New Jersey Nets

Pierre Jackson is one of the smallest players in the 2013, but after Nate Robinson destroyed the Nets in the playoffs, they and others may not be so opposed to taking a 5'10" athlete (42" vertical leap) with good range. Jackson, who Chad Ford thinks could sneak into the first round because of that Nate Robinson effect played well in the second day of the Group Workout. Here's what Ford wrote of the Baylor point guard's performance... Virtually every GM I spoke with thought he was the best player in attendance. Not only did he show off his elite quickness and athletic ability, but he also showed off his floor general skills. I was impressed with his ability to run the pick-and-roll. His speed allowed him to fly by defenders (Kentucky's Julius Mays was on him for most of the game), and he hit several big jumpers. Ford was also impressed by some others who showed on Thursday, including Arsalan Kazemi out of Oregon who he notes is " a favorite of the analytics crowd" and a "glue guy." A deep sleeper in the group was the tallest player to workout, tiny Farmingdale State's 7'1" center and Division III's leading rebounder, A. J. Matthews. Matthews, a native of Brooklyn, is unlikely to be drafted --only one Division III product has ever been drafted-- but his dream is to play in Barclays Center. Also, the final measurements for the workout are in and D.J. Stephens of Memphis, who looked good on Wednesday, came away with the highest vertical leap ever recorded in any pre-draft combine or group workout: 46 inches. A Gerald Wallace clone, Stephens impressed with his athleticism and work ethic. Although only 6'5", he has a 7'2" wingspan. The Nets will soon start individual workouts. Expect to see prospects for both the #22 pick and mid second round picks, if the Nets decide to buy picks. The Blazers might be the most likely partner. They have a first round pick, three second round picks and a top Euro-Stash, Lucas Papanikolaou. 2013 NBA draft - Pierre Jackson and D.J. Stephens impress at New Jersey workouts - Chad Ford - ESPN Insider Pressey Looking to Prove Himself as NBA Draft Looms - Josh Newman - Zags Blog Mays impresses at Nets' combine -- at point guard - Eric Lindsey - CoachCal Brooklyn-native A.J. Matthews opening eyes before NBA Draft - Larry Fleisher - Metro

ESPN Boston reports the Nets did indeed approach Danny Ainge to ask his permission to speak with Doc Rivers about the Nets coaching vacancy but the Celtics GM turned them down. Rivers still has three years and $16 million left on his contract. Jackie MacMullen does not say if Rivers was interested in the Brooklyn job, but she does seem to think Rivers isn't sure he wants to return to the bench. Reached late Thursday, Ainge refused to comment on the Nets' interest in Rivers and reiterated that he expects him back on the Celtics' bench next season. The Celtics face several key decisions this summer and there's been speculation Rivers may not be interested in continuing. "Well, I don't think anyone is looking forward to [rebuilding]," Rivers said when he signed his deal in 2011, "but I'm willing to do that. I've had a group that has been very loyal to me, and I think it would have been very easy to just run and go somewhere else and chase something else. ... I just don't think that's the right thing to do. Coaches talk about loyalty and team, and I just thought it was time to show it." Once Phil Jackson turned down the Nets offer, Rivers became their top choice. Sources -- Brooklyn Nets contacted Boston Celtics about Doc Rivers - Jackie MacMullen - ESPN Boston Report: Celtics rebuff Nets attempt to interview Rivers - Tim Bontemps - New York Post

