It's #QuietStormDay. Check out Brooklyn Nets guard C.J. Watson's top 10 plays of the 2012-13 season... MORE →
C.J. Watson
Devin Kharpertian
Brooklyn Nets guard C.J. Watson has mostly avoided the spotlight this year; outside of his brush-ups with Nate Robinson in this series with the Chicago Bulls, the backup guard's name has mostly been left out of the news. But Watson's name is front and center in another sport star's trouble with the law -- boxing's Floyd Mayweather, who spent two months in prison for assaulting ex-girlfriend Jose Harris after hearing of a relationship between Harris and Watson.
From the Yahoo! report:... MORE →
C.J. Watson (AP)
From the Yahoo! report:... MORE →
William Rausch
It isn't NBA awards season yet, but the Nets are already accumulating accolades. In honor of the NBA's new anti-flopping policy instituted last October, SI's Ben Golliver handed out his "flopping centric year-end awards," or "Floppies." As a team, the Brooklyn Nets won "Floppers of the Year."
Here's what he had to say:... MORE →
Devin Kharpertian
With just twelve games left in their inaugural season in New York City, the Brooklyn Nets have clinched a playoff spot and are on their way to somewhere between the third and sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They've got a talented enough roster to beat most teams in the East (the Miami Heat excluded -- sorry), but have struggled with inconsistency this season: an 11-4 start followed by a 3-10 collapse followed by a coach firing followed by a 12-3 start to the interim coach's career... you get the idea. It's been a roller coaster.
But: there is the potential for a smooth ride into the playoffs. Here are five things the Brooklyn Nets can improve on heading into their first postseason in Brooklyn.
| Start Here: 1 of 5 |
Devin Kharpertian
After three full weeks without leaving the bench, even when healthy or in garbage time, Brooklyn Nets forward Kris Humphries made his return to the rotation Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, logging first-quarter minutes over Mirza Teletovic as the first power forward off the bench. Humphries responded positively, swatting a shot off the backboard that led to center Andray Blatche leading the break and setting up guard C.J. Watson for an open 3.
Watch, of only to hear Chris Carrino compare Blatche to Magic Johnson:
Devin Kharpertian
Who fits best next to these guys? The answer may surprise you. (AP)
While you may disagree on the order of importance, any reasonable fan, analyst, or writer would agree that Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez are the three most important players to the Brooklyn Nets. Each player serves as an important fulcrum to the lineup, which is why the Nets play sparse minutes without at least one of them on the floor.
Because of that, I decided to take a look deeper into the numbers, to see how the Nets play when the "Big 3" share minutes with the team's role players. Specifically, I wanted to answer this question: how is the starting lineup best handled with the team's best players?
Because of that, I took a look at five Nets players who have the best chance of shaking up (or getting shaken out of) the rotation as the season winds down. Using the team's plus-minus when the Nets "Big 3" shared the floor with those players as a baseline, here's a list of what I think are the best role players to have in the lineup with those three guys.
Before we look at those five players, here's a list of (dis)honorable mentions... MORE →
William Rausch
In a recent article for the Greenwich Post, Claude Johnson, Founder & Executive Director of The Black Fives Foundation, recounted his recent experience of running a basketball education program for local Brooklyn elementary school students with Brooklyn Nets guard C.J. Watson.
The non-profit Black Fives stated goals are "researching, preserving, exhibiting, promoting, and teaching about the pre-1950 history of African American basketball teams while honoring its pioneers and their descendants."
The organization has been around for 16 years, but only recently has received widespread coverage from the New York Times, Daily News and The Root , among other publications. In addition, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared Feb. 10,2013, Black Fives Day for the City of New York. On the same night, Nets General Manager Billy King presented Johnson with the“Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things Award" at halftime of the Nets vs Spurs game.
Johnson cites the switch from a corporate style charity to a non-profit for the organization's recent success. Part of the switch in focus included an emphasis on educational programs like the one Johnson and Watson ran recently. The program:
"...consisted of showing the kids a collection of vintage basketball equipment (including a laced ball, kneepads and kangaroo leather shoes), discussing the ways the game is different (and the same) today, and then letting them play pickup basketball, but with one mind-bending caveat — they had to play by the pre-1915 rules,namely, that a player who had already dribbled the ball could no longer shoot it, or else it would be a turnover. "
The simple exercise teaches, as Johnson puts it, "adaptability, coachability and teamwork, essential building blocks for life, in a fun and engaging way." The kids were "riveted" but they weren't the only ones who left the program with a new perspective.
