July 13, 2023 • 46 mins
In the fifth, and final, episode of "Something To Prove: The Story of the 2002 & 2003 Nets," we look at the second year of the Nets' run. We hear how, while no longer under the radar, the New Jersey squad put together another wonderful season and fantastic playoff run, the longest run in franchise history.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Coming up out a minute and a half remaining in
this New Jersey that season on that team that went
fifty two and thirty during the regular season, the best
record of the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
But the Lakers are along their way and joins sweet.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The important thing for New Jeorgy is where they go
from here.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
I think the next year started in the finals for
us when we lost to the Lakers. We all made
an agreement that we didn't accomplish anything and that we
needed to stay hungry and we needed to finish this off.
And I thought that was something that to see everybody
ready to go that next season understanding what was that
state that we came up short, and that we wanted
(00:49):
to get back, and we knew how hard it is
to get back, and that we weren't going to be
a secret or surprise to anybody, And so to be
able to come back that following season and everybody was
tight goal was really cool.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
Every season is a new start, requiring a fresh commitment.
Jason Kidd knew that that was the kind of drive
and ambition he had brought to New Jersey in the
first place in the summer of two thousand and one,
and the result was the franchise's first trip to the
NBA Finals. The Nets had put up the conference's best
record surviving the Pacers and bounced back against the Celtics.
(01:36):
The Lakers, with their legendary coach Phil Jackson and the
superstar pairing of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, were the
only obstacle they couldn't overcome. But the Nets especially had
no answer for Shaq, who averaged thirty six points in
the suite on the way to his third NBA Finals MVP.
With that mind, that general manager Rod Thorne took another
(01:58):
big swing in the summer of two thousand and two,
training two starters center Todd McCulloch and forward Keith van
Horn to the Philadelphia seventy six is for center to
Kenby Mutambo. But Tumbo had won his fourth Defensive Player
of the Year award just a year earlier and was
coming off his third All NBA season. O'Dell had dominated
(02:20):
the Nets so thoroughly that Thorn just didn't see a
path to take you that next step to a championship
without making a change at center.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
My feeling at the time regarding our team was we
weren't going to beat the Lakers if we couldn't defend
Shack at least somewhat. But Tumbo was available, we ended
up making the trade for him and gave them key.
We knew that Richard. We could put Richard into Keith
spot and we'd be fine, but it took Richard off
(02:51):
the bench where you had a big plus if you
could bring Jefferson off the bench. Now we don't have that.
If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't
do it because I always felt Keith was an underrated player,
and well, we didn't have him. I knew he was
an underrated player McCullough had. Once he went to Philly,
(03:13):
he got injured and was no longer a factor. He
had real high arches and his arches were bothering him
and so he was no factor. But had we stayed
the way we were, I think we would have made
the finals again.
Speaker 7 (03:26):
With that team.
Speaker 6 (03:27):
And the Kimba got hurt early in the year and
was out for almost all the year. We had Aaron
Williams and we had Jason Collins who did the Yeomans
work for us, and we were still really good. And
Richard came on and was played very, very well. For us,
but that was There are times that maybe you I
think yourself had we kept Keith, that combination of Keith
(03:50):
and Kenyon and Jefferson was a heck of a combination
and one that we could.
Speaker 8 (03:55):
Have gone on for several years.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
With Brian Scalabrini.
Speaker 9 (03:59):
Next year, like Rod trades Van Horne and McCulloch for Mtumbo,
and that makes all the sense in the world. Like
mu Tumble has had a history of playing against Shaq
and doing a decent job. So if we're thinking Shaquille
O'Neal is going to be in the finals, we need
to make sure we addressed that particular situation. So you
have everyone kind of growing, like Richard Jefferson coming to
his own, Kaya Martin is becoming like a bona fide
(04:22):
star in the league. You got kid, you got Kittles,
and everybody. Like a lot of things were short up.
I think the confidence of that next year's team was
really high going into camp. It was high, but it
became like apparently clear like them Tumbo Princeton offense mix
was probably not gonna work as well as we thought
it was gonna work.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
The Nets didn't get much out of Matambo, who played
just twenty four games due to injuries. He made it
back for the playoffs, but played just eighty two minutes
in the finals with McCullough, Gahan, and Matambo hurt. Second
year center Jason Collins Phil Lavoid starting sixty six games.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
When we made the trade for t kimb And we
knew obviously to Kimbay defensive in the Hall of Famer
and just one of the best defensive centers. We knew
it was a huge upgrade at the center position defensively,
and we already had an amazing defensive team. Big dip
Tod McCullough is a great guy, great human being, great teammate,
great person. But to Kimbay offered something that Todd couldn't,
(05:22):
and that to Kimba was just a better defensive player.
If you're building a team, you look her out. If
we are going to be successful, who would we meet
potentially in the finals. We're going to need a strong
defensive center.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Here's assistant coach Michael Korn, who worked closely with the
team's big men.
Speaker 7 (05:39):
Rod's thinking was, let's get Matumbo. If we play the
Lakers again in the finals, we have another person who
could go out shack you know, that was the reasoning
behind that we had Collins. Well, you know, it was
a rookie against the Lakers who had a whole wealth
of experience now again, so we felt going in we
were complete at the center spot.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
But now they had a hole at the forward spot.
So Thorn picked up veteran Rodney Rodgers and with those changes,
essentially exchanging McCullough and Van Horn from a Tumbo and Rogers,
the Nets headed to training camp with an I am
repeating his conference champions and finishing the job in his
rookie year doing play by play for the Nets. Radio
Chris Carno took that magical ride to the finals. Could
(06:22):
they do it again?
Speaker 10 (06:23):
Now it's going to be show us it wasn't a fluke,
you know. I think their run to the finals showed
everybody that the fifty two wins was not a fluke.
People were excited about the team going into the following season.
They realized some of their shortcomings and they tried to
fix them. You know, they trade Keith van Horn, they
bring into Kevin Mtumbo. There definitely was a confidence level
(06:46):
about that team that you knew that, hey, we're going
to learn from what we did the experience we had
in that whole one oh two season, and we're going
to use that experience and now we're not just going
to be happy to be in the fun finals. We
want to win an NBA championship. And I don't even
think there was pressure. I think when you're with the
Nets for so long that you you know what the
(07:08):
history is of the team. There was more of a
excitement than a pressure. I just felt like they were like,
you know what, we we know how good we are.
We showed it last year. We want to do it again.
We want to win a championship. That's what the one
ozho two season did. They walked into the next season
with that goal of we're gonna win a championship this year.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Back in nineteen seventy six, the Nets had closed out
the ABA year were with a second championship in three years.
Right before the start of the nineteen seventy six seventy
seven NBA season, Sports Illustrated put Julia Serving in his
iconic stars and stripes Nets uniform on the cover with
Dave Cowens of the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics. The
(07:51):
issue was dated October twenty fifth, nineteen seventy six, but
by that date, Irving was already gone Delta Philadelphi on
October twentieth, two days before the franchise's first NBA game.
So through their first twenty five years in the NBA,
the Nets had never begun to season the way they
did in two thousand and two, carrying the hopes and
(08:14):
expectations generated by a trip to the NBA Finals the
year before. Ron darn, we were favorite.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
I think that most of the pundits had us number
one in the East and we were gonna win someplace
between fifteen sixty games, you know, if everything worked out.
So yeah, we definitely were the favorites.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Just like they did the year before. The Nets jumped
out to the top of the Atlantic Division. They beat
Atlanta on opening night and won their first four games
and seven of their first nine. On January sixth, they
beat the Hawks again for their tenth straight win. As
they needed. The halfway point of the NBA schedule, the
Nets were twenty six and nine. They closed out January
(08:56):
with a thirty two and fourteen record.
Speaker 7 (08:59):
Mike, the difference between those two years was the confidence
level was just through the roof that we had Jason
Kidd for a year. We had run the offense, a
new offense, so coming into training cap that you really
didn't have to waste too much time as far as
learning it. We would just practice it and we got
better at it. We were just a better team to
(09:19):
two thousand and two to two thousand and three season,
better all around the fence league. We were good. You
can't put a price single what what the confidence of
a team. We're not cockying, We weren't arrogant, trust me.
We were just felt we were good and if you
beat us, you're gonna it was gonna be a tough
out for you guys, but you're gonna be in for
a heck of a battle.
Speaker 9 (09:37):
Brian Scalabrini, You know, we got a lot faster with
Kenyan Martin at the power, for Richard Jefferson at the three,
it just became a team that really fit well. Defensively,
we were much better. We added some floppy action where
you got Kenyan Martin sitting a down pick for Carrie Kittles,
but he would slip out and Kid would throw it up.
So we just added some wrinkles to it. We were,
(09:58):
you know, another year of the Princeton offense. We just
shored up a lot of those things, so we got faster.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
That's what we did.
Speaker 9 (10:06):
You insert Richard Jefferson the starting lineup, you become a
lot faster.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
And NETS play by play broadcaster Iron Eagle.
Speaker 11 (10:13):
And what I saw was the young guys getting better,
and then the recognition from RJ in particular, but Kenyon
and Kerry that oh wait, all I have to do
is start darting down the floor and Jason Kidd is
going to make an amazing play and I'm going to
get the highlight on my reel. I can do that.
(10:36):
They absolutely perfected what they had built in that first
year of the new look Nets. In that second year,
it was even more of a well oiled machine. The
record wasn't as good. They turned it on, turned it
off a little bit during that regular season, and they
had just had the long postseason run, but that team
was still very lethal.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
The biggest change turned out not to be Matambo, but
the growth of second year forward Richard Jefferson, who had
room for a larger role after van Horn was traded.
The twenty two year old had a breakout year and
what turned out to be a seventeen year career.
Speaker 8 (11:14):
Here's Curry Kittles, Richard Jefferson's emergence that year with I
think the countless of that season is his second year
really taking the leak. He went from being a really
good player to being arguably our second best player behind
Jason and you know Kenyony. He was just that good
that second year.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Jefferson started all eighty games. He played and played more
minutes than any net that season besides Jason Kidd, averaging
thirty six a game. His scoring average jumped from nine
points a game to fifteen. He shot fifty percent and
he averaged six rebounds.
