Did Prokhorov's Nets Miss Mozgov? Thursday Could Tell the Tale
by Net Income on Sep 8, 2010 12:12 PM EDT
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PrintIt's too bad Brook Lopez didn't get a chance to play in the Worlds. Thursday's USA vs. Russia game (ESPN, 11 a.m. ET) would have provided an interesting match-up for New York hoops fans.
Lopez would have gone up against Timofey Mozgov, the 7'1" Russian center who signed with the Knicks this summer.
At the time of his signing back in July, Mozgov's contract--$8.1 million over three years with a $3.5 million team option in year four--was seen as a slap at Mikhail Prokhorov. Now, with Mozgov going up against Tyson Chandler, Lamar Odom and Kevin Love, New York fans will get to see if New Jersey missed out on him.
Andrei Kirilenko twice recommended Mozgov as Russia's most likely NBA prospect...both times in the context of what Russian players Prokhorov might sign to play for the Nets. It was no secret. AK-47 Said it once in an interview with Russian paper, once in interview with Salt Lake paper. Kirilenko specifically said he liked the 24-year-old's performance in the FIBA Eurobasket last year.
The Nets apparently weren't interested. Rod Thorn said Mozgov wasn't "on our radar". Even if he had been, Mozgov's agent, Bouna Ndiaye, told the New York Times he never contacted the Nets because he believes the Knicks are further along in rebuilding...and Mozgov told MSG that while he admires Prokhorov, the Nets never contacted him or his agent.
Still, the Post reported the Knicks twice worked Mozgov in secret to make certain the Nets didn't know about their interest, fearful that Prokhorov might move in at the last minute and steal him away.
Mozgov, of course, won't work against Lopez Thursday in a battle no doubt Prokhorov will be interested in. Instead, it will be a big test for the Russian center going against Chandler , Odom and Love. Although he has good hands, surprising athleticism and strength, he's not a great rebounder and his BBIQ is questionable.
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they should just announce team usa champs
"I want to win, I want the team to win and I'm in complete control."
-Coach Avery Johnson.
Serbia and Spain are locked in a tough game right now, but I expect Spain to pull it out.
Krstic is looking good for Serbia.
Mozgov scores his points mostly on putbacks and fast break dunks.
Unfortunately, Team USA is weak up front, but don’t expect Timofey to get the same opportunities against the USA.
It should be a good warmup game before playing Argentina.
He doesn’t impress me in the slightest.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
thats a
good thing for Mosgov, since johan petro does. thanks dollar bills.
I’m more impressed by Anthony Randolph’s red hot three point shooting, at a blazing 11% clip, than I am with Mosgov.
Hall of fame skills son!!!
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Mozgov chose to play for Knicks because he felt he would get more PT.
However, I’m not sure why he kept it a secret? Was he afraid that somehow Prokhorov would have sabatoged his chance to get an offer from Knicks?
I would definitely take Mozgov over Zoubek, but that wasn’t an option.
I have some doubts about Petro. Why didn’t he get an invite to French team, as Petro was available?
He has had "issues" with the French team... But hey they are French!
Maybe Proky still holds a grudge with the French…
As a free agent maybe he was told to keep himself away from injury until he got settled with his upcoming status.
From "Interbasket.net"
Petro was recently cut from the French National Team in favor of Ian Mahinmi, another NBA player.
"We decided not to keep (Petro) for more defensive reasons than offense. We believed that Ian Mahinmi had a profile that had more mobility and gives an advantage to the national team." said France’s head coach Vincent Collet.
Petro...
….again jerry, i don’t use getting cut from a national team as some kind of indictment.
Most of us know what we have with this guy….tall, athletic, and long with limited skills. As long as he can make put backs and grab some rebounds while Brook gets a breather i could care less.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Timofey "Timmy" Mozgov?
Who knows, but if the Knicks signed him, chances are he’s a big stiff. That first name would scare me off!…LOL
Seriously, the Nets liked Petro more. How many players can you sign? Some Nets fans wanted the Nets to draft more players a few months ago, but you can’t just have everyone you like. Choices have to be made, even if you have a zillion dollars.
Serbia is up by 8 with 3 minutes left, mostly due to 3 pt. shooting.
So many times we see players who excel as the main player for an International team.
Then when they get to NBA they ARE stiffs.
