Netlinked 11/25/12: Springfield Armor Make Their Season Opener a Successful One

These three guys (from left: Scott, Uzoh, Mays) are the core of the Armor and might be called up to the big-league squad later this season if they keep playing this well.

The Nets' D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, started off their season the right way last night by defeating the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers' affiliate, in an overtime opener on the road. Kevin Jones of the Charge led all scorers with 31 points in addition to grabbing 16 boards, second-highest in the game to the Armor's James Mays, who had 17 rebounds on the night and scored 23 points. Mays, as you may remember, was a training-camp invitee with the Nets who was cut just before the regular season began.

Fellow invitee Carleton Scott added 13 points for the Armor in the win and former Net and D-League draft-day acquisition Ben Uzoh had a double-double, notching 16 points and 10 boards to go along with six assists. The Armor traded for Uzoh a few weeks ago in exchange for a draft pick, a move which appears to have worked out well already.

Netlinked 11/12/12: The Dancing Man Will Be Absent From the Barclays Center

Those of you who have gone to enough Nets home over the years in New Jersey are bound to see that guy in the bright buttoned-down shirts dancing like an absolute maniac during timeouts. That guy's name is Phil Tozzi and he was a fixture at Continental Airlines Arena (later the Izod Center) and Prudential Center during many of the worst Nets seasons ever (think 12-70).

He won't be joining the team in Brooklyn at Barclays Center, however, because of a season-ticket disagreement with the Nets' front office. Signaling the general shift in professional sports from the fan-friendly days of yore to the money-making times of the present, the Nets wouldn't give Tozzi a hometown discount for his tickets so he could continue dancing in Brooklyn. But for those of us who remember him, Tozzi, and his dancing, will never be forgotten and will always be associated with the Nets, even if they were terrible for much of his heyday.

Netlinked 11/9/12: Mehmet Okur, A Net For 17 Games, Retires

Mehmet Okur, a 6'11'' Turkish center who spent last season with the Nets, has retired from the NBA after playing in the league for 10 season. Okur played the first two seasons of his career in Detroit with the Pistons, then signed with the Jazz, where he played nine seasons, and then was traded to the Nets just before last season began. Over the length of his career, Okur averaged 13.5 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game but was more known for his perimeter shooting skill than anything else.

Netlinked 10/22/12: Former Nets Terrence Williams and Chris Douglas-Roberts Released; Nets Voted Most-Improved Team

After an All-American career at the University of Memphis, Chris Douglas-Roberts was a star, so it seemed like the Nets drafting him at 40th overall in 2008 was a major steal. Guess that didn't turn out exactly as expected, right?

We have some former Nets news today on Netlinked as a few former draft picks of the team were released today by their respective teams. 

First off, we have Terrence Williams who, along with Jonny Flynn, was cut today by the Detroit Pistons as a training camp invite. The Nets drafted T-Will with the 11th overall pick in the 2009 Draft out of Louisville and the guard/forward just couldn't find his place on the team, as he was traded to the Rockets midway through the 2010-11 season, just his 2nd in the New Jersey. Since then, he has bounced around from Houston to Sacramento and then finally Detroit.

A year before picking Williams, the Nets drafted Chris Douglas-Roberts with the 40th pick of the 2008 Draft, in the 2nd round out of Memphis. CDR was cut by the Lakers today but, unlike T-Will, was widely believed to have a legitimate shot at making the Lakers' squad. His skill set--bench scorer, occasional defense, consistent hustle--is one that a bunch of teams in the NBA could certainly use.

And finally, the NBA's annual survey of general managers came out today and the Nets were pretty well represented in the results. The most glaring and predictable of them? Roughly 60% of the 30 NBA GMs voted the Nets as the team that is most likely to be improved this upcoming season. Makes sense, the Nets have been flipped and turned upside down (to quote Will Smith from "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") over the offseason and are a completely different team from last year, as most of you already know.

Netlinked 10/15/12: We Have (Limited) Video of Saturday's First Game in Brooklyn Nets History

From Saturday's game, Brook driving to the hoop, a good sign.

