The season is approaching (but not quickly enough), so that means it’s NBA preview time. Starting with the league’s worst team and working our way to the top, we’ll preview one team per day.

This picture must have been from two seasons ago. Last year, there was nothing for Harris to celebrate.

New Jersey Nets

Last year’s record: 12-70
Head Coach: Avery Johnson
Projected Starters: Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow, Travis Outlaw, Troy Murphy, Brook Lopez

Outlook:

It’s impossible to discuss next year’s New Jersey Nets without talking about last year’s New Jersey Nets. Because the Nets were supposed to be decent, last year, but were instead bad. Hideously bad. Almost historically bad. After their 12-win season, pardon me if I’m no longer sold on the star potential of a Devin Harris-Brook Lopez combo. Still, shouldn’t there be improvement there? Shouldn’t the Nets be a lot better, just by default? Who knows. I’m just happy I no longer have to listen to Avery Johnson’s voice on TV.

X-Factor:

Heart. Remember Vince Carter from his final days in Toronto? Mailing games in, milking injuries and generally acting like he didn’t enjoy playing basketball? Multiply that effort by twelve players and you get the ’08-’09 Nets. In my 20+ years of watching professional basketball, I’ve never seen a team play with less energy. Avery Johnson’s got a big job ahead of him.

Biggest Question Mark:

What the hell happened to Devin Harris last year? Talk about falling off the face of the earth. I know he was injury riddled, but damn. Look at the statistical drop:

’08-’09: 21.3 ppg, 6.9 apg, 43.8% field goals, 8.8 free throw attempts
’09-’10: 16.9 ppg, 6.6 apg, 40.3% field goals, 6.0 free throws attempts

Nagging injuries or not, 27-year olds NBA All-Stars aren’t supposed to jump off a statistical cliff. Harris’s return to form would go a long way toward repairing the Nets’ respectability.

Most important newcomer:

For this year, Troy Murphy. Any time you can add a 6’11″ player with three-point range who gets a double-double every night, that’s a nice addition. Even if it’s just Murphy. Another thing about Murphy? He plays hard and should be a breath of fresh air. Don’t sleep on Travis Outlaw, either. That man can play.

Key loss:

Can you possibly have a key loss from a team that won only 12 games? Almost any loss is addition by subtraction, right? If I had to choose somebody, I’d pick Courtney Lee. But only because I had to.

Most compelling storyline:

The Nets aren’t going to win 60 games. They aren’t going to be contenders. They aren’t going to pick the world up and drop it on its head. We all know that. Hell, they’re already talking about 2012 free agency. But I’m interested to see whether Avery Johnson can turn the attitude around. If he does, he’s a miracle man. I’ve always suspected that his work in Dallas was underappreciated.

Player to watch:

I could say Brook Lopez, but that’d be too easy. (And yes, I just went through an entire Nets preview without discussing Lopez once. Sue me.) Watch Derrick Favors, folks. The first post move he learns will be his first, but Favors can jump into the stratosphere. If I were a betting man, I’d wager on Favors becoming an All-Star before long. Then again, if I were a betting man I would have written the same thing about Kwame Brown.

Descriptive movie quote:

“I play for the Indians.”
“Here in Cleveland? I didn’t know they still had a team.”
“Yup, we’ve got uniforms and everything, it’s really great!”

- Jake Taylor and some other lady, Major League

Yup, the Nets still have a team. They’ve got uniforms and everything. And if you squint your eyes hard enough, they even have some talent. Squint a little harder and you’ll see a bright future. You know, as long as you use your imagination.

Projected Record: 25-57. But more wins wouldn’t surprise me. Jersey’s got a little talent. And I stress a little.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Jimmy Toscano, CelticsBlog – “‘I didn’t say much- very little- at halftime, if anything,’ said Coach Doc Rivers. ‘I basically said, ‘I don’t think I need to talk. We’re a defensive team and tonight we want to outscore them.’ And I said, ‘Good luck.’ And that was about it.’ Well, as short as the message was, it was loud and clear to the team as they came out in the second half with a little more energy and tenacity. After shooting at 63% clip in the first half, the Nets were held to a measly 29% from the field in the second half, scoring a total of 32 points. ‘I think it was just one of those games where we weren’t getting stops defensively, weren’t talking, weren’t communicating; we just weren’t doing our jobs individually and collectively as a team on the defensive end,’ said Eddie House. ‘I think when we came in and saw they were shooting 63%, we made a conscious effort to make it a little harder for them and everybody was just taking care of their man and just rebounding the basketball.’”

