<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Nets are about to enter the final test of their regular season - nine games crammed in the last two weeks, starting tonight versus the Hawks at the Meadowlands. "You'd love to win them all, and that's your focus, but you're not going to win them all unless you win the next one," said coach Lawrence Frank, who gave his team Monday off. "We're starting to play better basketball, but this thing is going to go down to the last day. We have to continue to improve." And that means Richard Jefferson is going to have to keep improving. After returning from ankle surgery, he's still regaining his rhythm, conditioning and explosiveness, still looking a step slow closing out on opponents. "That's a big part of it," Frank said. "The physical things, what he can and cannot do, what he feels confident with, understanding when he can attack the rim, if he feels like he's limited. He's getting better at it, but it's a process. He's obviously not 100 percent, but he shows flashes." Jefferson got outplayed last week by Detroit's Tayshaun Prince, whom he usually handles well, then missed a dunk in Philadelphia. Tonight, even with Joe Johnson out, he'll see time on high-flying Hawks Marvin Williams and Josh Smith. "That's what we're going to focus on, getting healthy and winning these last few games," Jefferson said. "That's something we've been trying to do all season. Unfortunately, because of injuries, we haven't been able to. Hopefully we can put them together." They haven't done that all season, just 34-39 coming into tonight. They're in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, just a half-game ahead of Orlando. But they're 6-4 since Jefferson's return to the starting lineup, and are confident he's rounding into shape. "It's been tough," Jefferson said. "We're just playing a lot of games. Whenever you take two months off in the middle of the season, it takes time. It's your body getting used to getting beat up again. It's not wind, it's not timing. Your body doesn't recover as quickly. But I'm feeling better." Jason Kidd can empathize. On March 22, 2000, he broke his left ankle, but returned in time to lead Phoenix to a first-round win over San Antonio. "I didn't have time to be rusty," Kidd said. "He's coming off the injury, and with that you're always trying to get rid of the rust. Hopefully he can keep getting better each time he takes the floor. We've thrown him back in, and asked a lot of him in a short amount of time."</div> Source
Yea this is the crunch time for the Nets, but I really don't see them capitalizing on it. We're still going to end up losing the games we need to win, or some other BS. This season has just been a failure, and the Nets still don't seem to have that sense of urgency.
