Thorn taking responsibility for Nets' woes
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Friday, December 19
Updated: December 19
10:01 AM ET
If New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn is so busy trying to save the jobs of point guard Jason Kidd and head coach Byron Scott, then the next logical questions is . . . who's going to save Thorn's job?
"I am not trying to be a martyr here," Thorn said in the New York Daily News. "I am just telling you facts: Blame or credit for player personnel moves are laid at my doorstep. (And) Byron is the coach. I have supported Byron since he has been here. I will support him as long as he is the coach. I expect him to be the coach."
This is just the latest example of fire fighting Thorn has had to perform over the last year or so as the Nets have gone from two-time Eastern Conference champs to just another 12-12 team in the weakest division in the league.
It erupted after the Nets lost to the Grizzlies by 47 points last Saturday night. According to reports, Kidd began yelling and screaming in the locker room. At first, reporters believed he was laying into teammates until they later learned that he was actually directing his diatribe against Scott and the rest of the coaching staff.
Of course, this isn't the first time Kidd has been at odds with Scott, but it is the first time he was that vocal after shooting 4-for-14. He shot 1-for-10 in the previous game, making him 5-for-24 for the weekend.
Thorn"I don't think it's fair he's being branded as being behind moves that are made," Rod Thorn said in the New York Times. "Good or bad, the credit or the debit should go to me. Because that's true."
There Thorn goes again.
The first quote, he was busy defending Scott. That second quote is him defending Kidd.
That firestorm came about as backlash to Kidd criticizing Scott, the media stating that Kidd had overstepped his boundaries as team leader and was trying to become the coach as well as general manager.
Thorn's reasoning was that it was he, himself, who decided to acquire Rodney Rogers one offseason and it is he who should be blamed for Rogers falling to 5.6 points per game this season on 33 percent shooting. He went on to say that it was he, himself, who decided to pay Dikembe Mutombo to simply go away and he who decided to sign Alonzo Mourning as his replacement. And as you can expect, he said he should be blamed for forking out more than $18 million to the both of them as Mutombo plays for the Knicks and Mourning has officially retired for good with kidney replacement surgery due today.
"I was thinking the other day how this is all coming out at the same time Eddie is coming back," said reserve guard Lucious Harris. "It's kind of ironic. But I don't really see that much difference here. Byron has had to step up and he's more hands-on now."
This, my friends, is the next firestorm that Thorn will undoubtedly have to put out as the Nets take on the Wizards tonight.
After all, he'll probably be the first to tell you that it was also he who decided not to give Scott an extension this offseason, taking away much of the leverage the coach might need in the locker room to quell such uprisings himself, and, at the same time, he who allowed assistant coach Eddie Jordan to go away to become the head coach of the Washington Wizards.
The reasoning sure to follow is that Thorn should have either given Scott an extension and the power he needed to get this job done or get rid of Scott and give the reigns to Jordan, who many believed was really the brains behind the Nets' success.
Look at the numbers. In the last two years with Jordan calling the shots on the sidelines and running the practices, the Nets were 101-63. Without Jordan, the Nets have fallen to 12-12.
"I start laughing at that," Scott said. "I find it amusing."
Jason Kidd
Point Guard
New Jersey Nets
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
23 15.9 6.5 9.3 .385 .804
Well, then it certainly must be Kidd's fault who, after three years with the Nets has decided this year to post lows in steals per game and shooting percentage. In his first year with the team, he averaged 9.9 assists per game. This year, he's at 9.3. In his second year with the team, he scored 18.7 points per game. This year, he's at 15.9.
It is no accident that before coming to the Nets, Kidd had failed to find any kind of team success in Dallas with open battles with then co-star Jimmy Jackson. It is no accident that Kidd failed to find any great success in Phoenix with open battles with his wife resulting in arrest and community service.
Look at his numbers.
The longer he stays with a franchise, the worse his personal stats get.
Despite this fact, it was, again, Thorn who decided to give Kidd a six-year, $103 million contract before this season started after the superstar guard had already had words with Scott.
But if you haven't heard yet, Kidd is in the fourth day of his media blackout so we can't print his side of the story as it unfolds and Thorn continues to put out fires.
But that hasn't stopped the media. As Peter Vescey writes in the New York Post: "His detractors are far too numerous and imposing. What's more, the subversion and sabotage has been allowed to last far too long - if not outright encouraged by factions of ownership who regularly kiss up to Kidd - for Scott's exposed flaws not to prove fatal . . . As for Kidd, as precious as the premier pout guard is, count on the skinless one to demand a trade sooner than later; during the offseason, I reckon. It's already gotten too uncomfortable for him."
Scott could be gone in a matter of hours. Kidd could be gone in a matter of games. Net ownership could be changed in a matter of months.
And the only one left holding the broken pieces of what's left of the Nets could very well be Rod Thorn
----------------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Friday, December 19
Updated: December 19
9:52 AM ET
McDyessNew York Knicks: It isn't Antonio McDyess' fault that he just about destroyed his left knee while playing basketball any more than it's his fault that after rehabilitating that knee that the Knicks want him to be their starting power forward. But either way, he's going to have to deal with both after former starting power forward Kurt Thomas started to complain. "If it was up to me, I'd say, 'Coach, I want to come off the bench just to satisfy the team,' " McDyess said in the New York Post. "But [Don Chaney] knows what's best for the team. So I just stick with what the coaching staff says. I don't want to cause no confusion - none whatsoever. [Chaney] put me out there and it kind of makes me feel funny like I didn't deserve my job. I've seen all those guys work hard the whole season. To step right into the starting lineup kind of makes you feel bad about how it came about. But it's not my fault." Head coach Chaney, meanwhile, can't make heads or tails of it all. "If Kurt has a problem with anything, he should be man enough to speak to me," Chaney said. "Instead, he's man enough to tell me he's fine with it. I could only go by what a person tells me. I can't get into his head, [that] when he says no, he really means yes. I can only go by what he's telling me."
Houston Rockets: The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Rockets will sever ties with troubled forward Eddie Griffin as early as today, releasing the third-year player outright and simply finding a financial settlement of what's owed after fines and suspensions. In the course of the young season, Griffin has skipped practices and road trips while dealing with chemical dependancy problems and entanglements with the law. Unable to trade the player, the Rockets have decided to just part ways with him indefinitely.
Boston Celtics: Chris Mihm didn't exactly die and go to heaven after being traded from the Cavs to the Celtics, but it sure feels that way with his added time on the floor starting tonight. "I like him," Celtic coach Jim O'Brien said in the Boston Herald. "He's going to, starting (tonight), play a lot of the 5-spot. The only reason he didn't play that much (Wednesday) was because of the problem that Dallas presents us with those small lineups. I think he's very fast. His lateral speed is very good and he leaps." He's even using big words, himself. "Offensively, I have to integrate myself into the team and find out where I'm going to be getting my shots and (Wednesday) night I was concentrating on that and rebounding," Mihm said. "As I engage myself more, I want to learn how I can become an impact player for the team and help us reach an even higher plateau."
BryantLos Angeles Lakers: Phil Jackson may not want to admit it, but he's preparing his team to play without Kobe Bryant, who will be busy defending himself today in court. "Obviously, he hasn't and won't have an opportunity to prepare against Denver," Jackson said in the L.A. Daily News. "But we're going to put the team through a few paces today, just so we can acclimate them to a Denver scenario rather than waiting until (today's shootaround)." Either Derek Fisher or Kareem Rush is expected to start in Bryant's place if he cannot make the 7:30 pm tip off. The guard had no answers as of Thursday. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Look, man, I don't know," he said. "We'll go through the process tomorrow, however long it takes. And we'll see what happens. Perfect-case scenario, I could be back and play. But I don't know. We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow."
Cleveland Cavaliers: It's official. After two surgeries and several other medical setbacks, Dajuan Wagner is not cursed and ready to step up his rehab program. "It felt pretty good. It went better than I thought it was going to go," Wagner said in the Akron Beacon Journal. "I didn't think about it very much, I just went out and played." Wagner is on track to return to action in February following knee surgery in November. "He showed no ill effects, he was just a little rusty,'' head coach Paul Silas said. "We're going to watch him. If there's no swelling, he'll get another practice and we'll go on from there. We are going to work him slow."
