Nets aren’t Kidding

When New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was surrounded by legends like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy. That was during the Lakers’fabled "Showtime" era under coach Pat Riley.

Scott thrived in Riley’s scheme of things. He liked the dazzle of glitz basketball and the razzle of the transition game. Scott played his first 10 years in the NBA for the Lakers—picking up three championship rings in the process—then drifted to Indiana and Vancouver before returning to L.A. for his farewell season in 1996-97.

After hanging up his sneakers, Scott tried his luck as a coach. He joined the Sacramento Kings staff in 1997 and spent two years backing up Eddie Jordan then Rick Adelman before declaring himself ready for the top job. Scott was considered to replace Larry Bird at Indiana but it was Isiah Thomas who got the job in the end. When Don Casey got the boot at New Jersey last season, Scott took over the Nets’ helm.

Scott had a forgettable Nets debut which was jinxed from the onset. Starting offguard Kerry Kittles sat out the entire season to undergo his fourth right knee surgery. Doctors said if he didn’t survive the delicate operation—a bone was taken from a part of his leg and implanted to plug a hole in his kneecap, his career was over. Forward Keith Van Horn fractured a leg in preseason and missed the first 32 games of the campaign. Top draft pick Kenyon Martin, whose reliever was former Ginebra import Ryan Fletcher at the University of Cincinnati, broke his leg late in the season and was sidelined the last 11 outings. Six of Scott’s top nine players in his rotation suffered season-ending injuries as he juggled 19 starting lineups throughout the nightmarish campaign. To put things into perspective, the Nets lost 345 manpower games due to injuries.

Point guard Stephon Marbury didn’t make the pain easier to bear. He was a loose cannon on the floor and made it a habit to disobey Scott’s orders. Marbury didn’t like Scott’s "Showtime" philosophy and was a cancer on the team. He constantly berated his teammates for bungling plays that he couldn’t orchestrate. Scott and Marbury got into each other’s nerves. No reconciliation was in sight.

As a result, the Nets posted a woeful 26-56 record in Scott’s first year on the bench. New Jersey skipped the playoffs for the third straight year and looked like it was going nowhere until general manager Rod Thorn and Scott decided to shake things up.

First, on draft day last year, the Nets traded their first overall pick—Eddie Griffin—for Houston’s three first round choices, Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. Then, Marbury was sacked. In his place came Jason Kidd, the California whiz kid who happens to be only the NBA’s fourth player—after John Stockton, Oscar Robertson, and Bob Cousy—to lead the league in assists for three consecutive seasons. The change in scenery was perfect for Kidd whose reputation was tainted in Phoenix after his arrest for beating his wife. Kidd has reformed and his wife gave birth to twins last October. Finally, Thorn signed up ex-Philadelphia center Todd MacCullough, a free agent, to a six-year $33.75 Million deal to shore up the middle.

The revamp was major. Thorn and Scott brought in seven new faces. Make it eight if you count Kittles who didn’t play a game last year. The only holdovers were Martin, Van Horn, Aaron Williams, and Lucious Harris. Gone were the likes of Marbury, Johnny Newman, Kendall Gill, Sherman Douglas, and Evan Eschmeyer.

Scott’s vision was to transform the Nets into the East version of the "Showtime" Lakers without a dominant center. Kidd was his Magic and Martin his Worthy. Scott had to live with MacCullough who’ll never be quite like Kareem. His consolation was MacCullough is a hard worker, a reliable catcher, an intimidating defender, and an immovable force under the basket.

"Jason’s a lot like (Magic), just five inches shorter," said Scott quoted by Henry Abbott in Hoop. "The way he can push it up and down the floor, the way he passes the ball, his vision, how he makes everyone on the court better."

Kidd’s ascension was timely. The hex was wearing out. Kittles was back in form. The only games that Martin has missed were due to suspensions for fighting. Eight players are averaging at least seven points a game. Three players are sharing team-high honors with identical 15- point clips, meaning the ball doesn’t end up in the hands of any one dominant scorer. And the supporting cast is solid. Kidd brought instant chemistry to the club.

Suddenly, the Nets are the shiningest stars in the East, once ruled by the New York Knicks who incidentally are out of the playoffs this year. In a sensational turnaround, Scott has piloted New Jersey from the bottom to the top of the Atlantic Division. So far, the Nets are a glowing 51-28 with three games left (at Toronto tonight, versus Detroit on Tuesday, and at New York on Wednesday) in the regular season. They’re 33-7 at the Continental Airlines Arena and only Sacramento has a better home mark.

Kidd is averaging 15 points, 10 assists, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.2 steals. He tops the league in triple doubles with eight, raising his career total to 46. When Kidd’s on the ball, it’s tough to keep the Nets in check. He’s the glue that sticks the pieces together.

If the Nets finish No.1 in the East, they’ll likely face Toronto in the first round of the playoffs and should advance without difficulty. If New Jersey goes all the way to the finals, the Nets could be matched up against the Lakers or the Kings. For the record, the Nets lost a 101-92 decision to L.A. last March 5 but beat the Lakers, 94-92, in a rematch a month later, with Shaquille O’Neal on the bench. The Nets lost a 98-97 squeaker to the Kings last Nov. 24 then avenged the loss via a 117-83 romp last Feb. 4.

Before the season began, Kidd promised to deliver at least 40 wins. Skeptics thought he was kidding-after all, jumping from 26 to 40 wins was no joke. But now that the Nets are over the 50-win hump for the first time since joining the NBA from the American Basketball Association in 1976, the doubters are singing a different tune. Kidd wasn’t kidding after all.