The acquisition of Vince Carter last month was hailed as a sign the Nets would be competitive for the next few years.
But unless Carter has one final growth spurt in him and/or suddenly becomes a shot-blocking force, the Nets seem sunk in the short term because of a weak frontcourt.
The Dec. 17 trade that shipped Alonzo Mourning and the underappreciated Aaron Williams to Toronto is looking more and more like the final straw that turned the Nets from a championship contender into an exposed pretender.
Kenyon Martin’s exit last summer, of course, was the first move that left the Nets weak down low.
After two horrible losses to Washington and Milwaukee, the Atlantic Division cellar-dwellers needed to pick up their defensive intensity for last night’s game with Golden State.
It’s not easy when the defense has resembled a Krispy Kreme donut – soft, with a hole in the middle.
“It always helps when you have a lot of big men on your bench, in case you have a couple guys in foul trouble,” Carter said. “When you only have three, maybe four guys, and one of them doesn’t really know all the plays yet, it makes it a little tougher.
“It’s definitely tough. We’re a little small and putting guys at different positions.”
Coach Lawrence Frank can’t ignore the glaring weakness of the Nets (11-20) in the paint. Asked about how difficult it must be to gameplan without a presence like Mourning and/or Martin, Frank said, “We’re fine.
“There are a whole lot of worse things in life,” he added. “We’ll be fine.
“We have the necessary ingredients to win. We just have to do a better job.”
Jason Collins and Nenad Krstic have often found themselves in foul trouble. But it starts with the guards. Jason Kidd has yet to resemble an all-NBA defender since his return. And Carter has never been known as a great defender.
“Defensively, we’re the last line,” Collins said. “It’s our job if guys get beat off the dribble or any type of penetration, we have to step up and block shots.
“We’re doing that. A lot of it is ‘Help the helper,’ and a lot of other situations. It’s not on one person. It’s a team thing. All of us have to help each other.”
Carter is willing to take his share of the responsibility.
“We have to step and have them drive it into our big men, but yet still defend the ball, guard the ball individually as well as the team,” Carter said. “I think a lot of our problems as far as big men getting into foul trouble is because of our on-the-ball defense, we’re letting guys get into the paint.
“And a guy like Twin [Collins] who doesn’t give easy layups, he’s done a good job for us. But we’ve put him in a tough predicament early as well as Nenad. So we have to be more conscious of it.”
Although Collins is the last man standing from a dominant defensive frontcourt of the past few seasons, he insists he isn’t putting more pressure on himself.
“I know that whoever does step out there on the court, we all have the same agenda: that’s winning ballgames,” Collins said. “Changes are made, this is a business.”
Right now, the Carter trade that looks so great for business in the long-term is killing the Nets in the short-term.