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Year of the Ox
And that is how we begin our first exploration into the new year, with a brief look at the Chinese New Year, which begins on January 26th, at which time Yi may have actually passed KG in the All-Star voting. As the late, great Mel Allen would have said, “How about that?”. The Sez has had a bit of writers block during the Holiday Season, which for some is dominated by what to buy, how much to spend, how many holidays can one family celebrate, and will the Holiday meal be just lukewarm again…but for the Blogger, the highlight of late December…who will man the airwaves for WFAN, the mothership of the Nets radio network, on Christmas Day? Could there have been a more Tel Aviv lineup than Suzyn, the Bird Man, Sid, Howie and the Schmooz? Being a radio witness on the 25th was like getting a ticket to the sports talk version of ‘Catskills on Broadway’…and I was actually listening while driving around some of those famous Catskill roadways. But December is in the rear view mirror, there is a tad more daylight every day…and if you’re a Nets fan (and aren’t we all), you are excited about your team. And if excitement is too much for your blood pressure, go with pleasantly surprised.
The forecasts for the season were so gloomy that Punxsutawney Phil had to think twice about whether he should just skip 2009 and concentrate on 2010 (and the spelling is correct… I looked it up). Last in the Atlantic, last in the Eastern Conference, second in Bergen County behind Bosco…where were Dire Straits when we needed them? But the fearless prognosticators failed to take into account the machinations of the hoops lab on Murray Hill…with the LG, the mad scientist, spending hours upon hours in front of his tapes and test tubes, his bballs and Bunsen burners, his laptops and lab coats. And just like on the TV show ‘Numbers’, where crime is solved by a series of algebraic formulas (now that is a concept I’m buying), the LG came up with the formula for staying competitive for his young team-play hard. We know about the dribble drive, the emergency of Devin (btw, the chant at the end of the Dallas game may rank in my top five moments over the past decade…but I digress) the consistent play of our true 7-foot rookie center, and the use of more zone than is being played at the Carrier Dome. But the characteristic that has stood out over the first eight weeks of the season is the ability to play hard and stay tough…when the opportunity has presented itself to go in the opposite direction. I am fully aware of the home problems (and I thank the message board scholars-and You-the-Schuhmann- for blaming the PA guy…my mother was PO’d)…but the resiliency on the road has been a joy to behold. And whether overmanned or undermanned, the fellas have played hard…and given themselves an opportunity to win…and confounded all of the pre-season forecasters. For all of our Chinese friends, we wish them a Happy New Year, 4707, the Year of the Ox. For Nets fans, as you look towards the present and ‘Back to the Future’…think Christopher Lloyd…think Dr. Brown…think Marty McFly …think LG. Not the TV. The Hoops Scientist.
You Must be Nets...
Beadle Juice….Congrats to YES’ Michelle, who has added another gig to her recession-proof resume…as she ventures into radio daze as the new update person on the ‘Michael Kay Show’ on 1050 ESPN Radio from 2-7 PM weekdays…considering her role on ‘People.com’, you can look for Lindsay and Madonna to be booked for guest appearances….Coming Attractions…. The flight home from Detroit on New Years Eve was great preparation from the ‘Twilight Zone Marathon’ on the SciFi Channel the next day…specifically the episode where William Shatner thinks he see figures on the wings of the plane during a storm…let me put it this way…the wind was treating the plane like a Hoyt Wilhelm knuckleball…and those of us lucky to still be in our seats did not have a bat….Check, please…Quite a show Keyon put on in Miami…bought 20 tickets…got the start…hit for 23…and had the Dunk of the Night…. Frost/Nixon…Here’s what I can say about this movie…I don’t think Nixon could have given a better performance as himself than Frank Langella…I do not have a vote for the Academy Award (I don’t even have a vote for Bergen County pro athlete of the month)…but this was an exceptional portrayal of one of the more complicated politicians in American history…an excellent film…and I even paid full price….Eli’s Coming…And so are the Eagles…but our own equip manager, Vinnie the Chin (even though he’s Polish) feels the Giants will take the rubber match handily…that’s good enough for me…. 21….That would be the most recent birthday of The Diva….who understands that once you have a nickname, embrace it…plus, nobody ever confused me with an Ivy Leaguer!
Posted by Gary Sussman on January 5th, 2009 at 1:35 p.m., ET
5
In this era of full disclosure, please raise your hands that as a Nets fan (and aren't we all), the first game you looked at when the schedule came out last summer is the game that stares us in the face this Friday night...the return of J Kidd to the Swamp. And as I see the beginning of the week-long barrage of stories (the PR guy is pleased with the attention), and the comments filtering on the message boards, I come to you with one letter, and one letter only. O. Not as in the new Big O, our President-elect. But as in Standing O...because that is what the former Captain earned, and deserved. And anything less will not do.
