May 2 2013 Thu BDE.pdf - Brooklyn Daily Eagle

S PORTS
Bring It Home, Nets!
Brooklyn in Position To Set Up Game 7 at Barclays
By John Torenli,
Sports Editor
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
It's been more than 56 years since
Brooklyn hosted the ultimate contest
in major pro team sports: A Game 7.
With a victory Thursday night in
Chicago, the Nets have an opportunity
to provide our borough's ever-faithful,
ever-longing sporting fanatics with
a winner-take-all battle for the right to
open the Eastern Conference semifinals
against the defending NBA champion
Miami Heat next Monday night
in South Beach.
According to P.J. Carlesimo, the
Nets' interim coach who guided the
team to its first playoff appearance
since 2007 after replacing Avery Johnson
in late December. Brooklyn is
poised and ready to post its first win
in five visits to the Windy City this
season.
"I really believe that both teams legitimately
feel that they're better than
the other team," Carlesimo said during
Tuesday's media teleconference, one
day after the Nets bravely staved off
elimination with a 110-91 gut-check victory
in Game 5 on the corners of Atlantic
and Flatbush avenues. "Both think
they're capable of winning. It's not convincing
anybody that they're better
than the other team or that they can
win. It's just, 'Let's go out and play the
game and see what happens.' I think
there's enough legitimate confidence
on both sides to go around."
The Nets could set up an epic
duel at the Barclays Center on Saturday
night, marking the first Game 7 in
Brooklyn since the Dodgers lost the finale
of the 1956 World Series to the hated
Yankees with a lopsided 9-0 defeat.
Of course, it was only one year earlier
that “Dem Bums” finally got off
the schneid against the dynastic Bronx
Bombers as Johnny Podres blanked
the Yanks for an historic 2-0 victory in
Game 7 of the 1955 Fall Classic at "The
House That Ruth Built.”
Those Dodgers, anchored by
the legendary likes of Jackie Robinson,
Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Gil
Hodges and Roy Campenella, had taken
their share of lumps on the road
to what turned out to be Brooklyn's
one and, thus far, only world championship.
These Nets, put together during a
$330 million summer spending spree
by general manager Billy King, are dipping
their toes in the post-season water
together for the very first time. And
as evidenced by last Saturday's epic
Game 4 collapse in Chicago, they still
may have a lot to learn about playoff
basketball.
But learning comes only with experience,
and the Nets have certainly
endured their share of ups and
downs en route to Game 6, growing
exponentially in the process.
The only question is, can they force
the Bulls to take one more Brooklyn-bound
trip to O'Hare Airport on
Thursday night?
"The teams that have been together
and been through playoff situations,
and particularly the ones that have enjoyed
success in the playoffs, that's just
one more little plus for those teams going
in," Carlesimo admitted.
Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo believes his Nets are confident enough to become
just the ninth team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 playoff series deficit.
"It doesn't ensure anything, but
it's something you'd like to have," the
63-year-old coaching sage added. "And
the only way you acquire it is by going
through the process. How do you
acquire experience? You go out and
you do it. This is really beneficial
for us. It's the only good thing about
playing long series. Everybody would
love a four-game series, but these are
really good to go through as a learning
experience and will serve us well
hopefully not just this week going
forward, but in the future."
The future appears to be now for
Carlesimo, who isn't likely to return to
his post if the Nets get bounced by the
banged up Bulls, who have been without
reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose
for the entire season and were missing
starting point guard Kirk Heinrich
in Game 5. Add starting All-Star center
Joakim Noah's injured right foot to the
mix, and Chicago suddenly appears to
be the team desperate for a victory.
"It's a must-win for us," intimated
Bulls guard Nate Robinson, who broke
Brooklyn's collective heart with an otherworldly
34-point effort in Chicago's
triple-overtime come-from-behind win
Saturday.
Having blown the Bulls away in
Game 1, only to lose the next three
games, the Nets are now painfully
aware of how swiftly a team can go
from seemingly in control to the brink
of elimination at this time of year.
That may prove to have been the
most valuable lesson they learned during
what owner Mikhail Prokhorov
proclaimed was "just the beginning" of
their post-season run prior to the series
opener.
'Our back's against the wall right
now,'' Brooklyn's Gerald Wallace noted.
''We're in a fighting spirit. We're a
fighting team. We're not ready to go
home. We feel like we're better than
this team. We just let some games
slip away, so we feel like we're good
enough and a better team that we can
come back and win three games in a
row just like they did.''
