After a nightmare start to his coaching career, Jason Kidd and the Nets looked very far from any playoff contention or battle. Fans, media and former players were quick to declare that Jason Kidd was not the right coach for Brooklyn, and that just because you are a great players, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are a great coach.
But in this case it does. The first months may have been disastrous (5-12 after seventeen games), but since then the Nets have been a top quality team. Now solidly anchored in fifth position of the Eastern Conference, desperately battling with Chicago (only a game ahead) in order to obtain home court advantage in their probable first round match-up. The positive contrast in efficiency, team work and intelligence is striking. These aspects of play, coincidentally, are usually things that a coach is responsible for. At the end of the day, a coach has nothing to do with whether or not as shot is going to fall, but he is critical for his his team to have a fluid, solid brand of basketball. It may have taken him a brief period of time to settle, but now Jason Kidd is set to be as good a coach as he was a player. That’s very good, if you’re wondering.
I have tons of respect for the 10-time All Star. At only 41 years of age, he has a ridiculous amount of achievements as a player, but he has also already managed to make an impact as a coach. Even at the start of the season, it was never going to be easy for the Nets; Acquiring Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from the Celtics has had half the impact on the court than it had on the media (both players understandably past their prime). The pressure that was on Brooklyn at the start of the season was nearly unbearable for the franchise. Bringing in such famous players, taking the risky bet of hiring a coach who has literally only just retired from playing, whilst still having the obvious attention that a team that has recently moved city always has. This burden was the main reason that the Nets started the season so badly, and not because Jason Kidd was a bad coach. He may have lacked experience, but he sure wasn’t bad, as we can see now.
Brooklyn have managed to recover from their early struggles, and now have managed to settle in the top eight of the Eastern Conference. But what next? At the start of the season, many people, including me, saw the Nets as the main threat to Miami’s domination. 72 games later, that seems absurd. Realistically, it is very hard foresee the Conference final not being between the Heat and the Pacers. Behind however, Brooklyn have a good chance of making the semi-finals, and then you never know what could happen. It would be ideal for them if they could avoid Chicago in the first round, meaning they need to hope that the Bulls overtake Toronto (who are only a game ahead). If that doesn’t happen, Brooklyn at least need to beat Chicago to fourth place, because it would be extremely complicated for the Nets to beat the Bulls without home court advantage. if they were to go through, I think they would have a chance of beating Indiana, but not Miami.
However, even if Brooklyn were to be swept in the first round of the playoffs, you can comfortably say that Jason Kidd has succeeded in his first year of coaching. The decision to hire him as a coach was a gamble, and it has paid off, because he has managed to create a solid team that will no doubt be very strong next year. I was one of many to be dubious of Kidd’s quality as a coach, but I have to give the credit where it is due. And Jason Kidd deserves credit, a lot of it.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @fourpoint_play or @MatthieuRident. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Basketball writing team. Visit our ”Write for Us“ page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