Speaker 12 (11:49):
Ridiculous athlete, It was perfectly fit into this system, made
an immediate contribution to the Nets. He ran the left
wing when Cerry Kittles ran the right wing, and this athletic,
fast breaking team was so enjoyable to watch. He was
the perfect piece of a puzzle to fit in this organization.
(12:10):
The pieces fit very very well together, led by Jason Kidd,
but Richard Jefferson. He had made it an immediate impact
to the New Jersey Nets organization with his unbelievable athleticism,
his confidence, his ability to finish. He was an improving shooter,
but he was ready on day one. That's what made
(12:31):
Richard Jefferson so special. He had the confidence, the talent,
the athleticism, and he was the perfect fit to run
with this organization.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
That's NETS radio analyst Tim Capstra and here's his broadcast partner,
Chris Carino.
Speaker 10 (12:46):
Richard was one of those guys that had a great
deal of swagger but also had this self awareness about him.
You've seen him over the years. You saw him grow
into a player that was then able to shoot the
ball better, became a three point shooter, stayed in the
league for a long time because of it, ultimately got
a ring because of it. Just one of those guys
that fit perfectly with that up tempo defense, first kind
(13:08):
of style that the Nets had that year.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
These days, our Jay's working with Iron Eagle on NETS
Yes Network broadcast. Back then, Eagle saw a young player
whose attitude was as important to his success as his skills.
Speaker 11 (13:22):
Richard Jefferson ultra athletic. I always felt that he thought
that people didn't respect him, and he had to show
that he was a player. Every time he went on
the floor, he brought some extra stuff with him and
knowing him getting to know him, not just as a player,
(13:42):
but as a person and later as a colleague.
Speaker 7 (13:46):
You could see it.
Speaker 11 (13:47):
He's highly competitive and also fun. He brought a sense
of fun to the team and they needed it. Jason
was serious, highly serious, rich out a way of balancing
it out, and he knew how to get under your skin.
And that was not only for guys he was going against.
(14:07):
That was for his own teammates.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
The two thousand and two two thousand and three season
looked a lot like the one before for the Nets.
They led the league in defensive rating for the second
year in a row. A lot of the other numbers,
the steals, the turnovers, the fast break points looked pretty
similar to the Individual scoring was a little more spread out.
The year before, Martin had led the Nets with a
fourteen point nine points per game, followed by Van Horn
(14:33):
with a fourteen point eight and Kid with a fourteen
point seven. It was a remarkable show of balance. This time,
Kid led the way with eighteen point seven points per game,
followed by martin sixteen point seven and Jefferson's fifteen point five.
But over the second half of the season things stalled.
In their final thirty six games, the Nets went seventeen
(14:55):
and nineteen something was just a bit off. Here's Rod Thorn.
Speaker 6 (15:00):
Even before the Kimba, but Tumbo got hurt, it wasn't
a great fit for us on the offensive end of
the court. We depended on ball movement. We depended on
a lot of movement, and then the Kimbay was essentially
a postep center bashing was not as forte offensively, we
(15:20):
were I would say struggling, but we weren't the Chris
passing cutting team.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
That we were the previous year.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
Even before, but Tumbo got hurt.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
And Jason Collins who stepped into that starting center role
after the Tambo injury.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
So then you know, the rhythm gets off end. So
then the coaches are thinking, okay, do we start Aaron
Williams and then moved me up to the backup center.
But they really liked what a train brought to the
second unit, so they kept him there and then immediately
put me into the starting lineup, And that was adjustment
for me. Before then in the NBA, I think I'd
(15:59):
only started one of their game and that was the
Charlotte game my rookie year. So it was a matter
of just getting used to being a starter. And getting
used to adjusting to that, because that is an adjustment
even for a young player in the NBA.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
One thing was not in question. The surprise team from
the year before was now the front runner in the East.
They were better known, and they were a bigger target.
Here's Chris Carino.
Speaker 10 (16:26):
I do know this that teams were coming after them
a little bit more that year. I think they might
have taken people by surprise In one oh two, no
one was surprised anymore. In O two oh three. They
knew they had to bring their best game, and a
lot of them did against the Nets that year.
Speaker 8 (16:40):
And Curry Kittles, I thought what happened was teams were
kind of figured us out a little bit offensively. That
was definitely taking place. That was one of the factors.
But I also thought that we were sure of ourselves
by that point. There was a big sample size. Now
he's talking about a year and a half of togetherness
in team culture and chemistry, and we had times we
were able to flip that switch early on in that season,
(17:03):
and we hit that loll I had a little bit
of an injury that year without for a couple of games,
I had a little sprain or whatever. We were banged
up a little bit that year, but we figured it out.
We were able to flip the switch. Even though our
record wasn't great, we knew what we were capable of.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Much like the year before, when nobody was sure if
the Nets were for real, the doubts were outside the
locker room, not inside.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Jason Kidd, I think we clinched so early in that
year that we shut the engines off almost completely in
that second half of the season, and they were starting
to be questioned, especially from our coaching staff, that you
just can't flip the switch. And I think that's what
gave us again when we talk about character, we were
being questioned as we couldn't do something. I think we
(17:48):
showed that we could turn the switch on and that
we kind of ran through the playoffs pretty quickly.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
The Nets spent the second half of the season in
a battle with Indiana and Detroit for the East top seed.
They fill and is second in the conference at forty
nine to thirty three, a game behind the Pistons and
a game ahead of the Pacers and Sixers. That put
them into the first round matchup against the seventh seeded
Milwaukee Bucks, led by Ray Allen. They split the first
(18:15):
four games and came back to New Jersey for Game five,
tied at two games apiece. In a game with fourteen
ties and fourteen league changes, they were even at sixty
one to start the fourth quarter. Kittles made three three
pointers in the fourth and the third put the Nets
ahead for good. The eighty nine to eighty two win
turned out to be the start of a ten game
(18:36):
winning streak that drove the Nets straight back to the
NBA Finals. They finished off the Bucks in six, then
swept the Celtics and Pistons. Here's tim capstraw.
Speaker 12 (18:47):
They turned it on the playoffs. They began to be
a dominant team again, and they were able to really
get after it and find their their attack mode and
their domination again once they got into the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
After closing out Milwaukee, the Nets were set up for
a playoff re match with the Celtics, who had fallen
to the sixth seed but knocked off Indiana in the
first round. A year earlier, the Nets had suffered a
stunning game three defeat in the Eastern Conference Finals as
the wild Boston Crown raided down Abuse. Afterwards, Jason Kidd
delivered a message to the devastated locker room, we are
(19:21):
never losing to these guys again. The Nets responded by
winning the final three games of the series to get
to the NBA Finals. Faced with the Celtics again, they
kept Kid's word. The Suite made its seven straight playoff
wins against Boston over two seasons.
Speaker 13 (19:37):
The Boston Celtics are beaten, and the New Jersey Nets
advanced their first playoff series sweep in history. The final
scoring in double overtime, the Nets citizen one to ten,
the Celtics one oh one. Character added durance, Jason Kidd
played fifty three minutes tonight the New Jersey Nets sweep
the Celtics, winning by a score of one ten t
(20:00):
one on one.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
Here's Tim Capstraw.
Speaker 12 (20:03):
I think going to Boston had something to do with it.
Everybody's talking about like people catch a little bit of
stuff from the crowd now these days, and how you react.
Jason Kidd put out a clinic on how to react
to negativity from a crowd. The crowd would be all
over him, and again you could see it in his eyes.
That made him and his teammates become a dominant team.
(20:27):
In my opinion, I watched it. I witnessed it. I
heard it from the crowd and the moment they were
harassing him at incredible levels, he would then dominate the game.
I think the attitude and the approach of going up
to Boston impacted things.
Speaker 9 (20:43):
I really do.
Speaker 12 (20:44):
I mean, it's an interesting way to look at it,
but it was hostile, it was uncomfortable. It just got
Jason Kidd to another level, and it got his teammates
that so believed in him, and he was the leader
that got them to another level.
Speaker 5 (20:58):
Also, the sweep of the Celtic set the Nets up
for a return to the Eastern Conference Finals. This time
somebody else had the number one seed and home court advantage,
but the Nets won the first two games in Detroit
by two points each, with Kid hitting the game winning
jumper to start the series.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Kid now starts to move with seven seconds.
Speaker 7 (21:19):
Remaining in regulation.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Kid the jumper, the win it.
Speaker 8 (21:23):
He got it.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Jason Kidd has just set everybody back down at the palace.
One point two seconds left. He hits the biggest shot.
Speaker 14 (21:34):
Of the day. Looking at that shot clock is Jason Kidd.
Chauncey Phillips on him when it got to about seven
point two, he said, here we go, and he didn't
try to set up anybody else. He took it to
the corner, threw a double team up and over one
and varies the biggest shot by far of the ball game.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
And New Jersey has stolen one. They have swipes the
home court advantage from the Detroit Pistons.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
Back in New Jersey nets. We're in control of them.
The start to definish of games three and four, Kid
had twenty six points, twelve rebounds, seven assists, and two
steals in the clincher, a twenty point Game four route.
The team that had shocked the NBA year earlier and
battled its way to the finals was now a dominant
playoff team, Iron Eagle.
Speaker 11 (22:21):
It was an amazing run. It's rare that you get
to this point in professional sports where you walk into
an arena and you know what's going to happen.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
You just know it.
Speaker 11 (22:33):
They were playing that well and they were that much
better than the competition. Detroit eventually won a championship with
that group. So that was a terrific Pistons team. They
made mince meat out of them. The Celtics, they were
still feeling the effects of what happened the year before,
and I remember prior to that series a lot of
(22:53):
talk of revenge on the Boston side and things are
going to be different. No, if they were different, it
was just work for the Celtics. The nets were so
locked in and at that point you started to believe
that they could win a championship no matter who the
Western Conference representative was going to be.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
Here's Jason Collins.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
We were cruising and again we were playing with so
much confidence, and it really did. It was one thing
to go into the playoffs knowing that you could turn
on the switch, but it's another thing to actually do it.