In talking with reporters Thursday, P.J. Carlesimo damned both his bosses and players with faint praise then said the pressure to meet Mikhail Prokhorov's goal of a championship by 2015, originally made in 2010, is unrealistic and that neither he nor his predecessor, Avery Johnson, were given much of a chance. On the prospects for a championship... "I don’t know if that’s realistic the way the roster is right now. I would not say that team could not win a championship. We thought we could this year if things broke a little better for us. But if you have that on your plate, that you need to win a championship in two years, I think it makes it a little challenging. But, again, everybody starts the year saying we want to win a championship. Brooklyn has more reason to say that than a lot of the other teams in the league. I still would not call them one of the favorites..." On players saying they needed a tougher presence in the locker room... "I think when you ask players what they want, it's like spin. This time I think there was a little bit of I wasn't hard enough on the team. Every other time I've coached in the league, I was too hard on the guys. So I think people spin things the way they want to do it.." On the control (unnamed) franchise players have with ownership and management... "Sometimes the structure of professional sports can make it a difficult arrangement between a coach and general manager, and that is moreso true today because the players are more vocal. And particularly the franchise guys don’t hesitate to step up and say what they feel. ..When you’ve got $100 million invested in a guy, it’s really asking a lot for an owner to say, hey, I don’t care. This guy’s my coach. You get along with him. It’s not easy. " On Avery Johnson... "You got the two years of getting your head knocked off while they were getting the roster together and getting the salary cap right and all that. Then when the team had a very representative team to put out there and you had all the great things that we all enjoyed this year in Brooklyn, he didn't get a chance to reap the benefits of those two years, which was unfortunate." On the current wisdom that the Nets need a veteran coach... "I don’t think it’s got to be somebody that’s coached in the league for ten years. I don’t think it’s somebody that has to have been a head coach. There are too many examples of guys with no coaching experience thriving right off the bat. I think you’re not going to win in this league much less win a championship unless you have a veteran team." He did say he liked the team, calling them a "good group, and whoever is lucky enough to get the job will like working with that group." As for Prokhorov, he said he respected him as an owner that he doesn't just want "a nice team. He doesn't want to just sell tickets in Brooklyn and make the team competitive. He wants to win an NBA championship, and as a coach you can't ask for more that. So if what comes with that is a short leash, well, so be it." PJ Carlesimo isn't buying into the narrative for why he was fired: "People spin things the way they want to do it." - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News P.J. Carlesimo: Avery Johnson did Nets' dirty work - Rod Boone - Newsday Carlesimo: Nets good, but not title ready - AP P.J. Carlesimo on Avery Johnson's firing, Part 1 - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York P.J. Carlesimo on Avery Johnson, Part 2 - Mike Mazzeo - New York Post

Day Two of the Nets Draft Combine featured 22 players participating in two sessions, including Pierre Jackson, Arsalan Kazemi and also Brooklyn natives Demetrius Conger and A.J. Matthews.

Devin KharpertianPhil Jackson (AP) Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson has already spurned Brooklyn's offer to become the next Brooklyn Nets head coach, saying he has no interest in returning to coaching. But that hasn't stopped him from talking about the franchise on more than one occasion. After saying to Dan Patrick earlier this week that Brooklyn was the most attractive destination coaching-wise, Jackson expounded on his comments by commending Brooklyn's roster in the New York Times, saying that he prefers it to the New York Knicks: “The Knicks still have to find some accommodating group of guys that know how to play ball together, move the ball, play the game the right way,” he said. “With Brooklyn, if you’ve got a point guard and a solid center, or a good point guard and a great center, you’ve got two of the pieces that you want to have toward a champion.” The Nets lost in the first round of the NBA playoffs to the Chicago Bulls in seven games, while the Knicks made it to the second round before losing to the Indiana Pacers in six. The Nets also have a roster better suited for Jackson's famed triangle offense, which may be why he prefers them. Jackson has repeated that he's interested in returning to the NBA in an organizational capacity, but not on the sidelines. He was not offered a front office job in Brooklyn. Harvey Araton, New York Times -- Teams Need Help, but Jackson Stays on the Perimeter The post Phil Jackson prefers Nets roster to Knicks appeared first on The Brooklyn Game.

William RauschBrook Lopez (AP)A Rajon Rondo injury won't save Brook Lopez this time. The NBA released the top three All-NBA teams for the 2012-13 season today, and Lopez, the Brooklyn Nets star center, was not among those honored. Lopez was also snubbed as an All-Star game reserve selection in January, until a season-ending injury to Rajon Rondo led to Lopez replacing the Boston Celtics guard on the Eastern Conference squad. To add Dwightmare to insult, Lakers center Dwight Howard beat out Lopez for All-NBA third team center. San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Memphis' Marc Gasol took the first and second team spots, respectively. Brook finished first among players not on an All-NBA team, garnering 132 points and 7 first place votes from the 119 sportswriters and broadcasters that decide the selections. Though being the first among the losers feels like more of a slap in the face than not being voted for at all. Or maybe that's just me being bitter. But WHY is Brook a snub, you ask? For starters, statistics. If we look at overall performance stats, the picture is pretty clear. Lopez had the 5th best Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of ANY player in the league at 24.7, better than Tim Duncan (24.4) and every other center in the league. Don't like PER? Try 82games Simple Rating: Lopez had the sixth best value in the league at +9.7, behind Duncan's +10.7 but ahead of every other center. Want some more? Brook Lopez's .181 Win Shares Per 48 Minutes are 13th best in the league, behind Gasol's .187 but only fraction points behind Duncan's .181 and perhaps more importantly for this discussion, well ahead of Dwight Howard's .134. Now's where you chime in that statistics aren't everything and that Dwight is a better rebounder/defender. Sure, statistics aren't everything, but they are something, and it is hard to imagine that most of the 119 voters got to watch all the players being voted on consistently enough to not rely heavily on stats in their voting. As for Dwight, Dwight IS a better rebounder and defender than Brook. Hell, Dwight IS a better player than Brook. When healthy, motivated and out of his approval-seeking head, Dwight Howard IS one of the top five basketball players on the planet; not sure about the universe if you include the Monstars, but I digress. Dwight, however, was not healthy and right of mind this season and Brook out played him. Remember, this is the All-NBA team from this season, not for any other season or for career achievement. If you want to go the team's performance/narrative route, Lopez wins there as well. The Nets went 49-33, four games better than Dwight's 45-37 Lakers team. The Lakers were a newly constructed roster with a rash of injuries and a mid-season coaching change. The Nets didn't have the injuries the Lakers had, but they were newly put together and did have the turmoil of a coaching change; in addition, Brooklyn's best player, Deron Williams, played at a significantly reduced rate for half the season before joining the All-Plasma team at the All-Star break. Dwight did lose Kobe Bryant, but that was in the final five games of the season, and Kobe played well enough to earn First Team All-NBA honors, a quality of sidekick Brook never had. Throughout an at-times chaotic first season in Brooklyn, Brook provided consistently excellent play and served as the team's anchor. For this subjective reason, combined with the more empirical arguments of statistics, Brook Lopez deserved to be the Nets first All-NBA team selection since Jason Kidd in 2004. The post Nets All-Star Brook Lopez All-NBA snub appeared first on The Brooklyn Game.

