The buzz around the organization the last 24 hours has been Rod Thorn, who looks to be staying on as team president once Mikhail Prokhorov takes over.

Here's Ben Couch with the video of Rod.

From Al Iannazzone's report, Rod on the coaching candidates: "I’m trying to ascertain who might have interest," Thorn said. "We have some people we have interest in and then maybe some candidates you wouldn’t consider who might have an interest in it."

Fred Kerber asks an executive their advice for Rod's coaching search: "They have young players there; they've got a bunch of picks. Maybe they even trade a pick to get a coach," the exec said. "But whoever they get is going to have to develop a lot of young guys and be the bridge until the move."

Julian Garcia reports that the Nets are interested in Boston Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau.

Dave D'Alessandro includes Rod's plans for Chris Douglas-Roberts, who has a team option: "As of right now that decision has not been made. Because we don’t know exactly what we’re going to do. For a lot of these options, a lot will depend on ... who are we (signing), who we might be able to sign, how much money that we’ll need. A lot of things that need to be firmed up."

Former Duke players don't see Coach K. leaving the university's coaching ranks.

One Bleacher Report contributor believes the Nets will be in the NBA Finals in four years.

Freddy's Bar, ground zero for the opposition to the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, is closing and relocating to Park Slope.

Mark Ginocchio

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This is going to be  a long, and hopefully eventful off-season for the Nets, so before NAS start getting into our analysis regarding the overall direction of this franchise in terms of coaches, draft picks and free agents, I thought we’d take a look back at the performance of our roster to dissect what went wrong (unfortunately a lot) and what went right (more than you might think in my opinion).

Let’s kick our off-season awards with what should be an easy and obvious choice. As the MVP of the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets, I’m going with Brook Lopez.

Expectations were fairly high for Brook Lopez headed into this season. As one of the Nets two “cornerstones” (the other being Devin Harris at PG), and with Vince Carter traded to Orlando, it was clear from the onset of the season that Lopez was going to have to evolve into a “go-to guy” for this team, which meant his game was going to have to evolve.  The fact that you can make a very good argument that Lopez exceeded those expectations with his performance, is a testament to how talented of a player Lopez is, and how his ceiling is much higher than many pundits (ahem John Hollinger) initially thought.

In terms of where he improved, let’s start with the advanced metric that measures it all, Player Efficiency Rating (PER). Lopez finished with a 20.11 PER this season, up from 17.94 in his rookie campaign, and higher than Hollinger’s projected PER of 18.82. This was good for 7^th best among NBA centers (6^th if you discount Greg Oden, who only played in 21 games). Only Dwight Howard, David Lee (who could be playing PF for the Nets next season), and Andrew Bogut ranked ahead of Lopez in the Eastern Conference, meaning he truly is evolving into one of the conference’s best centers not named Dwight Howard – as NAS, and others, predicted before the season started.

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Mark Ginocchio

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There have been a ton of these popping up all over the internet, so I thought I would try my hand at making a search story.  What better subject than the Nets season?

A little depressing, I know.  So I made another one for the optimists around here:

Sebastian Pruiti

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For Nets fans, the worst is now over. But it's going to take some time before it gets better. The team is looking to add a new owner, a new head coach, a top draft pick and a free agent or two this summer. But until the NBA season is officially over, is just going to be a waiting game.

Mark Ginocchio

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Terrence Williams is the league's Rookie of the Month.

Your sophomore of the year, if there was such an award: Brook Lopez (ESPN insider access only).

Which five Nets ballers were out partying in Miami until the wee hours before their season finale Wednesday? Check the Post's page six for scintillating details.

NetsDaily points out that the Nets have removed the words "New Jersey" in the architect's renderings of the Newark court.

Al Iannazzone runs down where the Nets need to improve this off-season. Uh... everywhere?

Kki Vandeweghe's role with the organization may be uncertain, but it's business as usual for him: "I'm a little bit looking forward to getting back to my day job and preparing for the draft," Vandeweghe said after the Nets' 94-86 double-overtime loss to the Heat in their season finale. "I'm excited about that."