Hey, who said that games needed to be televised to get clear video highlights from them? Because whoever said that, was dead wrong. Thanks to BrooklynFans.com, the first-ever Brooklyn Nets basket--a dunk by Kris Humphries--and other high-points for the Nets from the game on Saturday were caught on video. Sure, it's not nearly the full game, but with the Barclays Center home opener two hours away, I can get as much Nets basketball as I can at this point.

Netlinked 10/8/12: Preseason Begins (For Other NBA Teams), Nets Have 1st Barclays Practice, Gerald Wallace Afraid of NYC

A-V-E-R-Y coaching up his new team at the new digs

It's official, the NBA preseason for the 2012-13 season has officially started. Well, to be fair, it started on Friday night when the Celtics lost to Fenerbahce, a Turkish team that has two players which the Nets hold the draft rights to. Those guys are Ilkan Karaman and Bojan Bogdanovic, who combined to score 15 points in their team's stunning upset of Boston.

There were also a bunch of games on Saturday and Sunday including Nets South (the Atlanta Hawks) beating the Heat and LeBron (no Wade due to injury) and the Nuggets beating the LA Clippers in Las Vegas on a buzzer-beating layup by Ty Lawson. However, unfortunately, the Nets don't open up their preseason circuit until this upcoming Saturday, October 13th, in Atlantic City, NJ against the 76ers.

Netlinked 9/21/12: Former Net and NBPA Vice President Keyon Dooling Retires

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that is indeed a Jarvis Hayes sighting. Oh boy was that Nets team filled with veteran back-ups as starters.

A sad day in the NBA yesterday as veteran point guard and former Net Keyon Dooling retired from the league at the age of 32. Dooling, who was most recently with the Celtics, played 12 seasons in the league with six different teams after being drafted 10th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Magic. Also, Dooling served as the secondhand man to NBA Players' Association President up until his retirement and the NBPA will certainly be scrambling to find a quick replacement that was as good a Vice President as Keyon was.

He only spent two years with the Nets, but in those two years, I grew fond of Dooling as a player and as the solid veteran presence he was on a team that wasn't too good at the time. I wish him well with his post-NBA life and hope he is as successful as his long career was.

Netlinked 9/18/12: Nets Fill Out Training Camp Roster, Jordan Williams Waived by Hawks

In order to fill up their training camp roster at 18 players, the Nets have signed three players to non-guaranteed contracts. Guard Stephen Dennis and forwards James Mays and Carleton Scott were signed by the team yesterday. Dennis went to Kutztown University, Mays went to Clemson, and Scott, a member of the Nets' 2012 Summer League team, is a Notre Dame grad. None of these guys are expected to play a significant role and/or even make the roster coming out of training camp but they do add some sort of depth if needed to perform in some capacity for the Nets this year. I've never personally seen Dennis play but from what I've seen of Mays and Scott, they are both guys who have decent scoring skill and can perform the intangibles needed to be valuable to a NBA team.

And finally, in sad news relating to former Nets, the Atlanta Hawks have requested waivers on Jordan Williams, the power forward from the University of Maryland who was sent to Atlanta from the Nets as part of the Joe Johnson deal. As someone who personally roots for Maryland sports, I'm very upset with the Hawks and frankly, don't understand the move from a basketball perspective for Atlanta. J-Will isn't making much money and showed at the end of last season that he's a serviceable big-man back-up who a depth-starved team like the Hawks could probably use.

Netlinked 9/11/12: Dominic McGuire Signs With Toronto and The Barclays Center's Court is Unveiled

This would be the nicest court in the NBA by far. Photo credit: http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1349568/Barclays_Center_Interior_with_Court2.jpg

 We've got another jampacked Netlinked today on Brooklyn Balling with some good news and some bad news. We'll start off with the bad news first:

Dominic McGuire, whom the Nets were reportedly going to work out, has signed a partially-guaranteed training camp deal with the Raptors, our division rivals to the north. As I wrote a few days ago, McGuire would have been a nice fit with this Nets' team, a team without many rebounders or defensive specialists, two niches that McGuire fills.

