A deer-in-the-headlights coach, a roster plagued with injuries, old guys looking like really old guys. The Nets’ well-documented struggles are many, and now the question is, “Can they fix them?”
Some say yes — if they fire head coach Jason Kidd. Sure, maybe. But just 13 games into his debut season, with a recent endorsement from ownership, that is not likely.
Some say, yes, when Deron Williams returns to full health. Don’t hold your breath. Williams is not the same guy he was in Utah or even his first year in New Jersey. Ankle injuries have sidelined him and, when he does play, he doesn’t have the same explosiveness he once had. The man needed back sooner than Williams is the team’s best player, All-Star center Brook Lopez.
Some say, definitely, they just need to get some chemistry. That’s true, the team does need to develop, but with essential pieces out with injuries, the time needed to do so is quickly running out.
We are here to tell you that there is some truth to all of these responses but, ultimately, the answer is no, they cannot save the season, especially if you thought this was the year the Nets would win an NBA Championship.
Jason Kidd was the biggest question mark coming into the season. He was tasked with taking a team of successful veterans, who spent the majority of their careers outside Brooklyn, and turning them into an NBA power in season one. That’s no easy task for anyone, let alone a man who has never been a head coach. He will surely evolve and learn more on the job, but will he grow enough in one season?
Deron Williams will come back and he will improve the Nets offensive efficiency, but will he do enough to cure their third-quarter malaise?
The Nets will get healthier as a whole and that will certainly help on both ends of the court, but where does that get them?
More than likely, exactly where they were last year — behind Miami and Indiana as a middle-of-the-road playoff team.
Only now with a lot fewer future draft choices.
Tom Lafe is a 6-foot-5 sports-world insider with a middling high school basketball career who believes the Nets will be driven by the success of the team’s big men.