Devin Harris plans to be here next season: "Increase our size up front, become better defensively. We didn't shoot a high percentage, got outrebounded," said Harris, acting as if he's staying whether or not John Wall is drafted. "We don't know what management's doing or if they get the No. 1 pick. I'm going to prepare like I'm going to be here."

Mark Ginocchio

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AP Photo/Alan Diaz

Hot Hot Hoops - Peninsula is Mightier

The Nets haven't done a whole lot right this season, so it's only fitting that they even found a way to screw up their final game of their worst-ever season. With the Miami Heat playing for nothing but seeding, sitting Dwyane Wade, the Nets fell into a huge hole in the third quarter and looked to be playing another game on cruise control on course for their 70th defeat. But rather than just punching the clock and finishing off this putrid season, they came all the way back in the fourth to tie it, had a chance to win it on a fluke offensive foul call by the refs, played poorly in the first overtime but still forced a second, only to ultimately lose anyway.

And what did those 10 extra minutes actually do for the Nets as the organization looks to greener pastures this summer? MIA for all of the fourth quarter and OT periods was their present, Devin Harris, and their future, Terrence Williams, while Brook Lopez was inserted back in for the first OT, only to turn the ball over three times on boneheaded plays (a travel, a shot clock violation and an offensive foul). Yi Jianlian, who's still trying to prove he belongs on this team in some capacity next season, finished with a more than solid stat line of 23 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks, but was virtually ignored towards the end of regulation when Courtney Lee opted to take the ball to the hoop and draw a foul rather than pass it to the wide open Yi in the corner for a chance to win the game. Also, it was nice to see Chris Douglas-Roberts get into the game and make some plays on offense, though 9 points and 4 turnovers for a guy that's supposedly going to make hay in this league as an instant offense guy is a bit of a letdown.

It was a happier time for Chris Quinn, who looked like a JV player playing out of his league on the varsity squad during Monday's loss to Charlotte. Last night, Quinn ran the point effectively, only netting 5 points and 2 assists, but grabbing 7 rebounds - which is amazing in itself when you consider he's the most physically unimpressive player on the floor by far - and not turning the ball over, which is a major accomplished for a team that gave the ball away 20 times last night, leading to 23 points.

But a Yi scoring outburst, some good/some bad from CDR and some efficient play from Chris Quinn are not really the things we as Nets fans should be having dreams about headed into the summer. While this season was far from promising back in October, at the very least, I thought it would be entertaining, watching Devin Harris shoulder the burden by himself, while watching players like Lopez, CDR, Yi, TWill and Courtney Lee evolve into legit NBA ballers. It really didn't work out that way. Harris seemed overmatched when he wasn't injured, Lopez grew up, but CDR regressed as the season went along. There's promise in Terrence Williams, but we haven't seen enough consistency, and more importantly, accurate shooting, to say anything more, and Yi remains an enigma, the Oliver Perez of the NBA for all of you Mets fans out there. Last night, Harris didn't play when it mattered, TWill was off, Lopez looked gassed, CDR was okay, and Yi was alternating between sweet looking jump shoots and being rejected by the rim and turning the ball over.

Whereas a team like Miami can essentially play for nothing but a rank - I'd personally rather take on Atlanta in the first round as the #6 seed than Boston as the #5 seed - with their superstar/all-world player on the sidelines in a suit, and still find a way to win. The Nets are still finding ways to lose, perfecting it like a Julliard student does the violin. It was an absolutely ugly game, with the Nets shooting 36 percent, while the Heat shot 40 percent. The only offensive weapon the Heat had, Michael Beasley (25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks) fouled out  in the first overtime. Yet it was Yakhouba Diawara, playing his first minutes of the game, drilling a critical three in the second OT to stretch the lead for Miami.