The Bulls, hobbled and visibly exhausted
at the end of Game 5, don't appear
to have the same snarl they possessed
after humbling the Nets on the
path to a 3-1 series lead.
When word leaked out through a
Chicago beat reporter during halftime
of Game 4 that the Bulls wanted a firstround
matchup with the Nets because
they thought Brooklyn was “heartless
and gutless,” an already heated series
got amped up to another level.
Noah, a former star at Bay Ridge's
Poly Prep High School, understands
the importance of shaking off Chicago's
brutal performance down the
stretch in Game 5.
'I don't know,'' Noah admitted
when asked if momentum in the series
had shifted back in Brooklyn's favor.
''Every game is huge in the playoffs.
You win, you feel great. Sky high. When
you lose, you know you feel like [garbage].
So it's on us to not take anything
for granted and be ready for a big Game
6 at home.''
Dating to last year's lockout-shortened
campaign, the Nets haven't won a
game in Chicago since Feb. 18, 2012, but
Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau isn't
putting much stock in the Bulls' recent
home success in the series.
''Home court is not going to win
it for us,'' Thibodeau said. ''We're going
to have to play well. So the important
thing is, it's good to be home, we
have good support there, but we've got
to put the work into the game to give
our fans something to cheer about. So
we can't get it clouded. We have to get
things corrected.''
Joe Johnson, who like Noah has
been playing through plantar fasciatis,
may best exemplify the grit and resolve
Brooklyn has displayed in not
going quietly against the more sea-
12 • INBrooklyn – Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Brooklyn Heights Press • May 2, 2013
Joe Johnson hopes to inspire the Nets to a Game 6 victory in Chicago on Thursday
night, setting up the first Game 7 in our borough since the 1956 World Series.
AP Photos
soned Bulls, who are in the midst of
their fifth consecutive playoff run and
eighth in nine years.
"Joe's not moving quite the way
we're used to seeing Joe move, but he's
playing big minutes," Carlesimo said.
"He's given us enormous minutes and
really good production. He's playing
big minutes in an affected medical situation.
He's handling it real well."
The six-time All-Star shooting
guard drained a pair of clutch jumpers
at the end of the first overtime in
Game 4, giving the Nets some life following
their epic collapse at the end of
the regulation.
One of the best late-game threats
in the NBA this season, Johnson, limping
his way through 39 minutes in
Point guard Deron Williams will have to be at his best Thursday night if the Nets
hope to force a seventh and decisive game against the Bulls.
Game 5, was proof positive that Brooklyn
still has plenty of bounce in its step.
The Nets are hopeful they can
force this series home for what may
just be the most memorable night of
an unforgettable first season here.
To paraphrase former Knicks center
Patrick Ewing, we'll see you Saturday
night.
***
Hoop du Jour: G Hinrich, who suffered
a bruised left calf in Game 4, was
wearing a walking boot Tuesday and
his status for Game 6 remains a gametime
decision.... G Watson, who was
Derrick Rose's backup in Chicago before
landing in Brooklyn, has an ongoing
feud with Bulls G Robinson. The
two tussled their way into the scorer's
table in Game 4, drawing double technicals.
Carlesimo addressed the heated
one-on-one rivalry during Tuesday's
teleconference. "They're both playing
with a lot of emotion, and they're both
playing very well," he said. "It seems to
have had a positive impact on both
of them, rather than have them try to
do too much or get frustrated or let
their emotions get the best of them.
They both seem to be feeding off it
in a positive way. I think C.J. is playing
very, very well right now, as well
as he's played at any point, but I don't
want to minimize all the good games
he's had during the regular season either."...
C Andray Blatche, who scored
10 of his 13 points during Brooklyn's
game-turning fourth-quarter surge in
Game 5, is dealing with a nagging left
calf as Game 6 approaches. "(It's) sore,
very sore," Carlesimo admitted. "I don't
know if 'cramping up' is the right term,
but I almost got him out at the timeout
that was under three minutes, and
then again after. (Athletic trainer Tim
Walsh) was working on his calf during
the timeouts. He was obviously affected,
but he didn't want to come out and
he was playing well, so we stayed with
it."... Though he's got his own wounded
warriors to deal with, Carlesimo
praised Noah for his ongoing tenacity
on the court despite a severe foot injury.
"He's one of those guys you've got to
put a wood stake through his heart," he
said of the former Blue Devil. "Whether
he's hurt or he's limping or whatever,
on the next play he's always apt to
beat you. It wasn't 'Oh, look he's injured
– let's go at him!' Not at all."