Wednesday afternoon part of the Brooklyn Nets management team spent better than four hours listening to Indiana Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw explain why he should be the new head coach in Brooklyn. Reportedly it was a very good presentation.
But the other part of management was finalizing a deal with Jason Kidd to go directly from player to coach — and that group had the blessing of ownership.
The deal is now in place — Jason Kidd will be the new head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, with a formal announcement coming Thursday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. This is something that had been reported was coming for days by guys such as Brian Geltzeiler of SheridanHoops.com but is now official.
Kidd will step right from his 19-year, Hall of Fame playing career to the bench — which is a huge leap. It’s a huge risk for the Nets. While nobody is officially hired on his staff, former NBA head coach Lawrence Frank is expected be his lead assistant and the rest of his staff is expected to be experienced. They are there to help teach the rookie coach the ropes.
This is big name, big roll of the dice hire by the Nets.
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has wanted to break the mold and try different things, and this move is certainly that. But if the goal is a title like Prokhorov has insisted, I wonder how much Kidd can really do with a roster that is fourth or fifth best in the East and not going to change much?
Kidd has the advantage of being tight with Deron Williams — in theory if Kidd can get more out of D-Will the Nets will improve. Williams is the key to making the Nets offense go — but that is not the end of the court that is the problem. The Nets were a below average defense and that is what has to be fixed.
Right now the Nets are a couple of steps behind the Heat, the Bulls with Derrick Rose back and the Pacers. Can Kidd really coach up this roster to that level?
Nobody is questioning Kidd’s knowledge of the game — he was one of the highest basketball IQ players of the last couple decades. He was a joy to watch play at his peak. But instinctively knowing what the defense is trying to force you to do then making the correct pass is one thing, drawing up plays and teaching those skills is another.
Kidd also is going to have to go from being one of the guys to the guy that has to make the hard calls. Kidd has lived the lifestyle of a star player for years, that’s different then spending your late nights in a hotel staring at a computer screen breaking down the Magic’s offensive sets to help devise a game plan. It’s different because there are a lot more media obligations. And the indiscretions of Kidd’s past will not be swept under the rug if they happen again. This is a big change for Kidd, I hope he is ready for it.
Taking an inexperienced coach has worked before (most recently Mark Jackson in Golden State) and the Nets have been sold on the big name. Now let’s see if that’s going to be enough.