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Friday, December 19
Updated: December 19
10:01 AM ET
If New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn is so busy trying to save the jobs of point guard Jason Kidd and head coach Byron Scott, then the next logical questions is . . . who's going to save Thorn's job?
"I am not trying to be a martyr here," Thorn said in the New York Daily News. "I am just telling you facts: Blame or credit for player personnel moves are laid at my doorstep. (And) Byron is the coach. I have supported Byron since he has been here. I will support him as long as he is the coach. I expect him to be the coach."
This is just the latest example of fire fighting Thorn has had to perform over the last year or so as the Nets have gone from two-time Eastern Conference champs to just another 12-12 team in the weakest division in the league.
It erupted after the Nets lost to the Grizzlies by 47 points last Saturday night. According to reports, Kidd began yelling and screaming in the locker room. At first, reporters believed he was laying into teammates until they later learned that he was actually directing his diatribe against Scott and the rest of the coaching staff.
Of course, this isn't the first time Kidd has been at odds with Scott, but it is the first time he was that vocal after shooting 4-for-14. He shot 1-for-10 in the previous game, making him 5-for-24 for the weekend.
Thorn"I don't think it's fair he's being branded as being behind moves that are made," Rod Thorn said in the New York Times. "Good or bad, the credit or the debit should go to me. Because that's true."
There Thorn goes again.
The first quote, he was busy defending Scott. That second quote is him defending Kidd.
That firestorm came about as backlash to Kidd criticizing Scott, the media stating that Kidd had overstepped his boundaries as team leader and was trying to become the coach as well as general manager.
Thorn's reasoning was that it was he, himself, who decided to acquire Rodney Rogers one offseason and it is he who should be blamed for Rogers falling to 5.6 points per game this season on 33 percent shooting. He went on to say that it was he, himself, who decided to pay Dikembe Mutombo to simply go away and he who decided to sign Alonzo Mourning as his replacement. And as you can expect, he said he should be blamed for forking out more than $18 million to the both of them as Mutombo plays for the Knicks and Mourning has officially retired for good with kidney replacement surgery due today.
"I was thinking the other day how this is all coming out at the same time Eddie is coming back," said reserve guard Lucious Harris. "It's kind of ironic. But I don't really see that much difference here. Byron has had to step up and he's more hands-on now."
This, my friends, is the next firestorm that Thorn will undoubtedly have to put out as the Nets take on the Wizards tonight.
After all, he'll probably be the first to tell you that it was also he who decided not to give Scott an extension this offseason, taking away much of the leverage the coach might need in the locker room to quell such uprisings himself, and, at the same time, he who allowed assistant coach Eddie Jordan to go away to become the head coach of the Washington Wizards.
The reasoning sure to follow is that Thorn should have either given Scott an extension and the power he needed to get this job done or get rid of Scott and give the reigns to Jordan, who many believed was really the brains behind the Nets' success.
Look at the numbers. In the last two years with Jordan calling the shots on the sidelines and running the practices, the Nets were 101-63. Without Jordan, the Nets have fallen to 12-12.
"I start laughing at that," Scott said. "I find it amusing."
Jason Kidd
Point Guard
New Jersey Nets
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
23 15.9 6.5 9.3 .385 .804
Well, then it certainly must be Kidd's fault who, after three years with the Nets has decided this year to post lows in steals per game and shooting percentage. In his first year with the team, he averaged 9.9 assists per game. This year, he's at 9.3. In his second year with the team, he scored 18.7 points per game. This year, he's at 15.9.
It is no accident that before coming to the Nets, Kidd had failed to find any kind of team success in Dallas with open battles with then co-star Jimmy Jackson. It is no accident that Kidd failed to find any great success in Phoenix with open battles with his wife resulting in arrest and community service.
Look at his numbers.
The longer he stays with a franchise, the worse his personal stats get.
Despite this fact, it was, again, Thorn who decided to give Kidd a six-year, $103 million contract before this season started after the superstar guard had already had words with Scott.
But if you haven't heard yet, Kidd is in the fourth day of his media blackout so we can't print his side of the story as it unfolds and Thorn continues to put out fires.
