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| Since his trade from the Timberwolves to the Celtics, Kevin Garnett hasn't been used to losing very much. So far in his Nets tenure, he hasn't dealt with much winning either |
When the Brooklyn Nets traded for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry this summer — and signed Andrei Kirilenko, Alan Anderson and Shaun Livingston — general manager Billy King had visions of grandeur in his eyes. He put together a team with at least two future Hall-of-Famers, six All-Stars, and boundless talent, expecting a contending team in return.
Now, the dream of a championship contender in Brooklyn is by no means gone. The Nets have only played six games, going a less-than-desired 2-4, but the beauty of the NBA means 76 more games are to be played this season. That is 76 more chances for Jason Kidd's team to right the proverbial ship and correct and strengthen the chemistry between the multiple star players on the Nets.
Still, even with how young this new season is, the veterans on the Nets have the right to be angry with their team's poor start to the 2013-14 campaign. Pierce and Garnett, who are arguably Brooklyn's most recognizable players, have begun voicing their gripes about the slump but are also accepting of the fact that chemistry takes time to develop, and is not an immediate thing.
From SNYNets.com's Moke Hamilton: "I don't think you can put a timetable on something when you're trying to get perfection," Garnett said on Saturday night.
"But it is frustrating," he added.
"Everyone wants to win so bad, the thing with us is we can't get frustrated, we gotta stay together and we'll figure this thing out," he [Pierce] said. "Maybe going out West will be good for us. Sometimes, they say when you take a trip, you guys are all together, you seem to come together…"
For all we know at this moment, Brooklyn could reel off a 10-game winning streak, become 12-4, and then cast all rumors of being a disappointment to the wayside.
It is clear this group of players isn't going to remain a below-.500 team for an entire 82-game schedule. Recession to the mean states the Nets will become a solid, playoff-level team at some point this year, so odds are they will not continue to play at a two-win, four-loss pace until April. The real question is, though, when Brooklyn will live up to its true potential as an elite NBA team.
According to Paul Pierce, that is going to happen when the Nets cut down on their small mistakes (from the same SNYNets.com article): "When we look at it, it's the little things really hurting us."
The Nets, their owners and their fans are waiting.