After the event, Watson said "“The rules they had to play by back then, some of the players in the NBA today wouldn’t last.”
An article from Mr. Johnson about The Smart Set Brooklyn Basketball Team first appeared on TBG back on February 7th.
The Brooklyn Game
Seems like a lifetime ago. (AP)
Though it hasn't always been good, the first half of the first season in Brooklyn Nets history has been nothing if not interesting. A franchise-record start led by Jerry Stackhouse and Reggie Evans, a Coach of the Month fired less than a month later, a sudden resurgence led by an interim coach nobody expected to last long, an inevitable slide, a first-time All-Star voted in only after being snubbed... It's been a roller-coaster ride worthy of Coney Island.
As we slide into the All-Star Break with the Nets all but assured a playoff spot and still very much in the hunt for first place in the Atlantic Division, it only makes sense that we take our game-by-game feature -- grading the game -- and stretch it across the season. In honor of the first half, what follows are midseason grades for each Brooklyn Nets player, plus interim coach P.J. Carlesimo.
Enjoy. (Or don't. Don't let me tell you what to do.)
| Start: Andray Blatche |
Devin Kharpertian
Brooklyn Nets guard C.J. Watson gets Miami Heat guard Norris Cole leaning one way and gets to the rim for a high arcing layup. Watch:
Devin Kharpertian
Brooklyn Nets backup guard C.J. Watson was profiled in a feature for SLAM Magazine today, dishing on the team, the turnaround, and the issues that led to Avery Johnson's firing... MORE →
Devin Kharpertian
Starting 5 Online caught up with Brooklyn Nets guards MarShon Brooks and C.J. Watson after the Nets' victory over the New York Knicks on January 21st. Brooks says the team's biggest difference under P.J. Carlesimo rather than Avery Johnson is confidence:
"I think P.J.'s been doing a good job of giving everybody confidence. That's 50% of coaching, in my opinion. Players go through tough stretches throughout the season, it's just very encouraging. Even the guys who were lacking confidence, for whatever reason, even our star players that were lacking confidence, it's a new start for them, a different voice. I think it's huge."
Watson echoed Brooks's sentiments, calling it freedom:
"Everyone's out there playing free. No one's really worried about making mistakes. Just playing through the mistakes, playing hard, and having fun."
Brooks also noted that the Nets-Knicks rivalry has always been one, but now "we're playing for territory."
Watch the interviews after the jump... MORE →
Players
Quote of the week. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” –Anne Frank
2 hours ago
The best way to tell what a player is made of is to look him in his eyes in the most crucial moments of a game. That'll tell you everything!
5 hours ago
I done seen hell .. so it's nothing anybody can so to hurt me .. I'm takin all shots like it's nothing ...
1 day ago#NETS
RT @MokeHamilton: Jerry Stackhouse discusses #Nets coach search, Lionel Hollins, Brian Shaw, but says Jeff Van Gundy is "ideal" fit: http://t.co/SHNXiUaHEN
2 hours ago
Mitchell & Ness NBA & MLB Tank top $40.00!@Saucyguy0BEYS&Ness #bulls #nets #spurs #rangers #blackhawks… http://t.co/TWZcixR1X2
2 hours ago
New #tits (Two In The Shirt) #brand #brooklyn #nets inspired SnapBack available @ #up2parstore for $35… http://t.co/OoQGHJYIsZ
2 hours agoTHE BK GAME STAFF
First one of you that says "sources say the Nets are considering Vinny Del Negro for head coach" is getting stabbed in the eyes.
3 hours ago Why is @talkhoops guarding Kyrie? RT @Steve_OS: NBA Live 14 screenshot http://t.co/XWE1FbisyF
3 hours ago I wrote about the five biggest questions/decisions the Nets have to figure out this offseason: http://t.co/xAOVMbPQTE
8 hours ago-
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