I read several other articles but they were more or less the same as these
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/...orts/62917.htm
NO MORE KIDD-IN' AROUND
By PETER VECSEY
April 25, 2006 -- IF you ask me, Jayson Wil liams might've enjoyed last weekend more than anyone currently associated with the Nets. Only those with a bad sense of smell and a satirical awareness of history would've expected an abdication of their home court advantage faster than former Gov. Jim McGreevey abandoned governing New Jersey.
Quick . . . someone use the Jaws of Life to pry the ball out of Vince Carter's hands.
Until laws are enacted to prohibit players from squeezing off 33 rounds in the process of misfiring 21, you'd think someone in a position of power, someone who knows better than to keep throwing good possessions after bad, would summon at least a morsel of unfashionable common sense.
Paging Lawrence Frank and Jason Kidd.
Instead, Carter's afternoon malfunction against the Pacers was aided and abetted by a cacophony of co-conspirators.
To the detriment of the team, Frank curiously continued to order Carter be force-fed. Either that or handle the ball up high on isolations and pick n' rolls.
To the consternation of all observers, Kidd inexplicably kept running his commanders' sets rather than avoiding them and instead of going more to Richard (6 of 11) Jefferson or Nenad (9 of 15) Krstic.
To my unmitigated bewilderment, Mark Jackson held only the Nets coach culpable during his ABC postgame, unchallenged analysis. Normally never this far off target, Jackson, a regular Nets TV commentator, indicted "the man in the suit on the sideline" and absolved Kidd of any and all blame.
How can one of the top ten playmakers in NBA history be so pointedly twisted?
Put Jackson in Kidd's sneakers; I can just imagine him abiding by the game plan when it clearly wasn't working.
Yup, he'd be the last quarterback to recognize his team was being blitzed and that an audible needed to be called at the line of scrimmage.
Nope, can't envision Jackson tuning out an inexperienced coach, can't visualize him demanding Carter relocate to the low docks after three or four botched jumpers in order to find out what kind of mode he was in that day - aggressive or bail out.
When, exactly, does an accredited floor general stop distributing live ammo to one of his disoriented troops? When he has shot 15 blanks . . . 16 . . . 20?
Is Jackson telling us Kidd needs Frank's permission before making any alterations? How can that be? I thought the point guard, especially one of the all-time geniuses at the position, is supposed to be the coach's extension cord, with a green light to respond accordingly to what's going on out there.
It's not as if this would've been the first time in his 12-year career Kidd disobeyed a direct order. It's not as if he hasn't tuned out a coach or two or three. It's not as if he ever has been shy about changing up on the run, or reacting to the rainfall of ricocheting jumpers.
OK, so Jackson gave Kidd an EZ Pass. Big deal. Don't you hate when people make a big production out of one turn on camera?
On the other hand, that doesn't mean we're going to let Kidd slide regarding his own wretched (2-for-11) revolver. Or let him get away with his pathetic defense on Anthony Johnson's drive-by in the waning seconds, forcing Krstic to pull his jersey from behind, putting A.J. on the line with nine-tenths of a tick left for two critical free throws.
Jackson says it shouldn't have been a foul, that the tug on the Pacer's cape didn't disturb the shot, that the players should decide the game, not the refs.
Nonsense! How can a tug (I don't care how teeny-weenie) while a player is in the act of shooting, not affect a shot that, by the way, went in-and-out, by the way? How can anyone claim it's irrelevant contact? Krstic grabbed Johnson. It was blatant!
If you've played the game, you know that had to throw Johnson off balance a tinge at the very least. Krstic got caught. Why should the refs ignore it like it didn't happen? It's bad enough that they miss some, like Tim Thomas' nasty smack to Kobe Bryant's forehead (a knot soon appeared) in the final seconds of Game 1 of the Suns-Lakers series.
Too many basketball fans/coaches/announcers want NBA refs to act like NHL officials and swallow the whistle late in the game. Are there rules against fouling shooters or aren't there rules?
In any event, there were more than a couple of culprits for the Nets, who endured the ignominy of being the only homeland not to secure Game 1. And despite Jackson's contention, Kidd's performance warranted a slap from Bob Ryan.
_________________________________________
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/...nets/62907.htm
KIDD: WE HAVE TO REBOUND TONIGHT
By FRED KERBER
April 25, 2006 -- NET NOTES Jason Kidd wants the Nets to run. But you can't run if you don't rebound, so take a wild stab what one area Kidd hopes to see the Nets improve upon tonight in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Pacers.
