Worst Start to a Season? Envelope Goes to the Nets
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — On a night made for infamy, the Nets were not content to set a single dubious record. They went for a set.
They watched the Dallas Mavericks score on layups and dunks, lob plays and 3-point tries, until the basket was nearly scorched from the friction, until the Nets’ humiliating place in N.B.A. history was secured.
The Mavericks scored at will and showed little mercy in a 117-101 rout Wednesday night, sending the Nets to their record 18th straight defeat to open the season. The Miami Heat set the futility mark 20 years ago, losing their first 17 games as an expansion team. The Los Angeles Clippers, who often operate like an expansion team, matched the mark 10 years ago. Only seven N.B.A. teams have ever lost more than 18 games in a row. The Nets are five losses away from tying the longest single-season streak, held by the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets and the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies.
Boos echoed through the Izod Center, which was perhaps half full. Mostly, the fans sat silently, resigned to their team’s ugly fate. One held a sign bearing a Nets acronym: Never Ending Terrible Season. A pair sitting courtside pulled paper bags, adorned with red Santa hats, over their heads. Just above the eye holes, in black ink, was the record: 0-18.
Their next chance to end the misery comes Friday, when Larry Brown — who walked out on the Nets in 1983 — brings his Charlotte Bobcats to town. The Nets then cross the Hudson for a rematch with the Knicks, who dealt them loss No. 13 on Nov. 21.
Tom Barrise, who became the Nets’ interim coach when the team fired Lawrence Frank on Sunday, presided over the 17th and 18th losses, but will soon give way to Kiki Vandeweghe, the general manager. Vandeweghe, who reluctantly accepted the coaching post for the rest of the season, will be on the bench to face Brown, one of his mentors.
Vandeweghe watched the defeat from a seat in the lower bowl, next to the veteran coach Del Harris, who will be his top assistant. The pair will run their first practice Thursday.
There was cruel symmetry in the moment. Jason Kidd, who once lifted the Nets to their greatest heights — a pair of finals appearances in 2002 and 2003 — and was traded two seasons ago, returned Wednesday night to send them to their darkest depths.
Kidd opened the game with a 3-pointer, then spent the night flinging alley-oop passes, including two pretty dunks for the rookie Rodrigue Beaubois.
There was some planned obsolescence in the Nets’ season. They traded their three star players, Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter, over the last two seasons to begin a rebuilding process and create payroll room for the 2010 free-agent class.
“This is one of those growing pain times,” Vandeweghe said before tip-off. “When you basically start over, start a rebuild, you’re going to go through some tough times. Nobody expects 17 in a row.”
The game was over in the first half, when the Mavericks threatened to rewrite the N.B.A.’s offensive record book. Dallas made 80.6 percent of its field-goal attempts (29 of 36), the highest mark since April 2006, when the Denver Nuggets shot .816 against the Clippers.
The Mavericks scored 49 points in the second quarter, shooting 17 for 19, an 89.5 percent success rate that stood as the highest since the Phoenix Suns shot 13 for 14 in a second quarter against the Nets in November 2008. Dallas led by 77-50 at halftime, falling three points shy of a Nets opponent record. The Mavericks crossed the 100-point mark late in the third quarter.
Kidd finished with 16 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points for the Mavericks (14-5). Devin Harris, who was acquired in the Kidd trade, had 17 points and 3 assists.
When the losing streak hit 10 games, the Nets’ famously creative marketing department took note, with a “10 is Enough” promotion and $10 tickets. There was an opportunity, however perverse, to sell history here Wednesday. That discussion took place, though it was very brief.
There is a limit, after all, to how much a franchise can promote its own misery.
“This is a basketball team,” said Brett Yormark, the president and chief executive of Nets Sports and Entertainment. “We take it very seriously. And I think there comes a point where, you know what, let’s hold back on the marketing.”
The next promotion will be aimed at life after the streak, assuming it ends. Yormark is calling it “the second season,” the one that begins when the team is finally, mercifully healthy.
Keyon Dooling and Tony Battie practiced on Tuesday and could return soon. Yi Jianlian is running and could practice as soon as this weekend. Harris and Courtney Lee returned within the last two weeks.
“We will have a second season,” Yormark said. “And that second season will give us a chance to showcase our young talent, the promise of this team and the core nucleus that we’ve put together. Obviously, we’ve gotten off to a tough start. But that’s life.”
Few people can relate to the Nets’ plight, but one of them was in the building. Chris Ford, who coached the Clippers through their 0-17 streak, then got fired the next year, was scouting the game for the Philadelphia 76ers.
He was in no mood to reminisce or compare horror stories. He enjoys living below the radar now. But Ford pressed a knowing smile as he walked away, then turned and said, earnestly, “I feel for them.”
