Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 118 – NBA Blog

Nets fire Lawrence Frank

New Jersey Nets fire coach Lawrence Frank

The New Jersey Nets have relieved Head Coach Lawrence Frank of his coaching duties effective immediately, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today. Nets assistant coach Tom Barrise will assume the head coaching responsibilities for tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. A permanent replacement for Coach Frank has not been determined.

“I want to thank Lawrence for his more than a decade of service to the Nets, first as an assistant coach and then as the head coach for the past six and a half seasons. Lawrence always approached every day with a passion for his craft that was infectious, and his dedication to the game as well as his work ethic are to be both admired and appreciated. I wish he and his family only the best of good fortune in the future.”

Since being named head coach of the Nets on January 26, 2004, Frank compiled a career coaching record of 225-241, and led the team to the postseason in four consecutive years (2004-2007) with a playoff record of 18-20. Frank leaves the Nets as the franchise’s all-time NBA leader in coaching victories with 225.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Court rules in favor of eminent domain use for Nets Brooklyn project

Bruce Ratner, CEO and Chairman of Forest City Ratner Companies, issued the following statement today regarding the NYS Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.

The Court’s ruling upholds the State’s right to use eminent domain given the public benefits associated with the Atlantic Yards Development in Brooklyn.

“Once again the courts have made it clear that this project represents a significant public benefit for the people of Brooklyn and the entire City,” Mr. Ratner said. “Our commitment to the entire project is as strong today as when we started six years ago. Today, however, this project is even more important given the need for jobs and economic development.”

Mr. Ratner said construction activity on the yards will continue, with the intent that the Nets will play ball in the Barclays Center in the 2011-2012 NBA Season.

In addition to Barclays, which has the exclusive naming rights, eight companies have signed on as founding partners for the arena.

The courts have ruled consistently in favor of the development. Mr. Ratner explained as well that the arena and larger development are expected to create 16,924 union construction jobs and over 8,000 permanent jobs. The tax revenues that will be generated for the City and State during the construction period are expected to exceed $240 million and after construction reach approximately $70 million a year.

Josh Childress has swine flu in Greece

The AFP reports: Greek basketball club Olympiakos announced on Tuesday that their former NBA star Josh Childress has come down with the H1N1 flu and will be out of action for more than a week. “Our player Josh Childress has been diagnosed with the H1N1 flu. He is currently being treated and doctors are completely satisfied with his condition,” an announcement by Olympiakos said.

According to Euroleague.net, “Olympiacos announced Wednesday that star forward Josh Childress would miss Thursday’s game against Efes Pilsen after being diagnosed with the H1NI virus. He is the third player on the Reds to come down with the virus. Both Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Kostas Papanikolaou missed the team’s Euroleague season opener with H1NI.”

InsideHoops.com adds: The NBA recently had its first (publically confirmed) player with swine flu, guard/forward Chris Douglas-Roberts of the New Jersey Nets.

Chris Douglas-Roberts has swine flu

Nets forward Chris Douglas-Roberts, who has been sidelined with flu-like symptoms, has tested positive for the H1N1 virus, according to Nets President Rod Thorn. Douglas-Roberts has been treated accordingly for the illness and the Nets have followed all precautionary measures as mandated by NBA guidelines.

Yi Jianlian has right knee sprain

An MRI performed today on New Jersey Nets forward Yi Jianlian confirmed a Grade 1 sprain of the medial collateral ligament of the right knee. Yi will begin rehabilitation immediately. There is no timetable for his return.

Both the Nets and Yi are off to slow starts in the 2009-10 NBA season. The team has no wins and four losses. Yi is shooting just 40.6% from the field and averaging 9.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

Nets exercise three player options; decline Sean Williams option

The New Jersey Nets have exercised third year contract options on Courtney Lee and Brook Lopez, and a fourth year contract option on Yi Jianlian, while declining to pick up the fourth year contract option on Sean Williams, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today. Lee, Lopez and Yi are now signed through the 2010-11 season. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released.

Lee was selected by the Orlando Magic with the 22nd pick in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft. He was traded to New Jersey on June 25, 2009 along with Rafer Alston and Tony Battie for Ryan Anderson and Vince Carter. The Western Kentucky product appeared in 77 games for Orlando last season, earning 42 starts. He averaged 8.4 points while shooting .450 (243-540) from the field and .404 (82-203) from downtown, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 steal in 25.2 minutes per game.

