Avery Johnson fired by the Brooklyn Nets.

Photo Courtesy of SBnation

Who would've thought that Avery Johnson's firing will be the reason why I'm going to write an entry on this blog. Well I know this blog has been dead for almost a year now (?). But yeah I guess it's back since I'm writing this one. Anyway enough with the updates and let's head on to the news. So, I was playing NBA 2k13 on steam when I called a timeout just to read some of the tweets on my phone then there goes a freaking ALL CAPS RAGE TWEET by none other than Netsdaily himself (maybe Netincome not really sure). And here I am 30 minutes after writing this reaction entry after the firing.

The Nets have named Assistant Coach PJ Carlesimo as their interim head coach but hasn't named any candidate for the head coaching job. Just 24 days ago, Avery Johnson was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month (NOV 12) who were 10-4 at that stretch. They have been 4-10 after that. So what is my opinion about this firing? I would be honest that, the Nets' offense looked really bad whenever I watched them. And it was way worse during the Christmas match-up against the Celtics. All ISO, they did play some of the Flex offense that Sloan used to run with Deron back in Utah. But other than that, the offense looked stagnant. I'm no coach so don't freak out, it was just my observation as a fan/player of the sport. The defense was alright though. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. And I can't really blame Avery on that cause some of his players weren't really defensive minded at all (ehem Brook).

Is this an overreaction? For me, NO. Yes, the Nets FO could have waited another month for AJ to make adjustments but the Nets are in a New Arena and they are in Brooklyn. Sharing the territory with their conference rival, the New York Knicks who are unexpectedly outplaying the Nets in the conference. Just like what uncle Ben told Peter Parker, "with great power comes great responsibility" And that quote applies to Avery Johnson. He would not get fired if this team was let's say, Memphis or even Oklahoma City. Avery Johnson was fired because he was at the spotlight of New York. A new team, in a city of Brooklyn. A team that has a lot to prove. The money is there, the talent and the roster is there. But Avery with JJ and Deron just didn't work. He had 3 months to adjust to that situation but Avery never did. Some of the Nets' games still felt like we were still in New Jersey (no offense HA seriously no offense).

I wish Avery Johnson all the best. He did managed to turnaround Kris Humphries and Andray Blatche's career and it would not be long, I think he's going to find a job somewhere. I never really endorsed Avery Johnson to be fired. But I was upset with what I saw during Christmas day. It was really ugly and Proky was right (according to his statement) that the Nets didn't look good even in the games that they won. It's such a disappointment that it had to end this way. I expected Avery to get fired after a first round exit in the playoffs. But here we are still shock by the news that Avery Johnson is no longer going to coach the surprisingly failing Nets. The Locker room quit on Avery and after that it was really easy for Proky to let him go. Rome wasn't build in one day people.. 

New Beginning 2k12.

I haven't written anything about the Nets for a while. Well part of that was, I was on my month long vacation in the Philippines and of course I was so stressed out with the Nets I needed a break away from them. So during my stay in the Phil I only checked the NBA boxscores on Yahoo sports once a week. So I missed the introduction of the team colors and team logo of the Nets. I only saw the so called new logos when I got back from vacation which was a week ago. It sucks not having an internet connection in your house but everything's fine now.


With the Nets changing their team colors to Black and White, I have decided to change the theme color of this blog. As you can see, I choose grey, black and white. I also updated the new logo of this site which is btw edited by my girlfriend. Hopefully you guys will enjoy the new look of Ball and the basket.


That's it for now.. Enjoy the playoffs guys!

Deron Williams is an All-Star Reserve and he Deserves It.

Deron Williams is officially an All-Star Reserve for the third straight year (2010, 2011, 2012). Of course this is going to be his first time as an All-Star in the East. The Last New Jersey Nets Player that made it to the All-Star games was Devin Harris in 2009. Sadly, Deron will also be the Last New Jersey Nets player to be an All-Star because the Nets will be relocating to Brooklyn next season. Unfortunately not all the Fans like the fact that Deron Williams made it to the ASG instead of e.g. Rondo or Jennings.