"We just need to rebound," said Kidd. "We gave them some second opportunities, some 3-point field goals that they made. So if we can rebound, maybe we have a better opportunity to run and maybe that will loosen everybody up."
The Nets especially were hurt late by the Pacers' offensive rebounds. In the final 85 seconds, Indiana got second chances three times, on offensive boards by Jeff Foster and Austin Croshere, and one team rebound by a Nets foul. It all led to five points, including the decisive Anthony Johnson free throws at :00.9.
"We want to limit them to one shot. We felt the two crucial plays were the offensive rebounds late in the game," Kidd said. "If we can do that we can get out and run a little bit more."
*
The offense could have been better, veteran Cliff Robinson acknowledges, but he wasn't thrilled with how the Nets played the other way.
"It was a defensive failure," Robinson said. "Defensively, we made mistakes, we let them penetrate in the paint too much. We didn't take away their strengths consistently. I think we'll play a much better game defensively, just by taking away individual strengths.
"We have to get them out of their comfort zone. Stevie Jackson was able to get off to a good start just by catching the ball without any pressure on him and getting a wide-open jump shot."
*
The Pacers hardly could have been surprised that former teammate Ron Artest was suspended by the league for his forearm antics against Manu Ginobili in the opener of the playoff series between Artest's Kings and Ginobili's Spurs.
"I'm disappointed," said Indy coach Rick Carlisle. "I want him to do well, even if we don't have him any more. I pull for guys who have helped us win games in the past."
*
There will be a reunion of sorts on the TV side tonight. Working the Nets-Pacers for NBA-TV will be Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery, the former Nets broadcast team.
________________________________________
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/...nets/62908.htm
DEFENDING VINCE
By FRED KERBER
April 25, 2006 -- Nets coach Lawrence Frank hauled out the war analogies yesterday then launched a counterstrike in defense of Vince Carter.
Reacting with obvious annoyance at critics of Carter's 33-shot Game 1, Frank went on the offensive stressing that the Nets lost a battle to the Pacers but not the opening-round series war.
"I read what everyone writes, how he took [33] shots," said Frank, whose Nets seek to even the series tonight in Game 2 at the Meadowlands. "Go back and tell me how many shots he took against the double team, all right? I'll give you the answer. One.
"So when you criticize a guy's shot selection, because he missed them doesn't necessarily make them bad shots," continued Frank, who stressed, "I take the stuff very personally" when one of his guys gets ripped.
"Vince is an elite player and we have a great deal of faith and trust [in him]," Frank said. "This guy has helped turn the franchise around."
So there.
"To win the war," Frank added in full Patton mode, "sometimes you lose a battle. Winning the war is a series of little battles, we got to find a way to win the war. Let's not just all jump in and say, 'What's up with Vince Carter?' "
Carter, in Frank's word, got "crushed" after shooting 12-of-33 in the Nets' 90-88 loss to the Pacers on Sunday. Teammates said that Carter has been the focal point of the offense and that's what got them here in the first place.
"He's our leading scorer. He always takes the majority of the shots. A lot of people that don't watch us a lot throughout the year don't understand that's how we play," said Richard Jefferson, who only took 11 shots, although he seemed to score at will early with drives past Peja Stojakovic. "Whether I get more looks and shots is whether or not we get things in the offense. This is the way we've been playing all year, so no need to question it now."
Said Jason Kidd: "I thought all [Carter's] shots were pretty good."
Carter, who declared himself fine after a hard fourth quarter fall that left him with a bruised right wrist and tailbone, shrugged off the hysteria. Carter getting criticized? Wow. Dog bites man.
"I can care less about scrutiny and all that. If it was a bad game, it was a bad game. Just because of what people say and what people think, they don't dictate my game and how I play," said Carter, who, by Frank's count, had 13 point-blank shots at the rim. "I've been in the playoffs before and I've had bad games in the playoffs before. It's just one of those things."
So now the Nets are faced with as much of a "must win" game as they've faced in recent memory. But their core group has seen virtually every scenario and panic simply is not a part of the makeup.
"There is no pressure. for us it is pride and go out and play hard," said Kidd who had his own trouble on offense (2 of 11 from the field) in Game 1.
For the Pacers, it's a matter of doing what they did in Game 1, with improvements - like reducing 19 turnovers.
