Unless you build it, they won’t come.
That was the basic message put forth by Jason Kidd concerning the Nets’ using the lure of a brand new building and the move to Brooklyn for free agent stars.
“Unless it’s built, you can’t believe it. That’s just the nature of the beast,” Kidd, said before Dallas’ 87-86 victory over the Nets last night. “They’re saying it takes two years. I heard the same thing when I was here. You can see how long it takes to get built. So if it’s not built they’re going to be playing here [Newark]. I never played here so I don’t if Newark is the attraction for an All-Star, a great player.”
Kidd said he only watched the Carmelo Anthony drama unfold from a distance but thought there would be a deal once the Nets got permission to talk. He feels the Anthony situation might not be resolved until the trading deadline. As for the franchise he once resurrected, Kidd preached patience. And he took issue with the negative image around the Nets.
“I was very fortunate when I was here. I had great teammates and I had a president [Rod Thorn] who knew what he was doing. That makes your job a lot easier,” Kidd said. “New Jersey’s great. Close to the city. Great restaurants, Great people. Great fans.”
But they’re going to Brooklyn.
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Anthony Morrow said he couldn’t wait to return to active duty and get up his first shot. He returned Friday. He got up his first shot rather quickly. It hardly looked like something worth waiting for.
“I felt like it was good shot just like any other shot,” said Morrow who strained his right hamstring Dec. 14 and missed 17 games but then returned and hit his final four shots, scoring 10 points in the rout of Detroit.
Morrow played 11-plus minutes last night and scored two points.
“He seems to have recovered pretty good,” said coach Avery Johnson who’ll keep Morrow on a 16-minute limit restriction probably until the end of next week.
Still, on a back-to-back, Johnson was being ultra-cautious.
“I feel like I’ll be all right. Come back to a back-to-back. That’s Nets’ basketball right there,” joked Morrow who played 12 minutes and scored two points.
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The Nets were not only going for their first 3-game winning streak since January-February, 2009 last night but they were going for their 13th victory which would better the total of last season when the Nets were a horrid 12-70. They’ll have to try again tomorrow against Cleveland.
“It means something because it’s more wins than they had last year but at the same time,” Johnson allowed, “we’re not going to throw a parade or have a cake with 13 candles.”
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Even though he is not starting, Kris Humphries is still racking up the double-doubles. Johnson said the power forward has just kept it simple. Humphries had 8 points and 15 rebounds last night.
“What Hump’s decided to do is put an enormous amount of energy in rebounding because he knows if you can get 10 or 11 or 12 rebounds in 24 minutes coming off the bench, you can play forever in this league,” Johnson observed.
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Owner Mikhail Prokhorov was expected to fly home following last night’s game. He came in for Russian Culture night, squashed the attempted trade for Carmelo Anthony and then saw two victories.