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G-League
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_13868.shtml
Drama and Dispair at the Meadowlands
By Adam Orecchio
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Aug 19, 2005, 06:53
He was the best power forward on the market. The perfect skill set to compliment the best combination of perimeter players in the game. He was the guy who would put the New Jersey Nets over the top and get them back where they belong, deep into the Eastern Conference playoffs and possibly into the finals. But a “botched” physical and a poorly handled situation by Nets management left the Nets with only the consolation prize of Marc Jackson (and likely Robert Traylor), and power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim will bring his 19 points and eight rebounds per game out West to fill in the void left by Chris Webber in Sacramento.
If a guy fails his physical, it’s understandable to feel a little weary about offering him a contract. Certainly in the case of the Nets, the past has come back to haunt them in terms of long term contracts being paid to players who aren’t playing. Alonzo Mourning and Jayson Williams come to mind immediately as two guys who signed huge contracts and couldn’t honor them do to injury.
But Rahim didn’t fail his physical. He simply had scar tissue in his knee from surgery he had in high school and hasn’t missed any playing time because of it. So why the skepticism? Why renege on a deal to land your guy and why low-ball him after the discovery? Rahim had reason to be upset and was, ultimately leading to the deal falling through.
I think we have all given the Nets front office a ton of credit in the past, but they really botched this one and handled it extremely poorly. Not only did they make Rahim appear to look like damaged goods, but they follow up the physical by giving him a lower offer than the original! If you don’t want the guy, don’t follow up with a low ball offer, thus insulting him. New Jersey isn’t exactly a Mecca for free-agency. It isn’t Miami or Los Angeles. People aren’t dying to come here, even with the prospect of playing alongside Jason Kidd. The front office needs to make sure that we always look as professional as possible and that something like this never happens. We have enough trouble landing big name players as it is.
And so we loose an All-Star power forward over night. A crushing blow for next season’s championship aspirations, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Certainly with RJ healthy and a much-improved bench, which now includes rookie Antoine Wright, Jeff McInnis, Marc Jackson, and likely Robert Traylor along with Aaron Mckie, we are looking at one of the deeper teams in the league. Certainly the improvement of Nenad Krstic after the promise he showed last season is something the team is banking on. If he can make the leap this year, we are talking about a guy who could put us into 50-win territory and a top three seed after that.
It has been a long, emotional roller coaster of an off-season here in New Jersey and the Nets missed out on their man. We remain a team in the top half of the Eastern conference, but we still aren’t going to get back the Finals with the group we are currently putting on the floor. It remains to be seen whether Ed Stefanski and Rod Thorn can pull a rabbit out of a hat once again.
Drama and Dispair at the Meadowlands
By Adam Orecchio
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Aug 19, 2005, 06:53
He was the best power forward on the market. The perfect skill set to compliment the best combination of perimeter players in the game. He was the guy who would put the New Jersey Nets over the top and get them back where they belong, deep into the Eastern Conference playoffs and possibly into the finals. But a “botched” physical and a poorly handled situation by Nets management left the Nets with only the consolation prize of Marc Jackson (and likely Robert Traylor), and power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim will bring his 19 points and eight rebounds per game out West to fill in the void left by Chris Webber in Sacramento.
If a guy fails his physical, it’s understandable to feel a little weary about offering him a contract. Certainly in the case of the Nets, the past has come back to haunt them in terms of long term contracts being paid to players who aren’t playing. Alonzo Mourning and Jayson Williams come to mind immediately as two guys who signed huge contracts and couldn’t honor them do to injury.
But Rahim didn’t fail his physical. He simply had scar tissue in his knee from surgery he had in high school and hasn’t missed any playing time because of it. So why the skepticism? Why renege on a deal to land your guy and why low-ball him after the discovery? Rahim had reason to be upset and was, ultimately leading to the deal falling through.
I think we have all given the Nets front office a ton of credit in the past, but they really botched this one and handled it extremely poorly. Not only did they make Rahim appear to look like damaged goods, but they follow up the physical by giving him a lower offer than the original! If you don’t want the guy, don’t follow up with a low ball offer, thus insulting him. New Jersey isn’t exactly a Mecca for free-agency. It isn’t Miami or Los Angeles. People aren’t dying to come here, even with the prospect of playing alongside Jason Kidd. The front office needs to make sure that we always look as professional as possible and that something like this never happens. We have enough trouble landing big name players as it is.
And so we loose an All-Star power forward over night. A crushing blow for next season’s championship aspirations, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Certainly with RJ healthy and a much-improved bench, which now includes rookie Antoine Wright, Jeff McInnis, Marc Jackson, and likely Robert Traylor along with Aaron Mckie, we are looking at one of the deeper teams in the league. Certainly the improvement of Nenad Krstic after the promise he showed last season is something the team is banking on. If he can make the leap this year, we are talking about a guy who could put us into 50-win territory and a top three seed after that.
It has been a long, emotional roller coaster of an off-season here in New Jersey and the Nets missed out on their man. We remain a team in the top half of the Eastern conference, but we still aren’t going to get back the Finals with the group we are currently putting on the floor. It remains to be seen whether Ed Stefanski and Rod Thorn can pull a rabbit out of a hat once again.
(smilie picked out by my 6 year old!)
