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Finley's been out over a month now.
Spurs' Jefferson rues Nets' slide
By Mike Monroe - Express-News
Richard Jefferson's first season in New Jersey ended in the 2002 NBA Finals, and he repeated the trip in 2003, when he was part of a Nets team that fell victim to the second of the Spurs' championship runs.
Watching from afar as the Nets opened the 2009-10 season by setting a dubious record for the worst start in league history 18 losses in a row before finally beating the Charlotte Bobcats on Dec. 4 was difficult for a player who still has friends inside the organization.
You feel for them, said Jefferson, acquired by the Nets on draft night 2001 in a swap of first-round picks with the Houston Rockets. You feel for the people who are there. You feel for the fans.
Before the Nets traded Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks on June 26, 2006, he had played on teams that compiled a seven-season record of 314-260. His only losing season in New Jersey was his last, when the 2007-08 Nets went 34-48.
One by one, Jefferson watched the Nets jettison the key players from the two NBA Finals teams. Kenyon Martin and All-NBA point guard Jason Kidd preceded him on the departure list. All-Star forward Vince Carter followed.
A lot of guys worked extremely hard to build up the respect that the team started to get, he said. There's nothing else you can say. You make your bed, you have to lie in it.
I don't know what has to be done, whether it's Brooklyn or Newark, or moving to someplace else at this point in time. You wish them the best, but what really can you say? It only took a season-and-a-half before you traded the last player who was part of anything significant in the organization. Then you have the worst start in the history of the NBA.
Bonner's progress: Power forward-center Matt Bonner, who suffered a fractured fourth metacarpal bone in his right hand on Dec. 19, isn't ticketed for a return to game action until mid-month, but he spent 30 minutes before Saturday's practice session shooting jumpers with his right hand.
Bonner previously had been shooting strictly with his left hand. He continues to wear a light protective cast on his right hand.
Finley getting close: Based on his run through a vigorous set of agility drills before Saturday's practice, veteran forward Michael Finley's return from a Grade 2 left ankle sprain appears to be right around the corner.
Finley suffered the injury Dec. 5 against the Nuggets, at which time the timetable for his return was set at four to six weeks.
Finley's been out over a month now.
Today's the ninth; seems right in line to me.Finley suffered the injury Dec. 5 against the Nuggets, at which time the timetable for his return was set at four to six weeks.
How the can it take somebody so long to recover from a sprained ankle?..
Pop says, "Finley, you're still hurt. I want to do some more tinkering so you're still on IR. Got it?"
Sir, Yes Sir!
Finley can't be any worse than Dice has been this season.
Well, it was a grade II ankle sprain. Usually those take about 4-6 weeks to heal on the average person.
no point to rush him back let him fully heal and then make a return
Fin was actually been contributing in limited minutes than Dice has for twice the time he is on the court before the injury.
Troof. I can see the media could really twist that to say that it was an indirect crack at Devin Harris.
I really don't understand some of these bottom-feeders' FO sometimes. How do you expect to generate revenue like this?
Nets' woes sadden Richard Jefferson
By Al Iannazzone
The Record
SAN ANTONIO Richard Jefferson isn't surprised at how far the Nets have fallen, but hopes they don't stay down for too long.
Jefferson was one of the proudest members of the Nets' glory years and talked often about wanting to end his career with the team. But he's in a far better place today, playing with Tim Duncan and the Spurs, who face Jefferson's historically bad former team this evening.
"I'm not surprised at how bad it's gotten in the sense that they've been trying to cut costs and structuring their financial situation where they could be in position to make some noise in the 2010 class," Jefferson said during a phone conversation. "There are other teams doing that.
"Every team is one or two injuries away. But when you're already on the other side of trying to save money and then one or two guys go down for an extended period of time, you're not left with as much as you would normally have because you're trying to build for the future."
Jefferson spent seven seasons with the Nets, helping them reach two NBA Finals and collect four Atlantic Division championships. His 2008 trade to the Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons came four months after Jason Kidd was sent to Dallas, starting the Nets' rebuilding project.
This season has been downright awful. The Nets set an NBA record with 18 consecutive losses to open the season. They're 3-33 and on pace to break the 1972-73 76ers' mark for fewest wins in an 82-game season nine.
"They're two years removed from getting rid of the last player on a division championship team and a finals' team and they have the worst start in the history of the NBA," Jefferson said.
"Everyone could see what was going on. You look at Jason. You look at myself, Kenyon [Martin]. All three of us are very big parts of quality teams in this league. All three of us are starters on teams that could very well win an NBA championship. It would be different if all of us were past our primes or different things could happen. They couldn't find a way to keep it together."
Jefferson's scoring numbers are down he's averaging 13.3 points but he's playing more power forward and isn't featured as prominently on a team that has Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
After missing the playoffs the past two seasons, Jefferson is enjoying being back in contention, though. Jefferson hopes the Nets will get back there soon, and their free agent fortune can turn things around quickly.
"You always leave a little bit of yourself in a situation like that," he said. "We really took a lot of pride in changing the face of that organization. We took a lot of pride in making them not a laughingstock, not a joke. It's one of those things where you want them to keep what you worked so hard for going.
"I still respect everything that they're trying to do. You just hope that I'm able to see it and not my kids. This is something you hope can be done in the next two or three seasons."
NAJERA DEALT: The Nets have agreed to send Eduardo Najera and a trade exception to Dallas for power forward Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams. The deal will be finalized Monday when the league office reopens.
To create roster room, Sean Williams will be waived. Upon completion of the deal, Shawne Williams also will be waived.
Najera and Williams practiced Saturday and should be at tonight's game.
BRIEF: Devin Harris will undergo an X-ray or MRI on his sore right wrist. He did not practice Saturday.
Just nitpicking but those dates make it impossible for RJ to be in two places at once. He was traded after the '07-08 season and not before. I expected that from old McDonald and not Monroe. Well I guess he can claim it was a typo or wasn't proof read well.
Najera is going to the Mavs???
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