The Last-Place Nets Are Coming Apart At The Seams

Let's take a breath for 20 seconds of zen with Jason Kidd (speakers up):

After blowing yet another double-digit lead, the Nets fell to the Blazers in Brooklyn last night, with the soundtrack for much of the game—including for Paul Pierce's 2-of-12 return—cascading boos from the crowd. Frustration is all around for a team that's now last in a crappy Atlantic Division, and just 10 games into the season has already called the dreaded players-only meeting.

After the loss, Shaun Livingston said the fault lay with him for not "initiating the offense," which is noble but unnecessary, considering he's just about the only Net playing well. Coach Jason Kidd attempted to shoulder the blame as well.

Just bad coaching. I take the blame for this. The guys played hard. We got a little stagnant on the offensive end so this falls on my shoulders. We got off to a good start and then that third quarter we came out a little flat and that falls on me."

Not around to take any blame (or at least to offer some platitudes and fill column inches that instead end up going to sky-is-falling hot takes, which is just as important a role for a team leader) were Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and just about everyone else. The Nets barred media from entering the locker room for nearly a half hour after the game to hash things out, and when reporters were finally allowed in, everyone but Livingston, Jason Terry, and rookie Mason Plumlee had dressed and left.

So here comes the shit-stirring from He accuses Garnett, Pierce, and Joe Johnson of being "no-account losers" who won't face the media when times are tough. But the real problem, according to Vaccaro's theory, is that "players' coach" Jason Kidd is allowing the inmates to run the asylum, much as he did when he was a player in New Jersey.

Or maybe, just maybe, this is an old, poorly constructed team with injury liabilities and a first-time coach, and it's going to take more than 10 games to figure out what Nets basketball even is. Given the amount of hype and championship talk from the summer, Brooklyn's not going to get much more time before the circling vultures move in.