What I'm getting at is that it's frustrating to look at Miami's players on paper, especially when Wade is out, and watch them still outslug the Nets like this, even if it took them two overtimes to do it. 82 games and a few additional minutes later, and I still don't know what to take from this Nets season. There was the 0-18 start, the Frank firing, the January to forget - where I saw this team play about as uninspired and awful as I've ever seen an NBA team play - and the last 6 weeks or so where this team demonstrated a pulse, and more importantly, some ability. But then the last two games for the Nets left a sour taste in my mouth. There was a lot of the "old" Nets on Monday and last night - letting a depleted opponent getting ahead, failing to make a shot when it mattered, the spontaneous disappearance of Devin Harris - and that's disappointing after an other promising end to the season. When pondering the foundation of this Nets team, are they the players who came out and took advantage of a San Antonio Spurs team without Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker, or are they the team that lets Mario Chalmers and Yakhouba Diaware beat you in double OT? I guess we have all summer to find out.

Mark Ginocchio

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Just because the regular season is over doesn't mean there still isn't a few news items out there.

Rod Thorn expects to be aggressive this summer, even if there are delays with the ownership change: “It’s not a slam dunk. There are a lot of people out there that have money, so the competition will be greater than normal. But I feel confident we’re going to get it turned around. We’re going to be as aggressive as we can with the (budget) we have. And we know we’re going to get a real good player in the draft.

Was it unfair of the Nets to bench Bobby Simmons for the last few months of the season?

Al Iannazzone does his season review of the Nets. Staying? He thinks Brook Lopez, Terrence Williams and Courtney Lee are the only gimmees.

Meanwhile, Fred Kerber talks to the guys who's future is a bit more uncertain with the organization.

Brook Lopez already has his summer plans: Watching his brother Robin in the playoffs.

Mark Ginocchio

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As if the Nets haven't tortured us enough this season, it took them two overtimes before falling to a depleted Miami Heat 94-86 in the season finale tonight in Miami.The Nets finished the 2009-10 season 12-70.

• The Nets were down double digits headed into the third quarter, but the bench got them back into this game, as Devin Harris and Terrence Williams sat out the fourth quarter and both overtimes and Chris Quinn ran the point. Quinn rewarded Kiki Vandeweghe with 5 points and 7 rebounds.
• Yi Jianlian finished his season on a high note with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Courtney Lee chipped in with 17 points and 6 rebounds.
• Brook Lopez finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds and had just about as bad as an overtime that you can have when he turned the ball over three times in the first OT. Of course, Lopez had been sitting for a bulk of the fourth quarter.
• Josh Boone had 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 badly missed free throws off the bench.
• The Heat, who were without Dwyane Wade, were led by Michael Beasley, who finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks before fouling out. Mario Chalmers finished with 15 points and 7 assists and was 3-9 from three.

Mark Ginocchio

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The Nets played the Bobcats pretty tough throughout the night, but they just outclassed them in the end.  The Bobcats played their starters that game, however, tonight the Miami Heat may not be doing the same.  Ira Winderman has the info:

Based on shootaround, it looks like no Wade, no Jermaine and no Udonis tonight against Nets. Milwaukee seemingly to determine its own fate.

I didn't like the Nets chances of getting 13 this morning, but after reading that, I am starting to like them more and more.  It is going to be interesting how Kiki goes about this rotation tonight.  Last game he gave Chris Quinn loads of minutes, will guys like Bobby Simmons and Josh Boone get minutes tonight?  Onto the lineups...

Devin Harris vs. Carlos Arroyo

Advantage:  Devin Harris

Courtney Lee vs. Dorell Wright

Advantage:  Courtney Lee

Terrence Williams vs. Quentin Richardson

Advantage:  Quentin Richardson

Yi vs. Michael Beasley

Advantage:  Michael Beasley

Brook Lopez vs. Joel Anthony

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Sebastian Pruiti

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When I broke down the schedule when it came out, I had this year's version of the New Jersey Nets winning 30 games.  Many people believed that was too low, but as it turns out it was too high.  Way too high.  The Nets enter their final game of the year with a chance to win their 13th game, but since they play the Heat (a team that is currently rolling right now), they will probably end with a record of 12-70.  70 losses.  That is incredible.  I wanted to take a look back at this season, and just give my opinion on some of the things that happened (this is just some quick thoughts - Mark and I are going to go pretty in-depth once the offseason starts).

