Bad Decisions May Be Catching Up To Brooklyn Nets

On Wednesday night in the basketball world, there was a litany of things that transpired that could either be seen as good or bad. Lakers fans were enjoying life over the resignation of Mike D’Antoni, and for Brooklyn Nets fans, they over reacted, to everything, non-stop for about two hours.

It was a wonderful evening to be part of social media. As far as the Lakers go, Magic Johnson’s comments really took me by surprise.

Happy days are here again! Mike D’Antoni resigns as the Lakers coach. I couldn’t be happier!

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 1, 2014

I expected better from Magic and I am glad a fellow all-time great like Charles Barkley called him out and said his tweet about Mike D’Antoni was beneath him. That brings us to the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets may be the most secretly confused basketball organization in the entire NBA.

There are several tiers of ineptitude going on in the Brooklyn, and if the Nets lose their first round series to the upstart Toronto Raptors, then the Nets as a whole needs reevaluate how they conduct business on and off the court. 

Nets Hierarchy 

Let’s start with the current let downs in Nets management. The Toronto Raptors have been a franchise in the Toronto area for nearly 20 years. The Raptors haven’t been good statistically for a lot of those years but regardless, they aren’t new to the Association. 

The Raptors fans have been absolutely amazing in the playoffs, and the basketball community has noticed. Now, keep in mind what I said about the Raptors being in the league for a good amount of time and having a good fan base. 

The Brooklyn Nets brass have noticed how great the Raptors fan base has been as well and decided to tweet this from their twitter account: 

WOW RT @BrooklynNets: #Nets fans take note- this is what a playoff crowd sounds like..set your DVD and take notes

— Zatoichi (@Jamaicanhitman) May 1, 2014

The reason I had to use my friend’s retweet is because the Nets deleted the tweet and issued an apology for taking a swipe at their fans. Nice way to try and alienate a fan base that you’re simultaneously trying to grow Nets; brilliant. Maybe Nets management does not realize that they just built the Barclays Center and moved the team to Brooklyn less than two years ago.

This is a New York Knicks City, and if the Nets thought because Jay-Z owned a small portion of the team and people wore their apparel that they would take Knicks fans and bring them to Brooklyn, they were sadly mistaken. 

The Nets built their arena in Park Slope, an upscale suburb in the Brooklyn. Park Slope does not scream “sports haven” and it’s going to take time for the fan base to really catch on.  Not only will it take a lot of time but it will also take a lot of success on the court as well.

This is New York City; people here will find things to do if the team is not winning. It’s been happening with the Yankees for the past few seasons and that’s the Yankees, imagine a new team with no pedigree like the Nets. It’s going to take time, so Nets, do your fans a favor, and just be quiet and patient. 

Acquisitions Back Firing

Awful decision-making by the Nets front office is also raring it’s ugly head in two different conferences during the playoffs. If you don’t understand what I mean by two different conferences than it’s possible the Damian Lillard for Gerald Wallace trade is something that’s not common knowledge. 

Three seasons ago Billy King was doing his best to keep Deron Williams a Net, so King getting established players around Williams was the way to go.

So Billy King did something inexplicable and traded away the #6 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft to the Portland Trail Blazers for a past his prime and over paid Gerald Wallace. Then King gave Wallace a 4 year $40 Million dollar contract to top it off.

The Blazers jumped at the chance to make the trade that seemed like some sort of trick, and made out like bandits. Gerald Wallace is currently no longer a Net, the Nets incumbent point guard Deron Williams seem as if he’s already past his prime before the age of 30, and that #6 pick which turned into Damian Lillard is becoming a super star right before our eyes. Look at the number comparison between Deron and Lillard in their first round series: 

Damian Lillard: 26 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds on 45% FG shooting 

Deron Williams: 17 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds on 40% FG shooting

Lillard is only 23 years old and already one of the premier point guards in this league and is about 4 years from his prime. While Deron has looked nothing like his Utah Jazz form and has fallen well out of the conversation of top 10 point guards in this league. 

The Nets are still on the hook to Deron for another three seasons and $60 million dollars…and Deron turns 30 in two months. Those are the breaks unfortunately and if the Nets find a way to win a championship then all of it is justified in the short-term. But if the Nets fail to lift a trophy in the next two years with their aging injury prone roster, then Nets management wanting to make a big splash backfired epicly. 

On the Court Issues 

The Nets are staring playoff elimination in the face and the playoffs are where coaching matters. And right now, Dwane Casey is outcoaching Jason Kidd and it’s not close.

Kidd has certain players on some weird numbers restriction, his rotations are off, and in game 5 the team came out flat as if it was the second game of a back to back in January. What’s happening I don’t know, but there are days off between games so rest shouldn’t be an issue. 

The real problem is the Nets tanking their playoff seeding to play a team that had nothing to lose with young hungry players.

The Raptors have everything working in their favor. They have the young legs, they have no pressure, they have a fan base that’s 100% behind from start to finish, and they have one thing that is universal sports, bulletin board material.

The Raptors know the Nets intentionally tanked in order to play them because the Nets felt it would be an easy out. The Nets made a calculated decision to play the Raptors first and the Miami Heat second knowing the Heat would likely be on 9 days rest. 

How Jason Kidd and his brain trust felt this route was the best option to an Eastern Conference Finals is beyond me, but they may have just played chess with themselves and somehow lost.

The Nets need Deron to play up to his potential against Kyle Lowry in game 6, because in game 5 Lowry made Williams look like a rookie. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett also need to step it up because they were brought to Brooklyn for games like this.

The Nets were severely lacking heart last season in the playoffs, and this same problem seems to be rearing its ugly head again. 

Pierce and Garnett need to instill more fire into the Nets and do it early. If the Nets fall into another deep hole when game 6 starts then they might as well get ready for next season because they will not advance to round two. 

A lot is riding on game 6 of this Nets seasons. There have been a lot of missteps made along the way and in sports all is forgiven with winning. But if the Nets fall short in game 6, then fingers will be pointed and there is enough blame to go around from top to bottom for this debacle. Good Luck in game 6 Brooklyn, no pressure.

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