"We have to have the same hungry attitude. They're going to come out with a lot of emotion and energy," said Stephen Jackson. "We played like the underdogs, like we had to have the game. We have to do the same thing."
fred.kerber@nypost.com
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/...orts/62917.htm
NO MORE KIDD-IN' AROUND
By PETER VECSEY
April 25, 2006 -- IF you ask me, Jayson Wil liams might've enjoyed last weekend more than anyone currently associated with the Nets. Only those with a bad sense of smell and a satirical awareness of history would've expected an abdication of their home court advantage faster than former Gov. Jim McGreevey abandoned governing New Jersey.
Quick . . . someone use the Jaws of Life to pry the ball out of Vince Carter's hands.
Until laws are enacted to prohibit players from squeezing off 33 rounds in the process of misfiring 21, you'd think someone in a position of power, someone who knows better than to keep throwing good possessions after bad, would summon at least a morsel of unfashionable common sense.
Paging Lawrence Frank and Jason Kidd.
Instead, Carter's afternoon malfunction against the Pacers was aided and abetted by a cacophony of co-conspirators.
To the detriment of the team, Frank curiously continued to order Carter be force-fed. Either that or handle the ball up high on isolations and pick n' rolls.
To the consternation of all observers, Kidd inexplicably kept running his commanders' sets rather than avoiding them and instead of going more to Richard (6 of 11) Jefferson or Nenad (9 of 15) Krstic.
To my unmitigated bewilderment, Mark Jackson held only the Nets coach culpable during his ABC postgame, unchallenged analysis. Normally never this far off target, Jackson, a regular Nets TV commentator, indicted "the man in the suit on the sideline" and absolved Kidd of any and all blame.
How can one of the top ten playmakers in NBA history be so pointedly twisted?
Put Jackson in Kidd's sneakers; I can just imagine him abiding by the game plan when it clearly wasn't working.
Yup, he'd be the last quarterback to recognize his team was being blitzed and that an audible needed to be called at the line of scrimmage.
Nope, can't envision Jackson tuning out an inexperienced coach, can't visualize him demanding Carter relocate to the low docks after three or four botched jumpers in order to find out what kind of mode he was in that day - aggressive or bail out.
When, exactly, does an accredited floor general stop distributing live ammo to one of his disoriented troops? When he has shot 15 blanks . . . 16 . . . 20?
Is Jackson telling us Kidd needs Frank's permission before making any alterations? How can that be? I thought the point guard, especially one of the all-time geniuses at the position, is supposed to be the coach's extension cord, with a green light to respond accordingly to what's going on out there.
It's not as if this would've been the first time in his 12-year career Kidd disobeyed a direct order. It's not as if he hasn't tuned out a coach or two or three. It's not as if he ever has been shy about changing up on the run, or reacting to the rainfall of ricocheting jumpers.
OK, so Jackson gave Kidd an EZ Pass. Big deal. Don't you hate when people make a big production out of one turn on camera?
On the other hand, that doesn't mean we're going to let Kidd slide regarding his own wretched (2-for-11) revolver. Or let him get away with his pathetic defense on Anthony Johnson's drive-by in the waning seconds, forcing Krstic to pull his jersey from behind, putting A.J. on the line with nine-tenths of a tick left for two critical free throws.
Jackson says it shouldn't have been a foul, that the tug on the Pacer's cape didn't disturb the shot, that the players should decide the game, not the refs.
Nonsense! How can a tug (I don't care how teeny-weenie) while a player is in the act of shooting, not affect a shot that, by the way, went in-and-out, by the way? How can anyone claim it's irrelevant contact? Krstic grabbed Johnson. It was blatant!
If you've played the game, you know that had to throw Johnson off balance a tinge at the very least. Krstic got caught. Why should the refs ignore it like it didn't happen? It's bad enough that they miss some, like Tim Thomas' nasty smack to Kobe Bryant's forehead (a knot soon appeared) in the final seconds of Game 1 of the Suns-Lakers series.
Too many basketball fans/coaches/announcers want NBA refs to act like NHL officials and swallow the whistle late in the game. Are there rules against fouling shooters or aren't there rules?
In any event, there were more than a couple of culprits for the Nets, who endured the ignominy of being the only homeland not to secure Game 1. And despite Jackson's contention, Kidd's performance warranted a slap from Bob Ryan.
_________________________________________
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/...nets/62907.htm
KIDD: WE HAVE TO REBOUND TONIGHT
By FRED KERBER
April 25, 2006 -- NET NOTES Jason Kidd wants the Nets to run. But you can't run if you don't rebound, so take a wild stab what one area Kidd hopes to see the Nets improve upon tonight in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Pacers.
