Last season, the New Jersey Nets proved to be a very special team. Personally, they surprised me because I can’t remember the last time I saw a team underachieve this much. For much of the year, we thought that the Nets would give the 1972 – 73 Philadelphia 76ers a run for their money and have the worst record in NBA history (The 6ers were 9 -73 that year). They were able to avert disaster and ultimately get to 12 wins , while losing 70 of course.
A famous poet once said, “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.” That’s true, so 12 wins is 12 wins no matter how you look at it. However, personally, I feel as if the Nets were more than a 12 win team. I’m not a Nets fan, so I’m not making excuses for them, but things really didn’t go their way last year. The season started with them losing an NBA record 18 games in a row until they finally beat the Bobcats in early December. That streak never should’ve gotten that far. A few of those games were close and one loss was actually the result of a Dwyane Wade buzzer beater. So, if the ball bounced another way for them, they never would’ve lost so many in a row. But they did.
What also contributed to them underachieving was that they were without their starting Point Guard, Devin Harris for 18 games. I like Devin’s game and I think he’s underrated actually. Devin’s absence wasn’t the only reason for their terrible season however, because Harris is usually injured. In fact, in his six year NBA career, he has never played all 82 games. On paper, the Nets were a decent team. Last year, their roster had names such as:
Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, Yi Jianlian, Eduardo Najera, Terrence Williams, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Josh Boone, Sean Williams
Not exactly the 72 – 10 Bulls, but I’ve seen worse. I know championships aren’t won on paper, but it looks to me like a team that should’ve won a lot more than 12 games.
Gone is former head coach, Lawrence Frank. In is former Mavs head coach, Avery Johnson. Frank was a somewhat energetic guy, but next to Avery Johnson, he looks like Ben Stein. Despite his unique voice, I’ll give Avery credit. His guys played hard for him. For a good portion of his tenure in Dallas, he seemed to be steering that ship well. Maybe that energy will translate into more wins.
But the biggest off the court move was their new majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov. The Russian billionaire brings a certain swagger to the team. I don’t think that will amount to any additional wins, but it gave people something positive to talk about regarding the Nets for a change.
It seemed like just yesterday that the Nets went to two consecutive NBA Finals led by Jason Kidd, who was robbed of an MVP by the way. Now, they’ve done a complete 180. There were talks of them getting Carmelo Anthony this summer, but that never materialized. In fact, Carmelo has even denied that he ever requested to be traded there. On the court, the Nets key additions include Troy Murphy, Jordan Farmar, and rookies Derrick Favors and Damion James. When you add another year of experience for Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, the Nets should earn more than 12 wins. But, the way they underachieved last year, its anyone’s guess how many that will be.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
