I've been a Net fan since the 97-98 season. Back then we were a pretty decent team we had Sam Cassell, Kerry Kittles, Kendall Gill, Jason Williams, Keith Van Horn, Ronny Seikly etc. We made the playoffs and lost in the first round to the eventuall NBA champions Chicago Bulls in the first round. After that playoff run we had nothing to be ashamed of. We lost to the greatest team of our generation which had the greatest of all time Michael Jordan. heading into the summer we were regarded as one of the teams that could make the jump and become a contender. Then injuries began to hurt the team. We made a trade for Stephon Marbury even though the season was lost we were optimistic about the 99-00 season.
Once again injuries killed our season again, we ended up with the worst record in the league. After the season was through we fired John Calipari and hired Rod Thorn to become our new president and Byron Scott to coach the team. In the draft we took Kenyon Martin with the number one overall pick. On paper we looked like we could make a playoff run, but once again injuries hurt our team and we made another trip to the lottery. In the draft we took Eddie Griffin then immediatly traded him to Houston for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. The next day we traded Stephon Marbury to the Suns for Jason Kidd.
Coming into the season I was luke warm about Kidd because I really liked Marbury despite his whining and complaining and writing "all alone" on his sneakers. Coming into the 01-02 season no one picked us to make the playoffs or make any noise in the east. The favorites going into that season were the Sixers (who won the east in 01) the Bucks (picked to make the Finals in 02) the Raptors, the Heat, and the Knicks. Plus before the season began Michael Jordan returned to the NBA to play for the Wizards. So no one were even thinking about the Nets.
That season we started off 20-10 with some impressive wins over the Knicks, Pacers, Hornets, Jazz, Suns, Timberwolves. Still no one took notice we continued to queitly win. Byron Scott was the coach for east team that year during the all star break. Jason Kidd represented the Nets, while K Mart represented the Nets in the rookie/Sophmore challenge. we continued to roll except for a stretch when we lost 4 in a row on our west coast trip. We had some pretty impressive wins over teams like the Spurs, Kings, and the defending NBA champions the Lakers. We ended up winning the division and becoming the 1# seed in the east. Still we did not get the respect we deserved. Come playoff time we faced an experienced Pacer team led by Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest. After losing the first game we won the next two to take a 2-1 lead. The Pacers won game 4 to force game 5. In what would be one of the greatest games in NBA history this was a double overtime thriller. Reggie Miller hit a half court three pointer to force ot, after Richard Jefferson missed two free throws. Miller forced a second ot by driving the ball and dunking over Aaron Williams. In the end we were able to take control and knock off the Pacers and advance to the second round.
In round two we had to face a young Hornet team who had eliminated the Magic in the first round. Before the series started Baron Davis stated that the Nets were overrated and they were gonna knock them out. In game one Kidd was sensational as we cruised to a six point win. In game two we were able to cruise to a easy win. However in game three a scary incident took place as Kidd collided with David Wesley giving him a busted eye. Dispite the loss we made it personal and in game four the Nets defeated the Hornets to take a 3-1 lead. In game five the game was close throughout but in the fourth quarter the Nets went on a big run to break the game open and it was capped off by a alley oop pass from Kidd to Martin. It was great to see Baron Davis eat his words.
In the conference finals we faced another upstart team in the Celtics a team that beat us in the regular season 3-1. We won game one in a close game. Then in game two we lost to the Celtics after Pierce and Walker took turns burning us. In game three we had that game in control for the first three quaters. Then one of the greatest collapses in NBA history took place leading by 20 heading into the fourth the Celtics got back in the game and ended up beating us by four points. At this point this could have killed the team but we were able to rally and win the next two games to advance to our first NBA Finals. I distinctivley remember Mike Breen calling the game for NBC saying "maybe the world is flat afterall. The New Jersey Nets are going to the NBA Finals" and to this day for some reason that stuck out to me.
In the NBA Finals we faced the two NBA champions who came off beating the Kings in one of the greatest NBA playoff series in history. In the first two games the Nets were clearly outmatched as we would get blown out by twenty points only to make a run and fall short down the stretch. In game three it was more of the same as we would fall behind. In the third quarter we made a run and took our first lead in the series . Leading by ten heading into the fourth we were optimistic that we would win and get back in the series. However the Lakers made a run and beat us. Down 3-0 in game four the Nets played inspired throughout the game, the most memorable moment from that series to me was Jefferson dunking on Kobe. However the Lakers prevailed by sweeping us and winning their third straight.
The Aftermath: This was the best season in Nets NBA history. No one was ashamed of the outcome of the finals. We were a young team who were outmatched. Most of the blame fell on the shoulders of Keith Van Horn who made the scapegoat. he indeed struggled but the whole team did not play well.
part two the 2002-2003 is next.
here are some pics from the 2001-2002 season.
Why I appreicaite the last six seasons. (2001-2002)
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