Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov yesterday "put forth a somewhat uncharacteristic show of humility, accepting full responsibility for the sorry state of the team and describing himself as chastened by the complexities of running a winning club" in N.Y., according to Andrew Keh of the N.Y. TIMES. The 10-28 Nets on Sunday relieved coach Lionel Hollins and GM Billy King of their duties, and Prokhorov said, "I take full responsibility for the state of the team. I think Billy King did his best." He added that he "had learned many lessons, the biggest being that New York represented 'another animal.'" Prokhorov admitted that he "might have underestimated the different types of pressure arising from fans and the news media" in Brooklyn, where the organization has played since '12. On dealing with the pressures of N.Y., he said, "We need bigger leadership. This is maybe my most important lesson." Prokhorov said that the team is "not in a rush to fill the positions" vacated by Hollins and King and that he "would personally interview each candidate." He added that he "would prefer to have two separate people hold the coach and general manager jobs to promote discourse" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/12). Prokhorov said that he "started looking at making changes a month and a half ago." He added that players and coaches "should be drawn to the state-of-the-art arena and a nearby training facility set to open in February." There also will be what he called a "big amount of money under the cap next season." Prokhorov: "So we have everything the best. And I’m really optimistic and now I’m 100 percent owner of the team and the arena, and I’m very committed to be championship and I’m all in" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/12).
BECOMING MORE INVOLVED: In New Jersey, Andy Vasquez notes Prokhorov "vowed to spend more time around his franchise and move methodically" as the Nets rebuild. He said, "In the current situation, for sure, I will spend much more time here, meeting people, looking for opportunity, discussing different potential strategy." Prokhorov did not say "with whom he’ll be working closely while making the decisions that shape the future of the organization, but there were some clues." Nets Chair Dmitry Razumov, who has "worked closely with King on basketball decisions for the last six years, did not attend the news conference." Prokhorov "didn’t answer directly when asked about Razumov’s role going forward." Meanwhile, Prokhorov’s associates -- Nets BOD member Sergey Kushchenko, Onexim Sports & Entertainment President Irina Pavlova and Nets and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark -- "attended, making Razumov’s absence all the more conspicuous" (Bergen RECORD, 1/12). ESPN N.Y.'s Ohm Youngmisuk noted Prokhorov "has to figure out which of his lieutenants he will lean on the most in what could well be his most important decision as Nets owner." Most say that Kuschenko "has Prokhorov's ear," while Razumov "certainly has had a close-up view of the Nets' failures." How much say Yormark will "have moving forward remains to be seen." There would "appear to be too many cooks in the kitchen." Meanwhile, Youngmisuk noted over the last few seasons, people "in the Nets organization and around the league have often asked the same question whenever talking about the Nets: 'What exactly is their plan?'" Prokhorov "has to get this right." His decision of picking the right coach and GM -- whether that is a tandem as he prefers or a coach in both roles -- "is what will either help the Nets dig out of their grave or continue their self-destructing ways."(ESPNNY.com, 1/11).
SELF HELP: Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck said Prokhorov "should look in the mirror" when devising his new vision for the franchise, because the "vision that they've had that Billy King has been executing has been Mikhail Prokhorov's vision." Beck: "Remember, when he took over the Nets he made a big deal over, 'We're going to own New York; we're going to steal Knicks fans.' They put up that big audacious billboard across from the Garden with Prokhorov and Jay Z on it saying 'Blueprint For Greatness.' It was all about a five-year plan to win the championship. So everything was about going for broke, trying to set up Barclays Center from Day One, getting stars or anybody who sounded like a star on that roster because they wanted to stir that interest, stoke that interest from day one. They wanted to stir excitement. They did, to an extent and for a time. But you know, they mortgaged obviously a ton of the future to put together that core that they had, and it never really measured up" ("NBA Gametime,” NBA TV, 1/10). In Toronto, Doug Smith wrote the Nets "have a stupidly rich, wildly impatient, somewhat egomaniacal owner who has to have his feet held to the fire perhaps more than anyone and, in many ways, is the poster child for owners who are out of their league and exist only to satisfy their own whims." Smith: "You don’t think Mikhail Prokhorov -- or whichever of his minions did his bidding -- was fully behind all the moves that landed the Nets where they are?" (THESTAR.com, 1/11).
NOW YOU'RE IN NEW YORK: In N.Y., Filip Bondy writes there has "always a great deal of mythology" about Brooklyn's sports obsession, and that was before the Nets and Islanders "showed up with warts and little hope for championship banners." The Islanders currently "are slumping, 18 points behind" the first-place Capitals, while the Nets "are far worse off, having fallen apart at the seams." What has followed from all of this "is inevitable." The Nets "are 28th out of 30 NBA teams in attendance, averaging 14,789 fans per game with an arena" at 81.7% capacity. The Islanders "are ranked 29th out of 30 NHL teams in attendance, with a 13,035 average, but because they play in one of the league’s smallest arenas," they are at 82.4% capacity (N.Y. TIMES, 1/12).
