Brooklyn Nets: Kings of the Second Circuit

From the desk of:  THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

Billy King's Borough Of Misfit Toys

BROOKLYN NETS: Dear Ownership, Forget Lionel Hollins; Billy King Is Your Problem.  He Created This Mess That Will Compromise The Team For Years to Come.

Previously: The Woes of Flatbush

I've been saying for a while now, that it was only a matter of time before either Billy King or Mikhail Prokhorov got tired of listening to Lionel Hollins openly disparage the team.

The players certainly have.  But, in their case, the truth hurts.

On the one hand, it's nice that someone in upper management is actually worried whether Hollins' message is getting through to the players.  On the other hand, upper management just doesn't get it, because they're a large part of the problem.

In fact, Coach Hollins is least of the Brooklyn Nets problems.

He became available because of the "new ownership wanted to go in a new direction" thing.  Hollins otherwise left the Memphis Grizzlies in very good shape, and left behind some very good player relationships.

Lionel Hollins leaves no question as to who's in charge of the Nets locker room.  I couldn't say that with confidence about Jason Kidd or P.J. Carlesimo.  And, I know the Nets are a defensively improved team under Hollins.  That's also something I couldn't say about P.J. Carlesimo's or Jason Kidd's time as coach.

Hollins coaches with a heavy hand, and blindfolded to the names on jerseys; just ask Brook Lopez and Deron Williams.

But, what was already an erratic offensive team has gotten astonishingly worse under Coach Hollins, and they still lack a discernible offensive system of play.

The thing is, P.J. and Kidd each coached their respective variations of this roster, and had them turned around by January.  As January 2015 draws to a close, Coach Hollins' variation of the roster has so far failed to turn things around, and are failing in increasingly miserable fashion.

At least P.J. and Kidd were able to turn bad situations around, and guide their teams to the playoffs.   Last season, Jason Kidd and the Nets even won their first playoff series as a Brooklyn franchise, but were eliminated in the second round.

The last two games for Coach Hollins and the Nets were particularly distressing, in which they were outscored by a 231-157 margin.  On Jan. 22nd, they got routed by the Los Angeles Clippers, 123-84; a 39-point discrepancy.   On Jan. 24th, they were likewise blown out by the Utah Jazz, 108-73; another 35-point discrepancy.

They are just 3-10 in January, and 18-26 for the season, and have now fallen out of the Eastern Conference top eight teams.

There are two things, however, that Carlesimo, Kidd, and Hollins, all have in common: their general manager, and that for the third straight season the roster he assembled has been woeful against teams with winning records.

Billy King has taken Mikhail Prokhorov's passionate fiscal investment into Brooklyn basketball, and has by all counts built the worst team money can buy.  The man has maxed-out the salary cap for another season after this, and has severely compromised the team's draft for the remainder of the decade.

To the dismay of a borough, the Brooklyn Nets have become nothing more than the Kings of the Second Circuit.

Instead of an intensive audit into Lionel Hollins work, who the hell is putting Billy King under the spotlight?

Lionel Hollins signed a four year deal.  What is King going to do?  Fire him?  If he does, King should follow him through the door.  There is no way he can survive his present employment and be allowed to hire what would be the team's 5TH coach in less that three full seasons?

And, with the trade deadline looming, he's on the brink of making what would be his fourth radical makeover?

No mas!

Dear ownership, look no further.  Billy King is your problem.

Save us.

Hello?  Is any one there, or have you sold the team already?



Mike