Joe Netsfan - Media



	Where Joe Goes The Marbury/Kidd Trade + Rod Thorn's Draft Night Moves. Reactions from around the league to the Nets' two big summer shake-ups. Funny Business. Quotes from around our terribly humorous league, and beyond. September 11th. Quotes centered around the terrorist attacks on America. Gut Punch. Ow. Harsh words that may take the wind out of you. Inspirational Verses. Good News for Modern Nets fans. CNN/SI Basketball Pretty amazing, entertaining site. Power rankings, NBA Week at a Glance, and great sort 'em yourself stat section. NJ Online Nets Section Nets news from the Newark Star Ledger. Don Burke, Nets beat, and Dave D'Alessandro, one of our favorite b-ball writers. NYPost Sports Section Freddy Kerber, Nets beat reporter, and you have to read Peter Vecsey Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Nobody is more "inside" than Vecsey. Phil Mushnik entertains Champagne on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. NBA.com For obvious reasons. Links to every team site, plus a standings page that gives teams' conference rankings helps you chart Nets early drop from playoff picture. Nets Salaries Want to know why the Nets can't improve? Check this chart, along with all other team salaries, courtesy of USA Today. Their NBA section sometimes informative too. Nets/NBA page, Bergen Record Steve Adamek, Nets beat. Adrian Wojnarowski and Steve Adamek are two of the best pull-no-punches writers on the Nets. NY Daily News Basketball page Michael James, Nets beat NY Times Basketball page Liz Robbins, Nets beat. Mike Wise covers the league, and Champagne likes Harvey Araton's general sports columns. Sporting News NBA Section Excellent NBA coverage. We like both Sean Deveney's columns and his very entertaining Mailbag. New Jersey Nets Photo Zone Jim Poorten's site. HoopsAvenue NBA news, fantasy leagues plus. InsideHoops.com Large news and rumors clearinghouse. American Red Cross, Helping.org and Libertyunites.org Relief Organizations.		October 2, 2001 - June 14, 2002 Gut Punch Ow. Harsh words that may take the wind out of you: Kenyon's Call-Out "Some guys don't have it in them. That's the hardest thing to deal with. Some guys come to play every day and some guys, you don't know when they're going to show up. That's the hardest thing to deal with. I can deal with losing. I can deal with failure. But guys don't bring it every day. That's something I can't deal with. [...] "People say it, but deep down in their heart, I don't feel they do. This is just a game to some people. I live and die for this game. Some people, they approach it like, 'Oh well.' That's the attitude. Some guys on this team, they play hard, play every day, play with their heart. I feel I'm one of them. But there's nothing I can do about everybody else. I can only help Kenyon. [...] "Look at the stat sheet. It will tell you that. It's difficult to deal with. It's the most important game of our lives. They just didn't bring it." - Kenyon Martin after the Nets lose the NBA Finals in 4 games, as reported by Steve Popper, New York Times, June 13, 2002 Fall-Out from Kenyon's Call-Out "I said some things [Wednesday] night [ed. note: see "Kenyon's Call-Out" above] I probably shouldn't have said. I was a little disappointed and my emotions got over me a little bit. There are some things in life I understand I can change and some things I can't. That's what I should have said. Everybody is not like me. I realize that and that's what I should have said. Everybody's not like Kenyon." - Kenyon Martin, apologizing for his "Some guys don't have it in them" comments after the Nets lost the NBA Finals "I think he was way out of line. Obviously, he played very well in the game [Wednesday] night but he didn't play that well in Game 2 [six points and five rebounds in 35 minutes]. What if it's a teammate calling him out the way he played in Game 2? I didn't think that was appropriate." - Rod Thorn "We don't need that, period. Everybody played as hard as they could play." - Byron Scott "I didn't pay much attention to it. You [reporters] are making a much bigger deal of it than what it is."