Well yes the NjNets doesn't have a decent record but Deron is the ONLY NBA Player to average at least 20pts per game and at least 8ast per game this season. And he's playing on a team that is bad enough to be a D-League team. He's also missing Brook Lopez who was the Nets' first scoring option last season. Imagine how many assist Deron will make if he doesn't need to pass the ball to the likes of Johan Petro, Shelden Williams, ETC. If the ASG were based on NBA records it's like saying Joakim Noah deserves to be an All-Star more than Dwight Howard. But it isn't. It's just really a popularity contest but these so-called NBA experts doesn't have (maybe they do?) right to say that Dwill doesn't deserve it because he plays for the sorry ass Nets. I think we can all agree that the closest competition that he had was Jennings. Even though Jennings is one of the reasons why the Bucks are still in position for a playoff spot Deron obviously has a better stats than Jennings do but again remember Dwill is missing two of the best players of the Nets namely MarShon Brooks and Brook Lopez which are two of the Nets' best scorers. With them in the lineup it's going to be lights out for Deron in terms of assist and believe it or not we don't even have to talk about this if those two were healthy.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter it's just a freaking All-Star game. If they can repeat their performance next season who knows they might actually make it to the ASG. It's not the end of the world Deron actually deserves his selection to the ASG. STATS don't LIE. 

Thank you Boston!

The 2011 NBA draft is said to be one of the worse Draft Classes ever. The Nets had to give their own pick (3rd overall) + Devin Harris + Derrick Favors to trade for Deron Williams. But a miracle happened during the draft night. The Boston Celtics traded their 25th pick (Marshon Brooks) for the Nets' 28th pick (Jajuan Johnson) and a 2nd round pick (2014). In case you don't know Marshon Brooks is the second leading scorer in the US college Basketball scene (2011). So almost everyone was pessismistic on how he fell in the said draft. Well yeah he's a known scorer and has a staggering 7’1” wingspan. And the Nets got this guy for basically free. Is it really a miracle?


Right now the Nets are 2-8. The roster flat out sucks and it sometimes feels like this is a D-league team (that's how upset I am right now). It's really frustrating to watch them, game after game getting "Manhandled" by their opponents. But seeing Marshon Brooks play like he's been on the league for 2 years already makes that pain go away. The game against the Hawks tonight has got me thinking, what did the Nets saw on Marshon Brooks that the other teams didn't.. He obviously "got it" and some time in the game he looks like the best player on the court for the Nets. He can actually win ROY if he continues to play like this. Is he the future of the Brooklyn Nets? Or is he going to be a part of the package that will send Dwight Howard to the Nets? His trade value is getting higher and higher game after game.


Well who knows I'm just here to write my opinion about my favorite team in the NBA. I'm not a stats guy or a guy who has "sources". But for me Marshon Brooks is a keeper. This is one of the best moves that Billy King did in 2011. When all else fails go blame Proky (that was a joke)! Marshon Brooks is without a doubt a steal in the 2011 Draft. THANK YOU BOSTON! :)

Be Careful What You Wish For.

Bring the Lockout back.........

I remember when the Lockout ended I was one of those NBA fans who were like "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" and went "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH". Okay I'm not making any sense but to cut it short I was so happy that the NBA was back. Free agency started and the Dwight Howard to the Nets rumors stormed the social media sites most esp. Twitter (thanks a lot Broussard). So we're now 5 games into the season and from "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!", it became "NOOOOOOO". Yes Ladies and Gents the Nets are still sucking even with the shorten season. But who's to blame?