And then like so that's like, so you have confidence,
and then it's like added confidence and like it becomes
like the swagger that you're walking around with as a
(23:36):
player and as a team that we have a squad
and our squad is going to beat.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Your squad, and Aaron Williams.
Speaker 8 (23:45):
We believe in ourselves. We did. It's not a mysterak.
We don't have to find our chemistry or figure out
what we do well and figure out who can do what.
At this point, we pretty much know all the work
we put in the last two years. I think we
were just getting better and better as a team. I
think our chemistry was just getting better and better. We
were adding little pieces here and there. Everything was just
(24:05):
fitting well and we were doing well. Like I said before,
we played every game with a chip on our shoulder.
You have guys like Jay Kidd who you know are
going to give it every night offensively and defense. Kenya
Murtin is energy. The toughness he brings, it's contagious. We
all feed off of it. So when we get rolling,
we expect to win these games. Obviously, Noah's going to
(24:26):
win every game. We expect to win every game. We're
a better team and things just fell an eye for
us and we want our a little run.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
They are the back to back NBA Eastern Conference champions
for the second straight year. The New Jersey Nets are going.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
To the finals.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Byron Scott, another marvelous job. He said, one quarter.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
At a time, one game at a time.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
They didn't want to just steal one from Rick Carliles
Pistons in Detroit. They wanted to find a way to
take two. They took too on two two point games
that went down to the fire second and a half.
Then they came back home and played their game on
Thursday in Game three, ninety seven eighty five. They definitely
played their game again tonight or the better team won,
(25:11):
the deeper team won, the more experienced team won against
the team that wanted to make a point of getting back.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
To the finals.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
The Nets had closed the regular season with a seventeen
and nineteen record in their last thirty six games. They
were tied two to two with Milwaukee going into the
fourth quarter of Game five. Now they were rolling into
the finals with the momentum of a ten game winning streak.
Here's Chris Carno.
Speaker 10 (25:37):
Their toughest fight was Milwaukee, and once they got through that,
I mean, I don't want to say I was surprised,
but to just blow through Boston and Detroit.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
They were amazing.
Speaker 9 (25:46):
They were amazing.
Speaker 10 (25:47):
They had learned from the year before and took no
prisoners in those series, won ten games in a row
going back to the first round series, and set themselves
up to really challenge the San Antonio Spurs in a
way that I don't think people really thought they could.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
And this time they knew what they were walking into.
The first trip to the finals have been a shock
throughout the organization for players, and staff who had just
not been in that situation before. Now they were ready
for the on and off court pressures that came with
playing for a championship. Here's Jason Kidd.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
I think when we got to the finals, we really
got in LA we got to understand what it was
all about instractions, and so I think when you look
at going back and now playing San Antonio, we were prepared.
We had the answers to the test, and we were
really excited about this opportunity of playing and being back
in the finals, I under saying how art it was,
(26:41):
but also to understand that we really believed that we
had a chance to win and Curry Kittles.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
We were definitely comfortable.
Speaker 8 (26:48):
I think from a media perspective, the bright lights being
on that stage, and I thought that we felt as
a group that we matched up well against the Spurs
and we felt like we had no opportunity to win
that series. The year before, we knew it was gonna
be tough to beat the Lakers. Shaq and Kobe were
just that good. But against the Spurs, we were like, hey,
we had the kimbe He's gonna be in there, making
(27:11):
it tough for Timan for David and the rest of
the group. We like our chances, so there was definitely
a comfort factor there.
Speaker 5 (27:18):
On the court. The biggest reason for optimism was that
the Nets wouldn't be dealing with the giant that had
dominated them a year earlier. Accounting for Shaquille O'Neill had
driven Rod Thorne summer moves, but Shaq wasn't on the
menu this time. Here's Aaron Williams.
Speaker 8 (27:34):
I think we felt more confident because we weren't playing
Shaq and Kobe. Shaq is just amount of a man
and this incredible talent and forced to be reckoned with.
Not to take anything away from Tim Duncan, who does
things a little differently but gets the job done just
as well. But it's not that sheer group force that
(27:55):
you have to deal with that's going to put you
in foul trouble every night. So I think we came
into it a lot more confident for sure.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
And Rod Thorn My feeling was regarding the San Antonio
series that we had a great chance to play them.
We had played them tough for the last several years.
We had always played them tough, and they didn't have shock,
but they had Duncan and then Tim Duncan is the
(28:24):
best power forward ever and one of the best players ever.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
Duncan was coming off his second straight MVP season. The
year before, he had edged out Jason Kidd for the
award and one of the closest votes in history to
that point. The Admiral David Robinson was in his last
NBA season, but the other three future Hall of Famers
on the roster had another decade of excellence and multiple
championships ahead of them. Duncan was twenty six years old,
(28:52):
point guard Tony Parker was twenty, and Manu Ginobili was
a rookie. Duncan dominated Game one with thirty two points
and twenty rebounds, but the Nets gotta split in San
Antonio after kids scored thirty points in Game two and
locked up in eighty seven to eighty five win by
scoring the Nets final seven points in the last minute
(29:13):
and fifteen.
Speaker 7 (29:14):
They played Duncan straight out.
Speaker 14 (29:16):
He takes it over Collins and.
Speaker 7 (29:17):
Got the role, and you're at seventy two seventy.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
They need more than that kid.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
The Jefferson and Rodinson blocks the shot, Danion Martin and
the Nets lead Collins inside block by Duncan and then Tumbo.
Speaker 14 (29:33):
Is in there and he's got it against Tim Duncan
under and got it, gets it back to tumble little
got it Duncan a little bit short.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I got it back and made sure Rodinson baseline blocked
by the Tumbo A camp Martin the Jefferson and Jefferson's
got it twenty to play try to tie the series
in a game of feast, can't top shot off the glass.
The Nets survived it, they won it.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
They went it on the road back in New Jersey.
They traded wins again. The Nets held on to a
seventy seven seventy six Game four win Kenya. Martin made
the go ahead free throws with just over a minute ago,
and kid sealed the game at the line, just as
he had in Game two. They were tied at two
wins apiece. With the old two to three to two
(30:25):
playoff schedule, the Nets would be home for Game five
with a chance to take the lead in the series.
Here's Chris Carino.
Speaker 10 (30:33):
It's still the closest they've ever been to a championship
in franchise history. I remember losing Game one, but thinking,
you know what the Nets can play with them. I
remember Game one of the finals, thinking well, they lost,
but they can play with them, and then you have
Jason Kidd and you always have a chance. That was
just a tough, defensive, low scoring game in game two,
and the Nets given the series at one and then
(30:55):
split the first games three and four, and then it
was a two to three to two. So Game five
was in the metal lands and they had a chance
to win and go up.
Speaker 5 (31:03):
But Duncan repeated his Game one dominance with twenty nine
points and seventeen rebounds. The next shot thirty five percent
and the Spurs took control of the game with a
fourteen to three run to finish the third quarter. Here's
Rod Thorn.
Speaker 6 (31:18):
We are two to two and in the fifth game,
it was one of those playoff games where nobody can
make a shot and the game is going on and
on and on, and we're right there, but we cannot
make shots. We shot thirty some percent in the game
(31:38):
and we just couldn't make shots. The coup de gras,
we're down a couple points and Duncan you know, we
have to double team him because we can't stop him
one on one, and he makes a pass out to
Steve Kerr, who makes an open shot, and that sort
of did a Sinse and Jason Kidd.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
When you look at game five, you know it's two
two and this is a swing game, and we've talked
to the importance of swing games, and we really believe
that Homet that this is what we wanted to be
able to protect. Haul You work three to two, and
we felt like, look, we've already shown we can win
a game on the road. So we got two opportunities
in game six or seven to win and to let
(32:18):
game five get away from us, put us in a
bad situation going to Tatta where he had to win
both five.
Speaker 14 (32:25):
On the shot block, Jefferson will go Jeep got it
kid from sixteen and he knocks it down.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Jefferson hammers at home six on the shot block, Kittles
will try to quiet him and he does kid for three.
Big shot for Jason Kidd. The Kittles who's wide open
for three and he hit it.
Speaker 14 (32:42):
Here comes Kidding Kittles, Kittles all the way. Jason Kidd
makes it a ten point game again.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
So jenn Ovlin with a steely picked Jefferson's pocket and
stuffed it.
Speaker 9 (32:53):
Duncan gives it up Jackson for the first lead.
Speaker 5 (32:56):
Got it.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
It's getting a little out in here.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
It's all falling apart.
Speaker 14 (33:03):
Put it out.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Plus Spurs laid by ten the nineteen zero run by
San Antonio.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
It was a tough task, but going into the fourth
quarter of Game six in San Antonio, the Nets looked
like they were on course to force a decisive Game
seven to get themselves one went away from a championship.
The Nets led for forty one minutes of game time.
They were up by ten early in the fourth quarter.
The Spurs didn't lead at all until Stephen Jackson's three
(33:32):
pointer with six point thirty to go, but Jackson's go
ahead shot came in the middle of a five minute
scoreless stretch for the Nets. The Spurs outscored them thirty
one to fourteen in the fourth quarter and won eighty
eight to seventy seven. It was a much different series
than the sweep against the Lakers a year ago, but
the bottom line was the same. Championship dreams had come
(33:54):
up short. Here's Rod Thorn.
Speaker 6 (33:57):
We lead the game the whole way. We're playing great.
You know, we're up nine to ten points going in
the fourth quarter, and we've been up as many as
fifty sixty during the game. In the fourth quarter, with
about six minutes to go, they start really playing Stevie Jackson,
who had played for US as a big fourth quarter
(34:19):
scoring and Duncan, as I recall, was thirty points twenty
some rebounds in the game, was unbelievably good, and they
came back late and ended up beating US.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
And Tim Capshrow broadcasting the finals in his first season
as part of the NETS radio team.
