TOGETHER WE STAND: Deron Williams (left) and All-Star center Brook Lopez are two of the main reasons Brooklyn will host a playoff game for the first time in 57 years tonight when the Nets take on the Bulls. (Getty Images)
P.J. Carlesimo was waxing poetic about the Nets season and ‘the whole Brooklyn phenomena” when he issued a subtle challenge to the home crowd that will be in the Barclays Center for tonight’s NBA playoff opener against the Bulls.
“The building hopefully will be as loud as the United Center is going to be and that will be a hell of a challenge,” Carlesimo said referring to the Bulls’ homecourt in Chicago. “The most important thing now from the whole Brooklyn experience is that it will go to another level at being a home court.”
The Nets earned the home-court advantage by finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference. It’s a home court Carlesimo wants to fully utilize tonight when the Nets host their first playoff game since 2006-07. A wardrobe blackout has been ordered and if “Brooklyn in da house” is more than just a catch phrase, Carlesimo wants to see it and most importantly hear it tonight.
“The whole Brooklyn phenomena has just made this year very special,” Carlesimo said yesterday at the Nets practice facility. “It’s not a normal year, particularly in comparison to what we went through as lame duck Jersey the last couple of years. It was really a difficult situation.
“This year has been 10 times more exciting, more well-received, more attention, more everything than I could have ever thought. I’m astounded it’s been as big a story and as well received not just in New York but nationally. I thought it would be different, but I never thought it would be the way it has beenBeing in the playoffs is the most significant thing, but all the things that happened have made it seem like a bigger deal.”
Carlesimo deserves a lot of credit for that and his appointment as the Nets permanent head coach at the end of the season should only be a formality no matter what happens in the playoffs. For a while you weren’t sure how he would be best remembered: as the coach who took Seton Hall of the NCAA championship game in 1989; as the coach who was choked by Latrell Sprewell at Golden State or the coach that enjoyed most of his pro success as an assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.
But now Carlesimo has carved his own success story. No matter what happens, they can’t take away this season, which has been more impressive than he has been given credit for. There were plenty of potential distractions, the move from Newark; the firing of Avery Johnson in December; and Kris Humphries’ drawn-out divorce from Kim Kardashian. But the Nets went 35-19 under Carlesimo and now that Humphries has confirmed his divorce has been settled, the Nets enter with clear minds focused on winning their best-of-seven against the Bulls.
Ask his players and they’ll tell you Carlesimo’s basic messages center on trusting each other, sticking to routine, being accountable and doing your job.
“If you do those things, you’ll never have a problem with him,” said Pete Marion, who served as Carlesimo’s manager at Seton Hall and is now the head basketball coach at FDU-Madison.
If Carlesimo is still auditioning for his job, he should be fully prepared for this phase. He was 3-9 over three different playoffs when he was the head coach at Portland from 1994-97. But he learned how to win championships as an assistant when the Spurs won titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
“Coaching is the same as anything else,” Carlesimo said, “the more experience you have, hopefully the better you get. The more things you see, the more people you have a chance to work with and learn from, hopefully each year you’re a better coach.”
Carlesimo will demand of himself what he demands of his players, to be the best they can be. It’s up to the Barclays Center to get as loud as it can get.