Nets Starting Five 10/31/13
HALLOWEEN EDITION
[box]WSJ – New-Look Nets Drop Opener
An 18-11 first-quarter advantage was quickly spoiled when Garnett subbed out and free-agent pickup Jarrett Jack checked in for the Cavaliers. By the end of the frame, Jack had 10 points and two assists, and Cleveland held a 27-26 lead.
“Their bench did a really solid job of changing the tempo and the pace in the first half,” said Nets assistant coach Joe Prunty, who filled in for Kidd.
“We’ve got some numbers, but again, they’ll fluctuate,” Prunty said. “Nothing is etched in stone. We have a plan and we’ll see how it goes in the flow of the game and make our adjustments as need be.”
At Wednesday’s shootaround, however, Kidd revealed that naming his replacement was primarily for the media’s benefit, not the team’s.
“I don’t have to name anyone,” he said. “I have to just appoint someone to talk to you guys.”
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[box]NYDAILYNEWS – Kevin Garnett and Nets hit with reality check in loss to Cleveland Cavaliers
The new leader of the Nets tried to meet the disappointment of his team’s season-opening 98-94 loss to Cleveland head-on, with a large dose of reality.
“We’ve got to learn from this,” Garnett said, sitting in a folding chair in the Nets’ locker room. “You always want to win games, you always want to assess yourself. But win or lose, you try to learn something from it. We’re not a perfect team. But we are a hard-working team. We are a team of no excuses. So we will watch tape and learn from this.”
If there is a reason for concern, even after only the first of 82 regular-season games, it’s that when the Nets play a faster, quicker team, they are going to struggle to keep up. Out on the floor. Under their defensive glass. The Cavs showed that.
“That’s their strength,” Garnett said. “They’re strong and fast.”
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[box] ESPN – Nets preach patience after Cavs loss
It’s only one game, but the Nets’ season-opening 98-94 loss to the upstart Cavaliers revealed signs of why it might take patience before we see this loaded roster at its peak, hitting on all cylinders.“It is going to be a little more than patience,” Garnett explained.
“But everybody has to be patient. It’s not just because you assemble guys that things are just going to voila!”“Everybody wanted it right here, right now,” said Garnett, who had eight points and 10 rebounds in his first Nets game.
“That’s not the process. The process is going to be something gradual and something that we all work into and flow into. And we all got to be patient with that process.”“As guys get healthy, AK and Deron Williams getting healthy, I see us doing nothing but getting better,” said Pierce, who had 17 points in his Nets debut.
“Obviously, we didn’t have Deron there in the fourth quarter. So when they are able to get his minutes up to when he is able to close out games, we will be a different team.”[/box]
[box]NYPOST – Williams runs out of time in Nets opener
The plan was to limit Deron Williams to around 20 minutes.
“I didn’t know how they were going to break up my minutes,” said Williams, who was sorely missed as the Nets came up short in their season-opening 98-94 loss to the Cavaliers on Wednesday. “I was a little surprised when they said I wasn’t going back in. So I was just trying to cheer my team on and hope for a win.”
“It was tough. It was tough to get in a rhythm when you’re limited like that. It seemed every time I did, I was coming out. So it’s tough. It’s tough to play like that. But that’s what I have to do for my team right now,” said Williams who indicated he has no idea when he will be ready to go like he is accustomed. [/box]
[box]NEWSDAY – Nets lose their season opener to Cavaliers in Cleveland
So the guy they consider the team’s engine was basically up on blocks, unable to rev the likes of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson when they needed it against the Cavaliers. With Williams on the bench, the shiny new Nets didn’t have enough to rally back from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit, and lost, 98-94, at Quicken Loans Arena.
“I didn’t know how they were going to break up my minutes,” said Williams, who took a seat midway through the third quarter and never returned. “I was a little surprised when they said I wasn’t going back in. So I was just trying to cheer my team on and hope for a win.
“It was tough to get in a rhythm when you’re limited like that. It seemed every time I did, I was coming out. So it’s tough. It’s tough to play like that. But that’s what I have to do for my team right now.”[/box]
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