Speaker 12 (34:38):
I can tell you the last game because it sticks
out in my brain. Game six is what I can
recall so vividly down in San Antonio, because the Nets
had a significant lead in the second half. They even
had a lead, a ten point lead in the beginning
of the fourth quarter, and they were really playing at
a very high level. They were defending, they're forcing turnovers,
(34:59):
they were getting out and obviously Jason Kidd was doing
his thing. Richard jefferson't playing well. Kerry Kittles played at
a very high level in that game also, and then
it just all fell apart about the seven or eight
minute mark of the fourth quarter. I remember wondering why
Carry Kittles wasn't back into the game he had played.
He had had sixteen seventeen points at that time.
Speaker 7 (35:22):
He didn't come out.
Speaker 12 (35:22):
He didn't start the fourth quarter, but then he usually
come in, and he didn't for a while, and we
were wondering where he was and Jefferson was. But it
was more just the way san Antonio turned it up,
their interior defense, their size, and then it's got stagnant offensively.
They weren't able to turn over the San Antonio spurs
like they were for the majority of the game. They
(35:43):
weren't able to get out and run off. Missus got
into a half court game and San Antonio just pulled away.
But it wasn't the usual suspects, Stephen Jackson making three
speedy Claxon making shots along of course, with the dominance
of Duncan and David Robinson.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
Kittles had sixteen points in the first three quarters but
didn't get back into the game in the fourth until
they were just over five minutes left. Assistant coach Michael Korn.
Speaker 7 (36:09):
We probably should have got Kerry Kills back in that week.
He was a great shooter, especially from three point range,
but we kept him out probably too long. He could
look back at that and kick yourself. You know, you
could have done a lot of things.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
I'm sure the nets are won. There are two games
in this series by a combined three points, but that
was good enough to keep them even through four games
with a chance to take this series lead at home.
Even after they dropped Game five, they had that ten
point fourth quarter lead in Game six, they just couldn't
close the deal. Here's Jason Kidd.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
Look at the opportunity that we had in game five.
In Game six, it put us in a great seat
to win a championship, and it was a missed opportunity.
Speaker 8 (36:49):
And Aaron Williams Smokey just wasn't meant to be, you know.
And Tim Knunkan, he's a Hall of Fame top ten
player in his own right. And Gerobili and Tony Parker
and nothing to sneeze at. They know how to play,
they have a system. Coach Popp might be the best
coach in history of the league. Arguably, we put up
a fight, but we just couldn't give over to hup.
Speaker 9 (37:09):
Brian Scalabrini, I thought in Game six that was the
game that we should have won. I fully understand the
greatness of Jason Kidd. At the time, It's my second
year in the NBA, I do not understand the greatness
of Tim Duncan. I understand he's a good player, but
after playing him in that series, you start to realize
how good he was. And I'll tell you how. You're
(37:29):
the nets. You're on a run, you make three transition buckets,
you go a six to zero run, like this thing's
about to break open. Popovich has his offense, his weak
his second side, all that stuff he runs. Punch punch
to Tim Duncan. Punch to Tim Duncan is a bucket.
It's gonna be a bucket or a free throw for him.
And so when he would do that, it made me
finally understand the NBA from this standpoint. There's one point
(37:52):
two points and three points, right, but not all one
point two points and three points are created equal. There
are bigger moments in games. I can't say I knew
that at the time, but after that series I fully
understood that normal coach would have to burn a time
out to kind of get momentum back. Popovich, all you
had to do is give the ball to Tim Duncan.
So Tim Duncan will get you know, eighteen points, but
(38:13):
like fourteen will be like crazy pivotal moments where you
had to get in and outside of that, the dude would
just reverse the ball, set screens and crash the glass.
Another thing I recognize is the ability to be a
shot blocker without blocking shots, where you could challenge dudes
at the rim and make them miss and it's somehow
some way come down and get the defensive board. That
(38:34):
is the challenge in it of itself, and there's not
a lot of guys that could do that. It took
me watching that series to realize like that Tim Duncan
is an all time great.
Speaker 5 (38:43):
That's broadcaster Iron Eagle.
Speaker 11 (38:45):
Unfortunately, you look back on some of the opportunities that
were lost and chances that they had in that series
to really make a statement, and it was winnable. It
was winnable. Game six was one of the toughest losses
that you will ever experience as a team with what
was on the line, with the hope of forcing a
(39:08):
game seven. You never know what happens in a game seven.
You never know, You never know how guys are gonna respond,
but you have to get there first. That's had a
huge lead and it dissipated and it got away from
them and their championship hopes got away from them as well.
Speaker 5 (39:24):
The chase for the third straight trip to the finals
and the elusive championship came up short. In two thousand
and four, the Nets won the Atlantic Division for the
third straight year and swept the Knicks in the first
round of the playoffs, but they lost a seven game
series to Detroit in the second round. A triple overtime
winning Game five put them up three games to two
(39:46):
in the series, but that was the last game they
would win that season. The Pistons went on to beat
the Pacers and the Conference finals, and then shot the
Lakers in five games for the title. Here's Chris Carino
that team.
Speaker 10 (40:00):
The Pistons ended up winning the championship that year. Lakers
were ready to be beaten in the final. The Nets
took the Pistons to seven games, and they win a
game five and triple overtime, but Jason Kidd walked on
the bus. He could hardly walk on the bus after
the game, and his knee was shot. And a lot
of it had to do with having to play three
overtimes that night in Game five, and they get beat
(40:21):
game six, get blown out in Game seven. But that's
how close you were Chaelnsea Bildins did a half court
shot to force overtime. You realize what a small margin
it is all the time. Maybe the Nets get through
that series, maybe Kid is a little healthier, guys have
to play three overtimes that night, maybe they win the championship.
Alonzo Morning was on that team, was injured and couldn't play,
but he might have been the guy that helped them
(40:43):
get over the edge against the Pistons. My first year
in the finals, there's a longtime NBA PR guy, Brian
McIntyre who came up to me at one point in
the press room during one of the finals games and said,
you know, I was the youngest broadcast in the league
at that time, and he said, you know, Chris, guys
that work in this business thirty forty years never get
to do the games you're doing right now.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Don't take it for granted.
Speaker 9 (41:05):
I nodded.
Speaker 10 (41:06):
I said, absolutely, I understand what you're saying. Then we
got back to the finals the next year and I
saw Brian again. I said, I'm still not taking it
for granted. You think you're always going to have that opportunity,
same thing with players. You know, you get there and
you get so close and you think you're always going
to have an opportunity, and then injuries, contracts, free agency,
coaching changes, ownership changes. That was a big deal too,
(41:28):
is that ownership changed hands and the direction of the
franchise started to have different priorities, and you realize you
can never take it for granted when you get so close,
because there's a fine line. When you get close, you
gotta savor it. You got to go after it with
all you can because you never know when you're going
to get that opportunity again.
Speaker 5 (41:49):
The Net's one another division title in two thousand and
six and push their playoff string to six straight seasons,
but the core group for the runs to the final
never young got past the second round. Byron Scott was
fired during the two thousand and three. Two thousand and
four season, which was the last with the Nets for
both Kenyon Martin and Curry Kittles by.
Speaker 8 (42:11):
Far the two most overall my best years in the NBA.
I have the best experience of being on those two teams,
those two championship runs. That was fun basketball. It was
fun to be a part of it. We knew that
we were a fun team to watch play because our
style was so different. We played together, We were a
unit of the group. We very rarely had any issues
(42:32):
in the locker room. It was I mean, we all
got along across the board. We had a lot of
fun with the coaching staff. Their long season and you're
playing in till June. October to June. It was a
long time, man. No, it was very, very memorable moments
for me as a professional basketball player.
Speaker 5 (42:49):
GM rod Thorn made a big move to retool the
team when he traded for Vince Carter in December of
two thousand and four, using some of the picks he
acquired for Martin so he had to include Aaron Williams
in that deal as well.
Speaker 8 (43:03):
Probably my two favorite years playing in the NBA, especially
the first year. No one expected us to win, just
the way that we all came together as a team
and the chemistry. They're all great guys, every last one
of them are great guys. It's not too often you
can say that about teams. You always have a couple
of guys who are knuckleheads. Literally from one to fifteen,
(43:23):
all the guys are really great guys, and I think
that contributed to our success. When is a lot more
fun than losing whenever you're winning, that makes things better also,
But it was just fun playing with those guys. That
was an honor playing with those guys some of the
best years of my life for sure.
Speaker 5 (43:38):
It was a team that came together with no expectations,
developed a beautiful, exciting style, and took the franchise to
New Heights. Here's Tim Kapstraw.
Speaker 12 (43:49):
The puzzle fit perfectly for those two three years. That
was the perfect fit. I think guys like Kerry Kittles
or even Kenyon Martin made Richard Jefferson had big seasons.
Speaker 5 (43:59):
Also.
Speaker 12 (44:00):
I don't think anybody ever played better than when they
played with Jason kitt And I think that was and
when he was focused and he was determined, and they
were playing up tempo basketball that really suited their games
and running the floor after playing great defense. That's where
those pieces of the puzzle were just so perfect and
(44:21):
iron eagle.
Speaker 11 (44:22):
They changed the whole perception of the franchise. I knew
that they could get the attention of people, even though
New Jersey at that point just did not ever pop
in the NBA. They were always an afterthought, And it
was the first time that I remember a real interest
(44:43):
in the Nets. That stretch was such a breakthrough, and
when you travel around the country I do multiple sports,
it was the first time that people started asking me
about the Nets. They never really were very curious about
the team, and that team did enough to capture the
imagination of basketball fans and created enough curiosity that you
(45:06):
had to pay attention to them, and prior to that
nobody did so they really did put the franchise on
the map in many ways.
Speaker 5 (45:17):
The final word goes to the man who changed everything
for the Nets, Jason Kidd.
Speaker 7 (45:22):
It was just a point in my career.
Speaker 4 (45:24):
Was probably the best basketball that I played in that
stretch of time. And to be able to win the
Vision titles, to be able to go to the Eastern
Crops Finals twice and win it and then go to
the finals to come up short, it was just a foundation.
I thought, if we could keep things together, maybe we
would want a championship in there. But again with the
(45:46):
business of basketball, sometimes gets in the way and things change.
But it was an incredible part of basketball my life
and I wouldn't trade that in for anything.