Hope USA beats Russia by 30 pts. tomorrow and Mozgof looks like a stiff. Those European announcers on NBATV are getting really annoying with how they are saying that USA could be in trouble against Russia.
Tie game with 25 seconds left and Serbia with ball.
Hope Serbia wins, because they would be easier for USA.
Serbia is mostly doing well due to 3 pt. shooting.
Serbia by 3 with 3 seconds left as Serbia hit a 28 ft. 3 pointer.
USA will definitely beat Serbia if they get the chance.
It wasn't seen as a slap by anyone but you NI
Nobody cares that a Russian owner doesn’t have a Russian player.
It would be like saying our pick of Petro was Prokhorov’s attempt to appease French businessmen, in a gesture to continue to conduct business and pleasures in their country after the mishap with the models at the ski resort.
There’s no correlation.
Yes, but it would have been expected that Thorn and Nets would have been scouting Mozgov to make sure they didn't miss a good future backup Center.
If Nets liked Mozgov, then Dmitry should have passed word to Proky, who would have tried to get Mozgov to become available.
It wasn’t clear whether Mozgov was willing to go to NBA at this time.
After the fact we have heard that Mozgov wasn’t on the Nets’ radar (implication being they didn’t feel he was good enough).
But after seeing Mozgov play, one does have to wonder if they made a mistake.
I think what happened had more to do with Avery wanting someone with proven NBA experience in Petro.
Avery felt he knew just what he was getting and didn’t want to take a chance. Lets hope he was right.
We already have a top 3 center
I don’t see why Nets fans are caught up wondering why a Russian player did not sign with a team owned by a Russian man
Some of this ethnic and nationality stuff needs to be dropped by the wayside. The Nets were not interested, period. If they were, we would have known about a contract being offered to him.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Why didn't Mozgov's agent contact the Nets?
Sounds like the Nets where not interested and Mozgov and his agent knew it…
We can’t sign everybody, or can we?
Yes, something doesn't add up.
I could understand why Knicks were fearful of Proky, but it would have been the advantage of Mozgov’s agent to have a bidding war between Knicks and Nets, if possible.
That is why I suspect that Nets rejected Mozgov before Knicks showed interest.
The fact that Mozgov would get more PT with Knicks (who don’t have a legit. starting Center) should also be a factor.
If the Nets wanted his services
he would have been offered a contract
As far as we know, he wasn’t. So that’s that.
The Knicks can have him. More power to them.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions
You don't know...
Doesn’t mean the Nets weren’t interested. It only proves you don’t know.
the
nets were too busy signing johan petro to a 3 year 10 million offer, when no1 even dared to give the guy two years.
nets give outlaw 5, when he deserves 3
morrow, good signing
farmar – dime a dozen
Instead of worrying about ur backup Center...
You should be worrying about who your starting center is. I guess the Knicks blog is slow and uneventful. That’s the reason you keep coming here. Your squad is a bad one and you traded your lottery picks and paid 100 million uninsured when his own Team wouldn’t even give him 80. I can’t wait till the season starts. You keep saying Anthony Randolph and hall of Fame in the same sentence. You deserve every ounce of how bad your season(No playoffs AGAIN…YOU SHOULD BE USED TO THAT BY NOW) and upcoming off season(No Melo) will be.
The JETS/NETS are coming!
Mozgov/Turif
that C rotation won’t cut it. It’s one of the very worst in the league. Amare will have to play C, and knowing D’Antoni’s love for small ball you can bet he will spend a lot of time there.
who
is the nets backup center…. petro?? lol.
listen brook lopez isnt going to play 82 games year in and year out. big men are bound to get injured, especially someone with his physique.
Stop reading
As in, reading too much into this. Nobody else but you sees any connection, spitefulness, or conspiracy on the Knicks side.
by eLonepb on Sep 8, 2010 10:21 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
you dont read
and therefore you dont know what youre talking about.
Suffice it to say that the Post and the Daily News and Newsday all commented on how could this happen.
Being anti-intellectual is no way to go through life, son.
net income
if you think the knicks care about the nets you are delusional. we are only rivals from your perspective. people on theknicksblog.com dont obsess over the nets, like you do the knicks.
yet, you post over here every day like an obsessed fangirl on a Justin Beiber forum
get real, troll
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 9, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
No, you're reaching
And you usually don’t. Nobody really cares about this, and nobody believes this signih was made out of Prokhorov spitefulness.
