The Nets (Part 2)

(11) 1985 New Jersey Nets (42-40) vs. (26) 1997 New Jersey Nets (26-56)

This is actually a pretty good team…Michael Ray Richardson had 20-6-8, and 3 steals, plus Otis Birdsong (though only in 56 games) had 21-3-4. Buck Williams had 18-12, and Mike Gminski had 13-8…I bet this team gets pretty far…

Not great…Kendall Gill had 22-6-4, and Kerry Kittles added 16-4-3. Sam Cassell came over mid-year and had 19-4-7 in 23 games.

(12) 2005 New Jersey Nets (42-40) vs. (25) 1991 New Jersey Nets (26-56)

Kidd had 14-7-8 and was joined by Carter (28-6-5) during the year. Richard Jefferson played only 33 games (22-7…pretty impressive for Jefferson…even if it is 33 games…).

The rookie year of Derrick Coleman (18-10) was pretty good, and he was joined by Reggie Theus (19-3-5) in his last year…I like Theus as a player…We’ll see some more of him on the Kings (and we already saw him on Chicago…). Mookie Blaylock had 14-4-6, while Sam Bowie had 13-8. In Portland, Drazen Petrovic was having an unremarkable year…till he was traded to New Jersey (and had 13-2-2 in 43 games off the bench here), and he blossomed into a star by next year. Decent team….

(13) 2007 New Jersey Nets (41-41) vs. (24) 1989 New Jersey Nets (26-56)

Another Vince-Kidd year…Vince had 25-6-5, and Kidd had 13-8-9. Richard Jefferson had 16-4…And guess what Nenad Krstic had this year (sure it was only 26 games…but still…) he had 16 (!!!) and 7 (!)…Didn’t see that coming either…

Roy Hinson had 16-6, Chris Morris had 14-5, Joe Barry Carroll 14-7, Buck Williams had 13-9, and Mike McGee had 13-2-2.

(14) 1992 New Jersey Nets (40-42) vs. (23) 1999 New Jersey Nets (16-34)

One of the best Coleman teams…He had 20-10, while Petrovic had 21-3-3, Mookie Blaylock had 14-4-7, and Sam Bowie had 15-8 (Bowie isn’t really a BAD center…he’s a pretty good one when healthy…he just gets knocked for being picked above Jordan…is the Kandiman a bad player? No…he just got picked WAY to high…). Kenny Anderson debuted with 7-2-3.

Sam Cassell was traded away this year, and in the point guard void, up came Stephon Marbury, who averaged 23-3-9 for them this year. Keith Van Horn had 22-9.

(15) 1986 New Jersey Nets (39-43) vs. (22) 1996 New Jersey Nets (30-52) 

Buck Williams had 16-12, Otis Birdsong had 16-3-3, Mike Gminski had 17-8, and Michael Ray Richardson had 16-5-7-3 steals before he was banned from the NBA for drugs mid-year.

Meh…Armen Gilliam had 18-9, Kenny Anderson was traded (and Coleman had been for the year…), Chris Childs had 13-3-7 (and was only a few years away from punching Kobe….that was an awesome fight…I love how mad Kobe looks…that’s what sticks out…I’ve never seen that Kobe face before…I’d be scared if I was any smaller than Kobe in the NBA and he gave me that look…), and Jayson Williams had 9-10.

(16) 1979 New Jersey Nets (37-45) vs. (21) 1995 New Jersey Nets (30-52)

John Williamson had 22-3-3, Bernard King had 22-8-4, and Eric Money had 17-3-5 before he was traded to Philly (he happens to be the only NBA player to score for both teams in the same game…During a game against Philly, Bernard King was whistled for 3 technical as was his coach, Kevin Lougherty. The team protested ((you can only call two techs) and the NBA agreed and they replayed the game…by this point, Money had been traded, and he scored 4 points for Philly, and Philly won the game, after losing the last time…). Eddie Jordan had 12-3-5.

This is the last Coleman-Anderson team in NJ…Coleman had 21-11-3, and Anderson had 18-4-9. Armen Gilliam had 15-8.

(17) 1980 New Jersey Nets (34-48) vs. (20) 2000 New Jersey Nets (31-51)

Mike Newlin had 21-3-4, and Calvin Natt (20-10) was traded, as was John Williamson (18-2-3), and the got 15-10-4 from Maurice Lucas from one of the trades. 

Marbury had 22-3-8, Keith Van Horn had 19-9, and Kendall Gill and Kerry Kittles both added 13 points.

(18) 2008 New Jersey Nets (34-48) vs. (19) 2009 New Jersey Nets (34-48)

Our last matchup is a straight year one. 2008 had Carter averaging 21-6-5, but Jefferson was the leading scorer (in his last NJ year) with 23-4-3. Kidd (11-8-10) was traded to Dallas for Devin Harris (15-3-7).

Carter had 21-5-5, Brook Lopez debuted with 13-8, and Harris was successful in his first full Jersey year, averaging 21-3-7. Carter would be shipped down to Orlando after the year.

The New Jersey Nets….Not a very good team, but they had their moments…

Ladies and gentlemen, your New York/New Jersey Nets! Next, Zo, Chris Paul, Grandmama and the Hornets!