No one is saying they are the answer to the Nets' long quest for a starting power forward, one that has stretches back eight years since Kenyon Martin left for Denver, but three forgotten big men have some potential to fill out the roster when and if there's a season. That's Brandan Wright, Chris Taft and Jordan Williams.
So here's this week's agenda: Is it better for the Nets that the entire season is cancelled? Why Bob MacKinnon? What did we learn in a Barclays Center tour? Will the Nets take a deep look at Team Russia? And speaking of Russia, what's going to happen with Prokhorov, not that we know? So come on up for the rising.
Deron Williams arrived in Istanbul this week and Sundiata Gaines signed with B.C. Armia of Georgia, but that wasn't (officially) part of the Nets globalization agenda, although it can't hurt to have six Nets in big roles overseas. The big event on the official globalization agenda this week was the Moscow charity game featuring Mikhail Prokhorov
For Avery Johnson, it was a chance to coach anyone...and he looked thrilled to be doing it. For Mikhail Prokhorov, it was a chance to begin fulfilling his promise to use the Nets expertise to help Russian basketball. Johnson and Popeye Jones spent time Wednesday working with both Russian kids and Russian coaches.
Avery Johnson enjoys playing with his boss, thinks the guy has skills. At the end of Tuesday's charity game in Moscow, the Nets coach said of his 6'9" teammate: "Mikhail played really well today! It’s my first time I’m playing with him but it looks like we have been playing for a while. I really enjoy playing with him." Mrs. Johnson raised no fool.
We've written about Popeye Jones' son, Seth, before. At 16, he is one of the top hockey defensemen in the USA Hockey, a likely first round pick in the 2013 NHL draft and possibly a future Olympian. Les Carpenter of Yahoo! Sports writes about how Seth and his two brothers told their father they wanted to play hockey, not hoops, and about how Popeye reacted.
Another Nets assistant coach may be leaving the team to coach in the college ranks. Popeye Jones, who Avery Johnson first hired in Dallas and then followed him to New Jersey, has expressed interest in the head coaching job at Murray State, his alma mater, according to a Kentucky newspaper.
And now for something completely different. As they sit day after day, night after night, worrying about their charges on the court, assistant coaches Popeye Jones and Doug Overton must be comforted by the success their 16-year-old sons are having on the court (Overton) and surprisingly, on the ice (Jones).
The Nets still don't have as big a basketball operations staff as the Knicks, who remain No. 1 in the NBA, but they're not 27th like they were last season under Bruce Ratner. They're back in the top 10 under Mikhail Prokhorov. Their latest hires: Former Warrior GM Garry St. Jean and Former Knick and Piston assistant coach as scouts.
