Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 95 – NBA Blog

Jay-Z concerts to open new Nets arena; Nets will be named Brooklyn Nets

Erin Durkin of the New York Daily News reports:

Rap mogul Jay-Z will headline a series of concerts to open Brooklyn’s new Nets arena next fall – and will make it official Monday: The team will be named for his hometown.

The superstar, who owns a small piece of the soon-to-be renamed Brooklyn Nets, will perform at eight concerts to celebrate the grand opening of the arena – where all-access passes are going for up to $15,400 a season.

Jay-Z likely will be joined by his wife, Beyoncé – who by then will have given birth to the couple’s first child – at one of the shows, and will bring on a series of other performers, sources said.

Jay-Z will appear with developer Bruce Ratner and Borough President Marty Markowitz to reveal details of the shows Monday at the Prospect Heights construction site.

The Barclays Center, which is rapidly rising at Flatbush and Atlantic Aves., is set to officially open on Sept. 28, 2012, with the first concert and will have three weeks of special events before the basketball season starts.

They’ll also make it official today that the team will be named the Brooklyn Nets, sources said.

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Ex-NBA Player Tate George Charged in $2 Million Ponzi Scheme

Bloomberg News reports:

Tate George, a former player for the National Basketball Association’s New Jersey Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, was charged with running a $2 million Ponzi scheme that targeted ex-professional athletes.

George, 43, raised more than $2 million for his company, The George Group, after telling investors his real-estate development portfolio was worth $500 million, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation complaint accusing him of wire fraud.

“In reality, The George Group had virtually no income generating operations,” U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in Newark, New Jersey, said in a statement today.

George used the money he raised to pay early investors in his company and to fund living expenses such as mortgage and child-support payments, restaurant meals, clothing and gas, according to the FBI complaint. George faces as long as 20 years in prison for the scheme, which prosecutors said began in 2005.

He surrendered to the FBI today and appeared in federal court in Newark, wearing a light-green suit and handcuffs.

NBA postpones training camps, cancels October 9-15 preseason games

The NBA announced today that player training camps for the 2011-12 season have been postponed indefinitely because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association. Training camps were scheduled to open on October 3.

In addition, the league canceled all preseason games scheduled from October 9 through October 15.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

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Springfield Armor holding open tryouts in October

The Springfield Armor, the official NBA Development League affiliate of the New Jersey Nets, today announced that the team will hold open tryouts for the 2011-12 season on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 22-23 at Springfield College located at 263 Alden St. in Springfield, MA. The local tryouts will be limited to the first 125 registrants.

Open tryouts present an opportunity for players to showcase their talents and be evaluated by the Armor coaching staff while they compete to earn a spot in the Armor’s training camp in November. The Armor have a strong track record of discovering players who have made the team through open tryouts. Tre Whitted, who made the team through the 2009 open tryout, is the second leading scorer in franchise history. Five players have made the Armor’s opening night roster through open tryouts in the team’s two seasons.

“I am really looking forward to our open tryouts on October 22 and 23 in Springfield,” said Armor Head Coach Bob MacKinnon, Jr. “Each player will have two days of drills and scrimmaging to show us their abilities. We utilized this format previously and have been able to find players out of our camps that gained roster spots and furthered their careers in the league.”

Registration and check-in on Saturday begin at 8:00 a.m. with the first session set to begin at 9:00 a.m. Check-in for the second session on Sunday begins at 9:00 a.m. with the second session set to begin at 9:30 a.m.

Applicants must be eligible to play in the NBA D-League and must submit the official registration, release, disclosure and background check forms. A pre-registration fee of $150 is due prior to 5:00 p.m. on Wed. Oct. 19. After Oct. 19 or on the day of the tryouts, the registration fee is $200. Tryout forms are available online (armorhoops.com) or at the Armor office (One Monarch Place, Suite 220 Springfield, MA).

Springfield Armor name Chris Carrawell assistant coach

The Springfield Armor today announced that Chris Carrawell has been named the team’s assistant coach under Head Coach Bob MacKinnon, Jr. Carrawell, who was a four-year standout at Duke University under Hall of Fame Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, joins the Armor as the team’s second assistant coach in team history.

“Chris is an excellent addition to Bob’s staff,” said Nets General Manager of Minor League Operations Milton Lee. “He is a young, aggressive coach who comes to the Armor from a storied college basketball environment, and his passion and energy will be an invaluable asset to our players.”

Carrawell, 33, joins the Armor after four years of working at his alma mater in a variety of administrative roles. Carrawell served as the athletic community outreach coordinator for Duke’s athletic department from 2007-08 and then became a graduate assistant manager for the Duke men’s basketball program from 2008-10. Carrawell also held roles with the men’s basketball program as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, as well as an assistant video coordinator, for the 2010-11 season. Prior to accepting a position with the Armor, Carrawell had been serving as a special assistant to the Duke women’s basketball program.

“We are so happy for Chris. He’s the consummate team player who became ACC Player of the Year. He has a great understanding of the game and loves to teach it,” said Duke University and USA National Team Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski. “This position is absolutely perfect for him.”

A native of St. Louis, MO, Carrawell earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology after a stellar four-year career at Duke. Carrawell started all four years from 1996-2000, capturing Associated Press and First Team All-American honors, as well as the ACC Player of the Year award during his senior season. Duke advanced to the NCAA Tournament all four years Carrawell was in school and captured four straight ACC regular season titles. During Carrawell’s collegiate career, the Blue Devils compiled a record of 133-24, including a 58-6 mark in ACC play. Carrawell started every game during the 1998-99 season when Duke compiled a 37-2 record, eventually falling to the University of Connecticut in the 1999 national title game.

Following his collegiate playing career, Carrawell was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs with the 41st overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. Carrawell began a lengthy overseas career that same season, starting in Italy during the 2000-01 season. Carrawell returned stateside the following year to play in the inaugural season of the NBA Development League with the Asheville Altitude. Over the next six years, Carrawell played in Lithuania, Germany, Australia, the Philippines, the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the Netherlands before retiring in 2007.

“Chris is an outstanding person and possesses all the qualities you look for in an assistant coach,” said Armor Head Coach Bob MacKinnon, Jr. “(Chris’) experience at Duke University, as both a player and as a coach, will be invaluable towards his development of our players here in Springfield. This is another exciting step toward establishing the Armor as one of the elite teams in the NBA Development League.”

The 2011-12 season will open on Friday, November 25 when the Armor host the Maine Red Claws at 7:00 p.m. at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Nets coach Avery Johnson confirms loss of assistant John Loyer to Detroit

Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger reports:

Assistant coach John Loyer has left the Nets to join Lawrence Frank’s coaching staff in Detroit and Sam Mitchell is still on the Nets’ staff, for now, Nets coach Avery Johnson said today in an informal sit-down session with reporters at the team’s East Rutherford practice facility.

“John Loyer is going to Detroit,” Johnson said. “We’ll have Popeye Jones taking John’s spot. We’ll figure out where we go from there with the rest of the bench.”

Jones was on the Nets’ staff last season, but he will now be moved up to the front row of the bench, sitting in Loyer’s spot.

Mitchell, who was the lead assistant last season, was a candidate for the head coaching job of the Minnesota Timberwolves until the T-Wolves settled on Rick Adelman to take over for the fired Kurt Rambis. Asked whether Mitchell would return to the Nets, Johnson said yes. Asked if he will be with the team when training camp begins (after the lockout ends), Johnson said, “As of right now, yes. That’s what we anticipate.

Jason Kidd gets married, hopes for 2-3 more NBA years

The Dallas Morning News reports:

Mavericks guard Jason Kidd married long time girlfriend Porschla Coleman on Saturday night.

Kidd posted pictures of the ceremony on his Twitter account

After 17 seasons in the NBA and three trips to the Finals, Kidd finally added a championship ring to his resume with the Mavericks in July.

The future Hall of Famer turns 39 next March.

After winning the title, Kidd was asked how many years he has left in him.

“With this group, hopefully another two or three,” Kidd said. “I feel great, and being around younger guys and working on my game, and them believing in me, helped me compete every day.”

Chris Douglas-Roberts to play in Italy

Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports:

Douglas-Roberts averaged 7.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 44 games with the Bucks last season, after arriving from New Jersey in a trade for a 2012 second-round draft pick.

The former Memphis star missed 15 games at the start of the season after undergoing right eye surgery.

Russian bank part-owned by Nets owner raided by law enforcement officials

Reuters reports:

Armed, masked law enforcement officers on Thursday raided a bank part-owned by Mikhail Prokhorov, a billionaire Russian magnate who is leading a political party into a December parliamentary election, officials and lawyers said.

The head of the International Finance Club bank, known by its Russian acronym MFK, said the evening raid on the bank’s office in central Moscow had nothing to do with Prokhorov’s Right Cause party or even with the bank’s operations.

“Investigative actions were conducted in relation to one of our borrowers. This has nothing to with Right Cause or Onexim,” the bank’s chief, Oksana Lifar, told Reuters by telephone. Onexim is Prokhorov’s investment vehicle.

But the raid raised eyebrows in a country where critics of the authorities face harassment and law enforcement officers are sometimes employed to put pressure on opponents in business disputes.

Kenyon Martin chooses Andy Miller to be his new agent

During the ongoing NBA lockout, the main news has been overseas player signings, changes in management or coaching staffs, and the occasional hot exhibition game. So, we send a thank-you to Kenyon Martin for adding something new to the lockout pot.

Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post reports:

Longtime Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin has chosen a new agent – now we’ll see if he chooses a new team.

The unrestricted free agent has hired Andy Miller, who also represents former Nuggets all-star Chauncey Billups. Martin is seeking what could be the last big contract of his career – the 2010-11 season was the last on Martin’s seven-year, $90-plus million deal with Denver.

He turns 34 in December, but coaches across the league annually gush about Martin’s ability to quarterback a defense. Last season, Martin averaged 8.6 points per game and 6.2 rebounds in what might have been his final season in powder blue.

Martin is definitely slowing down, but he’s not done yet. His best role at this point is probably as the first forward off the bench. Or, he’s still capable of starting and being a defensive anchor if placed next to another forward with serious offensive game.