Anyone that says otherwise is suffering from temporary front temporal lobe mismanagement.
by eLonepb on Sep 8, 2010 11:04 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
He's a very raw big man playing in a tournament that sees Yi put up good numbers.
Need I say more?
by TWilliAM on Sep 8, 2010 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
bang!!!!!
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Yi thanks you for your recognition of his fine FIBA stats.
You don’t need to say more.
BTW, Hollinger had something to say about your boy Rubio
by TWilliAM on Sep 8, 2010 12:50 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I didn't see much impact by Rubio in Spain's loss. Fernandez though had an impact.
Rubio isn’t a “winner” yet. He is subservient to his teammates, not a leader. Maybe when he is a little older.
Still, people should watch film of Pistol Pete Maravich, if they want to see what Rubio will Never become, but people can still hope.
Couple more games like this one...
we can get him for a second rounder… LOL
I wonder if the Nets have any real interest?
I saw him make like 1 or 2 nice fancy passes, and a whole lot more ill advised passes where he tried to be fancy at the wrong times, when he completely didn’t need to, including the very last play of that one play at the end of the game.
he's also still a kid
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions
when maturity kicks in
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Well that’s my point, how many years does one need to be playing as a professional to start to mature?
We will find out with Favors... LOL
I would say by age 25. Mentally and physically you start to become more a man at that age. But not everybody matures at the same rate.
yeah
19 years old, you still have to expect immaturity regardless of him being a professional. As Mike said, not everyone is going to “get it” at the same age or same time.
Lebron James is 25 years old. How mature do you consider him to be?
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Wei just won her first ladies golf tournament in years and she is still pretty young. Maybe she has finally matured?
She has realized that women can’t compete with Men, even in a pseudo-sport like Golf.
And the media took advantage of the situation, but encouraging her to continue to play against men, to help with ratings.
I wouldn't mind a going few rounds with Michelle Wie
A few rounds of golf, that is.
Ya pervs.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions
"mind going a"
ugh. epic fail.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Step yo game up Brook.
Consequences will never be the same.
by NetsMets4Life on Sep 8, 2010 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions
ouch
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Im honestly sick of hearing about this kid.
Consequences will never be the same.
by NetsMets4Life on Sep 8, 2010 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Hollinger is a hack
He abuses stats to back up his case. That’s why he typically gun people down now. He fails when he tried to use stats as tools for projection.
Spain knocked out!!!!!!!!!!
USA needs to beat Russia by 30, then everything just depends on beating Argentina.
Serbia will be no problem, but Turkey will be more trouble with all their Bigs.
Maybe USA vs. Turkey, for the Turkey.
not surprising…and not surprising that usa will win it…its expected
"I want to win, I want the team to win and I'm in complete control."
-Coach Avery Johnson.
I expected the US to have a lot more trouble than they have
but the games aren’t finished yet, so we’ll see. I want to see how our soft interior stands up against these next set of teams.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions
scola should put a fight
"I want to win, I want the team to win and I'm in complete control."
-Coach Avery Johnson.
Scola would take a dump on Chandler, Odom, and Love
it will be good team defense that pulls the US through that.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions
this
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Off topic, but interesting article especially for you stat geeks...
This interesting article discusses Troy Murphy and the 2008/2009 season when every one of his 161 (3) pointers was assisted. Strange but true. If Devin gets half of these assists, his assists numbers will go up by 1 full digit.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/6984/troy-murphy-statistical-oddity
that's insane
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Save for the next Troy Murphy Blog.
What did he do in 2009/2010?
Murphy accomplished a lot last season.... For instance...
“Murphy now holds the dubious honor of having played the most regular-season games in the NBA without ever making a playoff appearanc
What's with this "I could care less" thing?
Shouldn’t it be “I couldn’t care less”?
Some people just have no sense of wonder these days. LOL
I told you guys it was off topic. By the way what is the topic anyway? Oh yeah, Mozgov… Wake me up when it’s over….
“I couldn’t care less” is worse than “I could care less”
like “I hate this” is worse than “I don’t like this”…lol
"I want to win, I want the team to win and I'm in complete control."
-Coach Avery Johnson.
Oh, Sorry Jirohkanzaki... I thought you were talking about my post...
