The NBA: Where, Holy Crap, Is This Happening?
In America’s biggest media market, Mikhail Prokhorov once spent gobs of gazillions of dollars on guys like Gerald Wallace, Andrei Kirilenko, and Deron Williams.
With his newly-purchased team, the Nets, setting up shop in Brooklyn, he thought he was in an arms race to attract viewers and allegiances away from the flagship team across town. So he spent, and spent some more, a lot more, letting his management give out draft picks like Swedish Fish in hopes of Win-Now results. Now, seven years after buying the team, with just a single playoff-round victory to show for his trouble, he wants a return on his investments, not from the fans, but from yet another team buyer.
Who knew that all this time, all Prokhy had to do was to sit back and just let the Knicks be the Knicks?
This afternoon (3:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast in ATL, YES Network in NYC), Brooklyn hosts an Atlanta Hawks team still licking their wounds after getting boat-raced in the second half against Charlotte on Friday night. But you’ll forgive Kenny Atkinson’s squad for shifting their focus off the herringbone floor and toward the stands, not believing their luck.
It used to be MSG that drew star-studded NBA fans to the front rows without much coaxing. Now, Floyd Mayweather is parking his tush in a Barclays Center foldout chair, watching the Nets roll the Knicks in a preseason game. Now, Michael Rapaport, the Knicks fans’ Knicks fan, has seemingly ditched the blue-and-orange.
Prior to the Nets’ 126-121 home-opening win over Orlando, Rapaport sauntered up to the gates fully clad in Brooklyn black-and-white, fashioning himself a D’Angelo Russell acolyte. “I’m a basketball fan,” he dodged when pressed about his newfound attire. “Glad to see Brooklyn doing good… I like Russell, too.”
Prokhorov’s Nets are no longer throwing worse money after bad money just to try staying relevant in the Big Apple. They’ve let go of that rope, and are satisfied watching James Dolan’s Knicks stumble backwards. Early returns suggest they are recouping the benefits, too. New Yawkers miffed over the squandering of Carmelo Anthony’s prime career, Dolan playing the blues on a hill while his pal Phil Jackson scorched the village, allowing his brutes in business suits to give Charles Oakley the All Fans Matter treatment, a whole lot of them are begrudgingly crossing the East River for their NBA basketball.
The challenge for the Nets (1-1) is to give those defecting fans a reason to stick around for a while. So, the big sell is “Potential,” and it’s all wrapped up around exiled ex-Laker point guard D’Angelo Russell. There’s nary a whiff of the smell left behind in Tinseltown by Snapchat-gate, allowing the 21-year-old Russell (23.5 PPG and 52.6 FG% through 2 games) to begin rewriting his NBA story.
Russell has a few vets to lean on, helping make this transition to deferred stardom a reality. Jeremy Lin is now out for the season after injuring his ankle in the opener, but remains a trusty vet who isn’t coming for D’Angelo’s starting spot, no matter the struggles. DeMarre Carroll, dispatched by Toronto after never quite living up to the promise he held as a Hawk, hopes to reestablish the value of his Atlanta-borne nickname in a borough with plenty of junkyards.
Timofey Mozgov seems to have found a home, not having to do much besides start and look imposing in the paint. Then there is Trevor Booker and Quincy Acy, who have been around the NBA block quite a bit. For youngsters like Russell, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Caris LeVert, Isaiah Whitehead, rookie big Jarrett Allen, former Blazer Allen Crabbe, and replacement second-string guard Spencer Dinwiddie, there is just enough experienced leadership around to teach them what “not” to do. And that takes pressure off of Atkinson, the second-year head coach who needs only to improve on last season’s 20-62 mark.
Like Mike Budenholzer’s Hawks, Atkinson’s Nets want to push the tempo (2nd in pace so far), but don’t quite know how to keep a handle of the momentum they gain by pushing the ball. For the Hawks in Friday night’s 109-91 defeat, overzealous starters Dewayne Dedmon and Ersan Ilyasova found their seats early, and backup big Mike Muscala was perplexed on defense throughout. That granted rookie John Collins a full-ride to Howard University, fouling out himself instead of enjoying more favorable matchups versus the Hornets’ power forwards.
There was once a highly-prized rookie who formally introduced himself to the pro basketball world, making himself Hollywood hullabaloo, at the expense of Mr. Mozgov. Collins would relish a similar opportunity this afternoon, but he cannot have a chance without his more experienced teammates playing their roles better, and longer, than they did in Carolina.
Atlanta failed to take advantage of the depleted Hornets depth at the wings, shooting a measly 7-for-30 on three-pointers (what could have been 8-for-31 had Dedmon pulled a toenail back from one long jumper). Wasted-shot possessions like those from bench contributors Belinelli (0-for-7 2FGs) and Malcolm Delaney (1-for-4 2FGs) made Atlanta’s second-half lead wilt faster than necessary. Finding superior long-range shot options within the flow of the offense works to the benefit of Dennis Schröder (26.5 PPG, 6.0 APG, 2.5 TOs/game), Collins and those who could use less-clogged paths to the rim.
The Hawks also sat back and stopped forcing turnovers in the second half, which always works to Charlotte’s advantage. To achieve victory today, it is essential for defensive pressure to produce turnovers from Russell (5.0 TOs/game, t-3rd in NBA; 5.5 APG) and Brooklyn’s under-experienced ball-handlers, and punish their slower vets for not getting back after stops. The Nets allowed 17.0 points-per-48 on the fastbreak in their first two games against the Pacers and Magic, ranking them second-worst in the East behind those not-so-lovable Knicks (19.5).
Nets fans, new and old, would enjoy a winning-record to start the year (don’t bother tanking; LeBron’s Cavs now hold Brooklyn’s first-rounder). Regardless, they just want to root for a club whose decision-making on and off the floor isn’t rotten to the core. If Coach Kenny and the Nets pick up a little steam, though… could Spike be next?
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