Moving on,  a much-awaited milestone in the construction of the Barclays Center was completed today as the Nets' home court for the 2012-13 season and beyond was finalized and unveiled today (link has pictures!). As everything with the Brooklyn Nets has been so far, the court is certainly unconventional andis what is known as herringbone-patterned, a term I looked up on Wikipedia and found to mean "an arrangement of rectangles used for floor tilings and road pavement".

It's definitely unique and as CEO Brett Yormark said in the link above, it has the chance to be iconic as a floor design, similarly to the parquet floor that is so recognizable at the TD Garden in Boston.

Netlinked 9/8/12: Nets Reportedly To Workout Josh Childress and Dominic McGuire

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Nets, in their constant and seemingly never-ending quest to fill out their roster, will hold a workout with veterans Dominic McGuire and Josh Childress.

McGuire, a 6-9 forward who was most recently with the Warriors, looks like a better fit to the Nets' roster as is because he's defense-oriented, a trait that is certainly in high demand with this team. Looking at his career, per 36-minutes stats, they are actually pretty good. 6.4 points, 7.9 boards, and 1.3 blocks per 36 minutes are solid stats for a cheap, role-player who has been with bad teams and strictly garbage-time minutes throughout most of his career. On a potential contender like the Nets,  McGuire could shine in a limited role, and most importantly, won't demand a big contract.

Childress is a veteran shooting guard who was amnestied by the Suns in July, with $20 million left on the originally 5-year deal he signed with Phoenix prior to the 2011-12 season. As most of you know, Childress, the 6th pick overall in the 2004 Draft by the Hawks, isn't much of a defender at this point in his career and probably would just be a shooter off the bench for Avery Johnson if he makes the Nets out of training camp.

I don't really understand the Nets' interest in Childress who we really don't have a need for, but, on the other hand, I love the McGuire possibility. He's a hard-nosed, very good defender and rebounder who would give the Nets full effort in the 5-10 minutes a game he would play. If he's the 15th man on our roster for the upcoming season, I think this Nets team will be pretty set to navigate the tough Atlantic Division in their debut Brooklyn season.

Netlinked 9/6/12: Sending Off Sundy Gaines to Indy

The zero on Sundiata's jersey certainly wasn't representing his effort level, but his shooting level? Quite possibly.

On today's edition of Netlinked, we look at how the Indiana Pacers have yet again poached away a free agent Net. After signing Gerald Green in July, Indy has signed Queens native Sundiata Gaines to a minimum contract with an invitation to training camp, similar to the deal the Nets gave Andray Blatche a few days ago. Gaines, a gritty 6-1 point guard, spent the last two seasons with the Nets and played a total of 67 games, averaging 5.2 points, nearly 2 boards, and 2.3 assists per game.

However, Sundy's contribution to the Nets was mainly in the defensive aspect of the game where he was  major pest and ballhawk, sticking with the better offensive players in the NBA when tasked with guarding them. Averaging nearly a steal per contest, Gaines, who the Nets picked up from the D-League in February 2011, was able to cause many turnovers in his limited playing time that often led to fast-break points for the Nets, a rare stat for the team to come by since Vince Carter and Jason Kidd were traded away years ago.

Like Gerald Green, we wish Sundy the best with the Pacers and hope he's put in an environment and role where his attributes can be better used as his skill set doesn't really help a bottom-feeder like the Nets that much. He is able to produce so much more when on a winning, playoff team, shown by the contributions (mainly this shot) he made to the Utah Jazz in 2009-10, when they made it to the postseason.

On another note, the Pacers also signed guard/forward Sam Young and point guard Blake Ahearn to similar contracts as they did with Sundiata. Young was rumored to have some interest in the Nets this offseason but, obviously nothing came out of that.

Netlinked 9/4/12: It's Too Early To Call the Nets A True Part of Brooklyn

This is a sign many Nets will see when they head from the Barclays Center after games back to wherever they reside for the season; be that in New Jersey, Manhattan, or anywhere else for that matter.

New Nets beat-writer for the New York Times, Howard Beck, published an interesting piece in today's paper about how the Nets need time to truly become a fabric of Brooklyn's very complex and interesting culture. He cites how no Nets plan to live in Brooklyn during this upcoming season as many will chose to be closer to the team's current practice facility, the PNY Center in East Rutherford, NJ, the same place the team has practiced since they played at the nearby Izod Center.

It is for this reason that Beck says that until the Nets establish a brand-new practice facility in Brooklyn itself (sites in the borough as being visited by the Nets' front office currently), no one on the team will live in Brooklyn thus distancing the Nets from the borough they represent. It's an interesting point nailed down by the final lines of the article:

Brooklyn seems ready to adopt the Nets. It may be a while before the Nets adopt Brooklyn.

I haven't thought of this before, the fact that the Nets' only true current connection to Brooklyn is where they play and what's on the front of their jerseys. However, that idea will probably become naught in the upcoming seasons when the Nets start to practice in Brooklyn and develop legitimate roots in the storied borough. And when that happens, it's gonna be even more fun and exciting to be a Nets fan than it is now.

Netlinked 8/28/12: Former Nets Edition And More

Oh boy do I miss that guy. Remember when we called him Veal Scalapini? No? Ok, maybe that was just my dad and I

Former Net, and current league-wide, fan favorite Brian Scalabrine is close to joining the Chicago Bulls' coaching staff as an assistant. I knew he was a good bench cheerleader but assistant coach? Kinda surprising.

Ex-Net point guard Jacque Vaughn, who played with the Nets from 2004-06, has been hired by the Orlando Magic to succeed Stan Van Gundy as their head coach.

Yet another former Net, forward Eduardo Najera, has officially retired from the NBA to serve as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks' D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends. He will also hold an ownership stake in the Legends and will serve in some capacity in the Mavs' front office.

Shelden Williams has signed with Elan Chalon, a French team. In 58 games with the Nets last year, the Duke product averaged 4.6 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game.

More links after the jump:

Netlinked 8/25/12: Joe Johnson Talks to Zach Lowe of Sports Illustrated

I'm excited, he's excited, we're all excited. I like that. By the way, don't worry, that's not the official Nets jersey. You haven't missed anything yet, the official jerseys are to be released to the public next month.

We have a short version of Netlinked today, a feature we haven't done here at Brooklyn Balling in awhile, but it will be sure to increase in frequency as we approach the season. The highest-profile newcomer to the Nets from this offseason, Joe Johnson, talked to Sports Illustrated's Zach Lowe about finding out about his trade to the Nets, moving to NYC for the first time in his life, his summer workouts, among other things. It's a nice interview to peruse for some quick reading during a very slow time of the NBA news cycle.

Netlinked 2/21/12: Morrow loses some teeth, Shawne Williams needs surgery, Deron to the Skills Competition, and Much more

In the aftermath of last night's rousing Nets win over the hated Knicks, it was found that Anthony Morrow got a few of his teeth knocked out because of a dirty Carmelo Anthony elbow that didn't even get called a foul. The play in question was late in the 4th quarter and looked pretty serious but it obviously wasn't that bad if Morrow was able to re-enter the game just a few moments later. He is probably going to be able to play on Wednesday against the Magic.

Another Net got some injury news yesterday, albeit it was worse than Morrow's. The Nets have announced that Shawne Williams, who hasn't played since February 11th, will require surgery on Wednesday to remove a piece of bone in his left foot. A timetable isn't known on his return but I would give him all the time he needs. The Nets need healthy bodies but Williams has been so bad this year that I would rather have one less player than have him suit up and play.

We also have some news regarding the Nets involved in this week's upcoming All-Star festivities. First off, Anthony Morrow will pay tribute to the late Nets great Drazen Petrovic, who died in a tragic car accident in 1993 when he was only 28 years of age. Anthony will wear Petrovic's number 3 during the 3-point shooting contest.

After the jump are some more Nets news tidbits...

Netlinked 2/15/12- Brook Practices, Armor GM on NBA Today, Armor on a Winning Streak

The Nets need Brook back healthy soon, or else this losing stretch will continue through the whole month of February

Finally some good news: Brook Lopez has finally returned to practice for the first time since breaking his foot right before the season and according to the Nets' [current] franchise center, his injured foot felt good. Since the injury nearly two months ago, Brook has missed roughly eight weeks of action which could serve as a nice indicator of his possible return as the original prognosis for the injury was that Lopez would miss 6-8 weeks. I'm sure that with a player as important to the Nets like Lopez is, both as an on-court talent and as a trade asset, the team's medical staff will be as cautious as possible in determining his return which hasn't officially been set yet. I'm hoping for a return to the court for Brook on February 28th, when the Nets return from the All-Star break in Dallas against the Mavericks.