- Keith Van Horn. All quotes above as reported by Steve Adamek, Bergen Record, June 14, 2002 Bi-Polar "We were part of two of the greatest playoff games in history, the double overtime game [Game 5 against Indiana, May 2, 2002] and [Saturday's] game. There's emotional highs and emotional lows that you go through and I think finding a way to balance that and stay even keel is going to be very important." "You're as high as you can be [3] weeks ago and now you're as low as you can possibly be, and you just have find a way to pick yourself back up." - Richard Jefferson on the Nets' Playoff highs and lows, after their Eastern Conference Final Game 3 fourth-quarter collapse against Boston, as reported by Steve Adamek, Bergen Record, May 27, 2002 Kenny Anderson Ignores His Own Advice "They won the first game, and they were all [hyped] up. The rookie over there is talking all that nonsense. Now it's a series. Now they got to bring their game. They'll see us play like this the next three, four, five games. Being aggressive, helping each other out. [...] We're not going to talk all this nonsense. We have to go out and play like we've been doing the whole year [...] [Jefferson] was talking in the papers. He was going to do this, he was going to do that. Where was he tonight? I didn't hear from young fella tonight. Come, man. Come to play Game 3. Stop talking and play ball." - Kenny Anderson after the Celtics' Game 2 victory, as quoted by Al Iannazzone, Bergen Record, May 22, 2002 Paul Pierce's First Shot, with Responses "There are certain teams in the N.B.A. that you match up against well. New Jersey is one of those teams. I don't think they have anyone that can really defend me." - Paul Pierce, as quoted by Liz Robbins of the New York Times, May 16, 2002 "He's not Jordan, let's keep that in perspective." - Richard Jefferson "That's why we're not playing tennis. It's team basketball and team defense." - Keith Van Horn. Jefferson and Van Horn as quoted by Paul Schwartz, New York Post, May 17, 2002 Fun Time "Our guys basically took the night off." - Byron Scott on the Nets' Game 4, Round 1 loss against the Indiana Pacers, May 1, 2002 "Anytime you're in a winner-take-all, this is where the fun starts. It will be a flat-out fight. It will come down to who wants it more. They are a franchise where this can be a big step for them and we're a young team where this can be a big step for us." - Reggie Miller on Game 5, Round 1, May 1, 2002 O'Neal Runs His Mouth "There's a bunch of tough guys over there, but you didn't hear from them when they lost Game 1.They win Game 2, and everybody gives their opinion. One thing I can say (is) this is a game I don't think anybody should miss [...] They run their mouths a lot, from the coaches to the players. I feel like they're trying to disrespect us. That's not going to happen. It's easy to front-run. Those guys were quiet as a mouse the first game. They got a lead (in Game 2), and all of a sudden, they want to be tough guys and fight and all that. All I can do is tip my hat to them for winning that game. But that game is over. Just like Game 1 is over."- Jermaine O'Neal on Game 3 of the Nets/Pacers Round 1 series, as quoted by Don Burke, Newark Star-Ledger, April 25, 2002 Tired of the Casper Act "What was his latest? He isn't getting the minutes? Van Horn has to be kidding. For too long, Scott was far too patient. Van Horn stopped earning his minutes. Now, the clear choice for NBA coach of the year won't be misunderstood: No more holding his hand, no more tip-toeing for his feelings, no more enabling his disappearing acts. The burden belongs to Van Horn."- Adrian Wojnarowski on Keith Van Horn's excuses, Bergen Record, April 9, 2002 More Auto Metaphors from Oakley "It's handicapped all right. You got eight tow trucks and eight tow cars. They all look the same. New Jersey, Boston, Detroit – these teams have come out of nowhere. Those teams can be beat easily." - Charles Oakley, when asked to handicap the Eastern Conference playoff field, as reported by Dave D'Alessandro, Newark Star-Ledger, April 8, 2002 Stick-Up Man "Martin is nobody. He's just a young kid with athletic ability and can jump. In my day, guys who jump like that would have been on the floor. Point blank. But I respect Martin for doing what he had to do 'cause [Curry] led him to it. More power to him. I respect that [...] The league is going to do what they want to do [...] I never appealed nothing personal since I've been in the league. I'm not going crying to them [...] If you're a bank robber, you