Most of the teams in the NBA would give anything to take part
in back to back runs at a championship, but the New Jersey Nets
had a slightly different idea of where they were headed. The team
finished the 2001 season with only 26 wins but bounced back in
2002 to win 52 games and make an improbable run all the way to
the NBA Finals. The team continued their domination over the Eastern
Conference in 2003 with another run to the Finals before losing
again to the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille
O’Neal. For most squads, a back to back run to the finals
and a decent start to the season would be reason for optimism
and hope but in New Jersey, all it did was ask management to fire
Coach Byron Scott. The organization said the team needed to change
things around and bring in a new leader. That new leader was Lawrence
Frank, a young assistant coach that spends hours upon hours involving
himself with the game of basketball. Frank seemed to rejuvenate
the team and they won their third consecutive Atlantic division
championship before falling to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern
Conference semifinals. The team has had an adventurous off-season
and no one is sure exactly how 2005 will shape up.
The team slowed down near the end of last season when point guard
Jason Kidd began to have knee injuries. Kidd was the leader of
the team and when he was out of the lineup, things definitely
changed. The Nets traded away Kenyon Martin to the Nuggets and
Kerry Kittles to the Clippers to cut costs and make a transition
even though Kittles and Martin combined for 30 points, 13.5 rebounds,
5 assists, and 3 steals a night. They signed Richard Jefferson
to a huge contract extension and Kidd wasn’t pleased to
see the way the team was moving around. The team also signed players
like Eric Williams and Rodney Buford in free agency but lost Rodney
Rogers, a big man with ample range on the perimeter. The Nets
made a few strange moves in their section of the 2004 NBA draft
when they chose small forward Viktor Khryapa out of Moscow and
then traded him to the Trail Blazers for point guard Eddie Gill
and $3 million. They’re second round pick was used on Christian
Drejer, a forward who started last season at the University of
Florida before leaving mid-season to play professional basketball
in Europe with FC Barcelona. Drejer is a bit weak and will need
to develop quickly if he wants to stick around in the NBA.
The New Jersey Nets have won the last three division championships
but they haven’t even averaged 50 wins over that span to
accomplish it. They’ve played in the weakest division over
the last few years and they’ll continue to play in one of
the weaker divisions again this year even with the realignment
of the NBA. They’ll match up with the Boston Celtics, the
Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks, and the Toronto Raptors
and although each of those teams will compete, the Nets will still
be the favorites to win the Atlantic for the fourth straight season.
Their biggest competition will likely come from the New York Knicks,
a team that made numerous moves in the off-season. Legendary point
guard Isiah Thomas was named the general manager in the middle
of last season and the team responded but was swept by the Nets
in the first round of the playoffs. The Nets will have one of
the better starting lineups in the division and the conference
but they’ll win most of their games through their backcourt
with Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson starting. Jason Collins
will start at center with Aaron Williams starting and power forward
and new signee Eric Williams at the small forward spot. The New
Jersey Nets will also have a number of key players coming off
the bench so that superstars like Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson
won’t have to worry about playing too much during the regular
season and being overly fatigued as they head into the postseason
for the fourth season in a row.
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