The numbers keep rolling in. The Brooklyn Game's panel says the Nets will win 45 games. Tim Bontemps has them at 44. ESPN Forecast is 40. Two computer-driven analyses by ESPN SCHOENE and 538 predict 36. None of the CBS Sports experts has the Nets making the playoffs. Zero of the NBA's general managers picked them to win the Eastern Conference.
The New York Times says, "Kevin Garnett seems washed up, Brook Lopez is injured again, Deron Williams may never be the same and Joe Johnson is among the game’s most overpaid players."
How does KG deal with all this dissing? Not well.
"We can't get into... people who have never touched a basketball.
"Writers are going to be writers. You guys have to fill your columns and make dollars and do whatever you have to do to make a story sound whatever it needs to sound like. We come in here and work every day at this, this is not something that we take very lightly, this is our job, this is our craft, and we want to perfect it as best we can.
"Whether someone puts in you in a poll, or in an article as winning or not, I can't really say what I want to say, but you have to take that like a grain of salt and continue to move on. We internally have our own, obviously, goals as a team and that's priority. You can't get into the naysayers or the people who are supposed to be professionals or professional analysts, people who have never touched a basketball, you know, it is what it is, man."
Lionel Hollins was even more dismissive, saying he didn't care either way, meaning he wouldn't have cared if pundits had picked the Nets to do well.
"[Predictions are] nice for TV. It’s nice for [writers] to have something. ... But when it comes down to it, nobody knows. If you knew, you wouldn’t be writing. I can guarantee you that."
For the record, We'll be out Wednesday (and at least one of our panel has them winning 50, but I was wrong last year, way wrong.)
- Kevin Garnett, Lionel Hollins dismiss negative punditry: "We can't get into... people who have never touched a basketball" - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Kevin Garnett slams media for writing off Brooklyn Nets this season - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
- As Buzz Fades, Focus Will Be on Nets’ Play. Fine by Them - Andrew Keh - New York Times
- N.B.A. Preview 2014: Breaking Down the Conferences - Benjamin Hoffman - New York Times
- Nets preview: With less hype comes lower expectations - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- At least Knicks and Nets won’t be as disappointing as last season - Mike Vaccaro - New York Post
- Nets lose no sleep over dire predictions - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Nets’ five keys for 2014-15 - Andy Vasquez - The Record