Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Years later...

So here we are, Game 19, in the year of our lord 2010...

I sat out (with respect to this blog) the 2008-9 season and, most especially, the phenomenon that was 2009-2010.

I confess - I could not watch many games last year, it was that bad. The highlight, such as it was, was Frank FINALLY getting fired. There was a website, www.firefrank.com, that some other fan had put up in the 2008-9 season. I was relieved it went up, contributed a little, let things ride. Once the marionette was finally canned, the site was taken down. The Nets, of course - with the worst owner in the history of the NBA - typically put in a total buffoon to replace him - Kiki Vanderweghe, with a total of ZERO games coached in the NBA, ZERO in college, ZERO at any traceable level (maybe he was a rec coach... once...).

The result? Well, you know the result...

New year, new owner, new arena, new coach.

The arena upgrade is a slam dunk, and long in coming. Even if the Nets go to Bklyn two seasons from now, it was just good to get our of the Meadowlands.

And ANY owner would have been an upgrade from Ratner, who never intended to be a team owner anyway. Nice that this new guy has bucks, however obtained originally.

That brings us to Avery. I was not wild about this choice, despite his background. But again, ANY coach would have been an upgrade.

After a handful of games, I thought, hey, know what? I DON'T EVEN NOTICE WHEN HE'S CALLING TIME OUTS! That's because he takes them in normal situations. What a concept!

And altho there've been several close games, most of which they've lost, Johnson does not force his team to suffer thru the humiliation of Frank's never successful foul, foul, foul excruciating drawing out of an endgame. Good!

And he called out players, particularly Lopez. Good good!

But now he's showing the classic flaw of mediocre coaches, no matter what sport - He does not take seriously the persona of the franchise.

More next entry...

No comments: