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Brooklyn Nets head coach Jason Kidd has been fined $25,000 for public criticism of the officiating, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.
Kidd made his comments during a conference call with the media on Thursday, May 1.
Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on the Nets, who are now in trouble against the Toronto Raptors and must win Game 6 in Brooklyn tomorrow or they’ll be eliminated from the first round of the NBA playoffs:
The Nets traded their future for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to rise in these moments. They held press conferences and dedicated thousands of words to reiterate that these guys bring leadership, they bring the moxie that’s required during crunch time of pivotal playoff games.
The price for that luxury? Three first-round draft choices. As the team slogan indicates, the Nets were going “All In” on two aging future Hall of Famers.
But for an entire fourth quarter in the biggest game of the season Wednesday night, with the Nets staging a miraculous comeback behind Joe Johnson, Deron Williams and Mirza Teletovic, Pierce and Garnett were just cheerleaders, bystanders.
When the Nets needed a big stop in the final minute, Jason Kidd never summoned Garnett. When they needed a big shot, Pierce never took off his warmup shirt. The result was a 115-113 loss in Game 5 for the Nets, in a roller-coaster of a game that ended when Andray Blatche threw a pass way off target for a turnover with one second remaining.
The Nets, the most expensive team in NBA history, plunged to the brink of elimination with that pass and with most of their playoff experience on the bench, falling into a 3-2 deficit in the first-round series heading into Friday’s Game 6 in Brooklyn.
On Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets visited the Toronto Raptors for Game 5 of their first round playoff series. Although the Nets went wild in the fourth quarter, scoring 44 points, it wasn’t enough, and Toronto won 115-113 to take a 3-2 series lead.
Raptors fans have been loud, wild and engaged during the series, and even gathering in massive crowds outside Toronto’s arena to enjoy the action. While Nets fans back in Brooklyn tend to be on the… quieter side. The Nets are still new in Brooklyn, and while attendance is great, and tons of fans are terrific, some others are on the casual side of things. It’s a great situation — all that’s missing is a bit more loudness from some in the crowd.
Anyway, during last night’s game, Nets team website reporter Lenn Robbins was running the official Nets Twitter account as a guest of sorts, and one of his tweets called out Nets fans. Check it out:
#Nets fans take note- this is what a playoff crowd sounds like..set your DVD and take notes #RAPTORSvNETS – LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) May 1, 2014
Bold move, calling out the fans. But if it works, that’s all that matters.
Here’s ESPN New York reporting on Nets forward Paul Pierce, who spent the bulk of his NBA career with the Boston Celtics before becoming a Net:
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Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd believes that Paul Pierce’s emotional return to Boston on Jan. 26 allowed the future Hall of Fame forward to get some closure, move on and begin really thriving in Brooklyn.
“To go back to Boston, the place you were drafted, I think that probably closed the door on his career there in Boston,” Kidd told reporters Sunday.
Pierce played the first 15 seasons of his career with the Celtics. The 36-year-old veteran was initially stunned when he was traded by the only franchise he’d ever known.
It took Pierce awhile to get over that.
Ed Manetta has been named Director of Sports Programming for Barclays Center. He will spearhead the programming of the BROOKLYN HOOPS college basketball and BROOKLYN BOXING franchises, along with college hockey, high school sports and new sports properties.
Manetta has more than 25 years of experience in the sports industry, including serving as Director of Athletics for St. John’s University and DePaul University. Most recently, Manetta served as Managing Director at Fastlane Communications where he created the first ever digital channel for high school sports and led the programming efforts for a minor league baseball complex. Prior to Fastlane, Manetta worked for MSL Sports and Entertainment and Edelman Worldwide.
Manetta is also currently an adjunct professor at both Iona College and St John’s University.
“Ed’s extensive experience in major college athletics and professional sports will help us expand our great programming for Barclays Center,” said Sean Saadeh, SVP of Programming for Barclays Center. “Our college basketball and major boxing franchises have been successful during our first 19 months, and we are excited to continue to bring the best to Brooklyn.”
“I am honored to be part of such a thriving sports and entertainment venue,” Manetta said. “Barclays Center has captured Brooklyn, the City of New York and the nation as one of the most popular and exciting sports destinations in the industry today. I am proud to be joining the team and I am looking forward to contributing to the growth of the arena’s programming.”
