NBA

Last-place Nets following familiar script

The more things change…

“A broken record. We just keep playing the same old song.” — Kevin Garnett, Nov. 22.

“When you go through dismal times like this … it shows you who’s within, who has the rope and who’s going to let go.” — Garnett, Nov. 19, following a players-only meeting the previous night.

“Something’s got to give. If we are going to get stops, we’ve got to be able to rebound and also we can’t turn the ball over as much as we did. It’s like we are shooting ourselves in the foot.” — Paul Pierce, Nov. 22.

And then there was this:

“We’re so quick to bail, in the sense of mentally letting go of the rope. … When we go down eight, nine, we can’t make a shot or something happens and all of a sudden it goes to 20. It’s disappointing. … I’m listening to Whitesnake: ‘Here I Go Again.’ The same thing happens. The same song. We thought we were going to start off fast, but injuries have come into play. Everybody has people hurt, but they still play together and find a way to win.” — Jason Kidd.

The kicker to all that is those comments from Kidd also came on Nov. 19.

But in 2007.

Yes, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Six years later, the Nets are talking about grabbing the rope and not missing shots while doing a nightly “Groundhog Day” routine.

Kidd, of course, is now in a different capacity, trying as a coach to get a disappointing Nets team to grab hold of the rope, the way he tried as a player six years ago. It never happened that season. Kidd was traded in February and the Nets finished 34-48, out of the playoffs. These Nets don’t seem headed for that same mess.

The way things are going, these guys aren’t winning 34 games.

The Nets are a 3-9 mess, playing the same song each game. Playing host to the Pistons Sunday, the Nets will bring the league’s 24th-worst scoring defense (102.5 ppg), 17th worst shooting percentage defense (45.3 percent) along with the NBA’s 22nd lousiest offense for both scoring (95.3) and shooting (43.0 percent).

But the Nets insist there is hope. There is ample time to reverse fortunes — 12 games does not a certified disaster make.

“We all have a lot of pride in this locker room,” said Pierce, who had another game to omit from the memoirs Friday during a 111-81 shellacking at Minnesota. “We are still trying to put it all together. If it’s not one thing, it’s the other. But we feel like we are still confident we are going to turn this thing around.”

As Garnett said Friday, “Quitting is not an option.”

No, but making a shot or getting a stop or two should be. Injuries have been cruel. Brook Lopez (ankle) missed his fourth straight game. Deron Williams (ankle) has missed three, and is averaging just 24 minutes a game. Andrei Kirilenko (back) has made four appearances for a total of 53 minutes.

Pierce’s offensive struggles get magnified. He was 2-of-11 Friday and is 7-of-34 in three games since sitting with a groin injury. In his last seven games, he has shot 21-of-75 (28.0 percent).

“I’m struggling right now, simple and plain,” Pierce said. “I’m getting great looks. I’ve just got to be able to knock them down. I’ve got to be able to step up with these guys out and I’ve got to be able to play better basketball.”

But it must come down to doing not saying. Six years ago, Kidd made those comments at a shootaround in Utah. That night, the Nets proved words mean little.

They lost, 102-75, to the Jazz and a 20-point scorer named Deron Williams.