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Andy Vasquez writes Thursday about the Nets latest moves and how they have moved from "typical Nets basketball" -- in Gerald Wallace's immortal words -- to something normal for an NBA team trying to succeed.
The hiring of Sean Marks and now Kenny Atkinson seem to mean that Mikhail Prokhorov's pursuit of "shiny objects" is over, writes Vasquez ... at least until the temptation of free agency.
While Marks hiring was interesting for its low-key approach, it was Atkinson, Vasquez writes, that seemed to make the turn away from going for the big name, the big get.
Surely, this would be the moment when the Russian billionaire conjured up more Typical Nets basketball, reaching into his bottomless pockets and making a big, splashy head coaching hire.
Not so much.
On Sunday, the coaching search ended quietly, when they hired Kenny Atkinson, the Hawks’ lead assistant.
Atkinson is known as a hardworking, smart, players’ coach around the league, where his hiring was praised universally. But he’s a virtual unknown to the general sports public.
Vasquez notes no one knows what will happen --and indeed, Marks, Atkinson and Trajan Langdon have never held the big jobs in any organization-- but they are "smart, sensible hires [made] for the right reasons."
It's going to take a LONG time for Nets fans to determine whether they all work, almost certainly more than one year, but at least the fanbase seems satisfied things are being done "the right way" ... for a change.