Well it can't be Billy King cause all he wanted is a cap space during the 2012 free agency that features our All-Star Point Guard, Deron Williams and of course Dwight Howard (BROOK LOPEZ). It's been rumored for a while now that these two players are dying to team up with one another. Problem is no one knows which team they want. Of course the Nets are on their list cause even though Deron Williams is opting out on the final year of his contract he said that there's 90% percent chance that he'll resign with the Nets. But that number seems to be dropping. Last night the Nets lost for the 4th time this season out of their 5 games against the LOWLY CAVS. Even if the Cavs got the Number one pick in the 2011 draft we all know that they're still a lottery team . And we have Deron Williams for heaven's sake. I'll admit that the roster without Brook Lopez who is out because of a Foot surgery looks like a mess. Okur and Hump are decent but the Wings is just disgusting. Well for some time before the season I thought the wings were fine when they added Stevenson and Shawne Williams but both players seem to be out of Basketball shape so yeah. Let's just say that IMO the one to blame here is no other than AVERY JOHNSON. Why would you sit a freaking rookie who has been scoring at will? It just doesn't make sense and please Stop putting Gaines at the guard spot you have a freaking ALL-STAR POINT GUARD! Why won't you let him handle the ball. I can't think of anything more if it's not Avery, Maybe we're tanking the season to get higher picks in a stacked 2012 draft.

I mean 12-70 was freaking enough. But right now it feels like we're back at that season again. The Nets Fans deserve more than this. Turn KNICKS FANS INTO NETS FANS? With this lineup? With this kind of play? I know I'll be a Nets fan forever but come on.. If I knew that this would happened again then we would have been better off with the LOCKOUT.

The NBA is Back!

The NBA Really knows how to create drama. For 149 days, we watched NBA players and Team Owners go at it in the negotiating table. There were walkouts, Dwade telling Stern not to point at them or something like that, Players signing contracts abroad in order to earn money and who wouldn't forget Kim K and Kris H's Short love affair. And After hours and hours of meetings, Millions of tweets calling the players GREEDY (yes i had to say that), lost jobs (not Steve, LAME), Games and Money; the League and the player representatives have finally reached a tentative agreement that might finally save the NBA season which is set to start on Christmas Day. 30 teams in the league will play 66 games and have the annual All-Star game in Orlando (AKA Farewell Party for Dwight Howard, See what i did there?) and earn their well-deserved money (sarcasm at its finest).


So what does this mean to the soon to be Brooklyn Nets? Well it's 66 more games before Brooklyn and who knows? We might go all the way (You know I'm kidding right?). Yes New Jersey, one more season at the Prudential Center and one more chance to win it all before leaving.. Which is highly unlikely. But every fan can dream right? New Jersey isn't an NBA city we all know that. Yes the Nets may be mediocre but other cities crave for NBA teams (Seattle) to come to their city and play but yes based on attendance, the City of New Jersey isn't just that kind of city. No matter what we will be leaving a lot of good and of course bad memories with us. From back to back Eastern Conference Champions to a team that only won 12 games which to make it even better (bitter) still failed to get the no. 1 pick of the 2010 draft.


The drama of the lockout is about to end, and I'm pretty sure no one's going to miss it. The fans goes first but It will take some time for us to heal from what we just witnessed. Money runs the world.. We are all just victims.. The players were the actors.. Stern and Hunter are co-Directors. But for now.. Let the games BEGIN!

NBA releases 2011-2012 Season Schedule.

The NBA just released the 2011-2012 season schedule. If we're going to have a season without the delays due to the Lockout, the Nets will open their season on the road against the Wizards on November 5. The FINAL season opener in New Jersey will be against the Pistons on November 9.

Lucky for us this year (because we got deron) there are at least five games that will be televised nationwide via NBA TV. The Nets will be playing two games in London again this upcoming season sacrificing another two games that will be counted as a home game for them against the Orlando Magic (I find this funny) on March 7 and 8. Dwill's homecoming to Utah will be on Jan 14 while Devin Harris and Derrick Favors returns to New Jersey on March 26.

The Nets will end their season at home which might be the last Nets' game in New Jersey before they move to Brooklyn, New York (in case we miss the playoffs which we won't) against the Bulls on April 18. You can view the rest of the Nets' schedule here.