But that hasn't stopped the media. As Peter Vescey writes in the New York Post: "His detractors are far too numerous and imposing. What's more, the subversion and sabotage has been allowed to last far too long - if not outright encouraged by factions of ownership who regularly kiss up to Kidd - for Scott's exposed flaws not to prove fatal . . . As for Kidd, as precious as the premier pout guard is, count on the skinless one to demand a trade sooner than later; during the offseason, I reckon. It's already gotten too uncomfortable for him."
Scott could be gone in a matter of hours. Kidd could be gone in a matter of games. Net ownership could be changed in a matter of months.
And the only one left holding the broken pieces of what's left of the Nets could very well be Rod Thorn
----------------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Friday, December 19
Updated: December 19
9:52 AM ET
McDyessNew York Knicks: It isn't Antonio McDyess' fault that he just about destroyed his left knee while playing basketball any more than it's his fault that after rehabilitating that knee that the Knicks want him to be their starting power forward. But either way, he's going to have to deal with both after former starting power forward Kurt Thomas started to complain. "If it was up to me, I'd say, 'Coach, I want to come off the bench just to satisfy the team,' " McDyess said in the New York Post. "But [Don Chaney] knows what's best for the team. So I just stick with what the coaching staff says. I don't want to cause no confusion - none whatsoever. [Chaney] put me out there and it kind of makes me feel funny like I didn't deserve my job. I've seen all those guys work hard the whole season. To step right into the starting lineup kind of makes you feel bad about how it came about. But it's not my fault." Head coach Chaney, meanwhile, can't make heads or tails of it all. "If Kurt has a problem with anything, he should be man enough to speak to me," Chaney said. "Instead, he's man enough to tell me he's fine with it. I could only go by what a person tells me. I can't get into his head, [that] when he says no, he really means yes. I can only go by what he's telling me."
Houston Rockets: The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Rockets will sever ties with troubled forward Eddie Griffin as early as today, releasing the third-year player outright and simply finding a financial settlement of what's owed after fines and suspensions. In the course of the young season, Griffin has skipped practices and road trips while dealing with chemical dependancy problems and entanglements with the law. Unable to trade the player, the Rockets have decided to just part ways with him indefinitely.
Boston Celtics: Chris Mihm didn't exactly die and go to heaven after being traded from the Cavs to the Celtics, but it sure feels that way with his added time on the floor starting tonight. "I like him," Celtic coach Jim O'Brien said in the Boston Herald. "He's going to, starting (tonight), play a lot of the 5-spot. The only reason he didn't play that much (Wednesday) was because of the problem that Dallas presents us with those small lineups. I think he's very fast. His lateral speed is very good and he leaps." He's even using big words, himself. "Offensively, I have to integrate myself into the team and find out where I'm going to be getting my shots and (Wednesday) night I was concentrating on that and rebounding," Mihm said. "As I engage myself more, I want to learn how I can become an impact player for the team and help us reach an even higher plateau."
BryantLos Angeles Lakers: Phil Jackson may not want to admit it, but he's preparing his team to play without Kobe Bryant, who will be busy defending himself today in court. "Obviously, he hasn't and won't have an opportunity to prepare against Denver," Jackson said in the L.A. Daily News. "But we're going to put the team through a few paces today, just so we can acclimate them to a Denver scenario rather than waiting until (today's shootaround)." Either Derek Fisher or Kareem Rush is expected to start in Bryant's place if he cannot make the 7:30 pm tip off. The guard had no answers as of Thursday. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Look, man, I don't know," he said. "We'll go through the process tomorrow, however long it takes. And we'll see what happens. Perfect-case scenario, I could be back and play. But I don't know. We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow."
Cleveland Cavaliers: It's official. After two surgeries and several other medical setbacks, Dajuan Wagner is not cursed and ready to step up his rehab program. "It felt pretty good. It went better than I thought it was going to go," Wagner said in the Akron Beacon Journal. "I didn't think about it very much, I just went out and played." Wagner is on track to return to action in February following knee surgery in November. "He showed no ill effects, he was just a little rusty,'' head coach Paul Silas said. "We're going to watch him. If there's no swelling, he'll get another practice and we'll go on from there. We are going to work him slow."
