z was called out during the Republican National Convention as proof of a young African-American from the streets who made it in business with his minority share of the Nets.

Marc Spears from Yahoo! is on a roll with the Nets news today. He just tweeted some not-so-good news about our new friend Donté Greene.

NBA free agent Donte Greene suffered an ankle fracture while working out in Charlotte last Saturday, his agent Chris Luchey tells Y! Sports.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) August 29, 2012

Greene's expected signing with Nets this week now on hold due to pending surgery on ankle "with some type of fracture,"Chris Luchey tells Y!

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) August 29, 2012

Chris Luchey tells Y! pending MRI results will determine how long Donte Green is out after ankle surgery but he is hopeful to sign with Nets

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) August 29, 2012

We'll update now as this story develops. I for one am bummed if it means Donte' isn't going to sign here. He may not be the most dominant guy in the league, but bringing a 6-11, athletic small forward off the bench would have been a fun development this season.

For more background on the Nets' possible small-forward-to-be, you can check out my Meet Donté Greene post here.

• Stat geek Tom Haberstroh has singled out a few unsung rookies he thinks will have contributing years in 2013. Among them, Nets F Mirza Teletovic. Of Teletovic, Haberstroh writes:

"Teletovic has proved he can score in bunches, but what he won't do is rebound or defend much. However, that probably won't hurt his chances at finding playing time in Brooklyn. A 6-foot-9 3-point shooter is a hot commodity in this league, making it even more bizarre that he wasn't ranked higher on #NBArank."

• CBS Sports ranked their "offseason power rankings" and he has ranked the Brooklyn Nets as the number two team. Matt Moore concludes his bit on the Nets by saying, "The Nets may not win a championship, but they moved way up the ladder in a single offseason."

• New Nets guard Tyshawn Taylor and Deron Williams have have had some offseason bonding. One thing is over their shared college coach Bill Self.

• Marc Spears of Yahoo! states that the Nets are looking for the next "Gerald Green," or "diamond in the rough." According to Billy King, overweight C Eddy Curry and SF Hilton Armstrong are what he has in mind

Shelden Williams, former backup center for the former New Jersey Nets, has reportedly reached an agreement with the French team Chalon. The story was first reported by the French basketball website Catch and Shoot, and then confirmed by Sportando.

The Nets are still in the search for a backup center, and must not have been interested in retaining Williams for a veteran's minimum. Williams started 35 games for the team last season,averaging 4.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

Personally, I appreciated Shelden Williams' contributions to the Nets last season. He was a hustler in the Kris Humphries mold, but lacked in the "basketball-related abilities." Bringing him back simply wasn't necessary. He's never gotten over the hump of being better than a backup. I wish him well on his new venture in France.

This move does still leave the Nets in search of a backup center, but I think that they are traveling down the "don't need one" route. It certainly would be possible to rotate Humphries/Teletovic/Evans/Greene into that role. The search could ramp up if Brook Lopez goes down with injury.

For now, though, we can all cross off a Shelden Williams return in Brooklyn.

• Mark your calendars: The brand new Brooklyn Nets jerseys will be released to the world on September 28, coinciding with a Jay-Z concert at the Barclays Center.
• Your weekly Atlantic Yards construction update.
• NorthJersey.com breaks down the job and housing market of Atlantic Yards with the Barclays Center on schedule.
•  Coke vs. Pepsi. McDonalds vs. Burger King. Yankees vs. Red Sox. Prokhorov vs. Dolan.
• A look into the "weathered steel" that creates the Barclays Center's rusty appearance.
• First he plays golf with Bubba Watson, then he snaps a pic with President Bill Clinton. Deron Williams has friends in high places.
• Nets rookie guard Tyshawn Taylor is making his first trip back to Kansas University since graduation in May and his HYPED about it. Also hidden within the article is the fact that Taylor, along with other Nets teammates will be living in Hoboken, the midway point between Brooklyn and East Rutherford.

Meet Donté Greene. 6-11 small forward, former 'cuse Orange and career-long Sacramento Kings forward.

