Nets Completing Objectives

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The Izod Center was alarmingly empty two years ago

The New Jersey Nets came into the offseason with three objectives in mind. Number one was to try to increase attendance and interest in the team while taking some of it away from those New York Knicks next door. “The Izod Center is only 11 miles from Madison Square Garden, but with the difference in attendance last season, you would think the New Jersey Nets played in Canada making their fans drive hours to attend a game, “said GM Danny Torres. Objective number two was to add a Robin to Starbury’s Batman. Objective number three was to add some inside scoring which would increase the Nets below average scoring average last season.


Marbury brought his New York state of mind with him to New Jersey, hopefully he brought some fans as well

Objective number one is a work in progress that the Nets have been trying to achieve to avoid moving to Brooklyn. The goal was to bring in players that were either from around New Jersey or have some connection to New Jersey or to bring in players that played college basketball nearby. This way the team can get the attention of fans of these players and hopefully get the fan hitched to the Nets. The process hit the pedal during the last offseason when the Nets were able to acquire Erick Murdock, Stephon Marbury and Scott Burrell. Murdock is from Somerville, New Jersey and played his college ball just three hours away in Providence, Rhode Island. Stephon Marbury is a prototypical New York point guard and the Nets knew that acquiring him would be a huge step in taking some New Yorkers for the ride. Burrell is from New Haven, Connecticut and played his college ball at UCONN. Now as we all know there is no pro team in Connecticut, but the state happens to be fair game for both the Celtics and the Nets. New Jersey was hoping to turn that market away from the Celtic green and towards the Nets with the acquisition of Burrell. Marbury is now the star in New Jersey, Burrell played a vital role off of the Nets bench and Murdock spent some time playing behind Marbury.

The next couple of moves happened during the preseason when the Nets were able to acquire Mark Blount, Tony Massenburg, and Tim Thomas. Mark Blount was born in New York, and played his college ball at the University of Pittsburgh which is not as close being 6 hours away, but he still played in the Big East which is a conference that New York and New Jersey is familiar with since Syracuse(NY), St. John’s(NY), Seton Hall(NJ) and Rutgers(NJ) all belong to the conference. The New York native started all 80 games in which he played for the Nets averaging 9.5 PPG and 8.7 RPG. Tony Massenburg was a face that many Nets fans are familiar with because of his time with the Nets during the 96-97 season in which Nets fans fell in love with his hustle. Massenburg isn’t from the New Jersey area, but did play his college ball at the University of Maryland, which is just 4 hours away. Tim Thomas is another familiar face because he is another native of New Jersey. Thomas attended college at Villanova, which is just outside of Philadelphia and only 2 hours away. Thomas averaged 11 PPG and 6 RPG and split time at both forward positions for the Nets.


The Nets front office is under the weather because of it, we're hoping the rest of the league catches it as well

This objective obviously was at the heart of New Jersey’s front office again this offseason when they selected Ron Artest as the sixth pick in the draft. Artest is another New York and just completed his career at St. John’s. Artest averaged 14.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG at St. Johns’ last season but probably what impressed Nets’ executives the most was his 4.2 steal per game as well as his 4.2 assists per game. Normally, college point guards do not average much more than 5-6 assists per game, but Artest, a small forward almost matched that average and then added an astonishing 4.2 steals per game. Artest is probably the strongest player, physically, in the class and you can probably say the same when it comes to his defense. He also brings with him a very balanced offensive game which should help Marbury out. Many people in the New Jersey camp believe that Artest could be the Robin to Starbury’s Batman which means Artest fills two of the needs for New Jersey.

The 3rd objective was to improve on offense. We already stated the things that Artest does offensively and with his defensive prowess, the Nets should need less points to win games next season. Artest will not only create opportunities for easy fast break points, but will make the team much better on both ends on the court. Artest could be the deciding factor that closes the team from last season’s averages of 90.8 points scored a game and the 93.6 points allowed a game.


Nailon may be one of the most effective scorers in NCAA history. Will it carry over to the pros?

The other move that has been made so far was the addition of TCU’s Lee Nailon via the Nets 2nd round pick. Nailon is probably one of the most efficient interior scorers in recent history. Nailon shot over 53% in his two year stint at TCU as well as shooting an unprecedented 66% in his one year at Butler County Community College, bringing his college career shooting percentage to 56%. Nailon averaged 22 points and 9 rebounds last season for the Horned Frogs and should bring that astounding inside scoring ability to the New Jersey bench which struggled mightily with the lack of depth.
The Nets seemingly have fulfilled their three objectives so far through the draft, but will look to continue their success during free agency. The Nets will first take a look at their own free agents to see if they can fill their needs. The glaring hole last season was another ball handler to play behind Marbury. The Nets need to increase their assists per game and they will look to add a point guard to backup the young superstar. It should be a much more exciting season this year in New Jersey, so stayed tuned to see if the new look Nets can compete with their Atlantic Division foes.[/center]