Basketball Fiend is a solid NBA blog, and I read it daily. So when I saw this post today, I knew that I had to link to it at some point. I also find it funny that it came during the same day my post came out. Here is a little info on Basketball Fiend’s Basketball Hell:
The concept of NBA Hell is something that I came up with last season, watching teams like the Knicks and the Sonics (now Thunder) slowly and painfully torture their fans like the intro to Wu Tang’s Method Man.
NBA Hell is basically the professional basketball version of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, a guided tour through the nine circles of hell, each circle a little bit worse than the one before it.
The article was popular last year and I enjoyed writing it, so I figured why not bring it back?
Since this is the second edition, I tried to refine the concept as best I could, using more statistics (such as winning percentage, blowout losses – which I define as losses by more than 15 points, scoring margin, and average attendance) as well as other, more subjective factors (like ownership and the ability to win in the future) to pare the league down to the nine most unbearable teams in the league.
On to some of the stuff he said about the Nets. Again the full thing is here:
The way I see it, 2009-10 is going to be a torturous season for the Nets.
After trading away its best offensive player (Vince Carter), failing to address a need at power forward, and adding Rafer Alston, one of the least-coachable players in the league, the Nets are going to have a hard time competing in 2009-10. It’s difficult to imagine them winning more than 25 games next year.
After that, things will look up.
The Nets may have traded away an offensive centerpiece in Carter, but the trade also freed up $30-35 million in cap room for the 2010 offseason.
and
All four of those guys are talented players with definitive skills. Harris and Lopez run a wicked high pick-and-roll, Lee is a talented outside shooter who can play solid D, and Williams is a defensive-minded athlete with the kind of physical skills coaches dream of.
I completely agree with this whole section, but I think if everything comes together correctly, the Nets can take 30-35 games this year. In my opinion it all depends on Terrence Williams and CDR. If they can contribute positively, I think we can avoid the flames of hell.