Speaker 8 (46:01):
The Suste Supers.
Speaker 10 (46:06):
The rest contains put stoddarding a first present
Coming up out a minute and a half remaining in
this New Jersey that season on that team that went
fifty two and thirty during the regular season, the best
record of the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
But the Lakers are along their way and joins sweet.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The important thing for New Jeorgy is where they go
from here.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
I think the next year started in the finals for
us when we lost to the Lakers. We all made
an agreement that we didn't accomplish anything and that we
needed to stay hungry and we needed to finish this off.
And I thought that was something that to see everybody
ready to go that next season understanding what was that
state that we came up short, and that we wanted
(00:49):
to get back, and we knew how hard it is
to get back, and that we weren't going to be
a secret or surprise to anybody, And so to be
able to come back that following season and everybody was
tight goal was really cool.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
Every season is a new start, requiring a fresh commitment.
Jason Kidd knew that that was the kind of drive
and ambition he had brought to New Jersey in the
first place in the summer of two thousand and one,
and the result was the franchise's first trip to the
NBA Finals. The Nets had put up the conference's best
record surviving the Pacers and bounced back against the Celtics.
(01:36):
The Lakers, with their legendary coach Phil Jackson and the
superstar pairing of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, were the
only obstacle they couldn't overcome. But the Nets especially had
no answer for Shaq, who averaged thirty six points in
the suite on the way to his third NBA Finals MVP.
With that mind, that general manager Rod Thorne took another
(01:58):
big swing in the summer of two thousand and two,
training two starters center Todd McCulloch and forward Keith van
Horn to the Philadelphia seventy six is for center to
Kenby Mutambo. But Tumbo had won his fourth Defensive Player
of the Year award just a year earlier and was
coming off his third All NBA season. O'Dell had dominated
(02:20):
the Nets so thoroughly that Thorn just didn't see a
path to take you that next step to a championship
without making a change at center.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
My feeling at the time regarding our team was we
weren't going to beat the Lakers if we couldn't defend
Shack at least somewhat. But Tumbo was available, we ended
up making the trade for him and gave them key.
We knew that Richard. We could put Richard into Keith
spot and we'd be fine, but it took Richard off
(02:51):
the bench where you had a big plus if you
could bring Jefferson off the bench. Now we don't have that.
If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't
do it because I always felt Keith was an underrated player,
and well, we didn't have him. I knew he was
an underrated player McCullough had. Once he went to Philly,
(03:13):
he got injured and was no longer a factor. He
had real high arches and his arches were bothering him
and so he was no factor. But had we stayed
the way we were, I think we would have made
the finals again.
Speaker 7 (03:26):
With that team.
Speaker 6 (03:27):
And the Kimba got hurt early in the year and
was out for almost all the year. We had Aaron
Williams and we had Jason Collins who did the Yeomans
work for us, and we were still really good. And
Richard came on and was played very, very well. For us,
but that was There are times that maybe you I
think yourself had we kept Keith, that combination of Keith
(03:50):
and Kenyon and Jefferson was a heck of a combination
and one that we could.
Speaker 8 (03:55):
Have gone on for several years.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
With Brian Scalabrini.
Speaker 9 (03:59):
Next year, like Rod trades Van Horne and McCulloch for Mtumbo,
and that makes all the sense in the world. Like
mu Tumble has had a history of playing against Shaq
and doing a decent job. So if we're thinking Shaquille
O'Neal is going to be in the finals, we need
to make sure we addressed that particular situation. So you
have everyone kind of growing, like Richard Jefferson coming to
his own, Kaya Martin is becoming like a bona fide
(04:22):
star in the league. You got kid, you got Kittles,
and everybody. Like a lot of things were short up.
I think the confidence of that next year's team was
really high going into camp. It was high, but it
became like apparently clear like them Tumbo Princeton offense mix
was probably not gonna work as well as we thought
it was gonna work.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
The Nets didn't get much out of Matambo, who played
just twenty four games due to injuries. He made it
back for the playoffs, but played just eighty two minutes
in the finals with McCullough, Gahan, and Matambo hurt. Second
year center Jason Collins Phil Lavoid starting sixty six games.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
When we made the trade for t kimb And we
knew obviously to Kimbay defensive in the Hall of Famer
and just one of the best defensive centers. We knew
it was a huge upgrade at the center position defensively,
and we already had an amazing defensive team. Big dip
Tod McCullough is a great guy, great human being, great teammate,
great person. But to Kimbay offered something that Todd couldn't,
(05:22):
and that to Kimba was just a better defensive player.
If you're building a team, you look her out. If
we are going to be successful, who would we meet
potentially in the finals. We're going to need a strong
defensive center.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Here's assistant coach Michael Korn, who worked closely with the
team's big men.
Speaker 7 (05:39):
Rod's thinking was, let's get Matumbo. If we play the
Lakers again in the finals, we have another person who
could go out shack you know, that was the reasoning
behind that we had Collins. Well, you know, it was
a rookie against the Lakers who had a whole wealth
of experience now again, so we felt going in we
were complete at the center spot.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
But now they had a hole at the forward spot.
So Thorn picked up veteran Rodney Rodgers and with those changes,
essentially exchanging McCullough and Van Horn from a Tumbo and Rogers,
the Nets headed to training camp with an I am
repeating his conference champions and finishing the job in his
rookie year doing play by play for the Nets. Radio
Chris Carno took that magical ride to the finals. Could
(06:22):
they do it again?
Speaker 10 (06:23):
Now it's going to be show us it wasn't a fluke,
you know. I think their run to the finals showed
everybody that the fifty two wins was not a fluke.
People were excited about the team going into the following season.
They realized some of their shortcomings and they tried to
fix them. You know, they trade Keith van Horn, they
bring into Kevin Mtumbo. There definitely was a confidence level
(06:46):
about that team that you knew that, hey, we're going
to learn from what we did the experience we had
in that whole one oh two season, and we're going
to use that experience and now we're not just going
to be happy to be in the fun finals. We
want to win an NBA championship. And I don't even
think there was pressure. I think when you're with the
Nets for so long that you you know what the
(07:08):
history is of the team. There was more of a
excitement than a pressure. I just felt like they were like,
you know what, we we know how good we are.
We showed it last year. We want to do it again.
We want to win a championship. That's what the one
ozho two season did. They walked into the next season
with that goal of we're gonna win a championship this year.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Back in nineteen seventy six, the Nets had closed out
the ABA year were with a second championship in three years.
Right before the start of the nineteen seventy six seventy
seven NBA season, Sports Illustrated put Julia Serving in his
iconic stars and stripes Nets uniform on the cover with
Dave Cowens of the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics. The
(07:51):
issue was dated October twenty fifth, nineteen seventy six, but
by that date, Irving was already gone Delta Philadelphi on
October twentieth, two days before the franchise's first NBA game.
So through their first twenty five years in the NBA,
the Nets had never begun to season the way they
did in two thousand and two, carrying the hopes and
(08:14):
expectations generated by a trip to the NBA Finals the
year before. Ron darn, we were favorite.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
I think that most of the pundits had us number
one in the East and we were gonna win someplace
between fifteen sixty games, you know, if everything worked out.
So yeah, we definitely were the favorites.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Just like they did the year before. The Nets jumped
out to the top of the Atlantic Division. They beat
Atlanta on opening night and won their first four games
and seven of their first nine. On January sixth, they
beat the Hawks again for their tenth straight win. As
they needed. The halfway point of the NBA schedule, the
Nets were twenty six and nine. They closed out January
(08:56):
with a thirty two and fourteen record.
Speaker 7 (08:59):
Mike, the difference between those two years was the confidence
level was just through the roof that we had Jason
Kidd for a year. We had run the offense, a
new offense, so coming into training cap that you really
didn't have to waste too much time as far as
learning it. We would just practice it and we got
better at it. We were just a better team to
(09:19):
two thousand and two to two thousand and three season,
better all around the fence league. We were good. You
can't put a price single what what the confidence of
a team. We're not cockying, We weren't arrogant, trust me.
We were just felt we were good and if you
beat us, you're gonna it was gonna be a tough
out for you guys, but you're gonna be in for
a heck of a battle.
Speaker 9 (09:37):
Brian Scalabrini, You know, we got a lot faster with
Kenyan Martin at the power, for Richard Jefferson at the three,
it just became a team that really fit well. Defensively,
we were much better. We added some floppy action where
you got Kenyan Martin sitting a down pick for Carrie Kittles,
but he would slip out and Kid would throw it up.
So we just added some wrinkles to it. We were,
(09:58):
you know, another year of the Princeton offense. We just
shored up a lot of those things, so we got faster.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
That's what we did.
Speaker 9 (10:06):
You insert Richard Jefferson the starting lineup, you become a
lot faster.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
And NETS play by play broadcaster Iron Eagle.
Speaker 11 (10:13):
And what I saw was the young guys getting better,
and then the recognition from RJ in particular, but Kenyon
and Kerry that oh wait, all I have to do
is start darting down the floor and Jason Kidd is
going to make an amazing play and I'm going to
get the highlight on my reel. I can do that.
(10:36):
They absolutely perfected what they had built in that first
year of the new look Nets. In that second year,
it was even more of a well oiled machine. The
record wasn't as good. They turned it on, turned it
off a little bit during that regular season, and they
had just had the long postseason run, but that team
was still very lethal.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
The biggest change turned out not to be Matambo, but
the growth of second year forward Richard Jefferson, who had
room for a larger role after van Horn was traded.
The twenty two year old had a breakout year and
what turned out to be a seventeen year career.
Speaker 8 (11:14):
Here's Curry Kittles, Richard Jefferson's emergence that year with I
think the countless of that season is his second year
really taking the leak. He went from being a really
good player to being arguably our second best player behind
Jason and you know Kenyony. He was just that good
that second year.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Jefferson started all eighty games. He played and played more
minutes than any net that season besides Jason Kidd, averaging
thirty six a game. His scoring average jumped from nine
points a game to fifteen. He shot fifty percent and
he averaged six rebounds.
