Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:58 am
Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:59 am
Sat Nov 15, 2008 8:49 am
Sat Nov 15, 2008 1:30 pm
Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:19 pm
The New Jersey Nets organization made a big change Monday signing new general manager Casey Lee. A rookie GM has been brought in to hopefully shake the place up. The Nets are looking for him to bring some spunk to the team and hope that he can turn around the team. Lee has been put in a nice spot with the Nets, a team that has many young players to build around and a superstar leader in Vince Carter.
"I am ready for the task at hand and I am hoping to be very interactive with my coaches and players," says Lee, "I feel like this is a team that can contend right away. There is a lot of young talent on this team that is just waiting to errupt. We have three rookies that have the opportunity to make a big impact right away."
Lee looks to be a Cuban-esque GM. He will most likely be a very familiar face at Nets home games. Fans are just hoping he can return the Nets to NBA Finals form. He made his first big step towards that by firing head coach Lawrence Frank that Monday night. Wednesday morning he announced that the new Nets head coach would be none other than TNT analyst Charles Barkley. Barkley told the media, "I am very excited with my first chance to be a coach here in the NBA. I know the game inside and out and plan to help get us into the playoffs."
"Charles is going to be a coach that won't let players get away with being lazy or careless. He will drive these players to be the best they can be," Lee said of the hiring at the press conference, "He knows the game and the players will respect a man that was such a force in the game. He has a very loud personality which I think is perfect for the job. He can be a mentor for this young team."
Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:32 pm
sven wrote:haha i started playing nets dynasty today, i guess i have to find a new team. looking forward to read yours.
C-77 wrote:Good luck
Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:32 am
After a busy Wednesday, in which New Jersey Nets GM Casey Lee hired head coach Charles Barkley, Lee made it just as busy on Thursday after completing a trade he had been working on since Tuesday. The trade involved Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian from the Nets in exchange for Indiana Pacer rookie Brandon Rush. Simmons and Jianlian were both acquired earlier in the off-season in a trade sending Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks. With Simmons and Jianlian being traded in the same off-season shows that new head honchos Lee and Barkley have a vision in mind for the Nets that doesn't include the two players.
"Brandon is a young guy that has experience in pressure games as he was apart of the championship Kansas team last year," Lee said of the trade, "He is a player we can trust right away." Rush averaged 13.3 ppg and 5.1 rpg during his junior year at Kansas before skipping his senior year to enter the NBA draft. After finding out he was traded for the second time before playing a game he spoke up, "Well it's not the most conventional way to start my career, but I'm just happy to be in the pros. I have talked to Mr. Lee and coach Barkley and they both seem excited to have me here and they both have promised me significant playing time weather off the bench or starting. Hopefully this is going to be my home for a while."
With the addition of Rush, fans speculate that Rush will be competing for a spot in the starting line-up. "Vince has the capability to play at the three spot, which opens up a chance for either Brandon or CDR to start at the two." Barkley said of his new look team. Chris Douglas-Roberts is the other rookie at the SG position. These two are familiar with competing against each other, as they played against each other in the NCAA Men's National Championship. Rush won that battle, it should be interesting to see who wins the starting spot.
Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:27 am
By GM Casey Lee
This is my first of many blogs. This season I will keep you the fans on track with what my thoughts are. Of course I can't let you in on everything. First off let me start by saying I'm very excited to be here and I look forward to moving on with the Nets organization. With taht said lets get down to business.
All of you are probably wondering why Sir Charles as head coach? Well it's a pretty easy answer. You see this is my first gig and I wanted to have a coach that was familiar with the game, but hasn't had a head coaching job. Someone who I can learn with and form a bond that would hopefully keep the coach here for many many years. The first man that came to mind was Charles. He is outspoken and he knows the game very well. He will stand up for our players when the refs are wrong and he won't be afraid to put are players in check when they needed. He can be somewhat of a pal and mentor to these young players while still keeping his coaching stature. I am very excited to watch Charles grow as a coach. Althoug I will miss him on TnT.
Now time to explain the trade. I wanted to add more youth to the team. Yea I know, we have a bunch of youngsters already. Brandon is different though because he has played on the biggest stage in college basketball. Not only played, but did very well. He is a player that will make an immediate impact and he can play both the two and three spots. As for Jianlian and Simmons. Jianlian isn't a player that Charles and I thought of being a real strong guy down low. If your not gonna be strong down low then you need to be able to shoot the three pointer, in which he can't. As for Simmons, I wanted Rush over him. Rush and CDR can compete for the two spot while VC plays at the three. Still giving us Hayes off the bench. All together I think everyone will come to be happy about the trade.
I wanna leave you guys with a little teaser...I plan putting together a little ten man open tryout. Keep your eyes peeled