Lopez was selected by the Nets in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft with the 10th overall pick. He was the only Net to appear in all 82 games, earning 75 starts from 11/14 vs. ATL through 4/15 at NYK. Lopez averaged 13.0 points (6th among rookies), 8.1 rebounds (2nd among rookies) and 1.84 blocks (9th in NBA, 1st among rookies) in 30.5 minutes per contest (7th among rookies). He shot .531 (448-844) from the field (1st among rookies) and .793 (172-217) from the line (5th among rookies) while being selected to NBA All-Rookie First Team. He finished third in NBA Rookie of the Year voting (Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo) and set the Nets all-time rookie blocks record with 151. He recorded 55 games scoring in double figures, 13 games scoring 20+ points, one game scoring 30+ points, 23 games with 10+ rebounds and a Nets rookie center record 18 double-doubles. The Stanford product led the Nets in scoring nine times, in rebounds 48 times and in blocks 57 times.

Yi was selected with the sixth pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft by Milwaukee. He was traded to New Jersey, along with Bobby Simmons, for Richard Jefferson on June 26, 2008. During the 2008-09 campaign, Yi appeared in 61 games, earning 52 starts. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per contest. He shot .382 (191-500) from the field, .772 (95-123) from the line and .343 (48-140) from downtown. The 7-foot forward recorded 23 games scoring in double figures, four games scoring 20+ points, four games with 10+ rebounds and three double-doubles. He led the Nets in scoring three times, in rebounds 10 times, and in blocks nine times. Yi missed 16 games with a broken fifth finger, right hand (1/12-2/10) which he suffered on 1/9/09 at Milwaukee. Yi is a member of the Chinese National Team and competed in 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2004 games in Athens.

Sean Williams was selected 17th overall in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft by New Jersey. He appeared in 106 games over two seasons, averaging 4.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per contest.

NBA tells bench players stay seated so fans can see

Good NBA seats are expensive. Fans shelling out big money to sit near the court should expect a good view of the action.

But what about when players get off the bench and remain standing for a while? On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys cheer their teammates. On the other, these giants prevent fans from seeing what they paid to see.

The Cavs are one team with players who remained standing a lot, and now the league office has reportedly taken action.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The NBA has issued a memo to its teams directing players on the bench to remain seated during games. Game officials will be keeping a closer eye and will issue faster warnings and possible technical fouls if not followed. Players are permitted to cheer, but standing during regular-game action and blocking the fans’ views apparently isn’t going to be allowed.

That goes for Tuesday night’s first preseason game at The Q, where the Cavs will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of eight practice games before the season opener.

The Cavs weren’t exactly thrilled that their custom has been legislated.

“It is hard to take that out of the game,” LeBron James said. “Part of the game is emotions, your teammates are all you have. That was part of the reason we played great basketball, because we cheered each other.”

I support the league protecting the paying fan’s view.

Dwight Howard playfully mocks Vince Carter

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports (via blog): Magic center Dwight Howard has coined a new nickname for Vince Carter, who was called “Half-Man, Half-Amazing” in his high-flying, younger years. Laughed Howard, “He’s now ‘Half-Man, Half-Retired.’ “He’s not the Toronto Raptors Vince Carter who was dunking on seven-footers, but he’s still one of the league’s best players.” Carter, the eight-time all-star acquired in a trade this summer, showed flashes in his Magic debut Monday night as Orlando opened their preseason with a 110-105 victory against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Arena.

InsideHoops.com editor says: If a young Vince Carter and the current Dwight Howard both jumped as high as they could in the same direction, just as the wind gusted along with them, perhaps a typhoon would be created, sweeping the Magic arena away, delaying the NBA season. That would be pretty awful. Fortunately Carter is older now so as realistic as the scenario I just described may be, chances are it won’t happen.

Oct 4: Knicks 115, Nets 107

The AP reports: Al Harrington scored 23 points and Wilson Chandler had 21 to help the New York Knicks beat the New Jersey Nets 115-107 on Sunday in the preseason opener for both teams. David Lee added 20 points and nine rebounds, and New York made 13 of 31 3-pointers. Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Nets with 21 points, and Brook Lopez had 19, and Bobby Simmons added 16… Newcomer Darko Milicic was 1 of 4 from the field in limited action for the Knicks. Danilo Gallinari had nine points in 26 minutes after playing only 28 games last season in an injury-plagued rookie year.

Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov will buy Nets

The New Jersey Nets struggle to attract fans and face many issues as they attempt to build a new basketball arena in Brooklyn and relocate the team. And now the AP reports:

Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov says in his personal blog that he has made an offer to buy the New Jersey Nets.

Prokhorov, considered Russia’s richest man, said Tuesday on his blog that he sent team shareholders an offer over the weekend. Under the proposal, Prokhorov’s holding company Onexim would obtain a controlling share in the Nets in return for loaning the money to build a new arena.

If the team is going to be sold I expect it would happen relatively sooner rather than later.