If this losing trend for the Nets go on, there will be one thing that is predictable - Jason Kidd's job will be on the line. His hiring raised many eyebrows, and technically, he won just 1 game, the first game when then Nets won, he was still suspended. Things are not too rosy actually in the NY area.
Already ‘Desperation’ Time For Nets
November 14, 2013 · 2:30AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – This is a new group, Jason Kidd, one of that group, said on a couple occasions late Wednesday night. He’s got seven games on the bench, from future Hall of Famer at point guard directly to coach. He’s got Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, who have barely disrobed from Celtics green,. He’s got32-year-old Andrei Kirilenko, who arrived as the youth movement, along with rookie Mason Plumlee, in the rotation.
So it’s settled. The Nets need time together.
“We’re going to use that excuse for now,” said Terry, clearly choosing not to.
The Nets can’t even get together on an alibi. The championship hopefuls are 2-5 after getting blasted Wednesday night at Sleep Train Arena by a Kings team that hasn’t been able to play hard for 48 minutes. They are questioning their heart, not to mention the explanations by their coach, and worse of all, there is no such thing as a wake-up call.
Losing to the Cavaliers on opening night didn’t do it. Going from the potential jump start of beating the Heat right into a loss to the Magic didn’t do it. Likewise the defeat to the Wizards, before the understandable trip through the grinder in scoring 91 points and losing to the Pacers.
A sense of urgency? The Nets are going backward by the day, no longer able to get to overtime (as with the Washington game), no longer able to stay close to a quality opponent (Indiana). The Kings – the 2-5 Kings with their best player, DeMarcus Cousins, going 5-for-14 from the field and lasting 22 minutes before fouling out – played with more energy and played better. It was 107-86 and it was a new low for Brooklyn.
“We win the next one, you’ve still got a long way to go,” Terry said. “It’s a long season. You’d like to say, ‘Stay even-keeled.’ But for us right now, this is desperation. Everyone that steps on the floor on Friday should feel desperation and come out and play with a sense of urgency. If you don’t you’ll be looking at another loss. It’s what it is. These teams that we’re playing are desperate, they’re playing with a much more sense like this is their championship. We’re not meeting that intensity level.
“Talking’s over with. There’s too much talking. We’ve done enough talking and now it’s time for some action.”
And:
“…. If we were playing five-on-five pickup at the park, you’ve been getting your ass whooped three or four runs now, OK? When are you going to pick it up and get a game, get a win, stay on the court? That type of mentality.”
Friday is the Suns in Phoenix, Saturday is the Clippers in Los Angeles to end the three-game trip and then it’s a lot of opponents that still present the opportunity for recovery: Portland, Charlotte, Minnesota, Detroit, Toronto, the Lakers. Of course, the Magic, Wizards and Kings fell into the same category and look how that turned out. Brooklyn can’t get it right when an old team should be most fresh, at the start of the season, and with a favorable schedule.
This is immediate scrutiny for all the Nets, but Kidd most of all. All the talk about Coach On The Floor during his playing career, all the assurances that he would be able to transition from teammate/respected opponent/friend to a boss who would make the tough calls, and the honeymoon could be tracked with a stopwatch. He needs to come up with something and fast. Or at least something other than a way to slow down the calendar to get the new roster more time to come together.
“It’s not a good feeling in here,” Garnett said in the visitor’s locker room. “But nobody said this process was going to be easy. No one [else] is giving a [expletive] or caring if we’re getting beat or not. Just us. I think the mentality here now is just it’s all of us in here. We’ve created this hole and it’s up to us to get ourselves out of it.”