I have many great memories of the J and TJ era...and some not so great, as in the last several months of the union of Northern Cal greatness and Jersey diners. But as I read the comments of the loyal fans, it is clear to me that you must not let the way it ended cloud your vision of what it was...the greatest run in Nets NBA hoops history. So it ended poorly...and what did we get...oh, that's right...Devin Harris. And a few choice draft picks. And we pick up the pieces and move on. But never lose sight of the player who was the catalyst for your greatest moments as a Nets fan...the player who pulled it all together, the player that Kenyon, and Kerry, and Richard, and Todd, and Lucious, and on and on looked to for their basketball guidance, both physical and mental. The body of work was enormous for a franchise that had never been not only to the conference finals, but the Shangri-La, the NBA Finals. And if you don't see that, or won't allow yourself to admit that, then no words or pictures will change what some would consider a fairly narrow vision. But for the rest of us, let me reflect on several of the moments that are forever embellished in the memory bank of the Sez.
The press conference was an event...and J sat there and said 41-41...You Must be Nets!...an even slate?...and then on the first day of practice, one of the first drills, he dives head first after a loose ball...the Nets had never had a First Team All-NBA player...but we did now...and he was letting everyone know that he would not settle for mediocrity.
It was said by one team exec that if J played at MSG, they would have built a statue outside the building...where he loved to entertain...which was punctuated by a performance early in his Nets career when he threw the famous spinning backwards over-the-head pass at midcourt to a streaking RJ...Meadowlark Lemon could not have done it any better.
The run to the Finals...too many moments to detail here...winning in Boston, 10 in a row, SI cover...I'm sure each of you have the defining moment for your own memory banks. And don't forget playing on a knee that would require micro-fracture surgery...and having to endure the triple OT in Detroit...and if Billups does not make the half court shot in regulation, J may have had enough to carry the team to a third Finals...but after the Scalbrine epic, the wheels had come off.
As I said earlier, the stories will abound this week, and most will have the good, the bad and the ugly. But I am not concerned with debating..I am only asking for a simple action. When the PA announcer introduces the starting point guard for the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night...one letter. O. Standing O. Anything less is unacceptable.
You Must be Nets...
Rodney...I usually reserve this portion of the blog for the light and sometimes goofy...but not today. Because the Nets family is very, very sad over the tragedy that has struck down one of the great guys I have been fortunate to be around, Rodney Rogers...who will live forever in Nets playoff history with his 22-footer off a missed free throw that gave the Nets a 103-101 win over Milwaukee in Game 3 in 2003, giving back to the fellas home court advantage. For those who do not know, Rodney suffered a broken neck in an ATV accident, and is paralyzed from the neck down. Harvey Araton in the Times wrote a moving piece about Rodney last week, which I recommend to all if you have not seen it. Rodney was a fun-loving guy who you could always talk to, who loved his trucks and cars, and who could have probably played pro in both football and baseball. And now, his life, and the lives of his loved ones, has forever changed. Please say a prayer for Rodney and his family.
Posted by Gary Sussman on December 14th, 2008 at 6:42 p.m., ET
Devinth Heaven
So after the touchdown at Newark at a sweet 4:30 am, there was one prevailing thought following the highly successful 3-1 Turkey Trot...and that was, how could we spend three days in Sacramento and what seemed like just three hours in Phoenix? What, did you think that I was going to detail the happenings on the court?. No, we'll leave that to the Three Amigos (Dave D., Freddie and Julian) who traversed the Wild West with the fellas and chronicled one of the more amazing one week periods in Nets history. Now I cast no aspersions on the state capitol of California (who in case you did not follow the front pages, recently elected former NBA point sensation Kevin Johnson as their mayor...but I digress)...but what would you take...58 and cloudy for three days...or the crystal blue 72 of Phoenix? That said, I would like to have the readers of the Sez go online, canvass the pre-season prognosticators, and deliver back to me those who predicted the Nets at two games north of even on December 1. Three Dog Night said that '1' was the lonliest number...if there was one soothsayer in the crowd, send me his photo.
A few observations before my special behind-the-scenes Sez-ography of the week away from 390 Murray Hill. We start at the top...with Devinth Heaven...who did not just play exquisite basketball, but punished his counterparts (unfortunately, he is battling Eli and Favre, Plaxico and Steph for space)...the jets were burnings, the shots were floating, and the results were deafening (btw...PR will be laminating the scoresheet from the land of the Sun as a gift-that's the least we could do for providing an on-court post game experience for the first time in 14 years). VC was magnificent, contributions from all musical sections, and the Little General was the maestro on the sidelines, gesticulating and orchestrating, highlighting and diagramming, pleading and prodding...and never losing faith. 3-1 away from Disney on Ice. Pass the stuffing.
