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.

Dwill is Back on TWITTER!

GO FOLLOW HIM! and Spread the Word.. @DeronWillams "Jersey Strong! Brooklyn Ready!"

Deron Williams to play in Turkey?

Fuck the Lockout! That is all, I don't really know what was the position of Proky with the new CBA but this move by Deron was wise. It may put some pressure in the part of Proky but remember there are 30 teams in the NBA.

If the current CBA would kill all the teams in a small market how the hell did the Spurs won 2 championships during the last decade?? I admit that i was surprised that San Antonio, Texas was considered a "Small Market". But the point still stays, the that argument isn't valid. So what happens to the Nets now?

Well we can just hope that Deron wouldn't get hurt during his stint with Besiktas or maybe hope that the CBA be settled soon which is (for me) impossible. Why? Cause it's Billionaires vs. Millionaires.. This is actually bullshit if you come to think of it. They're both going to lose money but still they decided to go this way. I thought the owners and the NBA already learned from the 1998 lockout but as you can see nothing's changed.

I support this move by Deron but it doesn't do any good for the NBA. Most Watched finals, most watched draft?? What else do you want??

JKidd Gets his First Ring.

When the season started I asked myself if which former New Jersey Nets player would have a chance to get a ring first. There was Richard Jefferson with the San Antonio Spurs, Vince Carter who was with the Orlando Magic (traded to the Suns) and there was Jason Kidd and theDallas Mavericks. I never thought it would be Kidd. Yes, I thought that the Mavericks were done when Caron Butler came down because of an injury. But it turns out I was, well most of US were wrong. Seeing Kidd get his first (and only) championship was so overwhelming that I didn't know tears were coming down from my eyes. It was a bittersweet moment for me as a Nets fan. Happy that finally Kidd got what he deserves, bitter cause he wasn't in a Nets uniform when he won the championship. The frustration in the faces of the Heat players was also priceless, yep I had to say that. 


Kidd is one of the best point guards in the History of Basketball. His passing ability, defense and court vision is just unbelievable. I remember those two trips to the finals during the early 2000. First we (the Nets) got sweep by the Lakers then the following year we lost to the Spurs. Then we got VC from Toronto to make another Championship run.. but to no avail. Then after 2 years of second round exits and shortcomings, Kidd wanted out and was traded back to the Team that drafted him in exchange for a younger but injury riddled point guard, Devin Harris. That was one of the darkest days in the Garden State and in Nets' history. Losing Kidd ended our Championship hopes. So three seasons after losing a Hall of Famer, here we are still rebuilding and hopefully it ends next season with Deron Williams. 

Some Nets fans may still be bitter that Kidd forced his way out of New Jersey but you can't blame him, Ratner decides not to spend for the team. The "We had to work with what we have" attitude didn't work for Jason. With Dallas and an owner who is willing to spend a lot of money for a championship, it was the perfect place for him and yeah he wasn't getting any younger. He almost had one with the Nets but it's just not meant to be. After 18 seasons, two trips to the Finals and a lot of misfortunes Kidd can finally call himself a Champion. 



Congratulations Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks! Your 2010-2011 NBA World Champions!

Up and Running.

Brooklyn, New York. 

Well hello there Ball and the Basket readers (if ever there’s one). What do you know? BTB is back! LOL. I know BTB is a little awkward (cause it’s similar to BRB) but The Ball and the Basket is just too long. In case you don't know the NBA season is already over thanks to the Dallas Mavericks for eliminating the Miami Heat in 6 games (my prediction was Dallas in 5) to win their first championship ever.


I was supposed to post an entry earlier today but it turns out I left my draft at the office and I didn't want to start over, so I'm going to post that one tomorrow evening maybe if I don't fall asleep. There will be some changes in this blog starting today. First, I won't be following the Magic's season anymore. I'm still going to root for them but I decided that BTB is now going to be officially for the New Jersey Nets. It's not because the Magic sucks, because the Nets are much worse than them right now. It's just that writing my views and opinions about two teams is hard for me. I don't have the time to read every recap of the Nets' game and the Magic's game and write how I feel about them winning or losing. As you can see because of my frustrations, my last post in here was way back December last year. That's when the Magic and the Nets kept on losing. The Magic made it to the Playoffs but was eliminated in the first round by the team that they swept last year, the Hawks. While the Nets ended up with Deron instead of Carmelo. So i guess it was still a great season for the Nets.

So there you have it Ball and the Basket is back! We now look forward to the future and hopefully there's no lockout. Thanks guys.