When Jason Kidd came to Newark to play the Nets, he said he’d believe the team’s new home in Brooklyn when he sees it. Richard Jefferson, Kidd’s one-time running mate in New Jersey, last night said you better believe Brooklyn will become the team’s home — and potentially a lure.
But if the team isn’t winning, none of it will matter.
“Obviously, it’s going to happen,” said Jefferson, who referred to construction progress photos the Nets first put up before Carmelo Anthony’s Nuggets visited. “I just saw pictures of some of the construction. . . . But because they’ve been talking about it for so long is it tough for people to envision it? Yeah.
“A lot will depend of the type of support they get from the people there. Winning always helps,” Jefferson continued. “It’s a situation that could be very positive, but at the end of the day it’s about the environment you build as a franchise. When we were in New Jersey and had good teams, people wanted to come here, so we got key free agents. Guys wanted to come here because we had a chance to win, a good locker room and a good environment.
“The organization you develop is as important as the city you play in.”
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Every time the Nets see the start of a big thing in Brook Lopez‘s rebounding, he seems to come up small. He had 11 rebounds Friday night against the Bobcats as part of only his second double-double of the season. Then he had four Saturday against the Amar’e Stoudemire-less Knicks.
But in last night’s 102-85 loss to the Spurs, he came back with 10 boards, and coupled with 11 points, it meant his second double-double in three games and third of the season. He had 33 last season.
“We looked a lot at tape, and there were a few where I was tangled up and just out of position because they’re spread so much,” Lopez said of Saturday’s woes. “And it didn’t help that their threes were going in.”
But he said he learned and applied it last night.
“When I’m in that no man’s land when I pop or spread the floor, then I was just coming around and trying to be more active crashing the boards,” Lopez said.
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Avery Johnson will sing the praises of his mentor, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, at every chance. Popovich, who has a world of respect for his former pupil, went the tongue-in-cheek route last night when asked to respond.
“I just want to kick his butt. I didn’t think he was that good anyway,” Popovich said. “But he ordered me around, and he told me what to do every day, so we retired his jersey just so he could get off our [butt].”
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The records are universes apart, but Johnson said he sees similarities between the current Nets and the 1990-91 Spurs he joined as a player.
“This team reminds us a little bit of when we were together in the early days of San Antonio,” Johnson said. “David Robinson was in his first or second year. Sean Elliott was young. I was a young player. We were trying to get to that next level. There are some similarities.”
But the only similarity Johnson, who used the word “dynasty” to apply to San Antonio, ever wants is the ring, or the rings — four of them — the Spurs have claimed. He knows how San Antonio did it and hopes the Nets can follow the same path through wise drafting and spending.
“They built it through the draft: drafted [Tim] Duncan, drafted [Manu] Ginobili, drafted [Tony] Parker, drafted [George] Hill,” said Johnson, who probably cringes when someone talks about the Nets and their drafts.
The Nets drafted Yinka Dare and Antoine Wright and Zoran Planinic and Marcus Williams and Sean Williams and . . .
You get the idea.
“And there’s just smart salary cap [manipulation],” Johnson continued. “They were fiscally responsible . . . and really stayed on a championship-caliber level. But again drafted well, they always found some diamonds in the rough.”
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Devin Harris said some of the younger Nets players were rattled by the support the Knicks received Saturday at Prudential Center.
“So many Knick fans coming over, it’s something we’ve dealt with in the past, so this was not any different,” Harris said. “Some of the young guys said, ‘Oh, we’ve got an away game tonight.’ I said, ‘Yeah, this is something I’ve been used to for a while.’ The new guys who haven’t been here, it’s been a different experience for them.”
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The 11 points by Lopez and Travis Outlaw marked the lowest team-leading total in any game for the Nets this season. . . . The Nets were swamped on the boards, 50-39. . . . Lopez on the Spurs: “They move the ball very well. We allowed them to get a pretty good amount of second shots, a lot of second opportunities, a lot of threes. We were a bit slow on our rotations. For the most part, second shots killed us.” . . . Quinton Ross started the second half for Outlaw, who did re-enter the game. Ross played 20 minutes and scored five points.