I’ll admit, I’d never even heard of Donté Greene until he accepted an invitation to join Brooklyn Nets training camp. Believe it or not, a career backup with that played 16.8 minutes per game in Sacramento was never really on my radar as an NBA fan. (Sorry Donté.)

My gut reaction to Donté Greene was how this matched Billy King’s offseason signing pattern. Donté Greene is a 6-11 small forward, meaning he is at least capable at the three and the four. He immediately becomes the second tallest guy on the Nets’ roster, and his natural position is the three. That alone makes him an intriguing addition to Brooklyn's roster.

That’s part of what makes this move appear to be a great fit for Greene. The Nets have a very versatile group, and guys like Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, CJ Watson, Reggie Evans, Mirza Teletovic and now Donté Greene all have the ability to play multiple positions. Putting an athletic, tall, small forward in that rotation will enable Greene to mix in with his fellow “utility” players.

As far as Donté Greene’s strengths go: he is an excellent athlete. Like fellow teammates Wallace and Humphries, he is a high-energy hustle player. Fans and teammates in Sacramento loved him for this, and raved about him at every opportunity. It says something about a player of Greene's caliber that he connected so much with the fanbase. Unfortunately, this is about it regarding positive things Donté Greene does on the basketball court.

This doesn’t necessarily bode badly for his role with the team. Taking a flier on a fantastic athlete who can create mismatches is someone who can contribute to an NBA roster. However, don’t expect Donté Greene to light up the stat sheet or shut down opponents. It’s just not what he does.

There are a lot of things not to like about Greene’s offensive game. For one, he takes too many three-point shots. Last season, he averaged two three-pointers a game, making less than one. To put these numbers in perspective, he was 1.2 for 4.9 per 36 minutes, an abysmal 23.8% from deep. His overall shooting numbers are better, rounding in at 40.6%, but he's hardly a marksman. Part of the problem is with his mechanics. It’s almost as if he releases the ball from directly above his head, creating an awkward jumper. This is something that is notable from his Syracuse days and hasn’t been fixed in his pro career. He also doesn't shoot the same way every time -- he's never worked out a consistent, smooth stroke.

Of course, part of the problem with Greene’s career has to do with his limited role, with four different head coaches in four years, on a dysfunctional Kings team. His departure from Sacramento wasn’t a surprise. A change of pace was certainly something he could use, and finding a spot in the Brooklyn-utility-rotation -- a term I have now coined and will now be using in future articles -- can only help his development and in finding a real role on an NBA team.

In non-basketball ways, Donté Greene is incredibly accessible with fans and that is one thing that made him so great to root for on the west coast. Some examples:

• During the NBA Lockout, a fan tweeted at Greene to get some live basketball action in Sacramento. Greene delivered, and put together a charity game featuring Kings players from that year's team. Greene then scheduled a second Goon Squad Classic, despite not being on the Kings roster, but it was cancelled and blocked by the NBA.

• Kings fan wants to propose? Donté Greene helps.

• During Memorial Day 2009, Greene was on a boat on the American River when he spotted a woman drowning. He jumped in the water, dove down and saved her life.

If you haven’t gotten the chance to follow Donté Greene on Twitter, you should definitely do so @dontegreeneCOS. He may never be a dominant all-star, but I have a feeling I am going to thoroughly enjoy the Nets’ Donté Greene era.

• During yesterday's Eurobasket FIBA Europe game between Georgia and Mirza Teletovic's Bosnia/Herzegovina team, the Nets forward had a field day, scoring 27 points and 4 rebounds on 6/11 shooting. 

• Mikhail Prokhorov, always taking things to the next level, called Knicks' owner James Dolan "that little man" is a magazine interview.

• The Brooklyn Nets will open their preseason in Atlantic City against the Philadelphia 76ers on October 13.

• Brook Lopez has made us all a promise: "I will bounce back."

• Mavs owner Mark Cuban is working the spin patrol with the media, claiming his team would be better off without Deron Williams. He also offers some choice words about Jason Kidd.