DALLAS — Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has a friendly rivalry with his Nets counterpart, Mikhail Prokhorov and jokes that the Russian billionaire doesn’t make trades or attend all his team’s games. So last night, he laughingly called Prokhorov a vulgarity.
“I said it jokingly,” Cuban said after his team scored a 102-89 victory over the Nets last night. “The guy is like a Russian Ninja and trains with every weapon known to man.”
While praising Avery Johnson, Cuban earlier noted the new Nets coach, when with the Mavericks, “was also in a situation where he had an owner willing to do deals,” Cuban said. “Maybe Prokhorov isn’t all he’s cracked up to be.”
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It was a perfect storm — in a good way — for the Nets when he arrived, Jason Kidd said. The man who transformed a franchise from pathetic losers to NBA finalists insists he found everything in place, that he was a final piece, in the process. Could it happen again for the Nets?
“I don’t know,” Kidd said after a very long pause.
It sounded more like a “no.”
“You’ve got to have the right pieces,” Kidd said.
And the right system.
“I happened to walk into a situation where I had a young, athletic power forward who could play above the rim and block shots and just needed a little guidance,” Kidd said of Kenyon Martin, who he helped turn into a dunking machine. “Lucious Harris and Kerry Kittles were veteran guys but also the system fit, and that was important: the system fit us.
“Running the Princeton offense, everybody touching the ball, everybody moving,” Kidd said. “We weren’t shooting the ball extremely well but we could get out and run. The biggest thing was we defended. That was where we hung our hats.”
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Dirk Nowitzki knows exactly what Brook Lopez is going through with Johnson. Nowitzki experienced the same tough love coaching. And the result was an MVP season in 2006-07, the Mavs superstar said.
“He was the most intense person I’ve ever been around,” Nowitzki said of Johnson, his former coach. He definitely pushed my game to another level, forced me to help out on defense, rebound more. ‘Don’t always settle for jump shots.’
“He pushed me to be MVP that season,” Nowitzki concluded. “I owe him a lot.”
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Several Nets sources said the lines of communication with the Nuggets regarding Carmelo Anthony remain open but the situation is in “a holding pattern,” according to one.
“Not much has changed,” he said.
They can talk all they want but unless Anthony agrees to a contract extension, the Nets will never make a deal. Only a truly top tier team would take a chance on an unsigned Anthony. The Nets still feel they are in the mix with perhaps most attractive offer.
Kidd reiterated the Nets need for a big-name signing, but said he has no idea what Anthony is thinking, though if he goes anywhere but New Jersey, someone will say Kidd advised him against the Nets.
“I’ve never talked to ‘Melo about all this [trade, free agency],” Kidd said. “But it seems if something doesn’t go right, I’ve got to take the blame.”
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Johnson’s reasoning for Damion James starting over Travis Outlaw: “We need a little bit more energy, a little bit more defense. We don’t score in transition,” Johnson explained before the Nets lost for the 11th straight time in Dallas.
Outlaw signed signed for $35 million over five years in the off-season but “We can’t really think about the public spin of Travis Outlaw going to the bench.” Johnson said.
Outlaw understood the move.
“We are on a losing streak so we definitely have to switch some things up,” Outlaw said.
Johnson said the move is not permanent.
“I’m going to continue to search,” Johnson said.
James on starting: “My mindset has always been the same. Just be a dog out there, whatever I’ve got to do to help my team win. I look around the league at the guys that got drafted in my class and 90 percent of them are not even playing so it’s just a blessing to dress up, let alone play five or three minutes.”
And Favors is the next rookie who will get a starting nod. And it’s coming soon, Johnson said.
“My goal was to start him at the 41st game. It’s going to come a whole lot sooner than 41,” Johnson said. “We’re 10 games under .500 and I don’t want to wait too long.”
Said Favors: “I’ll be ready whenever he tells me. I’m just waiting, continuing to do what I’m doing and just play hard.”