Nets Starting Five 11/6/13
KIDD’S FIRST WIN
[box]NORTH JERSEY – Richard Jefferson reflects on time spent with Jason Kidd
“I made a joke now that he’s the rookie and I’m the vet,” Jefferson said, laughing. “And that’s something — I kind of enjoy that.”
Jefferson, a 33-year-old starter for the Jazz now is the veteran leader on a young squad. He said he still employs the lessons he learned from Kidd — the first-year Nets coach — from 2001-08 in New Jersey.
“We complemented each other [on the court], but he was my mentor,” said Jefferson, playing his 13th season. “He was a guy that I listened to every single word for seven years and tried to take in as much as I could, and without him I probably wouldn’t have played in the league as many years as I have.”
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[box]NYDAILYNEWS – Deron Williams is slowly getting his legs back and Nets will need them
As Deron Williams goes, so goes the Nets’ five-threat offense. There is no great mystery there, no debate. Kevin Garnett is not paid to dribble downcourt, penetrate and distribute. And while Brook Lopez proved Tuesday night to be an impossible matchup for the Jazz, somebody still had to get him the ball in the right place, strolling through the paint.
“Sharing the ball, getting everyone involved, this is an equal opportunity team,” he said. “It does feel good to finally beat ’em.”
“Hopefully I’m close,” Williams said. “I just think it’s a matter of getting my legs under me. I haven’t done anything for six months. I’ve been pretty much just limited to jogging. That just happened a couple weeks ago. So I’m just trying to get there and get my confidence back in my legs and then I’ll be ready.”
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[box] ESPN – Lopez gives Kidd a night to remember
But this was his first taste of victory while on the sideline. And there will be plenty more victories if his young and ascending center plays like he did on Tuesday. Brook Lopez dominated the Jazz with 27 points and seven rebounds in an efficient 25 minutes.
Kidd got the game ball, but the real prize is his 7-foot big man. When Kidd was hired as coach, one of the first things the former point guard pointed to on his roster was Lopez.
Lopez is the piece that even the two-time champs lack. The Miami Heat don’t have an interior offensive force like Lopez. That’s why they are taking a chance on Greg Oden. The Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks have more defensive-oriented big men.
When the Nets’ outside shots aren’t falling –- and there will be times when that happens, despite the considerable firepower they have — they can and need to play through Lopez.
“A lesson learned,” Kidd said. “And we bounced back.”
[box] NYPOST – Nets blast Jazz after Garnett’s tirade
Kevin Garnett’s fury at his team’s effort in Sunday’s loss in Orlando followed the Nets from the locker room to the bus to the airport to the 2 ¹/₂ -hour flight back to New York.
“We’re trying to form something here,” Garnett said. “I think Paul reiterated some of what I was talking about, and it’s just consistency. You can’t play a passionate game against Miami and then go out and play the way we did against Orlando.
“I was just letting them know that consistency is the difference between great teams and OK teams. … That was the message.”
“We didn’t want to come into this game like we did in the Orlando game, complacently,” said Lopez, who finished with a team-high 27 points on 10-for-13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. “We wanted to come out with an urgency and energy and give ourselves a chance right from the start. We wanted to come in and make an impression.”
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[box]NEWSDAY – Brooklyn native Jamaal Tinsley gets chance to play in front of family, friends
The idea of seeing an NBA franchise in Brooklyn, five minutes from where he grew up as a playground star, still mystifies Jazz guard Jamaal Tinsley. He is not alone. Last season, the team’s bus driver was so disoriented that Tinsley had to rush to the front and give directions.
“He was taking us all the way to Red Hook. I’m like, ‘There are no hotels over there.’ We ended up making it back, safe,” Tinsley said before the Jazz played the Nets at Barclays Center Tuesday night. The crowd included 28 of his special guests, featuring 9-year-old Jamaal Jr.
“This is real special for my son to see this. Friends and family have been seeing this for a while, but my son is older now, he understands this. It’s real good to let him see what I do before games, see how players get ready for a game, hear guys arguing,” he said, laughing, as a couple of teammates were riding each other. “It’s good for him to see this.”
“It’s the best, to get an opportunity to play in the Barclays Center,” the veteran guard from Brooklyn said. “I don’t take anything for granted.”
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