This time of year, Avery Johnson would, in normal times, be screaming and running up and down the sideline. Not in 2011. So Johnson has been spending a lot time talking to kids, from grade school to college, in New Jersey and Brooklyn, Texas and his native Louisiana.
The week ahead will be filled with news. No guarantee it will be good news, but from Brooklyn to Istanbul, there will be news. On Tuesday alone, you can expect the NBA's response to whatever the unon did at Monday's meeting, word on how Sundiata Gaines did in his matchup with Deron Williams in Istanbul, a view inside the "Brooklyn Experience" and Media Day in Springfield.
We'll keep chronicling the up-and-down season of Bojan Bogdanovic till it stabilizes. Could be a while. Problem is that his team, Fenerbahce, is having the same issues. Bogdanovic was expected to be one of the leading scorers in Europe this season and his Istanbul club was supposed to a Euroleague and Turkish League power. Neither has happened.
NBA officials say they saw a lot of misinformation, perhaps even disinformation, flying around the web this weekend on the owners' proposal. So, David Stern and Adam Silver called reporters who cover the CBA talks Saturday afternoon to deal with what they call the worst misconceptions. Stern was quick to blame the agents for spreading bad info.
Details are sketchy and our Georgian is rusty, but it appears some sort of altercation shortened B.C. Armia's game with Tbilisi State University Saturday, but Sundiata Gaines' Armia came away with a two-point win and he played another solid game, scoring 13 points on 4-for-10 shooting and handing out five assists.
For years, the Nets have been bringing high-end customers to their Barclays Center showroom atop Bruce Ratner's New York Times building. There, the high-rollers are treated to a mock-up of a suite, complete with virtual views of the arena from any seat. Now, they've decided to take their show(room) on the road.
In our final Off-Season Report, We take an expanded look at how system issues could affect the Nets...if approved; chart the battle of billion dollar arenas for the big bucks of the small businessmen; relay what an expert thinks about Brooklyn team colors; drink in the prospect of "Brooklynized Water;" plot Mikhail Prokhorov's new course; wonder about Brandan Wright and offer our take on the Nets' interest in the hard core fan.
Jordan Farmar is still only 24 and already has two NBA rings and a visit to the NCAA championship game. Now, if the NBA season is lost, he has a shot at winning three other championships in the Euroleague, Adriatic League and the Israeli League.Only four players have won NBA and Euroleague titles.
The NBA Players Association has sent its members a summary of what the owners' "final" offer entails. Although much of the details have been known, it represents the official union understanding of what the owners are offering.
