It's all on Jason Kidd now and the burden is a heavy one

National writers and columnists had one message for Jason Kidd Friday morning: this is all on you. If the Nets turn around --and that is looking increasingly unlikely-- it will be up to you.

From Dave D'Alessandro to Ken Berger, there were expressions of bewilderment and bitterness about Kidd's historically disastrous week: a $50,000 fine for his spilled Coke stunt, the "reassignment" of Lawrence Frank, his long time friend over "differences in philosophy" to back-to-back losses at home by more than 20 points ... a measure of ineptitude never reached before.

Under a headline "Kidd, not Knicks, is the laughingstock," Ian O'Connor said Kidd has embarrassed himself and the franchise ... noting the team warned him not to dump Frank, but supported the decision anyway.

"I thought that Kidd would bring instant credibility to the bench, and would see the game the way he saw it as a player -- two frames ahead of everyone else. But that was before he embarrassed himself by intentionally spilling soda onto the court against the Lakers, and before he embarrassed the franchise by asking for Frank's playbook. That was before Shaw, coach of the 11-7 Nuggets, embarrassed Kidd and the Nets on Tuesday night."

Ken Berger writes that Kidd is now doing what he didn't do as a player, makes excuses.

So on this night, after a second straight blowout loss at home, Kidd said, "We're not going to make any excuses," and then proceeded to hide behind the injuries to Deron Williams, Paul Pierce and Andrei Kirilenko and use them as excuses. If this is the kind of consistent messaging the Nets are getting on the practice floor and in the meeting room, no wonder they're so confused.

Dave D'Alessandro spoke to the Nets coach with a near .667 record on the bench -- P.J. Carlesimo.

"The one problem is that the expectations that were too high to begin with," Carlesimo said. "But could they still possibly reach them? Yeah, they could. And I still say they have a litany of valid excuses – starting with the injuries to D-Will and Andrei (Kirilenko) – so c’mon, there are legit reasons they struggled."

No one (yet) is saying they can't turn it around, but as each of the columnists notes, the clock is ticking and Kidd is "changing things up" in Kevin Garnett's words, eliminating some things, adding others. With everyone's patience running out and Kidd's great reputation crumbling, it seems that time is not on their side.

• As Nets cave again, P.J. Carlesimo looks back without anger, just bewilderment - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger
• Jason Kidd, Hall of Fame player, is embarrassing himself as coach - Ian O'Connor - ESPN New York
• Nets Take Laughingstock Title Away From Knicks - John Schuhmann - NBA.com
• The Nets are Kidd's mess to fix, even if he doesn't think so - Ken Berger - CBS Sports
• Jason Kidd may have ruined Knicks and Nets for this season - Filip Bondy - New York Daily News
• Charles Barkley provides commentary on Knicks and Nets - Justin Tasch - New York Daily News