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — On a night made for infamy, the Nets were not content to set a single dubious record. They went for a set.
They watched the Dallas Mavericks score on layups and dunks, lob plays and 3-point tries, until the basket was nearly scorched from the friction, until the Nets’ humiliating place in N.B.A. history was secured.
The Mavericks scored at will and showed little mercy in a 117-101 rout Wednesday night, sending the Nets to their record 18th straight defeat to open the season. The Miami Heat set the futility mark 20 years ago, losing their first 17 games as an expansion team. The Los Angeles Clippers, who often operate like an expansion team, matched the mark 10 years ago. Only seven N.B.A. teams have ever lost more than 18 games in a row. The Nets are five losses away from tying the longest single-season streak, held by the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets and the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies.
Boos echoed through the Izod Center, which was perhaps half full. Mostly, the fans sat silently, resigned to their team’s ugly fate. One held a sign bearing a Nets acronym: Never Ending Terrible Season. A pair sitting courtside pulled paper bags, adorned with red Santa hats, over their heads. Just above the eye holes, in black ink, was the record: 0-18.
Their next chance to end the misery comes Friday, when Larry Brown — who walked out on the Nets in 1983 — brings his Charlotte Bobcats to town. The Nets then cross the Hudson for a rematch with the Knicks, who dealt them loss No. 13 on Nov. 21.
Tom Barrise, who became the Nets’ interim coach when the team fired Lawrence Frank on Sunday, presided over the 17th and 18th losses, but will soon give way to Kiki Vandeweghe, the general manager. Vandeweghe, who reluctantly accepted the coaching post for the rest of the season, will be on the bench to face Brown, one of his mentors.
Vandeweghe watched the defeat from a seat in the lower bowl, next to the veteran coach Del Harris, who will be his top assistant. The pair will run their first practice Thursday.
There was cruel symmetry in the moment. Jason Kidd, who once lifted the Nets to their greatest heights — a pair of finals appearances in 2002 and 2003 — and was traded two seasons ago, returned Wednesday night to send them to their darkest depths.
Kidd opened the game with a 3-pointer, then spent the night flinging alley-oop passes, including two pretty dunks for the rookie Rodrigue Beaubois.
There was some planned obsolescence in the Nets’ season. They traded their three star players, Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter, over the last two seasons to begin a rebuilding process and create payroll room for the 2010 free-agent class.
“This is one of those growing pain times,” Vandeweghe said before tip-off. “When you basically start over, start a rebuild, you’re going to go through some tough times. Nobody expects 17 in a row.”
The game was over in the first half, when the Mavericks threatened to rewrite the N.B.A.’s offensive record book. Dallas made 80.6 percent of its field-goal attempts (29 of 36), the highest mark since April 2006, when the Denver Nuggets shot .816 against the Clippers.
The Mavericks scored 49 points in the second quarter, shooting 17 for 19, an 89.5 percent success rate that stood as the highest since the Phoenix Suns shot 13 for 14 in a second quarter against the Nets in November 2008. Dallas led by 77-50 at halftime, falling three points shy of a Nets opponent record. The Mavericks crossed the 100-point mark late in the third quarter.
Kidd finished with 16 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points for the Mavericks (14-5). Devin Harris, who was acquired in the Kidd trade, had 17 points and 3 assists.
When the losing streak hit 10 games, the Nets’ famously creative marketing department took note, with a “10 is Enough” promotion and $10 tickets. There was an opportunity, however perverse, to sell history here Wednesday. That discussion took place, though it was very brief.
There is a limit, after all, to how much a franchise can promote its own misery.
“This is a basketball team,” said Brett Yormark, the president and chief executive of Nets Sports and Entertainment. “We take it very seriously. And I think there comes a point where, you know what, let’s hold back on the marketing.”
The next promotion will be aimed at life after the streak, assuming it ends. Yormark is calling it “the second season,” the one that begins when the team is finally, mercifully healthy.
Keyon Dooling and Tony Battie practiced on Tuesday and could return soon. Yi Jianlian is running and could practice as soon as this weekend. Harris and Courtney Lee returned within the last two weeks.
“We will have a second season,” Yormark said. “And that second season will give us a chance to showcase our young talent, the promise of this team and the core nucleus that we’ve put together. Obviously, we’ve gotten off to a tough start. But that’s life.”
Few people can relate to the Nets’ plight, but one of them was in the building. Chris Ford, who coached the Clippers through their 0-17 streak, then got fired the next year, was scouting the game for the Philadelphia 76ers.
He was in no mood to reminisce or compare horror stories. He enjoys living below the radar now. But Ford pressed a knowing smile as he walked away, then turned and said, earnestly, “I feel for them.”
Source: New York Times
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