Category: Brooklyn Nets Blog

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.

Brook Lopez returns for Nets, who beat banged-up Thunder by 31

Playing at home in Brooklyn, the Nets on Monday destroyed the injury-riddled Oklahoma City Thunder 116-85 and now have a 2-1 record in the 2014-15 season, which began just last Tuesday.

Nets center Brook Lopez has had major injury problems in his career, and was out yet again recently, this time with a relatively minor issue. He played his first game Monday. All went well.

According to ESPN.com, “Lopez (right midfoot sprain), playing in his first regular-season game since Dec. 20, 2013, finished with 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes, and the Brooklyn Nets rolled to an easy 116-85 victory over the injury-ravaged Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night in their home opener at Barclays Center.”

More from ESPN.com: “It felt good to be out there with the guys,” Lopez said. “It was a little frustrating personally because I got in some early foul trouble, but our guys kept playing. We were fantastic out there. We were great defensively; there were really no lulls. We moved the ball offensively and got what we wanted. We couldn’t have started off in a better way at home.”