can't worry about going to the bank and getting caught. You're going to rob the bank and go on about your business. If they catch you, that's another story." - Charles Oakley on Kenyon Martin's flagrant foul against his teammate Eddy Curry, from a piece by George Willis, NYPost, March 4, 2002 The Bigger Man "Immaturity man, immaturity." - Kenyon Martin's reaction to getting snubbed by Tracy McGrady during pre-game handshakes, January 12, 2002 Warning Shot "This wasn't a hard foul, this was hazardous to T-Mac's health. Martin came down with such a vengeance across the neck of the exceedingly vulnerable McGrady, he could've easily broken it. [...] As for Martin, he may not be a dirty player, as Magic coach Doc Rivers graciously attested afterward, but rest assured it's dirty plays like that that earn players reputations of ill repute. If he doesn't get that message, he'll stand accused of being slightly dense and a bigger dunce." - Peter Vecsey, NY Post, January 6, 2002 Blast from Byron "I like guys like Jason who're positive with his teammates, and try to uplift his teammates. Steph didn't do that. If he did say something to his teammates, nine times out of 10 it was negative. Sometimes it's just the way you look at guys that lets them know you don't really care for them. That's not the type of leader we needed. Certain guys you can look at on the court and tell they enjoy playing. I never got that sense from Steph." - Byron Scott, as reported by Brian Lewis and Fred Kerber, December 4, 2001 Truth "They just gave us a good old-fashion butt-whuppin'. " - Kenyon Martin, November 25, 2001, after the Warriors pushed around the Nets in the second half of a 101 - 85 loss "It was just taking [Slater] too long to grasp everything we're doing offensively." - Byron Scott, on why Reggie Slater was cut to make way for Steve Good rich, November 27, 2001 Meow! "'Stephon had no respect for Keith,' said a frequent witness to such nastiness. 'He thought he was a [tabby] and treated him accordingly. He was convinced he couldn't win with him. In a hundred different ways, he let him know, in his book, he was a piece of [bleep]. Keith should've punched him early-on. Instead, he went into a shell.'"- Peter Vecsey, NYPost, on the friction between Stephon Marbury and Keith Van Horn, November 11, 2001 Don't Get Lippy, Steph! "If it takes Jason Kidd to make Keith Van Horn better, then do it. But the only person that can do it is yourself. Nobody else can do it for you. For someone else to make someone else better, it just doesn't happen in the NBA." - Stephon Marbury, October 17, 2001 Ease Back, Pete! "Will Van Horn and Kerry Kittles remain healthy (and Nets all season) or will Jason Kidd set the league record for most assists to guys on 10-day contracts?" - Peter Vecsey, NYPost, October 16, 2001 Sarcasm Itself "Like assistant GM Latrell Sprewell and the Knicks' eminently sophisticated fans, I'm somewhat shocked [Knicks GM Scott] Layden wasn't innovative enough to secure an All-Star big man during the off season via a trade or the free-agent market. Being $40M or so over the cap, as well as owning only a few treasured players is no excuse for not acquiring Chris Webber, David Robinson, or Shaq, for that matter." - Peter Vecsey being Peter Vecsey, October 14, 2001 Peter Vecsey on People Skills "What do Al Gore, Walt Frazier, Brian McIntyre, Abraham Lincoln, Jesus and Peter Vecsey have in common? Like [former Nets PR Director John] Mertz, they, too, would be forbidden from working under Lamoriello in the front office because they're not clean shaven. Way to go, Lou; continue to show off those people skills learned at the foot of Slobodan Milosevic. " - Peter Vecsey on Lou Lamoriello's firing of PR Director John Mertz after 15 years of service with the Nets due to Lamoriello's capricious No Facial Hair in the Front Office edict, October 7, 2001 Career Epitaphs by Byron Scott "Jim, in my personal opinion, he's a guy who really didn't enjoy the game of basketball." - Coach Byron Scott on the Nets' decision to buy out Jim McIlvaine's contract, October 2, 2001 Archive \| Backlash \| Bio \| Calendar \| Champagne's Blog \| Diatribe \| Game x Game \| History \| Home \| Joe Netsfan's Blog \| Media \| Opponents \| Players \| Playoffs \| Search \| Specials © 2001, 2002 Shawn Belschwender and Michael Kozlowski