The general manager of the Nets' D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, who happens to be Milton Lee, appeared on ESPN.com's NBA Today podcast as a guest to discuss the day-to-day operations of the D-League and what its like to be a GM of one of the teams. I highly suggest you guys listen to the podcast as it is very informative as are the rest of the NBA Today shows which go in depth on topics concerning the NBA as a whole.

The team that Lee runs is also doing very well on the court right now as his Armor squad  extended its current winning streak to five consecutive games after a blow-out win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Sunday night. Six Armor players scored double-figures in points in the game and that group of players was led by 7' center out of Cornell named Jeff Foote was incredibly efficient on the evening, making eight of his 10 field goals in the Springfield win. The streak is the Armor's longest of the season and they being so successful because of the scoring depth of the team which is highlighted by six current Armor players averaging at least 10 points per game, including Dennis Horner who started the year with the big-league Nets but was sent to Springfield after playing only a total of 16 minutes with the team.

Netlinked 2/11/12- Nets Get Crushed by Detroit, Ginobili Returns for Spurs, Nets Front-Runners for Dwight?

Ginobili always seems to have big games against the Nets, hopefully he doesn't continue that dominance tonight

I wasn't able to watch last night's game against Detroit which is why there wasn't a preview or recap for the game. Hopefully this makes up for it:

Last night, the Nets got absolutely ran out of the arena by the surging Detroit Pistons for the second game in a row in a 109-92 loss. The return of Marshon Brooks from a toe injury was spoiled by an incredibly lackluster effort by the Nets in a game that they trailed by 19 points at half-time after only 33 points scored in the 1st half. In their 5th straight loss, the Nets were simply outplayed Pistons team that was rejuvenated by big performances by Greg Monroe (18 pts, 11 rebs), Jonas Jerebko (20 pts), and Rodney Stuckey (19 pts).

The Nets have a quick turnaround from last night's game as they take on the Spurs at the Prudential Center tonight (I will be in attendance). San Antonio will get a huge boost from the return of Manu Ginobili, who will play for the first time since breaking his hand back on January 2nd. I really don't think that the Nets will have a chance tonight but in this compressed season, anything can happen (My full preview for the game will be up later).

Finally, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes that he believes that a resolution to the Dwight-mare will occur in the offseason and doesn't think that Magic owner Richard DeVos wants to trade Howard at all. He also mentions that he still views the Nets as Dwight's current favorite destination for free agency. I hope he's right, this whole saga is taking its toll on Deron Williams and the rest of the team and might even be partly to blame for the poor start of the season.

Netlinked 1/30/12- Marshon Breaks Toe, Dwight to the Bulls?, S-Jax to Return to New Jersey?

Could Stephen Jackson's possible return to NJ help a trade for Dwight?

This is the first installment of Netlinked, the series of link-dumps involving the Nets and general NBA stuff that I will post from time to time here on Brooklyn Balling.

First off, we have some interesting news from ESPN's Ric Bucher who says that the Nets might have to pull off a trade for the Milwaukee Bucks' Stephen Jackson in order to get Dwight Howard to New Jersey. Jackson played for the Nets in the 2000-01 and averaged 8.2 PPG while playing in 77 games for New Jersey in that season. Since leaving the Nets via free agency in 2001, Jackson has bounced around the NBA with a few teams but hasn't really found a permanent home. Bucher also reported that Howard and Jackson have been talking about possibly teaming up somewhere, including with Deron Williams in New Jersey as a possibility.

Now for some bad news. It appears that Marshon Brooks has broken his toe and that he will be out "indefinitely", according to the official Nets' Twitter account. The toe injury is unrelated to his sore Achilles for which he missed a few games to recover from. The injury could potentially be devastating for the Nets and it brings up the question as to why Avery Johnson rushed him back from free agency to play in the Nets' loss last night against the Raptors.