“It’s consistency”, Aldridge said. “It was just very easy”. This season, without veterans such as Garnett and Deron Williams, the Nets attempted to get younger and more athletic, although a recent season-ending injury to Jarrett Jack seemed to curb whatever enthusiasm remained in the borough. About seven minutes after he mentioned needing to turn down opportunities that don’t fit the plan, he said that this would be a “small reset” and, “next season, we’ll be, I hope, [a] championship contender”.
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Centre Brook Lopez led Brooklyn with 18 points and forward Joe Johnson added 16 for the Nets, who lost their 10th consecutive home game. San Antonio’s franchise is a model of stability and excellence, its roster is strong and deep. When Kidd departed following one season, King went pragmatic and brought in Lionel Hollins.
Prokhorov took the blame for the Nets’ poor play and called for a “small reset”. The interim coach’s philosophy, expressed after a chat with owner Mikhail Prokhorov, was, “Let’s find out what we have”. I have respect for Rick Carlisle, had some great runs with him, one of the better managers of the game that we have seen so far in the league. And I still believe with some luck our results might have been more promising.
Even as Prokhorov preached patience and acknowledged having learned some hard lessons in his six years with the Nets, you could already hear the wheels turning in his head. We’ll have a D-League team. “With the best area, the best training facilities and a large amount of money under the cap”. We have everything the best. The Nets reassigned their general manager and fired coach Lionel Hollins on Sunday in the midst of their worst season since moving from New Jersey. But he vowed to be around Brooklyn more for the time being to lead the search for new leadership, adding he will personally meet all candidates. Brooklyn has averaged 87.8 points, 41.1 percent from the field and 25.7 percent from 3-point range in a 1-5 span. The Spurs outscored the Nets 60-28 in the second half of the first meeting and 61-41 in this one.
While the Nets may be attempting to figure out what kind of assets they have, the Spurs know exactly what they’ve got. “Be happy for their teammate’s success”. A lot of decisions have to be made as a head coach in a split-second, and it will take some time, hopefully not too long, but once the ball goes up in the air, I’m comfortable in that environment. The Nets are still looking for a culture to implement.
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On May 11, 2010, following the approval by other National Basketball Association owners, Prokhorov became the principle owner of the Nets and that’s when the mayhem in the franchise began.
