All that trash talk from the summer about becoming New York City's team has disappeared from Brooklyn–though to be fair, there isn't much noise coming out of Manhattan, either.
The Nets and all their new parts stumbled out of the block to start 2013. They're sitting at 2-5 after getting smashed by the Sacramento Kings, who allegedly played Kendrick Lamar's verse on "Control" in the lockerroom after the game, claiming KONY status (this may or may not be true). Brooklyn only managed 86 points despite starting an All Star at every position. There isn't any ball movement in the early stages of coach Jason Kidd's offense, resulting in a lot of isolation plays. It's not much of a surprise this is happening. Everyone on BK established their career elsewhere, and they've mostly been long careers. It's hard to develop chemistry in a short amount of time, but it's even harder to teach old dog's new tricks–particularly with an inexperienced trainer.
Jason Terry thinks it's time to go all-out in desperation mode to try and turn it around.
"It’s a long season. You’d like to say, ‘Stay even-keeled.’ But for us right now, this is desperation. Everyone that steps on the floor on Friday should feel desperation and come out and play with a sense of urgency. If you don’t you’ll be looking at another loss. It’s what it is. These teams that we’re playing are desperate, they’re playing with a much more sense like this is their championship. We’re not meeting that intensity level."
At 2-5, there should be some urgency for a team with championship goals, but this is going to take time to develop. The Nets need to be ready for the playoffs. Their seed isn't as important, since all roads will probably go through Miami anyway. The core of this team, essentially Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and, perhaps, Joe Johnson, need to step up and let everyone else fall in line. This isn't going to work with too many egos, too many people who think they can fix the problem, nor too many people trying to take over.
If there's one thing Paul Pierce and KG can do, it's listen to a strong leader and follow his path. That's what Doc Rivers established in Boston. Those two may not be of the same ability, but there are few players with as much heart, either. If they believe, they'll do what they can until they can't. But the players need to be reading the same book before they can get on the same page.
