Eddie Jordan needs to stop overreacting

by Mike Prada on Oct 29, 2008 1:24 AM EDT in Coaching

This is old, but I'm still dismayed by it.

Jordan was asked about his plans for a playing rotation and he responded by saying that after his starting five, everything is up in the air.

"I don't really know yet," Jordan said. "Sometimes it's the game that dictates where you go and the rotation you have. I'm not really set on the six, seventh, eighth guys. I don't know."

Oy. Look, the team didn't play very well in the preseason, granted. But you cannot, under any circumstances, not have a rotation set by this point. History tells us that when Eddie says stuff like "sometimes, it's the game that dictates where you go and the rotation you have," it means "look, here's an excuse for playing Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison 40 minutes a night."

That's not going to stand. Andray Blatche played badly, sure, but he needs to be a part of the rotation. He's proven enough on an NBA level to not lose his spot because he struggled in preseason. Benching him to prove a point may work for one game, but it's not going to work in the regular season. He's accomplished too much for this team last year for Eddie to forget it all because of a bad preseason. Besides, Darius Songaila was equally sucky against Cleveland, but he never got yanked. Don't make Blatche be the whipping boy.

Also, Nick Young needs minutes. He's already better than Juan Dixon and Dee Brown and he's the youngest of the bunch. If you want to use Juan and Dee to leverage Nick, then don't be so stubborn to keep Nick off the court like you did down the stretch last season.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into that quote, but I'm petrified that we're going to go through the first month with Caron, Antawn and DeShawn playing 40 minutes a night, with Songaila as the first big off the bench, with Blatche playing 10 minutes a night, with Juan chucking shots left and right for 20 minutes a night while Nick sits and with McGee permanently stashed on the inactive list. That may be good enough to allow Eddie to blame fate for the inevitable injuries that suffer. It may even be good enough to go .500. But it won't do anything to really help this team grow for the long-term. With all the injuries we've suffered, long-term should be the focus.

Besides, Eddie's coming back in 09/10 either way. What job security does he have to worry about?

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Meh

I just think it’s his way of telling the team that after the starters, the minutes are up in the air…..it’s all about who wants it the most.

I think EJ is more fair than what we give him credit for….I truly believe that he’s willing to play whoever earns it the most.

Of course, as fans, we don’t always see who’s “earning” it behind the scenes……rather we can only go off what’s happening on the court.

So…..while at times in the past, it’s appeared that some should be playing over others, that might not be the case from the inside perspective of the coaching staff.

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by Kyle Weidie on Oct 29, 2008 10:52 AM EDT reply actions

Cut Eddie some slack...

The young men will get their chances… They have to… But if Eddie thinks relying initially on his more experienced players to get the team off to a winning start against what should be a dismal Nets squad, so be it. It is really quite important for this team to win its opener.

by khrabb on Oct 29, 2008 12:40 PM EDT reply actions

Why?

I seriously don’t get this.

For one, it’s just one game out of 82. Why is this one win so important?

For another, what makes you think Darius Songaila and Juan Dixon give this team any better chance to win than Nick Young and Andray Blatche? As 21-year olds, the latter two outperformed the first two last season.

I’m tired of slow starts because Eddie doesn’t realize what he has on the bench. In 2006, it was Caron Butler sitting while Jarvis Hayes started. In 2007, it was the six-man rotation that eventually destroyed us. Last year, it was playing a gimpy Gilbert 40 minutes a night.

If the same thing happens this year, when we have an easy schedule, we’re screwed. We’ll miss the playoffs and none of the young dudes will develop.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Oct 29, 2008 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions