Saturday, November 14, 2009

Three Point Land - November 7th through November 13th

So far this season, the Nets have lost players due to a sore knee, a strained right groin, a strained left groin, a strained hamstring, a sore hip, and a sprained MCL. Oh yeah, and swine flu. The reason behind all this? My guess is a band of gypsies that Mikhail Prokhorov pissed off has cursed the team. Anyway, let's get right down to the nitty-gritty.

Record Needed To Avoid Being The Worst NBA Team Ever: 10-63 (0.136)

November 7th - vs. Boston, 75-86 Loss

As mentioned in the previous post, I was in the happiest place in New Jersey last Saturday: Atlantic City! I stayed at the El Dorado Motel, which had almost two stars on Hotels.com! Highlights of the trip included:

- My friend OB devouring a mashed potato "sundae" at the buffet. Basically, to find the potatoes, one would have to dig through a mountain of gravy, cheese, and bacon. My arteries clogged just watching him eat it.

- Not losing! Between two trips to Vegas and about a half-dozen trips to Atlantic City, blackjack has gotten me well over four figures in the hole. However, I only played sparingly this trip, and ended up nearly $40. Rather than gamble, I refocused my energy on drinking - where nobody loses!

- The drinking eventually led to dancing to "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe at vacant card tables at the Tropicana. That's what I love about casinos - as long as you aren't being violent or naked, they will allow you pretty much to act as zany as you want. However, I did end up seeing a catfight at the Tropicana later that night.

- Most importantly, I missed watching the Nets! From the sounds of it, our boys put up a good fight, but a short bench means more minutes, which means players get tired by the end. It is encouraging to see that they aren't getting blown-out all the time, but man, you can only have so many "moral victories" before needing to have one of those...what do you call them...oh yeah, REAL victories.

November 11th - vs. Philadelphia, 79-82 Loss

Eight is enough! Another game I missed, due to it being on Wednesday. You see, I signed up for a 6-week comedy class on Wednesday evenings, and had no idea it would conflict with the Nets games so much. I never really paid attention to what days of the week the Nets played, but here is the breakdown:

Sundays: 8

Mondays: 7

Tuesdays: 10

Wednesdays: 24

Thursdays: 0

Fridays: 17

Saturdays: 16

Thursday is absent because of TNT's stranglehold on the night. I think this teaches an important lesson to all fans of shitty basketball teams: plan your nights away from the TV on Thursdays.

November 13th - At Orlando, 72-88 Loss

I only watched the first half of this game, because I had made plans to go out. Again, looking at the schedule, Fridays and Saturdays have the second and third most scheduled Nets games, so having a social life is not in a Nets fan's best interest.

During the first half, when the Nets were up 10, I told my roommate: "It will be close until half-time, and then Orlando will pull away in the third." As much as I hate it, I'm proud to chalk this up to my other correct predictions this year, such as blowing the lead versus Minnesota and being fearful of the backcourt depth.

Random Thought: LeBron James announced he was changing his number from #23 to #6. It is interesting, because the Nets have #23 already retired (in honor of John Williamson). Currently, Courtney Lee wears #6. However, early mock-ups of the reversible jersey promo had Courtney Lee wearing #33. Why the switch to #6? Did they consult with LeBron before? Conspiracy theorists, go!

The Future Three: The suffering cannot continue much longer, right? Miami (tonight) will be tough. But, two days of rest and at home for Indiana? With possibly Devin Harris and Courtney Lee returning? That game is, dare I say, a must win! After that, they are on the road versus Milwaukee. These are two winnable games, and if this team has any heart (and, more importantly, if they can stay healthy), they will win one. But, as any Nets fan knows, always expect the worst.

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