A couple of days after telling Dan Patrick the "Brooklyn situation in a good situation," he again endorsed the Nets to Harvey Araton, particularly when comparing to their cross-river rivals. the Knicks. Araton writes in the New York Times... He did call the Knicks’ roster clumsy long before it proved to be just that in losing to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Jackson considers Carmelo Anthony "an amazing ballplayer who still has another level to step up." But given a choice, he seemed to prefer Brooklyn’s roster to New York’s because of the age of the Knicks and the presence of the Nets’ Deron Williams and Brook Lopez. "The Knicks still have to find some accommodating group of guys that know how to play ball together, move the ball, play the game the right way," he said. "With Brooklyn, if you’ve got a point guard and a solid center, or a good point guard and a great center, you’ve got two of the pieces that you want to have toward a champion." Jackson, who's on a book tour for his "Eleven Rings," turned down an offer to coach the Nets, but the team apparently never offered him the opportunity to take over basketball operations, telling Patrick, the offer Billy King made was about coaching. Teams Need Help, but Phil Jackson Stays on the Perimeter - Harvey Araton - New York Times

Devin Kharpertian Above is our mix of Deron Williams's best crossovers, both before and after the All-Star Break. During the break, Williams received three cortisone shots and platelet-rich plasma therapy on both ankles while undergoing a detoxifying juice cleanse. After the treatment Williams says he felt like a new player. The post Video: Deron Williams’s Crossovers, Before & After the All-Star Break appeared first on The Brooklyn Game.

Devin KharpertianThe NBA released the top three All-NBA teams for the 2012-13 season, and no Brooklyn Nets players make any of the teams. Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Tim Duncan made the First Team; Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, and Marc Gasol made the Second Team; Dwyane Wade, James Harden, Paul George, David Lee, and Dwight Howard made the third team. Nets center Brook Lopez was the leading vote-getter among players who didn't make any team, earning seven first-team All-NBA votes and 132 total points. He finished with more points than the two forwards that made the third-team All-NBA, George (79) and Lee (73). The voting, done by 119 sportswriters and broadcasters, was totaled by position. Voters were asked to vote for two guards, two forwards, and one center per team. Had the voting been done as two guards and three forwards, as it was for the All-Star Game this season, Lopez would have landed on the third team. Deron Williams was the only other Nets player to receive a vote, tallying six points. The post Nets absent from All-NBA Teams appeared first on The Brooklyn Game.

Close but no cigar. Brook Lopez finished just out of the running for the All-NBA team in results issued Thursday. Lopez finished behind Tim Duncan, Marc Gasol and Dwight Howard in the voting for center, despite receiving seven first team votes and 132 votes, more than two members of the third team and equal to Blake Griffin on the second team. But in balloting for the 5 spot, Lopez was far behind Duncan, Gasol and Howard. Howard, whose season with the Lakers was filled with controversy and underachievement, finished with 203 votes. Gasol had 295 and Duncan, who played a lot of minutes with Tiago Splitter, had 392. Only one other Net, Deron Williams, received any votes in the balloting and he garnered only six. Third team point guard Dwyane Wade, finished with 145. LeBron James, the 2012-13 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player and winner of four of the previous five MVP awards, highlights the 2012-13 All-NBA First Team. James was the only player to receive all 119 First Team votes. Joining James on the First Team are Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. James, Durant, Duncan lead 2012-13 All-NBA first team - NBA.com