2001 - 2002
Treasure Hunters
In their most glorious season in the league, the long-reviled Nets, behind the efforts of a cabin full of dashing youth, a returning crew bursting with vigorous good health, and a captain as strong-willed as Ahab, pillaged the Eastern Conference on their way to the NBA Finals. The booty:

1) A 52 - 30 regular season record – a franchise best, and an exact doubling of their '00-'01 wins.
2) The Atlantic Division Championship for the first time ever.
3) The post-season sacking of Indiana, Charlotte, and Boston brought the Nets their first-ever Eastern Conference Championship, and their very first sortie into the NBA Finals.
4) Rod Thorn was named NBA Executive of the Year for such swashbuckling moves as the draft night robbery of Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong from Houston, the looting of Jason "Captain Crunch-Time" Kidd from Phoenix whilst loosing upon them the malcontented Stephon Marbury, and the liberation of Todd MacCulloch from Philadelphia.

Still out there for the taking: a mere win in the Finals, much less the vaunted Championship trophy.

2001 - 2002 Game x Game
Every Nets game of the 2001 - 2002 season reviewed. For a pick-me-up, we like to review the four games in the Nets' season sweep of the Knicks. An alternative way to peruse this season's Nets games (including the playoffs) is by clicking through our '01-'02 Calendar.
2002 NBA Playoffs
 The Nets playing in June? Shocking. We covered all 20 Nets post-season ballgames, include the creme de la creme, The Greatest Nets Game Ever Played: Game 5 of Round 1 versus Indiana. There's so much more in this section too, including Joe's post-season matchups and all our picks.

2001 - 2002 Diatribe
 In 20 pithy Diatribes Joe articulated what all Netsfans were thinking throughout this utterly remarkable season. He mulled Keith's Konundrum and MJ3, handed out plaudits, revelled in Blood Feuds, and fervently urged the Nets to glory. Get your full-on Joe fix here:

2001 - 2002 Specials
 This season we jam-packed joenetsfan.com with more extras than ever. Some features we're really proud of: "Lost in America," the story of Joe's post-September 11 journey home; our Second Annual All-Punk Weekend, with some brand-new rosters; "The Eagle Has Landed," our interview with the Nets' TV man Ian "The Bird" Eagle; enumerating what we hope for and love about our team in "Joe and Champagne's Listomania," and perhaps our shining literary moment, friend-of-the-site Terry Gratuity's season-capping "A Requiem for the Nets." Jump to our '01-'02 Specials page for a full listing.
2001 - 2002 Media
 We divided up our favorite quotes of the season into five fun-packed pages. Perhaps the most indispensible is our Media page devoted to Rod Thorn's blockbuster summer of '01 moves, the Marbury/Kidd trade and the Draft Night Maneuvers. Relive the unfolding stories, as told in the best quotes we could find. The other pages: • Funny Business – Quotes from around our terribly humorous league. • September 11th – A few quotes centered around the terrorist attacks on America. • Gut Punch – Harsh words that may take the wind out of you. • Inspirational Verses – Good News for the Modern Nets Fan.
2001 - 2002 Champagne
 Joe's pathetic sidekick vamped all summer long with some completely nutty Brain Bubbles and took you on a visit to his Book Cellar. Champagne Went to Indiana for Game 3 of Round 1 of the playoffs (witnessing "The Shot" by Kerry Kittles) and reported on his roadtrip in monsterous 9 - part epic, and later in the post-season he confessed his Pre-Pretty Big Game Stress Reduction Regime to all who would listen. Here's his page.
2001 - 2002 Backlash
 You, the readers, came with the goods this season. You gave us our playoff-run slogan, "Down With the Clown 2002!" and a pretty nice tag for the Kidd (5) to Martin (6) alley 'oop: "Rush Hour." We've got 19 pages of your emails. Includes two full pages of utter insanity dedicated to the NetsNut vs. Puppet Guy feud.
2001 - 2002 Opponents
 Before each regular season game, Joe assessed the matchup. Here they are:

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© 2002 Shawn Belschwender and Michael Kozlowski

'01 - '02 Roster
 At the beginning of the season, Joe and Champagne gave their break-downs on each Nets player. Here's the final '01-'02 roster. Click a player to see what we wrote (in a few cases, we were way out of line).

1 Brandon Armstrong, G
35 Jason Collins, C
14 Jamie Feick*, F
12 Lucious Harris, G
24 Richard Jefferson, G
8 Anthony Johnson, G
5 Jason Kidd, G
30 Kerry Kittles, G
11 Todd MacCulloch, C
13 Donny Marshall, F
6 Kenyon Martin, F
21 Brian Scalabrine, F
44 Keith Van Horn, F
34 Aaron Williams, C-F

* on injured list entire season

Head Coach: Byron Scott
Assistant Coaches:
Eddie Jordan
Mike O'Koren
Lawrence Frank

Strength-and-Conditioning Coach: Rich Dalatri
Trainer: Tim Walsh

Players waived:
Derrick Dial, G
Steve Goodrich, F
Reggie Slater, F