The Nets start an incredibly important 4-game homestand – important in the sense of avoiding the worst-ever tag – tonight against the Clippers.
Now when you’re 3-40, no game is considered winnable but the Nets have the Clippers (20-24), Wizards (14-30), Sixers (15-29) and Pistons (15-28). That’s 47 games under .500 (something the Nets will be before long) for the four teams combined. If they don’t pick up a few wins here, the Nets may have no realistic shot to surpass the 1972-73 Sixers’ all-time lousy record of 9-73.
And the first game sees the Nets undermanned. No Devin Harris (wrist). No Courtney Lee (wisdom tooth extraction), maybe no Chris Douglas-Roberts (stomach bug). Hey, why should things change now?
“I’m on a 10-day. I’m activating myself,” said interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe, which might not be a bad idea.
Figure Trenton Hassell starts at three with CD-R, if healthy, dropping back to shooting guard. If CD-R is out, a combo of Hassell and Jarvis Hayes starts. Terrence Williams will get more minutes regardless – but not as an starter, Vandeweghe said.
And “there’s a chance” Harris will be ready Friday.
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Brook Lopez is going to All-Star Weekend as part of the sophomore team for the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge Game (See? It’s not just the Nets who corporate sponsor everything).
“It’s something I’m really looking forward to. The best young players in the world are going into this, so it’s nice to be a part of it,” Lopez said this morning.
It should feel strange, though. He’ll be on the team that’s favored. Lopez will be with one other local type, Knick Danilo Gallinari on the sophs.
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Lee said the wisdom tooth thing was a surprise. To him and his oral surgeon.
“I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was 13. It just grew out of nowhere and it was growing into my tooth and then like the top of it wasn’t covered,” he explained. “He was surprised after I told him that I had them all taken out when I was 13. He was like, ‘Normal people don’t have an extra one just growing in.'”
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Keyon Dooling, of course, starts for Harris. At last check, Dooling was staring with Norman Bates eyes after the 0-4 road trip, calling the excursion the “worst of his life.” Well, it was.
“We’ve got to start now,” Dooling said of a change of fortunes. “We’ve got a little homestand. We’ve got a few guys down but we’ve just got to come out and play with a lot – a lot – of energy.”
Of his past proclamation, he said, “I don’t know how many guys saw the interview. Times like these, you don’t watch much TV or read much material that could hurt your confidence a little bit. But it is what it is. It was a fair and honest statement. We haven’t been very good. Our record reflects that. And in order for us to get it corrected, a lot has got to change. And it starts with us as players, changing our mentality holding ourselves more accountable.”