Speaker 12 (11:49):
Ridiculous athlete, It was perfectly fit into this system, made
an immediate contribution to the Nets. He ran the left
wing when Cerry Kittles ran the right wing, and this athletic,
fast breaking team was so enjoyable to watch. He was
the perfect piece of a puzzle to fit in this organization.
(12:10):
The pieces fit very very well together, led by Jason Kidd,
but Richard Jefferson. He had made it an immediate impact
to the New Jersey Nets organization with his unbelievable athleticism,
his confidence, his ability to finish. He was an improving shooter,
but he was ready on day one. That's what made
(12:31):
Richard Jefferson so special. He had the confidence, the talent,
the athleticism, and he was the perfect fit to run
with this organization.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
That's NETS radio analyst Tim Capstra and here's his broadcast partner,
Chris Carino.
Speaker 10 (12:46):
Richard was one of those guys that had a great
deal of swagger but also had this self awareness about him.
You've seen him over the years. You saw him grow
into a player that was then able to shoot the
ball better, became a three point shooter, stayed in the
league for a long time because of it, ultimately got
a ring because of it. Just one of those guys
that fit perfectly with that up tempo defense, first kind
(13:08):
of style that the Nets had that year.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
These days, our Jay's working with Iron Eagle on NETS
Yes Network broadcast. Back then, Eagle saw a young player
whose attitude was as important to his success as his skills.
Speaker 11 (13:22):
Richard Jefferson ultra athletic. I always felt that he thought
that people didn't respect him, and he had to show
that he was a player. Every time he went on
the floor, he brought some extra stuff with him and
knowing him getting to know him, not just as a player,
(13:42):
but as a person and later as a colleague.
Speaker 7 (13:46):
You could see it.
Speaker 11 (13:47):
He's highly competitive and also fun. He brought a sense
of fun to the team and they needed it. Jason
was serious, highly serious, rich out a way of balancing
it out, and he knew how to get under your skin.
And that was not only for guys he was going against.
(14:07):
That was for his own teammates.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
The two thousand and two two thousand and three season
looked a lot like the one before for the Nets.
They led the league in defensive rating for the second
year in a row. A lot of the other numbers,
the steals, the turnovers, the fast break points looked pretty
similar to the Individual scoring was a little more spread out.
The year before, Martin had led the Nets with a
fourteen point nine points per game, followed by Van Horn
(14:33):
with a fourteen point eight and Kid with a fourteen
point seven. It was a remarkable show of balance. This time,
Kid led the way with eighteen point seven points per game,
followed by martin sixteen point seven and Jefferson's fifteen point five.
But over the second half of the season things stalled.
In their final thirty six games, the Nets went seventeen
(14:55):
and nineteen something was just a bit off. Here's Rod Thorn.
Speaker 6 (15:00):
Even before the Kimba, but Tumbo got hurt, it wasn't
a great fit for us on the offensive end of
the court. We depended on ball movement. We depended on
a lot of movement, and then the Kimbay was essentially
a postep center bashing was not as forte offensively, we
(15:20):
were I would say struggling, but we weren't the Chris
passing cutting team.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
That we were the previous year.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
Even before, but Tumbo got hurt.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
And Jason Collins who stepped into that starting center role
after the Tambo injury.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
So then you know, the rhythm gets off end. So
then the coaches are thinking, okay, do we start Aaron
Williams and then moved me up to the backup center.
But they really liked what a train brought to the
second unit, so they kept him there and then immediately
put me into the starting lineup, And that was adjustment
for me. Before then in the NBA, I think I'd
(15:59):
only started one of their game and that was the
Charlotte game my rookie year. So it was a matter
of just getting used to being a starter. And getting
used to adjusting to that, because that is an adjustment
even for a young player in the NBA.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
One thing was not in question. The surprise team from
the year before was now the front runner in the East.
They were better known, and they were a bigger target.
Here's Chris Carino.
Speaker 10 (16:26):
I do know this that teams were coming after them
a little bit more that year. I think they might
have taken people by surprise In one oh two, no
one was surprised anymore. In O two oh three. They
knew they had to bring their best game, and a
lot of them did against the Nets that year.
Speaker 8 (16:40):
And Curry Kittles, I thought what happened was teams were
kind of figured us out a little bit offensively. That
was definitely taking place. That was one of the factors.
But I also thought that we were sure of ourselves
by that point. There was a big sample size. Now
he's talking about a year and a half of togetherness
in team culture and chemistry, and we had times we
were able to flip that switch early on in that season,
(17:03):
and we hit that loll I had a little bit
of an injury that year without for a couple of games,
I had a little sprain or whatever. We were banged
up a little bit that year, but we figured it out.
We were able to flip the switch. Even though our
record wasn't great, we knew what we were capable of.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Much like the year before, when nobody was sure if
the Nets were for real, the doubts were outside the
locker room, not inside.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Jason Kidd, I think we clinched so early in that
year that we shut the engines off almost completely in
that second half of the season, and they were starting
to be questioned, especially from our coaching staff, that you
just can't flip the switch. And I think that's what
gave us again when we talk about character, we were
being questioned as we couldn't do something. I think we
(17:48):
showed that we could turn the switch on and that
we kind of ran through the playoffs pretty quickly.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
The Nets spent the second half of the season in
a battle with Indiana and Detroit for the East top seed.
They fill and is second in the conference at forty
nine to thirty three, a game behind the Pistons and
a game ahead of the Pacers and Sixers. That put
them into the first round matchup against the seventh seeded
Milwaukee Bucks, led by Ray Allen. They split the first
(18:15):
four games and came back to New Jersey for Game five,
tied at two games apiece. In a game with fourteen
ties and fourteen league changes, they were even at sixty
one to start the fourth quarter. Kittles made three three
pointers in the fourth and the third put the Nets
ahead for good. The eighty nine to eighty two win
turned out to be the start of a ten game
(18:36):
winning streak that drove the Nets straight back to the
NBA Finals. They finished off the Bucks in six, then
swept the Celtics and Pistons. Here's tim capstraw.
Speaker 12 (18:47):
They turned it on the playoffs. They began to be
a dominant team again, and they were able to really
get after it and find their their attack mode and
their domination again once they got into the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
After closing out Milwaukee, the Nets were set up for
a playoff re match with the Celtics, who had fallen
to the sixth seed but knocked off Indiana in the
first round. A year earlier, the Nets had suffered a
stunning game three defeat in the Eastern Conference Finals as
the wild Boston Crown raided down Abuse. Afterwards, Jason Kidd
delivered a message to the devastated locker room, we are
(19:21):
never losing to these guys again. The Nets responded by
winning the final three games of the series to get
to the NBA Finals. Faced with the Celtics again, they
kept Kid's word. The Suite made its seven straight playoff
wins against Boston over two seasons.
Speaker 13 (19:37):
The Boston Celtics are beaten, and the New Jersey Nets
advanced their first playoff series sweep in history. The final
scoring in double overtime, the Nets citizen one to ten,
the Celtics one oh one. Character added durance, Jason Kidd
played fifty three minutes tonight the New Jersey Nets sweep
the Celtics, winning by a score of one ten t
(20:00):
one on one.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
Here's Tim Capstraw.
Speaker 12 (20:03):
I think going to Boston had something to do with it.
Everybody's talking about like people catch a little bit of
stuff from the crowd now these days, and how you react.
Jason Kidd put out a clinic on how to react
to negativity from a crowd. The crowd would be all
over him, and again you could see it in his eyes.
That made him and his teammates become a dominant team.
(20:27):
In my opinion, I watched it. I witnessed it. I
heard it from the crowd and the moment they were
harassing him at incredible levels, he would then dominate the game.
I think the attitude and the approach of going up
to Boston impacted things.
Speaker 9 (20:43):
I really do.
Speaker 12 (20:44):
I mean, it's an interesting way to look at it,
but it was hostile, it was uncomfortable. It just got
Jason Kidd to another level, and it got his teammates
that so believed in him, and he was the leader
that got them to another level.
Speaker 5 (20:58):
Also, the sweep of the Celtic set the Nets up
for a return to the Eastern Conference Finals. This time
somebody else had the number one seed and home court advantage,
but the Nets won the first two games in Detroit
by two points each, with Kid hitting the game winning
jumper to start the series.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Kid now starts to move with seven seconds.
Speaker 7 (21:19):
Remaining in regulation.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Kid the jumper, the win it.
Speaker 8 (21:23):
He got it.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Jason Kidd has just set everybody back down at the palace.
One point two seconds left. He hits the biggest shot.
Speaker 14 (21:34):
Of the day. Looking at that shot clock is Jason Kidd.
Chauncey Phillips on him when it got to about seven
point two, he said, here we go, and he didn't
try to set up anybody else. He took it to
the corner, threw a double team up and over one
and varies the biggest shot by far of the ball game.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
And New Jersey has stolen one. They have swipes the
home court advantage from the Detroit Pistons.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
Back in New Jersey nets. We're in control of them.
The start to definish of games three and four, Kid
had twenty six points, twelve rebounds, seven assists, and two
steals in the clincher, a twenty point Game four route.
The team that had shocked the NBA year earlier and
battled its way to the finals was now a dominant
playoff team, Iron Eagle.
Speaker 11 (22:21):
It was an amazing run. It's rare that you get
to this point in professional sports where you walk into
an arena and you know what's going to happen.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
You just know it.
Speaker 11 (22:33):
They were playing that well and they were that much
better than the competition. Detroit eventually won a championship with
that group. So that was a terrific Pistons team. They
made mince meat out of them. The Celtics, they were
still feeling the effects of what happened the year before,
and I remember prior to that series a lot of
(22:53):
talk of revenge on the Boston side and things are
going to be different. No, if they were different, it
was just work for the Celtics. The nets were so
locked in and at that point you started to believe
that they could win a championship no matter who the
Western Conference representative was going to be.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
Here's Jason Collins.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
We were cruising and again we were playing with so
much confidence, and it really did. It was one thing
to go into the playoffs knowing that you could turn
on the switch, but it's another thing to actually do it.
