New Jersey Nets Off To 0-13 Start, When Will It End?
If the New Jersey Nets were 1-12 or 2-11 no one would be talking about them. Instead, the Nets are 0-13 in a league where every team, except the Minnesota Timberwolves, has three or more wins.
The Nets are bad. The Timberwolves (1-12) are probably worse, but they’ve got a win. Yet, no one cares about Minnesota. There awfulness isn’t chronicled on SportsCenter.
Meanwhile, every Nets’ loss is news. That’s because the Nets are winless and winless is always interesting.
Unfortunately, the NBA isn’t the NFL and a team can’t finish the season undefeated. The Nets will get a victory. They question isn’t “if” but “when?”
The record for worst start to an NBA season is shared by the inaugural Miami Heat team of 1888-89 and the Los Angeles Clippers squad from the lockout shortened season of 1998-99. Both teams started their respective seasons at 0-17.
Tuesday, the Nets begin their annual Thanksgiving West Coast roadie with stops at… wait for it… Denver… Portland… Sacramento… and… get ready for this… the Los Angeles Lakers.
That’s a tough trip for even the Eastern Conference leading Atlanta Hawks. It could be soul crushing for the hapless Nets.
The Nuggets have already demolished the Nets, in New Jersey no less, 122-94. Portland is a notorious very good home team. The Sacramento is 4-2 at home. As for the Lakers, well, they are the Lakers. The champs can dispatch the Nets in their sleep.
So it appears the Nets will reach that 0-17 plateau, right?
Not so fast basketball fans.
The Nets WILL get a victory on their upcoming road trip. We’ll tell you when and where in a moment, but first let’s break the team down. Just how bad are the Nets? Why are they 0-13?
The Nets are 9 1/2 games out of first place in the Atlantic Division and three games back of the second worst team in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks.
They’re last in the entire league in scoring averaging just 84.9 points a game. They have the second worst point differential in league at -10.2 (Minnesota is first at -14.8). They are last in the Association in field goal percentage (.402) and second-to-last in 3-point shooting (.265).
The culprit to their awful start… injuries.
Through 13 games, the team lost 70 manpower games to injuries, illnesses, and/or personal reasons.
Their best player, guard Devin Harris, returned to the team on Saturday after a right groin strain kept him sidelined for 10 games.
At the time of writing this article the following players were out with damages: Eduardo Najera, Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, Jarvis Hayes, Keyon Dooling, and Tony Battie.
No team can overcome that many injuries.
“No one cares, or should they, but I feel sorry for our guys because the blemish that comes with (being winless) and why it’s a story, it’s eight guys who truly have worked their tails off,” said head coach Lawrence Frank. “If they were coming in (not caring) in practice or not focused at shootaround, then I’d say there’s not much hope. But they’re not. They work every single day. These guys care. … I’ll take 100 percent responsibility for where we’re at.”
There is some good news.
Harris had an immediate impact in his return to the team Saturday afternoon, a 98-91 loss to the Knicks. It may take a while for Harris to reach 100-percent, but his presence will definitely make the Nets better.
Center Brook Lopez has five double-doubles on the season and is ranked second among second-season players in that category.
Of their 13 losses only five have been by more than 10 points. They’ve had three losses of three or fewer points.
The team can play some defense. They’re allowing just 95.1 points a contest, that’s good enough for 10th in the league.
They aren’t “this close” to being a playoff team but they are “this close” to 1-12 or 2-11. It’s clear that 0-13 doesn’t tell the complete story of the Nets. Whereas, Minnesota’s 1-12 mark doesn’t fully explain the depths of their ineptness.
As for that upcoming win on the road, we predict the Nets get a victory at Portland. Quick guards and good defensive teams are usually the ruination of the Blazers.
Additionally, Portland is as lethargic as they come and will unlikely not get up for the Nets. Conversely, the Nets, playing their hearts out to avoid an infamous start, will come out energized.
Besides it’s a very Blazers-thing-to-do to lose to a winless team
The Nets start the season 1-14.
…And yes we know the Timberwolves defeated the Nets in each team’s season opener, 95-93. But that was a long time ago and Minnesota needed to rally from a 16-point fourth quarter deficit. By virtue of their -14.8 point differential, the Timberwolves are really the NBA’s worst team.
Tags: Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Lawrence Frank, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Yi Jianlian
[...] problem with this booking is Jay-Z is part owner of the New Jersey Nets. Would the NFL want a recognizable part of the NBA performing during halftime of their big game? [...]
[...] incident like the Washington Wizards had with Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, the New Jersey Nets have banned their players from gambling while on team [...]