Special - November 29, 2006
Marketing Buzzwords, Or The Heart Of A Champion?
As Joe maddeningly pointed out – last year’s Nets squad – with their offensively challenged bench – NEVER suffered through a 5 game losing streak.  And I don’t remember holding my breath as the Nets slogged their way through the second half of ball games, waiting for the inevitable concentration lapses on defense, the careless turnovers on offense, the stick a knife in the game missed free throws, because even with a team supposedly lacking depth, they came to play and seemed to do whatever it took to win a game.  Jason Kidd would never allow his squad to play cookie cutter defense, to throw the ball away with the game on the line.  Yet this year, well, it ain’t last year. 

In the Atlantic Division, no loss is ever back breaking, as you can look up on the jumbotron from center court, and regardless of lead you have just handed over on a silver platter, you can bet the house that the Knicks, the Celts, the Sixers and the Raptors are playing even worse.  But complacency is never in the heart of a champion, and since when have Jason Kidd, RJ, Twin and company – lacked the heart of a champion.

Looking through my 2006-2007 season ticket booklet – each ticket is punctuated with the advertising buzz words to suggest athletic dominance, of a team destined to regain their rightful place as the dominant team in the East. 

Every ticket says “BRING IT”.  Doesn’t this mean attacking the rim like a boxer battling his way off the ropes?  Doesn’t this mean “manning up” and locking down your man in man to man coverage like an angry pit bull?  Doesn’t this mean “Protect this House” at home and “I don’t care who you are” on the road?  Instead they have brought turnover after turnover, brought 18 foot jumpers off back iron, brought easy looks from the perimeter to the other team, brought uncontested layups in the paint. 

Starting with tonight vs. Charlotte – the big buzzword is “PRIDE”.  Saturday vs. Philly – the word of the day is “INTENSITY”.  Against Dallas the bold letters scream out “TEAMWORK”.  Against Phoenix I see “ENERGY”.  Against those lots of luck Boston Celtics I see “PASSION”.  When Memphis comes to town we’re guaranteed “HUSTLE”. 

For a lesser team, these words would simply be marketing buzzwords, words concocted by the marketing department to help bring bodies to the arena to “experience” NBA basketball and witness NBA superstars coming to town to entertain on your home court. 

But this is not the Garden, where watching another team’s stud is far better entertainment than watching Starbury sulk on the bench, with his head covered in a towel. 

This is Continental Arena, where the 14,000 fans who come out for all 41 games – come not to see LeBron James or Dwayne Wade, but to see Jason Kidd push the ball on the break, RJ fly through the air from the wing to finish the break, Vinsanity to soar thru the air like Superman in Nikes, to watch Nenad Kristic develop into one of the league’s elite big men, and to watch this talented crop of youngsters – develop into the future core to lead us from the swamp to the Atlantic Railyards.  And oh yeah, the Nets win games.
But these buzzwords could just as easily be replaced with “SOFT”, with “LAZY”, with “ME AGAINST THE WORLD”, with “FLAT”, with “NOT CARING”, with “SLUGGISH”.  Because honestly, that is how the West was lost during Thanksgiving week.  Those words better exemplify the play of the 2006-2007 Nets at this point in the season, than those marketing buzzwords screaming across the front of Nets ticket stubs. 

And these Nets are not losers.  These Nets are not soft.  These Nets are not lazy.  These Nets definitely care.  The singular goal is to not only make the NBA Finals – but to win the championship.  Is that not the goal of any roster with as much talent as Coach Frank has at his disposal?

So maybe its time to shake things up a bit – to let it be known that there is not one guy who is better than the other 11 healthy bodies.  Isn’t this what makes Joe Torre so great – the ability to shake up a batting order to get production out of all that talent – and as Nets fans, we can be happy that we don’t have A-Rod on this team to shoot .087 from the field in the fourth quarter. 

Honestly it sounds crazy – but after witnessing over the past 2 games – no effort or passion from the starters against Phoenix, and the lack of intensity or pride in the second half against Sir Kobe – maybe a shakeup is in order. 

We should have been utterly embarrassed against Phoenix – except Hassan and Marcus and Antoine and Mikki and Boki stepped up and recognized the name “NETS” across their chest and fought and clawed and battled their way back in the fourth quarter – to make it interesting until the final buzzer. 

Maybe its time to shake things up a bit – to let the high priced superstars know that guaranteed paychecks are a gift from the Collective Bargaining Agreement, but the “PASSION”, the “ENERGY”, and the “INTENSITY” are not just marketing buzzwords – but the principles of Nets basketball.  And if you’re not willing to “BRING IT” every night, there are hungry players making a fraction of the payroll who will fight for their check every time they lace up their sneakers. 

Tonight against Charlotte – maybe Hassan Adams should get first crack at locking down Adam Morrison?  How about Mikki Moore battling Emeka Okafor for rebounds? Or Marcus Williams battling Raymond Felton in a battle of All Big East vs. All ACC?  Maybe Antoine Wright will look to prove it was just Wrong to pick Sean May over him in the draft? 

Sounds like a pipedream?  It probably is – but if Coach Frank doesn’t do something soon, we might find ourselves on the train bragging to Knicks fans about our chances to get Greg Oden with the first pick in the draft – the pick Isiah opted to trade with Chicago for the overweight, light on statistics, lead footed monster in the paint – Eddie Curry. 

Please guys – lets start to “BRING IT” before its too late.
-Ryan McGovern

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