Brooklyn #Nets Enigmatic Season Continues With Road Trip

The word – enigmatic – is the perfect word to describe the Brooklyn Nets 2012/13 season. No one knows what team will show up from night-to-night.

The Nets started off incredibly well at 11-4 in November only to lose All-Star Brook Lopez in December and Deron Williams play was so poor that their head coach Avery Johnson was fired.

P.J. Carlesimo took over and it woke the Nets up and they went on a great run to get themselves some confidence.  With the improved play it still did not correct the big problem at power forward that lingered all season after Kris Humphries was benched in favor of Reggie Evans.

Evans played much better defense but was an absolute liability on offense and many times the Nets were playing 5-on-4 which brought the moral of the players down.  Evans woke up recently and has played much better all around and has surprised many with is offensive efficiency.

Williams sat out and got PRP therapy at the All-Star break and he has looked like the All-Star of the past ever since leading the Nets in every way. Lopez has been solid all year and his stats and importance cannot be understated to the nets success.

The same cannot be said for the horrid play of Gerald Wallace.  Wallace has continually brought his hard-nosed defense every night but has been downright OFFENSIVE on the other end of the floor.  The amount of layups he has missed is eye-popping to go with his horrendous outside shooting.

If the Nets are to hold onto a top four spot in the East playoffs and make a run they need a much improved Wallace and a more consistent brand of play in the few remaining games.

Consistency is NEEDED after this long road trip.

Steve Lichtenstein of CBS New York

Two weeks ago I joined others in the media in labeling the Nets’ 8-game, 17-day road trip as “season-defining.” The old excuses related to new components–the new roster, the new coach, etc.–that were thrown about to explain the Nets’ inconsistencies for five months would surely be worn out by now.

This swing, once and for all, was supposed to give us insight as to who these Nets are –were they serious about making a significant run in the Eastern Conference playoffs or were they merely frauds destined for one-and-done?

Well, the Nets wanted none of that.

For the Nets, both literally and figuratively, have been all over the map.

So the Nets will return home for a few days exactly how they left it—in fourth place and capable of going either way. Indefinable.

he Nets still have a chance to wind up with a winning record on this trip if they take care of business against the free falling Cavs. Most would deem 5-3 a successful run.

On the surface, they’d be right. But, like the conclusion to “The Sopranos”, it feels unfinished. Once again, the Nets failed to make the leap when given the opportunity.

But that’s only if the Nets wrap up the season in good health and with a better clue as to how to match up with opponents who aren’t going to miss wide-open threes like the dregs they’ve feasted on all year to amass 42 wins.

The last two weeks didn’t change a thing.