He said he has learned some lessons over the past six years – though he did not elaborate much other than to say that not all players and coaches can handle the atmosphere in NY – but that he doesn’t think his approach is what doomed the team. “Following the consolidation of team ownership last month, I can assure you that I’m more determined and committed than ever to build a victor”.
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“I would like to thank Mikhail [Prokhorov] for the opportunity that he accorded over me over the past five plus years as the team’s general manager”.
The firings could have come at a better time for the franchise, which is now in a slump.
Centre Brook Lopez led Brooklyn with 18 points and forward Joe Johnson added 16 for the Nets, who lost their 10th consecutive home game.
Prokhorov, who flew from Russian Federation to Brooklyn on Monday, is desperate to ring in the changes.
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants to develop a better strategy for building a Nets identity and a winning culture in Brooklyn. “Are we building a team around [a] franchise player, or we balancing… younger athletes without [a] superstar?” “We put a lot of names on [our] list”.
They had advanced to the post-season three years in a row since relocating from New Jersey for their 2012-2013 campaign, but this season they have been struggling. “But I’m not going in there and telling them ‘Hey, we need to make the playoffs.’ Our job is to play a little bit harder, a little bit smarter”.
Mind you, this trade was disastrous only for Brooklyn. Six years later, the Nets have collected no titles, and are now floundering at 10-27.
Brooklyn Nets’ coach Lionel Hollins calls out during the first half of an NBA basketball game December 28, 2015, against the Miami Heat in Miami.
So the question remains: Will Prokhorov’s involvement in the decision-making process and the cap room available for the Nets this summer be a detriment to the organization’s long-term future? Brooklyn ended up paying a final amount of just more than 190 million in salaries and luxury tax combined.
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The Nets’ owner did not back off his big dreams. Wrong. Huge payrolls and luxury tax cheques emptied the organizations pockets, making them a no-factor in free agency. Moreover, the Spurs rank second in effective field goal percentage at 53.4%, whereas the bottom-tier field-goal defense of the Nets places 26th with opponents connecting at a clip of 51.6%. The Cavs signed David Blatt to be head coach later that June, LeBron James announced his return to Cleveland in July, and the team traded for Kevin Love in August. But despite his lack of physical presence around the team, Prokhorov’s fingerprints are all over a Nets team that has the third worst record in the league and just fired its head coach and reassigned its general manager to a not-yet-defined role on Sunday.
