First a programming note. I understand I missed “Hump Day” yesterday. My brain is still a little scrambled from basically moving from one end of New York City to the other. Hopefully, next week I’ll remember it’s Wednesday and you’ll be able to start in Hump’s dreamy eyes again.
Over at ESPN’s Daily Dime, our boy Sebastian writes about Brook Lopez’s selection to the 2010-2012 Men’s National Basketball Team.
With the arena all but empty last night, Al Iannazzone captures some color from the fans: There were chants of “CD-R,” who didn’t play until garbage time, and one fan screamed, “Kiki, fire yourself.” In this setting, Vandeweghe had to have heard it. You could hear everything the fans were saying.
Meanwhile, on the agenda this weekend in Dallas, Rod Thorn will meet with Mikhail Prokhorov over dinner to discuss how those two can turn the Nets around.
So the shameless endless marketing of the Nets continues as the newest promotion is courtesy of Zappo’s: enter to win to be coach of the Nets for the day alongside Kiki Vandeweghe. Of course, the contest doesn’t explain what happens if Kiki gets canned in the next couple of weeks. Maybe if you win, they’ll just let you be the coach without a proper assistant.
For those of you with ESPN Insider, David Thorpe does his usual rookie/sophomore rankings but combines them this week in advance of All-Star Weekend. Thorpe determines that Brook Lopez is the No. 1 rookie/soph in the NBA currently.
Rick Pitino is apparently lobbying the Nets for their head coaching job. Rod Thorn is denying it.
Tom Robinson of the Virginian-Pilot writes about the Nets being on pace for all-time futility and includes the line of the day in his column: I’m not a Nets hater. Trying to think, but I can’t remember a time when I was more than vaguely aware there was a Nets.
Come to think of it, what’s the Virgnian-Pilot and how do they have a columnist dedicated to the general NBA in this world of shrinking print media?
