From this week's Stein Line, courtesy of ESPN writer Marc Stein. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Forget the swung-and-missed acquisitions of Mutombo and Mourning. Don't bust on Thorn for those gambles, because they made plenty of sense for the centerless Nets. It bothers Thorn much more, as he acknowledged recently, that he didn't draft Arenas along with Jefferson and Collins in '01. Thorn admitted that the Nets were torn between Armstrong and Arenas, and chose Armstrong. That's the smaller mistake. The bigger one is not firing Scott right after the season, unfair as that would have been. Scott gets less credit for taking a team to the Finals than any coach in league history, but if Kidd and his teammates were never going to play hard for Scott again, Scott had to go. Thorn needed to be as decisive as Joe Dumars and Larry Bird, who acted as soon as they saw the coaches they wanted, making stunning changes in the face of team success and loud protest. Van Gundy agreed to coach the Rockets before the end of the Finals, but we're guessing he would have held off had the Nets secretly made it clear they would be bringing him in as soon as the season ended. In a worst-case scenario, had the Nets somehow lost out to Houston -- doubtful given Van Gundy's fondness for the greater New York area -- Thorn would have had a clean shot at Carlisle before the Pacers got him. From here, though, that's the sum of Thorn's culpability, in spite of his claims to the press Thursday that "good or bad, the credit or the debit should go to me." That all the blame, as Thorn insisted, should be dumped "at my doorstep." Don't spare Kidd any blame, even if you love watching him play as much as we do, because his non-support for Scott has been shameful. The world knows Scott won't last beyond this season, since he didn't get a contract extension after two straight trips to the championship round. So if Kidd can't suck it up and throw his support behind Scott for the next six months, after all the success they've enjoyed together, he deserves a deep stain on an image he had cleaned up considerably since being arrested for striking his wife in the spring of 2001. "As great a player as he is, there has always been something missing with this guy," said Frank Zaccanelli, the former Dallas Mavericks part-owner who traded Kidd to Phoenix on the day after Christmas in 1996. "As unselfish as he is on the court," Zaccanelli continued, "he's the complete opposite off the court. I've seen it from up close. He has never liked a coach he has played for. Never."</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Together, Thorn and his new bosses will eventually have to contemplate the big step -- trading Kidd and starting over. Until now, I believed that only one team could be lucky enough to trade Kidd away and live to tell about it. But the Suns' long-term prospects don't look so shabby sans Kidd, in spite of this season's struggles, while the Nets' future seems so dreary. That would be the ultimate shakeup -- for, say, a package featuring Tony Parker -- and it would make Thorn known as The Man Who Also Traded Jason Kidd Away. Yet if that ever did happen -- if Kidd is amazingly dealt for the third time -- Kidd won't have the grounds to complain. In hindsight, now you wonder whether little, small-market San Antonio is actually the only place where Kidd can find contentment. Where he'd be second in authority behind Tim Duncan on the list of playing GMs. And where Duncan is smart enough to back Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford fully and let them operate as The Men In Charge. </div> Full Article What are people's thoughts on this? No player is bigger than the team, I'm not sure Jason Kidd is untouchable as his performances on the court should make him. <font size="1"><font color="Navy">Courtesy of Marc Stein and ESPN.</font></font>
J.Kidd not going anywhere, but his rumored comments about him wanting B.Scott fired really hung Scott out to dry. If we are still struggling come the New Year I think Scott is going to get fired. B. Scott cant really coach in big games & when your star player looses faith in you than so does the whole team. The Nets have alot of problems to work out. I dont think you can win a championship with Kidd as you best scorer in a half court set. He jump shot is just way to weak & he doesnt really create well for others in the Half court. I think the Nets have to trade Kittles for a scorer who can create his own shot in the half court.
I agree. I think Scott is in the same boat as Doc Rivers in that he has real coaching ability, but when they hit that dry spell and the team needs a scapegoat, its better the coach than the star player. The Magic did the same thing. I agree about the Kittles assessment. They need a 2 guard who can create easily but also run the Nets break. A guy who can put up 20 ppg or something. However, that's gonna be hard to find, but not impossible. A guy they might wanna check out is Larry Hughes, who's gotten dished around quite a bit. He's a tweener, who can play point and 2 guard, but the Wiz have Arenas and Blake at point and now that Hayes has emerged, they can move Stack back to 2 with Dixon backing him up. Hughes is expendable, but the Wiz will want some compensation based on what he's been giving them, and might ask for Jason Collins. Not sure if the Nets are willing to give him up.
Kidd isn't going anywhere. Sadly, Scott's the lame duck. I wish they could work together instead of Kidd "saying but not saying" that he wants Scott fired.
If they release J.Kidd, you can expect the whole team to crumble. If they fire Scott, it will be for the better.