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “With Celtics coach Doc Rivers limiting Allen’s minutes, the Celtics relied on House to provide a perimeter threat. That did not happen in the first half, as House missed all four of his shots and went scoreless. It did in the final quarter, as House scored 10 points. ‘First half, I think I was kind of rushing shots,’ House said. ‘I took some quick ones, I just tried to let the game come to me in the second half – when I get my shot, made sure it was in rhythm, wasn’t rushed, took my time with it, and knocked it down. It’s like the shots I’ve been getting all season. I’m just sticking with it – never lose confidence and keep shooting the basketball. As long as we win, all I’m trying to do is help the team win. So, if you get looks in the fourth, or you get them in the first, I try to make all my shots. When you get shots in the fourth you definitely want to make them.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “‘Eddie making shots bailed us out,” Rivers said. And as House continued to make one shot after another, the C’s kept doing all they could to get him the ball. ‘Feed the pig, whoever has it going,’ said Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo.”

Dave D’Alessandro, New Jersey Star Ledger – “They played aggressively, they made their own breaks, they actually attacked Kevin Garnett at their best moments, and they went punch-for-punch with a title contender. Basically, the Nets went into TD Garden and played like they belonged in the building. Then the fourth quarter started. You know the rest. The Boston Celtics, who take defense pretty seriously, loafed through their assignments for three quarters before strangling the Nets over the last 12 minutes to register a 96-87 victory Friday night.”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – Doc Rivers: “‘I told them before the game that we should win the game; I’m not going to blow smoke and create some illusion that’s not there. I said, having said that, the only way you can do that is you have to execute our system. And if we don’t, then anybody can win the game. It’s called basketball. It’s a competition. And I thought from the middle of the third quarter on, we did that.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘Lackluster,’ Wallace said of last night’s defensive effort. ‘We didn’t pick it up probably until the six- or seven-(minute) mark in the fourth. But what my high school coach once said was true – winners find a way to win. We dug it out, they kept it close the whole game, and we just pulled it out in the last minute.’ That, right now, is the problem. A Celtics opponent shot better than 60 percent in the first half for the second straight game, but this time that opponent didn’t have Miami star Dwyane Wade. Instead, players like Brook Lopez (19 points) and Devin Harris (17) made the biggest threats. The Nets, despite the supposed drop in frontcourt talent, outscored the Celtics in the paint, 34-32.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘Tonight, we didn’t come out with that that killer mentality to destroy them in the the first half,’ said Garnett. ‘I thought that, collectively, as the quarters went on, we increased the intensity defensively… When we started the game, we didn’t come out with that energy to just get them out of here. You look at the game in New Jersey, the tone was set right away. Defensively, guys’ hands were active. You could see the energy there, but tonight it wasn’t the same.’ Rondo stressed that New Jersey’s 4-44 record had nothing to do with underestimating them or not bringing the necessary energy. ‘Last time, we did a great job coming out there early and attacking them,’ said Rondo. ‘We were setting the tone, and our guys got to sit in the fourth. That is not an excuse. We just didn’t come out with the right energy or right effort tonight.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “The man who is expected to make this ride a long one couldn’t elevate to convert a third-quarter alley-oop pass from Rajon Rondo. This Hall of Fame-caliber defender was taken to the hole by Kris Humphries – yes, Kris Humphries. But Garnett, despite continuing to favor his right leg, wrote his problems off to a one-night brain cramp. ‘I was OK – I made some misreads,’ he said. ‘Kris Humphries made a couple of baskets on me and I wasn’t too happy about that. Defensively you have to know what you are going to do when picks come, talking for guys like Rondo and Ray (Allen). I messed up a couple of times. I am human. I will get better at that, but right now my focus is on rebounding better and continuing to talk,’ said Garnett. ‘I did miss some assignments tonight, which is something I don’t usually do.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Three years ago, the Boston Celtics’ roster consisted of a bunch of young, talented players who didn’t at all know how to play winning basketball. They were a lost group of players, a team pointed without a compass. At one point, the Celtics lost 18 straight games, leaving their fans hoping for nothing but Doc Rivers to be fired and winning the draft lottery… and maybe, perhaps, a win or two. But wins were certainly secondary to making severe changes for the future.

Does that sounds like any team in the NBA right now? A team the Celtics play tonight, perhaps?
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