Post by verysilentone on Jun 18, 2010 12:02:53 GMT -5
Nets Busy On Thursday Night
MJ guaranteed the end of the Nets 97-98 campaign
The New Jersey Nets ended the 1997-1998 season with a 43-39 record and a first round exit handed to them by the eventual NBA Champion Chicago Bulls by form of a sweep. But the tides have turned in New Jersey, who lost two of the top 6 players on the team and also let Sherman Douglas sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. The new look Nets return leading scorer Keith Van Horn and a rising young point guard Stephon Marbury, whose game can grow further than his own ego will let it. The question going into the season is who will fill the remainder of the starting lineup.
Marbury is the only thing stopping himself from joining the NBA's elite
One of the favorites coming is was Kerry Kittles, the 3rd year guard, who averaged 17 points per game last season playing third fiddle to Van Horn and recently departed Sam Cassell. Kittles was looking to be the starting shooting guard, but was traded last night along with David Vaughn to the Dallas Mavericks for Samaki Walker & Erick Strickland. Nets GM Danny Torres said of the move, “ Kittles is a great player, but this team lost a lot of depth from last year’s team, and with this move we bring in a couple of good young players, who will play big roles for us this season. Samaki could earn a starting spot and with Strickland’s shooting ability, he could provide and immediate scoring punch off the bench.”
Bench scoring was a concern in New Jersey, having lost Chris Gatling and his 11.5 points per game to Milwaukee via trade. Strickland is capable of providing that spark having scored 10.6 PPG in his rookie season in Dallas, and scoring 7.6 PPG last season in just 22 minutes a game. Strickland should see some minutes at both guard spots, and should be a great contributor off the bench. The 6th leading scorer in Nebraska Cornhusker history will bring his sweet stroke all the way to New Jersey, where he hopes to jumpstart a long career. Samaki Walker averaged 9 points and 7 rebounds last season coming off the Mavericks bench and has shown some promise early in his career. "Samaki has all the tools, he just needs to develop a little and he'll be fine. There is a reason he was drafted so high, even in the deep draft in which he was selected. He should be a great player here in New Jersey," said Torres. He was the 9th pick in the 1996 Draft after a great career at Louisville, and he worked hard last season to earn extra minutes off the bench. He delivered for the coaches raising his field goal percentage to almost 50 % and worked hard on the glass with a focus on improving his offensive rebounding. He did just that with 2.3 offensive rebounds a game and doubled his total rebounding total from the previous season. He should give the Nets that extra hustle and intensity down low, which is what Kittles did so well on the perimeter.
The only thing Massenburg can't hold onto is the same jersey for more than one year
The Nets continued to shore up their bench with the acquisition of Tony Massenburg. The 31 year old scored 6.5 points and grabbed 3.8 rebounds in very limited minutes off the Vancouver bench. With the Nets, Massenburg can potentially see minutes at either forward spot, and will do so playing the defense that he has displayed throughout his six year career. The journeyman will be making his return to New Jersey, but will still be adding a new jersey to his collection as his #44 is now being used by Keith Van Horn. Not too many players remain from the 96-97 team that Massenburg was a part of in New Jersey, but that’s probably a good thing because that team went 26-56. Jayson Williams is one of those players and he said of Massenburg, “(Laughing) Ya that wasn't a fun year, don't really want to think about that but he’s a good guy to have on your team, he’s not afraid to do the dirty work, hopefully it’ll get us more wins this time around though.”
The Nets are now looking forward to seeing where this new look roster will take them. A first round sweep is never easy to handle, and is usually met with some major changes in a roster. The Nets were no different and now return with a younger, hungrier lineup. Will Starbury and Van Horn lead the Nets back into the playoffs or will this team be turning a new page once again next year? We will soon find out.
MJ guaranteed the end of the Nets 97-98 campaign
The New Jersey Nets ended the 1997-1998 season with a 43-39 record and a first round exit handed to them by the eventual NBA Champion Chicago Bulls by form of a sweep. But the tides have turned in New Jersey, who lost two of the top 6 players on the team and also let Sherman Douglas sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. The new look Nets return leading scorer Keith Van Horn and a rising young point guard Stephon Marbury, whose game can grow further than his own ego will let it. The question going into the season is who will fill the remainder of the starting lineup.
Marbury is the only thing stopping himself from joining the NBA's elite
One of the favorites coming is was Kerry Kittles, the 3rd year guard, who averaged 17 points per game last season playing third fiddle to Van Horn and recently departed Sam Cassell. Kittles was looking to be the starting shooting guard, but was traded last night along with David Vaughn to the Dallas Mavericks for Samaki Walker & Erick Strickland. Nets GM Danny Torres said of the move, “ Kittles is a great player, but this team lost a lot of depth from last year’s team, and with this move we bring in a couple of good young players, who will play big roles for us this season. Samaki could earn a starting spot and with Strickland’s shooting ability, he could provide and immediate scoring punch off the bench.”
Bench scoring was a concern in New Jersey, having lost Chris Gatling and his 11.5 points per game to Milwaukee via trade. Strickland is capable of providing that spark having scored 10.6 PPG in his rookie season in Dallas, and scoring 7.6 PPG last season in just 22 minutes a game. Strickland should see some minutes at both guard spots, and should be a great contributor off the bench. The 6th leading scorer in Nebraska Cornhusker history will bring his sweet stroke all the way to New Jersey, where he hopes to jumpstart a long career. Samaki Walker averaged 9 points and 7 rebounds last season coming off the Mavericks bench and has shown some promise early in his career. "Samaki has all the tools, he just needs to develop a little and he'll be fine. There is a reason he was drafted so high, even in the deep draft in which he was selected. He should be a great player here in New Jersey," said Torres. He was the 9th pick in the 1996 Draft after a great career at Louisville, and he worked hard last season to earn extra minutes off the bench. He delivered for the coaches raising his field goal percentage to almost 50 % and worked hard on the glass with a focus on improving his offensive rebounding. He did just that with 2.3 offensive rebounds a game and doubled his total rebounding total from the previous season. He should give the Nets that extra hustle and intensity down low, which is what Kittles did so well on the perimeter.
The only thing Massenburg can't hold onto is the same jersey for more than one year
The Nets continued to shore up their bench with the acquisition of Tony Massenburg. The 31 year old scored 6.5 points and grabbed 3.8 rebounds in very limited minutes off the Vancouver bench. With the Nets, Massenburg can potentially see minutes at either forward spot, and will do so playing the defense that he has displayed throughout his six year career. The journeyman will be making his return to New Jersey, but will still be adding a new jersey to his collection as his #44 is now being used by Keith Van Horn. Not too many players remain from the 96-97 team that Massenburg was a part of in New Jersey, but that’s probably a good thing because that team went 26-56. Jayson Williams is one of those players and he said of Massenburg, “(Laughing) Ya that wasn't a fun year, don't really want to think about that but he’s a good guy to have on your team, he’s not afraid to do the dirty work, hopefully it’ll get us more wins this time around though.”
The Nets are now looking forward to seeing where this new look roster will take them. A first round sweep is never easy to handle, and is usually met with some major changes in a roster. The Nets were no different and now return with a younger, hungrier lineup. Will Starbury and Van Horn lead the Nets back into the playoffs or will this team be turning a new page once again next year? We will soon find out.
