Game 50 - Well, whattaya know - JKidd can play!

I can see it all now - Jason Kidd is auditioning for the Mavericks. He just pulled off one of the best performances he's had in years, at least since 2006. The Nets play the Mavs next, at home. He wants to show them they would be wise to get him.

Ok.

But the other side of this is that the Nets SHOULD beat Charlotte by 14, even at Charlotte. The Bobcats are not a good team. They are a bottom feeder. They are an expansion team looking for a reason for existence in the land of the Tarheels and Blue Devils.

The Nets SHOULD be among the East's elite. They SHOULD be 35-15 - they certainly have the talent.

I know - it was the estimable Lawrence Frank's stirring post game tirade in Orlando that brought out the sleeping giant, right?

Story line - Kidd has been dogging it all year, in order to get traded to a REAL contender. He sees what Boston did - got 3 perennial all stars - and figures he's got not chance in the dead end Izod Center, with a dead end team whose dead end ownership and management has done everything possible to discourage a fan base from remaining.

Ok.

So, then, it was JKidd who put the Nets in the position they've been in time after time this season, coming down to the last two minutes, losing close games at home that never should have been close, much less lost.

And I guess he's done it mostly from the bench, like when he visits EVERY GAME at the end of the first and beginning of the fourth, WITHOUT EXCEPTION. I guess he exerted his svengali to jinx his teammates from the foul line all those games they shot under 65% from the line. I guess it was his idea not to call a time out to throw cold water on those constant opponents' runs, which the great Lawrence Frank will tell you every NBA team makes, except his Nets, for some reason.

I guess the fans voted him into the All-Star game because they appreciate a guy who's thrown it in for the year.

And Jason is so smart - he's hiding these intentions by cranking out 12 triple doubles! See? Who can accuse him of dogging it if he's getting a triple double? Brilliant!

The Nets played the Celtics well for 3 quarters a few weeks ago. I was there. They dominated.

When they faltered, no help was to come from Lawrence Frank. He did not and does not know what to do. They faltered, and he let them.

They then went on a swoon. A nine game swoon. Coulda won 4 of them, but when it came time for coaching, for someone to remind them what they are made of and to help them out with good in-game decision making, he was as absent as the energy they lacked.

Maybe Kidd was auditioning tonite. Maybe that's where the energy and leadership came from. Old Frank said his will was palpable out there tonite. Clearly, the team responded to his will.

Well, I'll tell you what - I bet the team would respond to ANY leader's will. And I bet that if they had a coach capable of exerting HIS will on a game, they might respond, whether JKidd is there or not.

The Nets have stunk against good teams. They have stunk against the west. They have stunk against the Mavs in the Jason Kidd Era, as it is called, having gone 1-13 against them. They have stunk at home.

So, they play the Mavs next, at home, in a couple of days. This is set up to be yet another bad, bad loss. Maybe JKidd will be auditioning again, with Mark Cuban in attendance.

Here's another thought - maybe JKidd has already figured out that if the Gasol and Shaq deals got done and he's still hanging in the breeze, he ain't goin' nowhere. Maybe he figured that out a while ago. Maybe he's trying to show the esteemed Lawrence Frank what his team could be if he would only learn to coach in-game.

Let's see what happens on Sunday...