"We just need to rebound," said Kidd. "We gave them some second opportunities, some 3-point field goals that they made. So if we can rebound, maybe we have a better opportunity to run and maybe that will loosen everybody up."
The Nets especially were hurt late by the Pacers' offensive rebounds. In the final 85 seconds, Indiana got second chances three times, on offensive boards by Jeff Foster and Austin Croshere, and one team rebound by a Nets foul. It all led to five points, including the decisive Anthony Johnson free throws at :00.9.
"We want to limit them to one shot. We felt the two crucial plays were the offensive rebounds late in the game," Kidd said. "If we can do that we can get out and run a little bit more."
*
The offense could have been better, veteran Cliff Robinson acknowledges, but he wasn't thrilled with how the Nets played the other way.
"It was a defensive failure," Robinson said. "Defensively, we made mistakes, we let them penetrate in the paint too much. We didn't take away their strengths consistently. I think we'll play a much better game defensively, just by taking away individual strengths.
"We have to get them out of their comfort zone. Stevie Jackson was able to get off to a good start just by catching the ball without any pressure on him and getting a wide-open jump shot."
*
The Pacers hardly could have been surprised that former teammate Ron Artest was suspended by the league for his forearm antics against Manu Ginobili in the opener of the playoff series between Artest's Kings and Ginobili's Spurs.
"I'm disappointed," said Indy coach Rick Carlisle. "I want him to do well, even if we don't have him any more. I pull for guys who have helped us win games in the past."
*
There will be a reunion of sorts on the TV side tonight. Working the Nets-Pacers for NBA-TV will be Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery, the former Nets broadcast team.
________________________________________
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/...nets/62908.htm
DEFENDING VINCE
By FRED KERBER
April 25, 2006 -- Nets coach Lawrence Frank hauled out the war analogies yesterday then launched a counterstrike in defense of Vince Carter.
Reacting with obvious annoyance at critics of Carter's 33-shot Game 1, Frank went on the offensive stressing that the Nets lost a battle to the Pacers but not the opening-round series war.
"I read what everyone writes, how he took [33] shots," said Frank, whose Nets seek to even the series tonight in Game 2 at the Meadowlands. "Go back and tell me how many shots he took against the double team, all right? I'll give you the answer. One.
"So when you criticize a guy's shot selection, because he missed them doesn't necessarily make them bad shots," continued Frank, who stressed, "I take the stuff very personally" when one of his guys gets ripped.
"Vince is an elite player and we have a great deal of faith and trust [in him]," Frank said. "This guy has helped turn the franchise around."
So there.
"To win the war," Frank added in full Patton mode, "sometimes you lose a battle. Winning the war is a series of little battles, we got to find a way to win the war. Let's not just all jump in and say, 'What's up with Vince Carter?' "
Carter, in Frank's word, got "crushed" after shooting 12-of-33 in the Nets' 90-88 loss to the Pacers on Sunday. Teammates said that Carter has been the focal point of the offense and that's what got them here in the first place.
"He's our leading scorer. He always takes the majority of the shots. A lot of people that don't watch us a lot throughout the year don't understand that's how we play," said Richard Jefferson, who only took 11 shots, although he seemed to score at will early with drives past Peja Stojakovic. "Whether I get more looks and shots is whether or not we get things in the offense. This is the way we've been playing all year, so no need to question it now."
Said Jason Kidd: "I thought all [Carter's] shots were pretty good."
Carter, who declared himself fine after a hard fourth quarter fall that left him with a bruised right wrist and tailbone, shrugged off the hysteria. Carter getting criticized? Wow. Dog bites man.
"I can care less about scrutiny and all that. If it was a bad game, it was a bad game. Just because of what people say and what people think, they don't dictate my game and how I play," said Carter, who, by Frank's count, had 13 point-blank shots at the rim. "I've been in the playoffs before and I've had bad games in the playoffs before. It's just one of those things."
So now the Nets are faced with as much of a "must win" game as they've faced in recent memory. But their core group has seen virtually every scenario and panic simply is not a part of the makeup.
"There is no pressure. for us it is pride and go out and play hard," said Kidd who had his own trouble on offense (2 of 11 from the field) in Game 1.
For the Pacers, it's a matter of doing what they did in Game 1, with improvements - like reducing 19 turnovers.
"We have to have the same hungry attitude. They're going to come out with a lot of emotion and energy," said Stephen Jackson. "We played like the underdogs, like we had to have the game. We have to do the same thing."
fred.kerber@nypost.com
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