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No Kidding! Jason Named USA Basketball’s 2007 Male Athlete of the Year

Another honor for the New Jersey Nets’ guard:

USA Basketball reports: In recognition of his outstanding play and leadership on the 2007 USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team, USA Basketball today announced that New Jersey Nets’ all-star guard Jason Kidd has been named the 2007 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Kidd helped lead the 2007 USA Men’s Senior National Team to a gold medal and 10-0 record at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, he averaged a team second best (tie) 4.6 assists a game to help the USA secure its berth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“I am very honored to receive this award from USA Basketball,” Kidd said. “I want to thank my teammates and coaches, and to express my gratitude in being selected to represent my country. On behalf of my teammates, we look forward to the challenge that awaits in Beijing.”

Starting in nine of the USA’s 10 games, Kidd added a team third best 1.3 steals per game, 3.3 rebounds per game and 1.8 points per game to go with his team second best assist output. He tied or led the team in assists four times, and his unselfish play was evidenced by a 6-of-10 field goal tally and a 62.5 percent (5-8 3pt FGs) shooting performance from 3-point throughout the 10-game competition.

Among all 2007 FIBA Americas Championship competitors, Kidd ranked first in assist-to-turnover ratio (9.20), second in 3-point field goal percentage and tied for third in assists.

Judge dismisses petiton against future Brooklyn arena

The AP reports: A judge threw out a petition by neighbourhood groups to stop the US$4 billion redevelopment of Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards, where construction of an arena for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets is planned. U.S. State Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden ruled Friday that developers of the 22-acre site did enough studies on the impact of traffic, crowds, potential terrorism and other environmental factors on the area to satisfy legal requirements. The petitioners, a coalition of 26 neighbourhood groups, had claimed they would be “directly affected” and “harmed by the substantial adverse environmental impacts of a project of such enormous scale.”

Jason Kidd Closes In On Michael Jordan

During New Jersey’s 99-88 victory against Seattle last night, Jason Kidd grabbed five rebounds, pushing his career total to 6,605.  Only Oscar Robertson [7,804], Clyde Drexler [6,677] and Michael Jordan [6,672] are ahead of him.

Kidd -who has averaged no fewer than six boards per game since 1997-98, and is tied for 29th [first among guards] with 8.7 rpg this season- should be passing both MJ and ‘Clyde The Glide’ over the next nine games. 

Kidd’s resume includes 14,117 points, 9,056 assists [6th, but only five dimes behind Isiah Thomas], and 1,960 steals [11th].  He is, far and away, the modern leader with 97 regular season triple-doubles [3rd overall, behind Robertson’s 181 and Magic Johnson’s 138].

The game against the Sonics was never in doubt and, thus, Kidd [who also tallied 16 points and 11 assists] was benched for the final 12 1/2 minutes.  He appeared to be in line for his 11th triple-double of the season, after collecting eight points, five assists and four rebounds in the opening quarter.

Kidd entered with a string of three consecutive triple-doubles.  Jordan, in 1989, was the last player to have four straight.  The NBA record is nine, by Wilt Chamberlain in 1967-68.

Kidd third straight triple-double

The AP reports: Jason Richardson scored 25 points and the hot-shooting Charlotte Bobcats overcame Jason Kidd’s third consecutive triple-double to beat the New Jersey Nets 115-99 on Wednesday night. Gerald Wallace added 21 points and 11 rebounds and Emeka Okafor and Nazr Mohammed added 17 points apiece for the Bobcats, who shot 59 percent in their highest-scoring game of the season… The Nets had their five-game winning streak snapped despite Kidd’s 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. He became the first player since Detroit’s Grant Hill 11 seasons ago to have three straight triple-doubles.

Nets waive Billy Thomas

InsideHoops.com NewsWire: The New Jersey Nets have requested waivers on guard Billy Thomas, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.

Thomas, who signed with the Nets on December 24, 2007, scored two points in four games with New Jersey. Prior to signing with the Nets, Thomas played for the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League.

That was quick.

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No Nets in Brooklyn until 2010 at earliest

The AP reports: The Nets will play most or all of the 2009-10 N.B.A. season in New Jersey instead of in their new arena in Brooklyn, a team spokesman said Thursday. The spokesman, Barry Baum, said the Nets could begin the 2009-10 season at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., and then move to Brooklyn in the first half of 2010. The Nets had planned to play in their new arena starting in 2009. But in October, the Nets’ principal owner, Bruce Ratner, said the arena, to be called the Barclays Center, probably would not be ready by the start of that season.

Nets name Kiki Vandeweghe ‘special assistant to president’

InsideHoops.com NewsWire: The New Jersey Nets have named Kiki Vandeweghe Special Assistant to the President, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today. His duties will include working closely with Thorn in preparing for the 2008 NBA Draft and in the evaluation of current and future player personnel.

“We are very pleased to welcome Kiki to the Nets,” said Thorn. “Kiki has been a mainstay in the league for almost two decades, first as an All-Star player and then as a front office executive. His experience in both areas will be an invaluable asset to the franchise, and we look forward to his contributions.”

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Nets sign Billy Thomas

The New Jersey Nets have signed free agent guard Billy Thomas, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.  Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

The 6’5” Thomas played in 12 games this season for the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League, averaging 14.9 points 4.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Now in his second stint with the Nets, Thomas played in 25 games with New Jersey in 2004-05, averaging 3.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.  The following season (2005-06), Thomas appeared in 17 games with the Washington Wizards.  Over his two NBA seasons, Thomas has posted career averages of 3.1 points and 1.2 rebounds in 42 games.

Following his four-year career at the University of Kansas, Thomas’ basketball travels have included stops in Argentina, the IBL, the Philippines, Italy, the CBA, and a previous two-year stint in the D-League with Greenville.

76ers finally boot Billy King, hire Ed Stefanski

Years after many expected, the Philadelphia 76ers have finally fired general manager Billy King, and have replaced him with Ed Stefanski, who had been the Nets general manager for the last nine seasons.

King seemed to be content building the 76ers around players that are nice, but not true building blocks. Allen Iverson was never really surrounded with anything close to top talent, and the current Sixers basically have to build around Andre Iguodala, who is a budding star but isn’t expected to ever be a top-tier superstar.

The team is in full rebuild mode — or at least they should be — and Stefanski is a good hire.

Check the regular non-blog portion of InsideHoops.com for more details about this news.