And then like so that's like, so you have confidence,
and then it's like added confidence and like it becomes
like the swagger that you're walking around with as a
(23:36):
player and as a team that we have a squad
and our squad is going to beat.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Your squad, and Aaron Williams.
Speaker 8 (23:45):
We believe in ourselves. We did. It's not a mysterak.
We don't have to find our chemistry or figure out
what we do well and figure out who can do what.
At this point, we pretty much know all the work
we put in the last two years. I think we
were just getting better and better as a team. I
think our chemistry was just getting better and better. We
were adding little pieces here and there. Everything was just
(24:05):
fitting well and we were doing well. Like I said before,
we played every game with a chip on our shoulder.
You have guys like Jay Kidd who you know are
going to give it every night offensively and defense. Kenya
Murtin is energy. The toughness he brings, it's contagious. We
all feed off of it. So when we get rolling,
we expect to win these games. Obviously, Noah's going to
(24:26):
win every game. We expect to win every game. We're
a better team and things just fell an eye for
us and we want our a little run.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
They are the back to back NBA Eastern Conference champions
for the second straight year. The New Jersey Nets are going.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
To the finals.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Byron Scott, another marvelous job. He said, one quarter.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
At a time, one game at a time.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
They didn't want to just steal one from Rick Carliles
Pistons in Detroit. They wanted to find a way to
take two. They took too on two two point games
that went down to the fire second and a half.
Then they came back home and played their game on
Thursday in Game three, ninety seven eighty five. They definitely
played their game again tonight or the better team won,
(25:11):
the deeper team won, the more experienced team won against
the team that wanted to make a point of getting back.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
To the finals.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
The Nets had closed the regular season with a seventeen
and nineteen record in their last thirty six games. They
were tied two to two with Milwaukee going into the
fourth quarter of Game five. Now they were rolling into
the finals with the momentum of a ten game winning streak.
Here's Chris Carno.
Speaker 10 (25:37):
Their toughest fight was Milwaukee, and once they got through that,
I mean, I don't want to say I was surprised,
but to just blow through Boston and Detroit.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
They were amazing.
Speaker 9 (25:46):
They were amazing.
Speaker 10 (25:47):
They had learned from the year before and took no
prisoners in those series, won ten games in a row
going back to the first round series, and set themselves
up to really challenge the San Antonio Spurs in a
way that I don't think people really thought they could.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
And this time they knew what they were walking into.
The first trip to the finals have been a shock
throughout the organization for players, and staff who had just
not been in that situation before. Now they were ready
for the on and off court pressures that came with
playing for a championship. Here's Jason Kidd.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
I think when we got to the finals, we really
got in LA we got to understand what it was
all about instractions, and so I think when you look
at going back and now playing San Antonio, we were prepared.
We had the answers to the test, and we were
really excited about this opportunity of playing and being back
in the finals, I under saying how art it was,
(26:41):
but also to understand that we really believed that we
had a chance to win and Curry Kittles.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
We were definitely comfortable.
Speaker 8 (26:48):
I think from a media perspective, the bright lights being
on that stage, and I thought that we felt as
a group that we matched up well against the Spurs
and we felt like we had no opportunity to win
that series. The year before, we knew it was gonna
be tough to beat the Lakers. Shaq and Kobe were
just that good. But against the Spurs, we were like, hey,
we had the kimbe He's gonna be in there, making
(27:11):
it tough for Timan for David and the rest of
the group. We like our chances, so there was definitely
a comfort factor there.
Speaker 5 (27:18):
On the court. The biggest reason for optimism was that
the Nets wouldn't be dealing with the giant that had
dominated them a year earlier. Accounting for Shaquille O'Neill had
driven Rod Thorne summer moves, but Shaq wasn't on the
menu this time. Here's Aaron Williams.
Speaker 8 (27:34):
I think we felt more confident because we weren't playing
Shaq and Kobe. Shaq is just amount of a man
and this incredible talent and forced to be reckoned with.
Not to take anything away from Tim Duncan, who does
things a little differently but gets the job done just
as well. But it's not that sheer group force that
(27:55):
you have to deal with that's going to put you
in foul trouble every night. So I think we came
into it a lot more confident for sure.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
And Rod Thorn My feeling was regarding the San Antonio
series that we had a great chance to play them.
We had played them tough for the last several years.
We had always played them tough, and they didn't have shock,
but they had Duncan and then Tim Duncan is the
(28:24):
best power forward ever and one of the best players ever.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
Duncan was coming off his second straight MVP season. The
year before, he had edged out Jason Kidd for the
award and one of the closest votes in history to
that point. The Admiral David Robinson was in his last
NBA season, but the other three future Hall of Famers
on the roster had another decade of excellence and multiple
championships ahead of them. Duncan was twenty six years old,
(28:52):
point guard Tony Parker was twenty, and Manu Ginobili was
a rookie. Duncan dominated Game one with thirty two points
and twenty rebounds, but the Nets gotta split in San
Antonio after kids scored thirty points in Game two and
locked up in eighty seven to eighty five win by
scoring the Nets final seven points in the last minute
(29:13):
and fifteen.
Speaker 7 (29:14):
They played Duncan straight out.
Speaker 14 (29:16):
He takes it over Collins and.
Speaker 7 (29:17):
Got the role, and you're at seventy two seventy.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
They need more than that kid.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
The Jefferson and Rodinson blocks the shot, Danion Martin and
the Nets lead Collins inside block by Duncan and then Tumbo.
Speaker 14 (29:33):
Is in there and he's got it against Tim Duncan
under and got it, gets it back to tumble little
got it Duncan a little bit short.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I got it back and made sure Rodinson baseline blocked
by the Tumbo A camp Martin the Jefferson and Jefferson's
got it twenty to play try to tie the series
in a game of feast, can't top shot off the glass.
The Nets survived it, they won it.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
They went it on the road back in New Jersey.
They traded wins again. The Nets held on to a
seventy seven seventy six Game four win Kenya. Martin made
the go ahead free throws with just over a minute ago,
and kid sealed the game at the line, just as
he had in Game two. They were tied at two
wins apiece. With the old two to three to two
(30:25):
playoff schedule, the Nets would be home for Game five
with a chance to take the lead in the series.
Here's Chris Carino.
Speaker 10 (30:33):
It's still the closest they've ever been to a championship
in franchise history. I remember losing Game one, but thinking,
you know what the Nets can play with them. I
remember Game one of the finals, thinking well, they lost,
but they can play with them, and then you have
Jason Kidd and you always have a chance. That was
just a tough, defensive, low scoring game in game two,
and the Nets given the series at one and then
(30:55):
split the first games three and four, and then it
was a two to three to two. So Game five
was in the metal lands and they had a chance
to win and go up.
Speaker 5 (31:03):
But Duncan repeated his Game one dominance with twenty nine
points and seventeen rebounds. The next shot thirty five percent
and the Spurs took control of the game with a
fourteen to three run to finish the third quarter. Here's
Rod Thorn.
Speaker 6 (31:18):
We are two to two and in the fifth game,
it was one of those playoff games where nobody can
make a shot and the game is going on and
on and on, and we're right there, but we cannot
make shots. We shot thirty some percent in the game
(31:38):
and we just couldn't make shots. The coup de gras,
we're down a couple points and Duncan you know, we
have to double team him because we can't stop him
one on one, and he makes a pass out to
Steve Kerr, who makes an open shot, and that sort
of did a Sinse and Jason Kidd.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
When you look at game five, you know it's two
two and this is a swing game, and we've talked
to the importance of swing games, and we really believe
that Homet that this is what we wanted to be
able to protect. Haul You work three to two, and
we felt like, look, we've already shown we can win
a game on the road. So we got two opportunities
in game six or seven to win and to let
(32:18):
game five get away from us, put us in a
bad situation going to Tatta where he had to win
both five.
Speaker 14 (32:25):
On the shot block, Jefferson will go Jeep got it
kid from sixteen and he knocks it down.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Jefferson hammers at home six on the shot block, Kittles
will try to quiet him and he does kid for three.
Big shot for Jason Kidd. The Kittles who's wide open
for three and he hit it.
Speaker 14 (32:42):
Here comes Kidding Kittles, Kittles all the way. Jason Kidd
makes it a ten point game again.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
So jenn Ovlin with a steely picked Jefferson's pocket and
stuffed it.
Speaker 9 (32:53):
Duncan gives it up Jackson for the first lead.
Speaker 5 (32:56):
Got it.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
It's getting a little out in here.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
It's all falling apart.
Speaker 14 (33:03):
Put it out.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Plus Spurs laid by ten the nineteen zero run by
San Antonio.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
It was a tough task, but going into the fourth
quarter of Game six in San Antonio, the Nets looked
like they were on course to force a decisive Game
seven to get themselves one went away from a championship.
The Nets led for forty one minutes of game time.
They were up by ten early in the fourth quarter.
The Spurs didn't lead at all until Stephen Jackson's three
(33:32):
pointer with six point thirty to go, but Jackson's go
ahead shot came in the middle of a five minute
scoreless stretch for the Nets. The Spurs outscored them thirty
one to fourteen in the fourth quarter and won eighty
eight to seventy seven. It was a much different series
than the sweep against the Lakers a year ago, but
the bottom line was the same. Championship dreams had come
(33:54):
up short. Here's Rod Thorn.
Speaker 6 (33:57):
We lead the game the whole way. We're playing great.
You know, we're up nine to ten points going in
the fourth quarter, and we've been up as many as
fifty sixty during the game. In the fourth quarter, with
about six minutes to go, they start really playing Stevie Jackson,
who had played for US as a big fourth quarter
(34:19):
scoring and Duncan, as I recall, was thirty points twenty
some rebounds in the game, was unbelievably good, and they
came back late and ended up beating US.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
And Tim Capshrow broadcasting the finals in his first season
as part of the NETS radio team.
Speaker 12 (34:38):
I can tell you the last game because it sticks
out in my brain. Game six is what I can
recall so vividly down in San Antonio, because the Nets
had a significant lead in the second half. They even
had a lead, a ten point lead in the beginning
of the fourth quarter, and they were really playing at
a very high level. They were defending, they're forcing turnovers,
(34:59):
they were getting out and obviously Jason Kidd was doing
his thing. Richard jefferson't playing well. Kerry Kittles played at
a very high level in that game also, and then
it just all fell apart about the seven or eight
minute mark of the fourth quarter. I remember wondering why
Carry Kittles wasn't back into the game he had played.
