Kevin Garnett is stating the obvious, the Brooklyn Nets have no identity. As injuries run wild through the lineup, the team has yet to establish any kind of chemistry or momentum to start what is supposed to be their quest for a title. After yet another blowout loss on Monday to the Indiana Pacers, the Nets look worse than even and head coach Jason Kidd is not happy.
Kidd is concerned the lineup is growing to accustomed to losing. After the 103-86 loss, Kidd ripped the team as complacent and is concerned about motivation going forward.
"Well I think it is getting very close to just accepting losing," Kidd said via ESPNNewYork.com. "We are kind of getting comfortable with losing. And we got to make a stand with that because when things get tough, do we just give in and most of the time right now we do."
A 9-18 start to the season is not what the team had in mind with their newly upgraded $190 million pay roll. They have the highest pay roll in the NBA and yet, have nothing to show for it. After acquiring Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry in a blockbuster trade, things are starting look more and more like a bust.
In the game, Pierce was held scoreless for the first time in his 16-year career. Garnett went 3-for-10. DEron Williams was even worse. After getting booed by fans at home, Williams admits that nothing is fun right now.
"I'm not. I'm not comfortable losing. It's not fun. Not only when we're losing during the game, but when I go home sitting there and thinking about it, it's not fun," Williams said.
Joe Johnson admitted he was not shocked by the reaction of the fans. He claims the team simply put up no effort during the game and really deserved that reaction from people that paid to see them win.
Are injuries to blame? The recent loss of Brook Lopez for the season hurts. Andrei Kirilenko has missed 23 games. Jason Terry has been out 15 games. The Nets may have the highest-paid starting lineup, but they have not all played together that much this summer.
"It's tough, but it's something we can't control," Williams said. "We couldn't control Brook going down and being out for the season, we couldn't control when I missed games and he missed some games (earlier). Ticket's (Garnett) missed some games. Paul with his hand. It's been a rough year as far as injuries, but we can't make excuses. We can still play better."
