Hornets 96 Nets 82 Hey, did you catch those new Net uniforms last night? Snazzy-looking gray jobs that the team will wear on the road. Zany, huh? Wearing road uniforms at home. Anyway, they have blue letters with red-and-white piping. They still have their regular road uniforms, of course, and …
Notice a deliberate attempt to avoid talking about the game? This was simply as pitiful as it gets as the Nets lost to Charlotte 96-82 in a battle for the Eastern Conference cellar that turned into an utter disgrace for the hapless home guys.
The Nets lost the game, anything resembling their crowd support and possibly center Jayson Williams for an extended period. The popular center injured his left thumb and was taken to a nearby hospital for x-rays at halftime.
Trust us, he didn’t miss much. Unless he really wanted to see the humiliation of his teammates. The crowd, which bore signs such as “We Need a New Coach,” was in its ugliest mood of the season. And if he didn’t before, John Calipari will have to worry about job security after this. And while fans trashed all Nets, Charlotte shooting star Chuck Person eventually trashed Keith Van Horn as being too much of the Net offense.
“What is there to say? This is as bad as it gets,” said Eric Murdock, who was just that himself (two points, four turnovers in 19 minutes). “To lose to that team by 12 after being down by 25? What do you say after a loss like that?”
One by one, the Nets (3-12, losers of eight of their last nine) tried to express just how utterly bad this monstrosity of a game truly was – they trailed by 14 before 7:00 had elapsed. The Hornets came in at 3-10 and as nine-point underdogs, having played the night before, and they were 0-6 on the road. Charlotte added insult to the previous insults, unleashing ex-Net Derrick Coleman for 15 rebounds. The Nets: Good for what ails ya.
“This is worst than my first year,” said a visibly upset Kerry Kittles (17 points), who endured a 26-56 horror in his first season. “We knew that year would be rough. We knew it. This was supposed to be our freakin’ year. We were supposed to build on the good things of last year. Guys just don’t have the fire.”
Everyone tried to suggest what was wrong. Over in the other locker room Person, 34 years old looking like 22 last night when he torched the Nets for 21 points, including 15 on five 3-point shots, said he really didn’t give a rat’s posterior what was wrong with the Nets. But if you wanted his opinion, here goes: Van Horn.
“Personally, I don’t care if they win or lose,” Person said, “but if you want my personal opinion, they go to Van Horn way too much. He touches the ball every time they come down and he doesn’t make his teammates better. You get the ball that many times and you don’t make your teammates better? Guys are open in front of him and to the side of him. Give it to them. You’re going to get your touches. Give it to your teammates.
“That’s what I saw tonight. That’s why guys complain on the court. They were just standing around. Van Horn this, Van Horn that, Van Horn taking 3-pointers, Van Horn posting up, Van Horn getting the isolation.”
Van Horn shot 10-of-26 and finished with 28 points. Afterward, he met first with Calipari and then met with assistant coaches. He wanted to ensure everybody was “on the same page,” he said.
“I just wanted to make sure we stick together and keep together as a team,” said Van Horn, who also grabbed nine rebounds. “I understand the clock is ticking [on the season] and we have to play through this and salvage this thing.
“There were a lot of things that were personal and I don’t want to share it with the newspapers,” Van Horn added. “The gist of it was myself and the rest of the guys on this team the team are going to try to help keep everyone on the same page.”