Hey Dumpy, what ever happened to that slow start you predicted?

I love it when you're wrong.

 

lol

 

To his defense, who would have predicted this?

 

I hope this good start does not mean a slow end to the season, would so much rather see us suck now and come through at the end!​

 

dumpy just didn't factor in what a great job Frank is doing with the team, and especially the rookies....

 

Not many.

 

Off topic, but can you explain me the last VC 2+1 before the game ended?

 

with a dunk and 1

 

oh thanks, just a simple 1 handed dunk?

 

The Nets have no business being 9-7.

There are three guys on the team from last year's training camp and three new coaches.

Wow!

 

I thought they'd start off around 7-12 or so. I thought they'd have a rebounding deficiency every game, and the rookies would be more inconsistent. Also, even though I was sure that there was a master plan behind bringing in the players they did, it was hard to imagine that they'd mesh as quickly as they have. Remember how inconsistent the team was over the first four games? A couple of good wins, and a couple of blowout losses where nothing went right. I thought that would continue for a few weeks.

Brook has been unbelievable. Here's something to think about: Just compare his fouls-per-minute as a starter to his fouls-per-minute in the summer league. He has yet to foul out, I believe. In fact, has he even had five fouls? That has been completely unexpected (as has been his great work on the boards). Brook's emergence has made everything that much easier for everyone else.

 

Career years from a coach, a front office, a PG, and a SG (not in raw #s in VC's case but in leadership and attitude) have a way of rushing that slow start thing!

 

He jumped from near free throw line area with a simple one handed dunk. Pretty though. ​

 

Just to add to that, the way they are playing now is how I envisioned them playing the last four weeks of the season, when I had them finishing 12-9 or so and pushing for a playoff spot. They've advanced so quickly, it makes one wonder what things will be like after the all-star break.

 

I've seen VC get it done with crappier squads. After seeing Devin last year, I knew he had the potential to be a star. The fact that we brought in reliable vets gave me the belief we wouldn't be just a rebuilding team. The only concern I had was Frank's inability to bring us over mediocrity, and I'm still pondering that.

 

So you expected the Nets would be 9-7 and go 3-1 on the Thanksgiving trip, but are still "pondering" whether Frank is holding this team back from reaching their true potential.

OK.

 

I really think there is a character/chemistry issue here too...and addition by subtraction. Cleaning house and getting rid of a leadership guy who did not want to be here (and was a saboteur) has helped enormously.

They got a bunch of hardworking guys who will actually listen to the coach (remember all those post game press conferences where LF would say, "well, we're a veteran team" - code for, the vets can't be coached). When you put a bunch of young, hungry kids around a few hard nosed, work-hard, character guys like KD, EN, JH, you get a much better team environment. Love the scrappiness of Ryan Anderson lately too. Whoever called this "retooling" was fooling...this was a clean sheet, new design of a team. And we're starting to see the rewards of a team-first, character-first approach.

 

I'm a huge believer in our teams' talents. I look at games, 1 game at a time. I don't see any team outside of BOS and LA (maybe SAN AN,HOU) that'll give us a hard time to score. I'd like to think Frank is doing a better job, but the truth is nearly every game we are still in a position to lose. If we didn't have Devin to dominate all his PG matchups, we'd have very little chance. Call me optimistic or retarded, I don't care. I'll still see us a team that should potentially dominate our opponents barring no injuries to VC/Devin. Contributing when 2 players are nearly unguardable 1on1 isn't that hard. If Frank would limit Simmon's min, and find ways to get Dooling and Hayes to contribute consistently big numbers off the bench, I will lay off him. If he could get Stro and Sean to produce off the bench on both ends, and stop opponents' runs, I will call him COY. Until then, happy watching to everyone seeing us climb back up from near losses.

 

Are the players muppets? Does Frank just shove his hand up their asses and take over?

This is the NBA, and any team can win on any night, so of course every game we would be in a position to lose. The 2nd Atlanta win and the Utah game they coasted at the end. 2 out of 9 wins. I think 20% of our wins where we close out with bench players is very good for a team with a lot of youth and still figuring it all out.