The 10-man rotation, starring the Nets, who haven’t fixed anything
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: The Brooklyn Game. Devin Kharpertian on the firing of Lionel Hollins and Billy King, which ultimately won’t change very much unless Mikhail Prokhorov changes quite a bit more: “[…] the Nets still serve as a symbol of organizational failure, a team so concerned with winning immediately that they ignored the bigger picture. Between their lack of draft picks, cap space (before this season), and talent, they cannot start anew, no matter how many names run through their front office and coaching ranks.”
PF: NetsDaily. Net Income, on same: “The Nets are in a horrible position and Sunday’s moves, while unsurprising and no doubt warranted, don’t go to the core of what’s wrong with the franchise. In fact, what they do is magnify them.”
SF: The New York Times. Harvey Araton on the deeply flawed blueprint and absentee ownership that allowed things to get this bad in Brooklyn: “Almost six years since Prokhorov made his grand entrance, all we know about him is that he and his money talk a good game.”
SG: Hardwood Paroxysm. On the other side of the coin, here’s David Vertsberger: “In fact, with some smart management and a dose of luck, the Nets could look respectable in a few years.”
PG: Posting and Toasting. Joe Flynn on “Dad Melo,” the “fewer shots but more everything else” version of Carmelo Anthony who has been leading the New York Knicks to some pretty impressive play over the last two weeks.
6th: Sports on Earth. Michael Pina comes in praise of what Kyrie Irving can do, all by his lonesome.
7th: Sunday Shootaround. Paul Flannery on how the Detroit Pistons have become a Stan Van Gundy thing, which is a pretty good thing to be.
8th: MinnPost. A fascinating discussion between Britt Robson and Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell about the millions of details that go into coaching the young players that dot the Wolves’ roster, all of whom are at different stages in their development and none of whom need exactly same lessons taught exactly the same way at exactly the same time. An instructive reminder of just how much goes into coaching that we don’t see from the outside.
9th: Daily Thunder. Royce Young takes a closer look at Damian Lillard’s hellacious game-closing run to knock off the Oklahoma City Thunder, aiming to figure out who was to blame for OKC coughing up an eight-point lead in the final three minutes.
10th: Silver Screen and Roll. Harrison Faigen reviews the maiden voyage of the Los Angeles Lakers’ young frontcourt pairing of Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr., a duo that’s got plenty to learn about defensive positioning and floor-spacing, but that has the kind of talent and athleticism that’s worth experimenting with, even in a season that (cough) isn’t really about development.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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