Raised in East Northport, Long Island, Manetta received his undergraduate degree from St. John’s University and his graduate degree from Fordham University. Manetta and his wife, Debra, reside in Larchmont, NY and have children Lindsey, Nicole and James.
Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on on Nets forward Paul Pierce:
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Dubbed a “Dinosaur” on the front page of the local Toronto paper because of his age, the 36-year-old Pierce buried the Raptors in Game 1 of the opening round, scoring nine of his 15 points in the final three minutes of a wild 94-87 victory that started with a profane insult from Toronto’s GM and ended with a broken shot clock.
“Truth-asaurus Rex 1, Raptors 0,” Pierce retweeted from his account not long after the game.
An acrimonious tone was set when Raptors GM Masai Ujiri shouted “F— Brooklyn!” at a fan rally outside the arena before the game, drawing cheers from the assembled thousands. But by the time Pierce walked off the floor, the Nets, seeded sixth, had snatched home-court advantage from the inexperienced and combustible No. 3 Raptors, flexing their experience and $102 million payroll.
“You see, as a home-court team should do, (the Raptors) relied on their crowd, relied on their home-court advantage,” said Shaun Livingston. “So to come in and take that away from them in Game 1, it’s big for us.”
Here’s the Toronto Sun with a fun update on the general manage of the Raptors:
The Raptors-Brooklyn Nets series was never going to be a quiet one.
Between the Maple Leafs missing the playoffs eight of nine seasons and the Raptors done by late April for five straight seasons, Toronto fans have been impatiently waiting years for another taste of post-season action.
The Air Canada Centre was bananas from the start Saturday, getting on the visiting Brooklyn Nets, the referees and even Nets coach Jason Kidd. And if that wasn’t enough, scores of people gathered outside at Maple Leaf Square were even more amped up after team president/general manager Masai Ujiri, throwing political correctness out the window, ended an address to the gathered fans in emphatic fashion.
“F— Brookyn,” yelled Ujiri, handing off the mic as he left the stage with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Tim Leiweke, who dropped his head, perhaps thinking, ‘It’s on now.’
Here’s the New York Post reporting on the Brooklyn Nets, who begin their first-round NBA playoff series against the Toronto Raptors tomorrow:
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As the Nets rotated players in and out of the lineup over the final five games of the season in order to be rested and healthy for the playoffs, only one player sat out all five games.
That player was Shaun Livingston, who sprained his right big toe on a dunk attempt in the Nets’ win over the Heat on April 8 in Miami and needed the week off to be back in the starting lineup for Saturday’s matinee Game 1 against the Raptors.
“I definitely needed the time,” Livingston said after Friday’s practice. “But circumstances, I think I would have been able to play through it. I would have just pushed through it.
“I feel better. I got a chance to get on the court for the first time [Thursday], so I feel better. I’m shaking off the rust, trying to get my wind back. There’s going to be a lot of adrenaline … [so I’ll] just try to stay composed and stay in the moment.”
Watch video of Nets rookie Mason Plumlee blocking Heat star LeBron James with around four seconds left. The Nets won the game, 88-87. This was huge. LeBron felt he got fouled on the play. Notice Joe Johnson swiping at LeBron before Plumlee’s block.
Here’s the New York Post reporting on Kevin Garnett, who has finally returned to active duty for the 42-34 Brooklyn Nets. Garnett this season is averaging 6.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game:
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Kevin Garnett had been away from the Nets for so long that some teammates, and even coach Jason Kidd, joked with him prior to Saturday night’s game against the 76ers that he should be treated like a rookie. And despite being in the 19th year of a Hall of Fame career, Garnett admitted to feeling nervous before stepping on the floor.
But after missing 19 games over the last five weeks because of an ongoing bout with back spasms, Garnett looked as if he hadn’t missed a day, let alone a month. Moving fluidly, Garnett finished with 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting to go with four rebounds, an assist and a block in 13 minutes as the Nets earned a 105-101 victory over the hapless Sixers.
“I’ve been working my [butt] off to get back to where I’m at,” Garnett said after coming through the game with no further back issues. “Obviously I’m not to where I want to be but I felt good, I felt strong. … It’s been a journey to get back to this point, so I’m just trying to contribute at this point.”