Yeah, Andres is in a bad mood today… LOL
The interesting question I have, is whether Proky would be rooting for Russia as well as Mozgov vs. USA?
If Mozgov does well, then Proky looks bad to either fail to seek out Mozgov or even worse to be rejected by Mozgov.
Otherwise, one would expect Proky to be rooting for Russia – does that make him a traitor if the team’s owner roots for USA to lose?
Prokhy is a Russian. I expect him to root for his home country in the championships, proudly.
I fail to see how Prokhy looks bad for not seeking out Mozgov or getting rebuffed by Mozgov. Who the heck is Mozgov? From everything we’ve been told, it seems like there wasn’t any interest from either party. It’s a moot point IMO and the dude shouldn’t even have a thread dedicated to him.
And just because someone looks good in the international games doesn’t mean that they’ll be a beast in the NBA. Yi looked good in international play last season, yet once the NBA season started taking it’s toll the poor kid looked like a total prolapse, being force fed minutes by a snake in the grass with ulterior motives.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 8, 2010 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions
That's not interesting
not "that" Jersey Shore...Point Pleasant, 10 refreshing miles north of Seaside.
by John at the Jersey Shore on Sep 8, 2010 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree with you
Harris looked really good the year before, then he got force fed minutes. Harris declined. What a snake in the grass!
Jerry25 is losing it and I've lost it... I need a Nets fix... and fast...
“Just lying in the bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen”
Take care guys… I’m going, going, gone…
Looks like Turkey will be playing USA (or Argentina) for the title.
Turkey clobbered Slovenia and I expect them to beat Krstic and Serbia too.
I think Coach K. will regret not taking McGee for the last spot on Team USA.
Turkey is Big. Do they get a Big Turkey if they win?
Kirk Penney could be getting a training camp invite soon, or else he is in talks to join Maccabe Tel Aviv.
Penney is a 6’5" SG who played in D League last year and has lots of experience at age 29.
He was averaging 24+ pts. in Turkey, for New Zealand.
If he was a combo guard he might be more attractive.
does everyone understand
this post has two purposes…
1) it’s a setup. The Knick writers have hyped this guy and made fun of Prokhorov for not recognizing his talents. Nets didnt seem to care.
2) with no Nets in FIBA play, this is a convenient place for you fans to comment on all the World championship news.
So you're saying
You would or wouldn’t trade Favors for Melo?
by eLonepb on Sep 8, 2010 10:17 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
GMs
Are not paid to be dumber than fans. They’ll have their way of evaluation.
Mozgov
Watched him play, inconclusive so far. He’s not dominating like Scola, Turkoglu, Klieza. But not sure if the Russians need him to be. They’ve been winning by defense.
Nothing going on in Nets world, so boring. Would have been nice for Lopez to get some FIBA experience.
ever been to Turkey?
maybe he secretly flew to Moscow to have a secret meeting with Prokhorov to talk secret things.
I could see the Mrs. wanting to take a detour to Venice or the French Riviera, while King goes to Moscow to get closer to the Boss.
As long as Marks is home keeping an eye on the cap space, before any invitations go out.
Come to think of it, if USA (or Russia) is in the finals, I would expect Proky to take a trip to Istanbul, where he would also have a chance to meet privately with King. BK promised to check with his superiors before making any big deals.
Meeting with Proky would also be a good way to get permission for some pocket change if needed to buy out someone’s contract, etc., for a possible camp invitee.
Come to think of it.
It’s better that Proky not sign any Russian players on the Nets. Nets fans and press are not the most rational when it comes to foreign players. If things turn poorly, some would cry conspiracy and favoritism in disguise of xenophobia.
He probably learned a lesson from the previous management. The initial waves of paranoia articles of Nets being taken over by Russian players and management didn’t help either.
no one hates Yi because he's chinese
Yi got crap on here because he played soft, was injury prone, and shot 40% FG which is awful for a 7 footer
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Sep 9, 2010 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah if anything
I was excited he was Chinese because that opened up a big amount of advertising and TV opportunities for the Nets, to bring in more revenue.
Yi wut?
Get that guy off your mind for 1 minute. I was talking about all those articles and fans complaining the “Russian that knows nothing of the NBA” taking over the Nets. Remember those Dave D articles?
Imagine when there are more Russians on staff and rosters. I hate having to repeat myself for you.
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