The Losing Streak

The Nets opened the season 0-18, and instantly became the laughing stock of the entire NBA (something that would stick for the rest of the year).  The worst part about it was that it could have been avoided.  The Nets lost at the buzzer to the Minnesota Timberwolves, on opening night.  In fact, the Nets had a number of close calls during this record breaking losing streak.  In addition to the Timberwolves game, they lost to the Sixers by 3 twice, and they lost to the Heat by 1 (on a Dwyane Wade buzzer beater).

Lawrence Frank Fired, Kiki Hired

During the record breaking losing streak, Lawrence Frank was eventually let go, and while I have been calling for his head for quite sometime, it is safe to say that Frank handled the firing very professionally.  The problem with firing a coach in the middle of the season is that you don't hire a new coach who is actually prepared for the situation.  No, you end up with an interm head coach, and that is what happened to the Nets as Kiki Vandeweghe as their headcoach.  Kiki was never a coach at any level, but Rod Thorn put him in that position as if to say "you wanted Frank gone, you take over."

A lot of fans here and everywhere else have compared Lawrence Frank and Kiki as coaches, and I don't think that is fair at all.  Kiki has never been a coach, but after a rough learning process (that may have cost the Nets some games), Kiki seems to have gotten the hang of it.

CDR and Terrence Williams

When you look at CDR and Terrence Williams' seasons, it's funny, they kind of reversed roles as the season went on.  During the first part of the season, CDR was one of the bright spots on the Nets, scoring in the 20s just about every game.  Meanwhile, Terrence Williams was getting the minutes due to injuries, but he wasn't producing.  At all.  He took poor shots, made poor decisions, and didn't really play defense.

Once Kiki took over and guys became healthy, Terrence Williams was sent to the bench, and he stayed there.  He wasn't too pleased about, and took to Twitter.  He was also snapping at reporters, and many people were asking if T-Will should get sent down to the D-League.  Meanwhile, CDR was still getting his minutes but his production was down.  He blamed it on the offense (we blamed it on the lack of aggression).

CDR then started seeing his minutes decline, right around the same time T-Will started to get more minutes.  CDR was the one taking to Twitter, not really complaining (though it could be taken that way), while T-Will was producing (including becoming the 4th rookie this year to put up a triple double).  These two players career paths have done a 180, and now CDR's future with the Nets is up in the air, as Terrence Williams seems to be a lock for the Nets future.

Brook Lopez

Brook Lopez was the lone bright spot throughout the season.  When he suits up tonight, he will be the only Net to play in every game this year.  However, that doesn't mean it has been all smiles for Brook.  While he didn't have any off the court situations (left reporters hanging once - but joked about it afterwords) and he played hard all season, Brook's on the court body language was poor at best some nights.  While you can't really blame him for feeling that way, it was hard to watch at times.  Also, as someone who really struggled with foul trouble, his reactions probably drew himself more negative attention (and thus, more calls).

The Future

In the end, the Nets weren't as bad as their record showed, and this team can probably rebound very quickly if things go right.  They have the best chance at the #1 pick (and are guaranteed at least the 4th) and they have the Mavs first rounder as well.  They have tons of money for Free Agents, an exciting new owner (who is making news before even "officially" becoming the owner), and with the move to Brooklyn basically a lock they will probably draw some big names.  Add that to Brook Lopez, Devin Harris (if he stays), Terrence Williams, and Courtney Lee and you have a good squad.  In the east, a good squad can get you into the playoffs.  So don't worry Nets' fans, all hope is not lost.

Sebastian Pruiti

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The theme from the beat guys today is that this nightmare season is finally over. Here's Devin Harris in Al Iannazzone's write-up: "I think everybody sees it," Devin Harris said. "We’ve underachieved. But everybody sees the potential we have, the room and the draft picks we have. We’re going to get better real fast."

Dave D'Alessandro talks to Josh Boone: “People wonder how the season went this way, and I wish I can explain it,” said four-year veteran Josh Boone. “We have a lot of talent, to be honest with you — a lot of guys who can do a lot of things. It’s unfortunate the season went the way it did, but we’re obviously not a 12-win-talent team. There were other circumstances that led to this.

Fred Kerber, who's had some of the best one-liners from the press box all season, gets one more shot in: "Imagine being hit in the head with a hammer. Over and over and over. Now imagine how good it would feel when it stops, and you have an idea how the Nets view the last game of the worst season in franchise history here tonight."

