Patience, that is the word of the moment with the Brooklyn Nets. Fans are certainly expecting greatness from the team after the roster was filled with All-Star talent including Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Not to mention the team loaded up on quality bench players. However, after a season-opening loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers it is clear the team still has a long ways to go before they can begin thinking about a championship.
The Brooklyn Nets have a payroll that tops $100 million. While several starters put up strong numbers, it was not enough to top the young Cavaliers. Brook Lopez put up 21 points while Pierce knocked in 17, but the lack of plays down the final stretch of minutes caused the game to get away. Garnett believes that with more practice, the team will starting hauling in the wins.
"Everyone has to be patient," Garnett said, via ESPNNewYork.com. "It's not just because you assemble guys and things are going to just voila. We're not a perfect team by far, but we are a hard working team. We're a team with no excuses."
Pierce notes that the team will continue to chip away and will learn from the loss. Pierce believes that the season will come down to doing the little things right down the stretch.
"Obviously it hurts but we have to go back and look at the reason why we lost this game," Pierce said. "Throughout the course of the season we have to understand it's always going to be about the little things. To be a championship team, you have to clean those things up."
The issue against the Cavaliers could be that point guard Deron Williams played just 22 minutes and sat for the entire fourth quarter. Williams was originally not predicted to be active for the season opener after suffering an ankle injury in the offseason so it comes as no surprise that his minutes were very limited.
"I didn't know how they were going to break up my minutes," Williams said. "I was a little surprised when they said I wasn't going back in. I can't control that so just try to cheer my team on and hope for a win."
Williams struggled after not playing much in the preseason. He shot just 2-for-6 for seven points. He did put up nine assists, but his absence was felt when the game got close in the fourth quarter. Williams is confident that his minutes will increase over time once he gets more practice time.
