The High Crime of Mediocrity

It was bound to happen eventually. Despite consecutive trips to the NBA Finals earlier this decade and dominance of the Eastern Conference in the playoffs, the New Jersey Nets did almost nothing to improve the team and build a foundation. Don't let the play of guy's like Richard Jefferson fool you, the Nets are in a heap of trouble, and they have no one to blame but themselves. They had the opportunity to become one of the best teams in the NBA, but instead they fooled themselves into thinking the team was good enough.

Now sometimes numbers do lie, take for example their 49-33 record of two years ago. Sure that looks impressive, but consider their Divisional rivals, the Celtics 33-49, Raptors 27 55, 76ers 38-44 and Knicks 23-59. For years the Atlantic was often referred to as the Titanic Division, with the team that finished at or just above .500 taking the crown and playoff seed. This joke of a "winning season" is the the crux of New Jerseys current problem. For far too long the organization took a playoff spot for granted. Worse, a small measure of post-season success following their Finals runs convinced the front office that they could keep it up indefinitely. Naturally, they were dead wrong.

Just look at who they brought in to be their new offensive weapon a few years ago. None other than Vince Carter. Now Carters skills cannot be denied, but his drive and motivation certainly can. Carter drives to the net, dunks the ball, gets circus lay-ups and alley-oops all day long, in the regular season. In the post season he turns into a perimeter man, and the closer the game gets, the farther from the hoop you find him. His averages look good until you realize many of his biggest games came when he didn't have to do much to score. And let's not forget his long-documented attitude problem(jaking shots while with the Raptors anyone?)

So there were the Nets two seasons ago, seemingly content to be middling along with a barely perceptible winning percentage, only hitting 50 wins once in the last 6 years, and repeatedly being demolished early in the playoffs. Of course it didn't matter, that Division title by the Celtics in '05 was a fluke brought on by injuries. That Division held no real competition. Oh sweet irony how I do love thee, for as the Nets kept spinning their wheels other teams were re-tooling and re-arming.

Last year the Raptors stumbled out of the gate to start the season, then started winning, clawed up over .500 and stayed there. The Nets managed a 41-41 record and defeated Toronto in the first round but the message was clear, the young Canadian team was for real and only going to get better. Then this past summer the Celtics made their move and picked up Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, tore out of the gate with an 8-0 record and haven't looked back. The Raptors slipped a bit again, but fought back into contention even earlier then last year. Meanwhile the Nets sit at 5-7, have one of the worst offenses in the NBA, can't beat a team with a winning record and in the middle of a five game losing streak(stop me if you've heard this before) Vince Carter injured his ankle. In the meantime, the man who took over for Carter in Toronto, Chris Bosh, has quietly become one of the NBA's top power forwards and Boston is being lead by the Three Headed Monster of Garnett, Allen and Pierce.

So here we sit, with trade rumors swirling around Jason Kidd, who has allegedly spoken out about Nets management, and questions surrounding the direction of the team. It has suddenly become apparent that the Nets could very easily miss the post-season, and not just for this season but for an extended period of time. Even with young talent Sean Williams emerging, you have to wonder about this team. Is Vince turning back into Wince Carter? Can Richard Jefferson produce consistently rather then in spurts? All the things that seemed to benefit the Nets when the Atlantic was God awful have been exposed as false and with two emerging power houses right next door the Nets now have a lot of ground to make up, and it appears no time to do it in.