You Must be Nets...
I Love LA....First leg of the trip, and we concentrate on star gazing...Adam Sandler, with his dad, walking right in front of the press section, as well as Nicky Hilton, who I would not have known except for the heads up from Michelle Beadle(Juice) of People.com and your own YES Network...that type of info is far more interesting to the Sez than whether she asks the LG about paint attacks following the game...Sacraligious...A building that we never win in...and two things stand out...no full house, and no Maloof brothers...first time I can remember where at least either Gavin or Joe were not at the game...but in their place, it seems that they imported the Palms dancers as part of the dance team...enough said...WWF...So it's on to Salt Lake...where last year, the Sez got run over by Ronnie Brewer at courtside when he was going after a loose ball...but that was during the game...this time, about two minutes to tip, I am sitting at my seat, when a huge, 275-pound security guy falls on top of me...like Chris Snee plowing the way for Brandon Jacobs...this guy was enormous, and all he could say was, "Sorry I fell on you'"...are you kidding me?...how about, "You ok, buddy?"...where was that Mormon hospitality?..I now refuse to watch the new season of 'Big Love' on HBO...Planet Orange...Broke the losing streak, Devin was off the charts...but more importantly, the Sez learned that the restaurant across the street from the arena, Cooperstown, is owned by rock legend Alice Cooper...what did you expect, the percentage of zone we played compared to man-to-man?
Posted by Gary Sussman on December 1st, 2008 at 2:16 p.m., ET
The Joy of 6 (and 6)
Is the season a few weeks old? I've heard from many precincts...where have you been, hung up the laptop, couldn't deal with Tumbleson emigrating to Memphis, ate too much in Paris...did the Sez call it a day and night? Truth be told, and I have always been truthful with the lovers and haters...I was being vetted by the incoming administration for the position of 'Official White House Blogger', but when they found out how many head coaches I have worked with, I was considered a security risk to myself (and on the subject of the President-elect, with all due respect to one of the legendary players of all time, I believe that the man who will soon reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the new Big O...but I digress). But back to the hardwood and the matter at hand...your New Jersey Nets...sitting at even after 12 laps around the league..and how many pre-season prognosticators saw that coming...many thought the fellas would get their sixth win on the sixth day of Christmas...but as we get set to embark on the annual flight to see which hotel can serve the best Thanksgiving dinner 3000 miles from home...let Nets fans (and aren't we all)give thanks for what has been a very pleasant beginning to the new campaign..a few snapshots for your Holiday viewing.
It has been said many times...VC could get 20 in his pajamas...but let us applaud the effort and consistency over the first 12...punctuated by the sick, sick, sick display north of the border, where there is no statute of limitations on VC passing through customs on his way to Jersey...and on the subject of jerseys...the only game that Vince did not mingle on the floor at the conclusion of the game was the classic in Toronto, forcing the PR guy to actually sprint into the locker room (okay-jog quickly) to retrieve the Tar Heel...who realizing what he had done, grabbed a wet jersey, and ran back to the court...that, my friends, is teamwork.
Devinth Heaven, who has been punishing opposing point guards...and showed the true grit of his predecessor (more on him later) by fighting through a painful ankle injury against Detroit..and then forcing the old heave ho (think college...late night...need to sleep...stomach a little queasy..with me now?) at Air Canada...and you saw the results.
But to say it has just been a two man effort would be a slight to the rest of those who park in the left hand lot on Murray Hill Parkway. The Little General has spent his usual long hours in the lab, diagramming and gesticulating, drawing and erasing, pleading and pontificating...and through it all, the former youngest coach in the NBA had one question-is Brook his real name? Yes it is, and he isn't going anywhere. Pass the stuffing.
You Must be Nets...
Farewell...To my dear, dear friend Lou Terminello, who will be leaving the only team he has ever worked for this week to pursue other business opportunities. I have known Sweet Lou before I ever sat behind the mic or desk for the Nets (truth be told, he used to join a common friend, The Junkman, for the freebie dinners at the Hilltop during my tenure at Yonkers..The Junkman's motto was "what's yours is mine", and LT was a key member of the travel party..but his friendship over the past 16 years with the Nets has been invaluable, and my few words here cannot do justice to the void left by his departure...Good luck Lou, and tell The Junkman to get his NBA socks from the Wizards....Coming Attractions...And on the subject of departures, #5 will be in the building on December 19...this is the first warning shot from The Sez...a standing O during intros...anything less and you are a true fan in name only...sorry for the tone, but I'm worried...Soar like an Eagle...The Bird Man debuting on MNF last week on the radio side...already had nailed the Thursday night spot...one downer...Jim Gray referred to him as Ean, instead of Ian...he needed to buy a vowel...Alumni Game...And on the subject of Nets in the booth, former radio play-by-play man Bob Papa(Shot) a welcome addition to the Thursday night football booth (I have DirecTV)...Loonie Bin...So once again the TV menu in Toronto leaves The Sez in a major funk...how can an NBA city show the NFL Network...and not TNT...Eh?...Eli's Coning...And so is the other Brett in town...it's getting very interesting next to Xanadu....'24'..Jack is back...that is the true meaning of Thanksgiving!
