Would we be surprised if the Nets came away from free agency with Nene Hilario of Rio Janiero, Brazil, and Andrei Kirilenko of Moscow, Russia? Not at all. Is it something positive for the Nets' global ambitions? Of course. Are their addresses and passports a big part of their attraction? Generally, the Nets say no.
The Nets have announced the hiring of CSKA Moscow's public address announcer and blogger, Dmitry Materanskiy, to be Director of International Sales for the Barclays Center. Materanskiy will operate out of an office in Moscow.
Since the present is so depressing, we're looking at the future. And since the future is so uncertain from a player personnel perspective, we're looking more at Brooklyn and Springfield. First, Springfield. We were intrigued by the Armor's selection of Chris Taft, who's overcome not just injuries, but also a muscular condition. In Brooklyn, we look at the cold reality of congestion on Opening Night.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points Saturday, two days after joining Fenerbahce and flying to Moscow to play in the Gomelsky Cup, leading his team to the "friendly" tournament's finals. But once there on Sunday, he scored only 8 points, all in the first half and Fener lost to CSKA Moscow, Mikhail Prokhorov's old team.
In an interview with Championat, a Russian sports site, Avery Johnson spoke about how Mikhail Prokhorov has the same passion, if not the same involvement, as Mark Cuban who he worked with in Dallas. "He worried about the coaches and the players, making everything possible...Mikhail Prokhorov is doing the same thing now with the Nets."
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.
So who is the "current structure", this "Team Prokhorov" that will deal with "day-to-day decision making" while "Mikhail continues to be a great supporter and fan"...and leader of Pravoe Delo ("Right Cause") political party?
When the NBA announced it was going to open a Russian office--and word got out that the Nets would hold an open practice in Moscow, Prokhorov advisor Sergey Kushchenko told Russian media that the NBA has long wanted such a deal, even before Mikhail Prokhorov bought the Nets. He would know. Kushchenko is the man who tried to put the earlier deal together
We don't know if it's going to be required for all new hires, but Avery Johnson and his family were in Moscow this week, getting a tour of the Russian capital and playing some hoops against top members of Mikhail Prokhorov's brain trust.
Mikhail Prokhorov became principal owner of the Nets on May 12, 2010. Since, he has developed Team Prokhorov, a disparate group of Europeans and Americans devoted to the team's success.
