Category: Brooklyn Nets Blog

Here’s ESPN New York reporting on the Nets, who are 16-16 for the season and on a three-game winning streak:

Much ballyhooed rookie Bojan Bogdanovic has fallen out of the rotation. In fact, he received his first DNP-coach’s decision Friday night. Granted, he didn’t play until garbage time in Chicago Tuesday night. He shot 38.8 percent in December. Hollins told reporters in Orlando: “It’s not what Bogie’s done, it’s what he’s not done. You’ve got to play and compete and go out and play well, and (Sergey) Karasev has shown me a lot in practice. We were struggling, I just gave (Sergey) a shot and he played well. It’s also a product of Bogie just hitting a wall and not being aggressive.” As a starter, Karasev is averaging 8.3 points on 41.7 percent shooting. His basketball IQ has been excellent, his defense competent.

The Brooklyn Nets have assigned Markel Brown and Cory Jefferson to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League, pursuant to the flexible assignment rule, General Manager Billy King announced today. The flexible assignment rule was used because the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Nets’ D-League affiliate, had four players on assignment at the time the Nets initiated Brown and Jefferson’s assignments to the D-League.

Brown, a 6’3” rookie guard, has appeared in seven games with the Nets this season, averaging 1.9 points in 5.4 minutes per game. He was selected with the 44th pick of this year’s NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves and traded to the Nets in exchange for cash considerations.

Jefferson, a 6’9” rookie forward, has appeared in 15 games (one start) with the Nets this season, averaging 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game. He was selected with the 60th pick of this year’s NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and traded to the Nets in exchange for cash considerations.

These will be the first D-League assignments of Brown and Jefferson’s careers and the first D-League assignments the Nets have made this season.

Here’s ESPN New York reporting some hard truths about several key Brooklyn Nets players:

They might be making a combined $432,604 per game, but Deron Williams and Brook Lopez are nothing more than sixth and seventh men right now, two max reserves coming back from injury and struggling to adapt to their new roles for the Brooklyn Nets.

On Saturday night at Barclays Center, Williams and Lopez looked like shells of their former All-Star selves. Williams shot 2-for-7 from the field and had three turnovers in 20 minutes off the bench, while Lopez missed all five of his field-goal attempts in 15 minutes and was held scoreless for the first time since Nov. 8, 2010 — the sixth game of his career.

“There are no excuses,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said after his team was pounded by the Indiana Pacers 110-85. “[Deron and Brook] didn’t play very well, and they have to play better for us to be better or for them to get more playing time and more consistent playing time.”

You want a strong statement from a head coach of a 13-15 team that is only alive and well because it plays its games in the Eastern Conference? Try that one.

Here’s ESPN New York reporting on the Brooklyn Nets, who are 8-12, just traded unused bench player Andrei Kirilenko to the 76ers today, and lately have been playing without the services of injured center Brook Lopez:

The Brooklyn Nets have gotten off to a terrible start — and their coach wants more.

“We’re not a team that can play poorly and beat somebody,” Lionel Hollins said Thursday. “We’re not a very good team at this stage of our development.”

Asked if he expected an [8-12] start when he took the job, Hollins responded, “I didn’t know what to expect. I thought we would be better. I didn’t know when. We have some deficiencies. The rebounding one is huge, and defensively, the quickness against most teams is huge and just being able to execute and play at a tempo that keeps us in games versus letting the other team having their way of playing. That’s important, too.

“But with this group it’s a learning process of how to play that way, and I think most of the guys would like to play quicker, but it gives the other team too many opportunities.”

Brooklyn Nets sign Darius Morris

The Brooklyn Nets have signed free agent guard Darius Morris, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today.

Morris (6’4”, 195) was selected with the 41st pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and appeared in 19 games during his rookie season, averaging 2.4 points and 1.1 assists in 8.9 minutes per game. He also saw action in four playoff games, scoring 10 points in eight minutes. In his second season, Morris, 23, appeared in 48 games (17 starts), averaging 4.0 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 14.2 minutes per game. He boosted his averages to 10.5 points, 1.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 26.3 minutes per game through four Lakers’ playoff games (two starts).

Morris joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2013-14 season where he appeared in 12 games with Philadelphia, averaging 6.9 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 16.3 minutes per game before being waived. Morris then signed two 10-day contracts with the Los Angeles Clippers, appearing in 10 games, and one 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, seeing action in five games. Prior to the start of the 2014-15 season, Morris signed with the Portland Trail Blazers and was among the team’s final cuts. In 94 career NBA games, Morris has recorded averages of 3.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 12.4 minutes per game. He has also appeared in a total of 12 D-League games in his career, including three games on assignment with the Lakers’ affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, and nine games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Morris spent two years at the University of Michigan before declaring as an early entrant in the 2011 NBA Draft. He was named to the All-Big 10 Third Team following a sophomore season in which he averaged 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game and set the school’s then single season assists record.

The Brooklyn Nets are off to a disappointing start this season, but Friday night they head to Oklahoma City to face a Thunder team that continues to play without its two stars. The Nets need this. Here’s ESPN New York with more:

The Brooklyn Nets have lost five straight games and are coming off an exhausting and grueling triple-overtime loss to Jason Kidd’s Bucks at Barclays Center.

Just as things could spiral downward, along comes a trip to Oklahoma City. The Nets hit the road to play the Thunder and Spurs on a two-game road swing knowing that wins over the Thunder the past two seasons have coincided with a big turnaround.

Last season, the Nets limped into Oklahoma City on Jan. 2 with a 10-21 record. Joe Johnson drilled a buzzer beater, propelling the Nets to win 10 of 11 games. That win jump-started the Nets, who won 33 of their next 46 games after the abysmal 10-21 start.

And two seasons ago on Jan. 2, the Nets were 16-15 before going into Oklahoma City and coming away with a win. They won 10 of 11 games and improved to 26-16.