He had had sixteen seventeen points at that time.
Speaker 7 (35:22):
He didn't come out.
Speaker 12 (35:22):
He didn't start the fourth quarter, but then he usually
come in, and he didn't for a while, and we
were wondering where he was and Jefferson was. But it
was more just the way san Antonio turned it up,
their interior defense, their size, and then it's got stagnant offensively.
They weren't able to turn over the San Antonio spurs
like they were for the majority of the game. They
(35:43):
weren't able to get out and run off. Missus got
into a half court game and San Antonio just pulled away.
But it wasn't the usual suspects, Stephen Jackson making three
speedy Claxon making shots along of course, with the dominance
of Duncan and David Robinson.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
Kittles had sixteen points in the first three quarters but
didn't get back into the game in the fourth until
they were just over five minutes left. Assistant coach Michael Korn.
Speaker 7 (36:09):
We probably should have got Kerry Kills back in that week.
He was a great shooter, especially from three point range,
but we kept him out probably too long. He could
look back at that and kick yourself. You know, you
could have done a lot of things.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
I'm sure the nets are won. There are two games
in this series by a combined three points, but that
was good enough to keep them even through four games
with a chance to take this series lead at home.
Even after they dropped Game five, they had that ten
point fourth quarter lead in Game six, they just couldn't
close the deal. Here's Jason Kidd.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
Look at the opportunity that we had in game five.
In Game six, it put us in a great seat
to win a championship, and it was a missed opportunity.
Speaker 8 (36:49):
And Aaron Williams Smokey just wasn't meant to be, you know.
And Tim Knunkan, he's a Hall of Fame top ten
player in his own right. And Gerobili and Tony Parker
and nothing to sneeze at. They know how to play,
they have a system. Coach Popp might be the best
coach in history of the league. Arguably, we put up
a fight, but we just couldn't give over to hup.
Speaker 9 (37:09):
Brian Scalabrini, I thought in Game six that was the
game that we should have won. I fully understand the
greatness of Jason Kidd. At the time, It's my second
year in the NBA, I do not understand the greatness
of Tim Duncan. I understand he's a good player, but
after playing him in that series, you start to realize
how good he was. And I'll tell you how. You're
(37:29):
the nets. You're on a run, you make three transition buckets,
you go a six to zero run, like this thing's
about to break open. Popovich has his offense, his weak
his second side, all that stuff he runs. Punch punch
to Tim Duncan. Punch to Tim Duncan is a bucket.
It's gonna be a bucket or a free throw for him.
And so when he would do that, it made me
finally understand the NBA from this standpoint. There's one point
(37:52):
two points and three points, right, but not all one
point two points and three points are created equal. There
are bigger moments in games. I can't say I knew
that at the time, but after that series I fully
understood that normal coach would have to burn a time
out to kind of get momentum back. Popovich, all you
had to do is give the ball to Tim Duncan.
So Tim Duncan will get you know, eighteen points, but
(38:13):
like fourteen will be like crazy pivotal moments where you
had to get in and outside of that, the dude would
just reverse the ball, set screens and crash the glass.
Another thing I recognize is the ability to be a
shot blocker without blocking shots, where you could challenge dudes
at the rim and make them miss and it's somehow
some way come down and get the defensive board. That
(38:34):
is the challenge in it of itself, and there's not
a lot of guys that could do that. It took
me watching that series to realize like that Tim Duncan
is an all time great.
Speaker 5 (38:43):
That's broadcaster Iron Eagle.
Speaker 11 (38:45):
Unfortunately, you look back on some of the opportunities that
were lost and chances that they had in that series
to really make a statement, and it was winnable. It
was winnable. Game six was one of the toughest losses
that you will ever experience as a team with what
was on the line, with the hope of forcing a
(39:08):
game seven. You never know what happens in a game seven.
You never know, You never know how guys are gonna respond,
but you have to get there first. That's had a
huge lead and it dissipated and it got away from
them and their championship hopes got away from them as well.
Speaker 5 (39:24):
The chase for the third straight trip to the finals
and the elusive championship came up short. In two thousand
and four, the Nets won the Atlantic Division for the
third straight year and swept the Knicks in the first
round of the playoffs, but they lost a seven game
series to Detroit in the second round. A triple overtime
winning Game five put them up three games to two
(39:46):
in the series, but that was the last game they
would win that season. The Pistons went on to beat
the Pacers and the Conference finals, and then shot the
Lakers in five games for the title. Here's Chris Carino
that team.
Speaker 10 (40:00):
The Pistons ended up winning the championship that year. Lakers
were ready to be beaten in the final. The Nets
took the Pistons to seven games, and they win a
game five and triple overtime, but Jason Kidd walked on
the bus. He could hardly walk on the bus after
the game, and his knee was shot. And a lot
of it had to do with having to play three
overtimes that night in Game five, and they get beat
(40:21):
game six, get blown out in Game seven. But that's
how close you were Chaelnsea Bildins did a half court
shot to force overtime. You realize what a small margin
it is all the time. Maybe the Nets get through
that series, maybe Kid is a little healthier, guys have
to play three overtimes that night, maybe they win the championship.
Alonzo Morning was on that team, was injured and couldn't play,
but he might have been the guy that helped them
(40:43):
get over the edge against the Pistons. My first year
in the finals, there's a longtime NBA PR guy, Brian
McIntyre who came up to me at one point in
the press room during one of the finals games and said,
you know, I was the youngest broadcast in the league
at that time, and he said, you know, Chris, guys
that work in this business thirty forty years never get
to do the games you're doing right now.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Don't take it for granted.
Speaker 9 (41:05):
I nodded.
Speaker 10 (41:06):
I said, absolutely, I understand what you're saying. Then we
got back to the finals the next year and I
saw Brian again. I said, I'm still not taking it
for granted. You think you're always going to have that opportunity,
same thing with players. You know, you get there and
you get so close and you think you're always going
to have an opportunity, and then injuries, contracts, free agency,
coaching changes, ownership changes. That was a big deal too,
(41:28):
is that ownership changed hands and the direction of the
franchise started to have different priorities, and you realize you
can never take it for granted when you get so close,
because there's a fine line. When you get close, you
gotta savor it. You got to go after it with
all you can because you never know when you're going
to get that opportunity again.
Speaker 5 (41:49):
The Net's one another division title in two thousand and
six and push their playoff string to six straight seasons,
but the core group for the runs to the final
never young got past the second round. Byron Scott was
fired during the two thousand and three. Two thousand and
four season, which was the last with the Nets for
both Kenyon Martin and Curry Kittles by.
Speaker 8 (42:11):
Far the two most overall my best years in the NBA.
I have the best experience of being on those two teams,
those two championship runs. That was fun basketball. It was
fun to be a part of it. We knew that
we were a fun team to watch play because our
style was so different. We played together, We were a
unit of the group. We very rarely had any issues
(42:32):
in the locker room. It was I mean, we all
got along across the board. We had a lot of
fun with the coaching staff. Their long season and you're
playing in till June. October to June. It was a
long time, man. No, it was very, very memorable moments
for me as a professional basketball player.
Speaker 5 (42:49):
GM rod Thorn made a big move to retool the
team when he traded for Vince Carter in December of
two thousand and four, using some of the picks he
acquired for Martin so he had to include Aaron Williams
in that deal as well.
Speaker 8 (43:03):
Probably my two favorite years playing in the NBA, especially
the first year. No one expected us to win, just
the way that we all came together as a team
and the chemistry. They're all great guys, every last one
of them are great guys. It's not too often you
can say that about teams. You always have a couple
of guys who are knuckleheads. Literally from one to fifteen,
(43:23):
all the guys are really great guys, and I think
that contributed to our success. When is a lot more
fun than losing whenever you're winning, that makes things better also,
But it was just fun playing with those guys. That
was an honor playing with those guys some of the
best years of my life for sure.
Speaker 5 (43:38):
It was a team that came together with no expectations,
developed a beautiful, exciting style, and took the franchise to
New Heights. Here's Tim Kapstraw.
Speaker 12 (43:49):
The puzzle fit perfectly for those two three years. That
was the perfect fit. I think guys like Kerry Kittles
or even Kenyon Martin made Richard Jefferson had big seasons.
Speaker 5 (43:59):
Also.
Speaker 12 (44:00):
I don't think anybody ever played better than when they
played with Jason kitt And I think that was and
when he was focused and he was determined, and they
were playing up tempo basketball that really suited their games
and running the floor after playing great defense. That's where
those pieces of the puzzle were just so perfect and
(44:21):
iron eagle.
Speaker 11 (44:22):
They changed the whole perception of the franchise. I knew
that they could get the attention of people, even though
New Jersey at that point just did not ever pop
in the NBA. They were always an afterthought, And it
was the first time that I remember a real interest
(44:43):
in the Nets. That stretch was such a breakthrough, and
when you travel around the country I do multiple sports,
it was the first time that people started asking me
about the Nets. They never really were very curious about
the team, and that team did enough to capture the
imagination of basketball fans and created enough curiosity that you
(45:06):
had to pay attention to them, and prior to that
nobody did so they really did put the franchise on
the map in many ways.
Speaker 5 (45:17):
The final word goes to the man who changed everything
for the Nets, Jason Kidd.
Speaker 7 (45:22):
It was just a point in my career.
Speaker 4 (45:24):
Was probably the best basketball that I played in that
stretch of time. And to be able to win the
Vision titles, to be able to go to the Eastern
Crops Finals twice and win it and then go to
the finals to come up short, it was just a foundation.
I thought, if we could keep things together, maybe we
would want a championship in there. But again with the
(45:46):
business of basketball, sometimes gets in the way and things change.
But it was an incredible part of basketball my life
and I wouldn't trade that in for anything.
Speaker 8 (46:01):
The Suste Supers.
Speaker 10 (46:06):
The rest contains put stoddarding a first present
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