NET NOTES
Jason Kidd may not be much use on the court right now because of a rehabbing knee.
But because of his basketball smarts, he is still invaluable in the pre-game think sessions.
“I talked to him and picked his brain,” said coach Lawrence Frank, whose team endured a 112-80 pasting last night at the hands of the Suns. “He’s got such a bright mind and sees so many things. He’s so helpful, not just to players but to the coaches.”
Frank said Kidd’s rehab is going well and the guard is running “at about 50 to 65 percent.” Kidd said that everything was “going great” before last night’s game. “I feel good . . . and Cal won,” he said, referring to his alma mater’s football team.
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The Suns’ Yuta Tabuse is 5-9. But he’s big in Phoenix. And huge in Japan. Tabuse is Japan’s first-ever NBA player and – like his countrymen in baseball before him – he attracts a ridiculous media following. The flock of journalists covering him last night at the Meadowlands was about 30 – even though Tabuse went scoreless in only three garbage-time minutes.
“Everyone makes fun of me because of all the media, but everyone [on the Suns] is a rock star to me,” said Tabuse, who joined Phoenix with a partially guaranteed two-year deal and helped pave the buyout skids for Howard Eisley.
But enjoy him now; he’s likely headed to the injury list when the Suns sign Bo Outlaw, probably today.
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Travis Best turned his left ankle and asked out in fourth quarter. Injury’s extent was not immediately known.
Frank on Suns: “They are a more athletic version than Dallas. They shoot the ball well enough. They’re averaging 110 points. They have Steve Nash – he’s an elite point guard. Jason [Kidd] in my mind is Number 1, but Steve is right there behind him. He’s the head of the snake.”