Posted by Gary Sussman on November 24th, 2008 at 10:36 a.m., ET
Let the Games Begin
And now, we begin anew. The cuts have been made, the preseason has concluded, Europe has come and gone (and by the way, for the first time in my adult life, I now know what it’s like to experience narcolepsy…following the trip home across the Atlantic, I would find myself subject to sudden, without notice, catnaps…lasting no more than 20 seconds…in my office, in the gym, on the couch…but thankfully, not during the drive up Route 17…but I digress) and Nets fans (and don’t start jumping off the bandwagon now…you’re either with us, or against us) get ready for the start of the regular campaign, kicking off against the Eddie Jordan Wizards, minus Agent 0. But I had to wonder last week, who had it worse, investors on Wall Street…or Nets fans who had to endure the body blows from the national publications, which relegated the fellas to the days of Roy Hinson, Dennis Hopson and Purvis Short (17-65 in 1989-90, for those with long-term memory problems). The consensus…I try to keep negative vibes away from my readers, so, with that spirit in mind, a few uplifting words as we begin another campaign together.
You are in good hands…The President and the Former UCLA Bruin are keen basketball minds…who have played a lot…seen a lot…dealt a lot…and built a lot. If you have witnessed the preseason, you have seen rookies, new players, veterans…a lot of injuries which have not helped in the preparation, and a variety of plusses and minuses that have been well documented by those who get paid to write about the team. As this point, the detractors would expect The Sez to begin the paid political announcement, the hoop spin cycle that would make the Maytag repairman proud. But we have been together too long for me to misuse my campaign funds( and on the subject of campaigns, SNL two weeks ago had a 50 percent higher rating that a year ago…but even given that resounding stat, more people viewed the Tina Fey brilliance online than on TV…but I digress). The predictions for success are dire…but as we all know, the Rays were 200-1 to win the World Series…Now, I am not comparing the current Nets squad to the baseball team headed by the front office triumvirate of Sternberg, Friedman and Silverman (since the list of great Jewish ballplayers can fit on the back of my NBA credential, I felt a strong need to give an ethnic prop during this particular Fall Classic)…but predictions are not fact. What is fact is that you can expect this team to be hungry…with mistakes, as with any young team…but one that will play hard. We’ve had a great run, one that is unprecedented in team history. And we should all be very thankful for the joy that run brought…but like with any run, it could not last forever…even Joe Paterno will retire at some point in the future. But if you are a true hoops fan, a Nets fan, one that enjoys basketball and looks for development and progress, be optimistic. And remember these three words. La Vita Lopez!!!!
You Must be Nets...
Radio Daze…YES’s Michelle (BeadleJuice) Beadle delving into the world of radio last week with her ESPN 1050 debut on the Michael Kay Show…given her People.com profile, no word on whether she cleared this appearance with Lindsay, Britney or Perez Hilton….Look-a-likes…Rays’ skipper Joe Maddon…and Spencer Tracy…this would never make it into Mushnick’s column, so I felt no need to deprive the Sez readership of that gem…CSI Lodi… The Sez has documented the brown Chevy parked outside the Bada Bing while the show was still mainstream…but Tony and the rest of The Soprano family have retired…and the car remains…which means it’s been at least two years since that same car has not moved from its spot…if the show can rerun on A&E, I can give you that CarFax update…Odd Couple...Ian and Jim Spanarkel will once again join forces on Nets telecasts…they have been a duo for 11 years…they will not be exclusive, as Marv and The Czar will mix and match depending on schedules…and on the subject of YES…if you have DirecTV…no longer 622…channel 631 is the new home….Rosetta Stone…Preseason is the time to work out the kinks…for players, coaches…and even you, the fans…so please read carefully…it is EEE, not YEE…Where’s Rerun….And on the subject of Yi…walking out to the court before the Boston game, he turns to the Sez and says, ‘What’s happening’?...nice.
Posted by Gary Sussman on October 27th, 2008 at 9:25 a.m., ET
