By FRED KERBER
Here’s the nutshell version of today’s stuff:
Vince Carter says the Big Three must do more but so does everybody else to turn around the Nets who figure to get better with the return of Nenad Krstic which management might or might not be awaiting before deciding to tweak/blow up the team because that could happen if the right deal comes along.
Got it?
Okay, from the top. At the morning shootaround in Ahn-ald’s capital city where the Nets prepped for the Kings who are solid and whole again (good news just travels in bunches, huh?), Carter who has struggled as much as anyone — 16.7 points, 43-of-111 (.387) shooting in the last seven games – said he and Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson have to take the lead, be “the train,” he said.
“Everybody is in good spirits. I think it’s up to the quote, unquote ‘Big Three’ to really take it to another level,” Carter said.
“Hopefully everybody else follows along and it becomes contagious and we get back to the level where we were playing,” Carter continued. “I mean everybody has to contribute. To be honest with you, it’s not just the Big Three. We have to start the train but everybody is going to have to step in and play a key role of some sort.”
Said team pres Rod Thorn, “that’s a fair observation.”
Jason Kidd didn’t disagree but noted it can’t be a three-man show. “Everybody has to do more, not just the three of us,” he said.
And coach Lawrence Frank naturally went the 12-for-all route.
“Everyone has to do their job. It’s very simple. It’s not very complicated. Starting with me everyone has to do their job, everyone knows their role,” Frank said. “We’ve lost five games in a row. So it’s all of us. None of us are doing it. It’s not a case of, ‘it’s just him,’ or ‘it’s just him.’ It’s all of us.”
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Next, Krstic. He worked out one-on-one Monday with Boki Nachbar (“He looked good, but I killed him,” Nachbar said). The Nets obviously can’t keep going the way they are going but before any blow-the-team-up mushroom cloud appears over the Meadowlands, they’d like to see the team with Krstic.
But Thorn won’t hesitate to pull the trigger if something pops up.
“You never know when something is going to come up that you feel can help you. Sometimes, it comes when you’re playing well, sometimes when you’re not playing as well. So we’re always open to something we feel might be able to help us,” Thorn said.
But don’t hold your breath.
“I don’t see anything on the horizon right now, but we’re always open,” Thorn added.
“He (Krstic) is closer to being back. We think he could make a big difference for us but he’s been close to being back before. Who knows when he’s actually coming back? Hopefully, he’ll be back shortly.”
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Thorn again talked about patience but admitted he really is not a patient man. But he is realistic.
“You have to be realistic. And I think most times, I’m realistic. Even with what has transpired, we’re percentage points out of the playoffs and I keep thinking we’re going to start playing better and we’ll make a nice run,” Thorn said. “That’s what I look for.”
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Krstic on how much he can help: “I don’t want to be arrogant. I think I would help, hopefully, yeah. But it’s hard to (know what to) expect from me. If I come back the first game after West Coast trip or whatever, it’s hard for me to expect like I’m going to be the same as before the injury right away. It takes some time.”
The Nets are excited about his return. They know how much he can help.
“He’s a helluva player and for his ability to shoot, he needs his legs,” Carter said, noting the Nets anticipate “his ability to post up, his ability to shoot, his ability to spread the defenses is going to be good for us.”
But the Nets can just wait on the young Serb. That realism stuff enters in.
“He’s not even on the map right now,” Kidd said.
* * *
Josh Boone expected to play despite his sore left ankle, turned in Phoenix.
“It’s sore but I went through all the shootaround so I expect to be playing.”
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Antoine Wright, called the team’s second best perimeter defender after Kidd by coach Lawrence Frank, says he is searching for the same thing as the team: consistency. Wright has been hampered for weeks with ankle woes (which came after a shoulder injury).
“I’ve only been back for two games, really. Right now, I feel good where I’m at. I feel I can help the team get back to winning games again,” said Wright who sees the team need as “just consistency. We’re getting two guys out of our Big Three clicking one night. We haven’t had many games where we’ve been able to do what we wanted to do for the whole game. We do it in spurts. Sometimes it’s enough to win, sometimes it’s not. We need some consistency.”
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Frank on the Kings (17-22): “That’s not their record. They’re 2-1. Look, you lose your three best players, and they’ve been able to keep the boat afloat, and they’ve built so much confidence,” he said referring to playing at times without Mike Bibby, Ron Artest and Kevin Martin.
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Nets have lost 14 in a row in Phoenix. Sacramento is no bargain. Nets have lost nine straight here: last road victory was Nov. 30, 1997.
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In honor of Sacramento and tomatoes (picking Arnold and “I’ll be back” is too easy) so we go with arguably the finest film ever made about giant homicidal beefsteaks:
Movie Quote of the Day — George Wilson (White House press secretary Jim Richardson) – “I can say without fear of contradiction that under no circumstances and at no time, has the current administration expended any public monies whatsoever for the purchase of fluffy flower-print toilet paper.” – “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”