Joe Netsfan.com - Archive - 2004/2005 Season



2004 - 2005 From Save-Mart to Salvage With new ownership in place, a disasterous off-season commences with the sign-and-trade of Kenyon Martin to the Nuggets, as "fiscal conservatism" is the order of the day. Starting off the '04 - '05 season with a revamped roster of penny-pinching signings while waiting for Jason Kidd's recovery from knee surgery, the Nets get off to a horrendous start...Read on... Joe's Final Grades Jason Kidd: B Came a long way back from obvious injury, but also picked up the pace once he clicked with Vinsanity. Did everything possible over the last month and a half to get the Nets to the playoffs, but was powerless from there. Has he lost a step or two? Vince Carter: A- Injected the Nets with scoring and almost unbelievably, heart, upon his arrival. Reclaimed his reputation by doing many of the things (play tough, play hurt) it was said he couldn't do. Carried the Nets for long stretches, and his highlight reel hasn't been seen by Netsfans since the days of Dr. J. Only real knock: couldn't carry them in the playoffs. Jason Collins: C+ The Net you love to belittle, but he's a starter, so he must be doing something right. Finish around the basket more than twice per season, and you'd get a better grade, big fella... Richard Jefferson: B+ For shame most of his season was wiped out by injury. We know we'd like the thought of JKidd, VC and RJ together for an entire season. Impressive early without any help, and impressive late in the playoffs, not missing a beat after coming back from the long layoff. Nenad Krstic: B+ Raise your hand if you thought Krstic was gonna be the second coming of Darko...Thought so. Outstanding campaign topped by an impressive string of games in post-season. Solid potential for improvement. Jacque Vaughn: B- Absolutely HATED this signing in the off-season. Turned out I was wrong about the guy. No, he doesn't do anything exceptionally well, but he's steady, he defended well enough to take some pressure off of Kidd, and he's ok in my book now.	2004 - 2005 Game x Game What a long, strange trip the '04 - '05 season was...we've got all 82 games covered right here, from the lows of an early season 9 game losing streak and the road trip from hell, the loss of Richard Jefferson to injury, and the ugly late season loss to the Heat that started the comeback, to the highs of the first appearance of Vince Carter in a Nets uniform, an undermanned win against the Lakers, the destruction of the Pistons by Carter and Kidd, the emotional return of Kenyon Martin to the CAA, and the late season surge that culminated in Game 82's "Win or Go Home" victory over the Celtics that sent the Nets into the playoffs. Come on in and re-live the memories of a season in flux right here... 2005 NBA Playoffs Not many highlights to be seen here, but at least they made it. Check out the Nets' embarassing four game sweep to the Heat, as well as the annual playoff prediction contest...The entire short and sweet section can be found here... 2004 - 2005 Diatribe Joe was caught up in a trap for most of the season, and only managed to bang out seven diatribes despite plenty to be upset about in the '04 - '05 season. They're all right here, from the "Last Train to Loserville" anti-Ratner/KMart trade venom in Diatribe #2 and Joe's Homerism in Diatribe #3 to Joe's plea for the big splash in Diatribe #6. Stop in and take a look this way... 2004 - 2005 Specials All the specials, all the (or at least some) of the time! Everything you could ever want is here, from the annual name game nonsense, our annual pre-season Expert Panel Predictions, and our Save the Bird outcry to hilarious doings from Lane Sorkin, NetsNut, and our own Dragon...Plus more! Check out the extra-special specials here... 2004 - 2005 Media Your guide to everything in the media world of the Nets, from all the NBA team sites and local news. You can always email Joe or Champagne with media requests. 2004 - 2005 Backlash Backlash - the reader's choice. Got something on your mind about the Nets, the NBA or anything related? You send it to Joe, and he puts it up and tries to answer your questions, calm your fears or rant along with you. Twenty-three marvels of comedy and tragedy, all wrapped up for you. Required reading of your thoughts is right here... 2004 - 2005 Opponents All the previews, most of the time...OK, Joe got a bit lazy with some of this (we've got to change the format to make life easier), but there are at least 70 or so games worth of opponent files, all indexed for your easy reading pleasure! Special bonus - figure out which opponents are missing! New Jersey Nets 2004 - 2005 Season Nets Record: 42 - 40 Home Record: 24 - 17 Away Record: 18 - 23 Division Record: 11 - 5 Conference Record: 31 - 21 2004 - 2005 Playoffs: First Round New Jersey Nets (8) vs. Miami Heat (1): Heat win series 4 - 0. Individual Accolades Nenad Krstic, NBA All-Rookie Second Team Lawrence Frank, NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for April 2005 Jason Kidd, NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Apr. 11 - 17, 2005 Vince Carter, NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Apr. 4 - 10, 2005 Vince Carter, NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for February 2005 Vince Carter, voted Eastern Conference All Star starter by fan vote Vince Carter, NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Jan. 24 - 30, 2005 Richard Jefferson, NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Dec. 6- 12, 2004 Richard Jefferson, NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Nov. 15 - 21, 2004 Archive \| Backlash \| Bio \| Calendar \| Champagne's Blog \| Diatribe \| Game x Game \| History \| Home \| Joe Netsfan's Blog \| Media \| Opponents \| Players \| Playoffs \| Search \| Specials © 2005 Shawn Belschwender and Michael Kozlowski	'04 - '05 Roster Season of (drastic) change sees a turnover of the roster not found since the '01 - '02 season. Kenyon Martin out, Vince Carter in... 6 Travis Best, G 2 Rodney Buford, G 15 Vince Carter, F/G 35 Jason Collins, C 24 Richard Jefferson, F 5 Jason Kidd, G 12 Nenad Krstic, C 1 Ron Mercer, G/F 10 Zoran Planinic, G/F 30 Cliff Robinson, F/C 21 Brian Scalabrine, F 55 Jabari Smith, C 20 Billy Thomas, G 11 Jacque Vaughn, G Head Coach: Lawrence Frank Assistant Coaches: John Kuester Bill Cartwright Tom Barrise Brian Hill Strength-and-Conditioning Coach: Rich Dalatri Trainer: Tim Walsh Joe's Final Grades Rodney Buford: C- I have a 70's flashback every time Rod steps on the court - Is he streaky, or what? Started to come on, got hurt, and never found it again. Zoran Planinic: D+ Again, was it injury or just plain inconsistency that got Z off track? For a point guard, he sure played like a shooting guard or even a small forward. Out-of-control moments still scare the daylights out of me - you too? Brian Scalabrine: B+ Does anyone get more out of less than Veal? People's choice returned from injury to be almost invaluable for a stretch. We'll miss him, mostly for being just like us. Cliff Robinson: C Never did understand all the excitement to acquire a 38 year old forward who lives for the three, but ol' man Cliffie turned out ok. Didn't do as much as hoped, but that's probably due to his late(r) acquisition and his age. Travis Best: B- Really, no one brought more excitement or scoring off the bench than Travis. No ideally suited for long stretches due to his size, it still works for him, somehow. Ron Mercer: D+ Couldn't stay healthy, or keep any consistency with his shot. Really, is this such a big surprise given his history? A flop, as they say. Jabari Smith: B Surprisingly solid when needed to contribute, disappeared into witless protection program after Robinson arrived. Helluva nice guy to boot. Billy Thomas: Inc. He hit one big shot in one game, then virtually disappeared.