Julian Garcia ponders Chris Douglas-Robert's future: "Or they could let him go if they decide it's not worth keeping a second-year swingman averaging 9.8 points and three rebounds while being outspoken and negative. Although Douglas-Roberts has been relatively quiet lately, he had a hard time hiding his disappointment - mostly in others and the team in general - for most of the season. It's been difficult for him to find any positives about the Nets' performance over the past few weeks, while others, such as second-year center Brook Lopez, have been optimistic."

NJ Rep. Bill Pascrell, is still pushing for his investigation of Mikhail Prokhorov.

NetsDaily reports that Prokhorov will appoint a Russian woman from his Onexim group to direct the Nets' business affairs once he takes over.

Mark Ginocchio

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AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Queen City Hoops - Rufus on Fire - View from the Couch

The Nets closed out their run of basketball at the Meadowlands last night in similar fashion to how the organization has spent most of their days in the New Jersey swamp: with an uninspired, ho hum loss in front of a paltry crowd. Outside of some excellent work by the YES Network, who were showing clips of "Meadowlands Moments" throughout, there was little pomp and circumstance to this evening. No images of Derrick Coleman and Chris Dudley cutting down the nets and wishing the New Jersey faithful a pleasant good evening. No signs of Jason Kidd or Kenyon Martin electrifying the crowd one more time before the lights were turned off. Instead, the only real connection to this franchise's past came in the form of the opposing head coach, Larry Brown, who coached the first ever Nets game at the Meadowlands in 1981.

To be honest, I don't know if there was anyone out there who felt like lingering past closing time at the Meadowlands last night. The Nets are one game away from finishing up their worst season ever, which says a lot for a franchise whose futility may only be rivaled by the Clippers. And while there have been some good times at the Meadowlands, it's hard to call it a real home for an organization that's jumped around the New York/New Jersey area for decades. Even their next move to Newark is just a temporary one with Brooklyn appearing to be their final home - for the time being.

As for the game itself - the Nets played poor defense early, squandered a run in the second half by going ice cold shooting-wise in the 4th quarter, and demonstrated their utter lack of depth whenever their bench took the court: ladies and gentleman, your 2009-2010 New Jersey Nets.

While the Nets are far removed now from being considered the "worst of all time," they're still a pretty bad team, especially when they're giving up 59 first half points and allowing an offensively challenged team like the Bobcats to have an incredibly balanced scoring attack with 7 players in double figures. Meanwhile, only 7 players on the Nets even scored a point in this game. While the Nets looked pretty balanced with their starting 5 all scoring 14 or more points, the bench - sans Jarvis Hayes and Keyon Dooling from the start, and Kris Humphries after a first half injury - only scored 4 points total, compared with 50 for the Bobcats bench. Yes, these are NBA players, but it's especially embarrassing when a guy like Gerald Henderson, who's gone scoreless in four previous games, drops 14 on the Nets, including a posterizing dunk on Devin Harris in the second quarter.

Still, with all that, the Nets actually clawed back from a double digit first half deficit and briefly grabbed a one point lead in the third quarter. Harris hit two threes early in the third quarter, Terrence Williams was able to score at will near the basket, and the Bobcats were just cold enough to make it appear like a competitive basketball team was on the verge of happening. But it was three layups towards the end of the third that brought Charlotte's lead back to six, and a 12-1 lead from the Bobcats in the fourth, pushed the game back out of reach for the Nets.

Fortunately, Terrence Williams continues to be a bright spot, and as Ian Eagle speculated after the game, you have to wonder if TWill wants the season to end right now. There was one point in the first half where Williams had 13 of his team's 27 points.  On a night where Devin Harris wasn't much of a factor outside of the third quarter, and Brook Lopez had a quiet 16 points and 8 rebounds, Williams was the best player wearing a Nets uniform last night - and with a plethora of impact swingman expected to be available in free agency and the draft this summer, the Nets are going to have to consider long and hard how they can improve their team, while still finding quality minutes for TWill, who is growing into a game changer before our very eyes.

A few more thoughts after the jump.

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Mark Ginocchio

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