--The first half against Boston on Saturday was a disgrace. The Nets trailed by 29 points (68-39). Boston shot 64 percent, including 54 percent on 3-pointers. The Nets, as a team, had seven assists, or five fewer than Rajon Rondo.
So 60 percent of the starting unit, including the Nets' two stars and leading scorers, Vince Carter and Devin Harris, sat to start the second half. Rookie Ryan Anderson, in his fourth start filling in for the injured Yi Jianlian, joined Carter and Harris on the bench as Eduardo Najera (for Anderson), Jarvis Hayes (for Carter) and Keyon Dooling (for Harris) started. C Brook Lopez and F Bobby Simmons were the two starters who remained intact. "You make the decisions you make, and they're well-thought out. That's part of directing and leading a team. You're not there to have a consensus opinion, you're there to do what's in the best interests of the team," coach Lawrence Frank said.
--F/C Sean Williams has spent the last two home games sitting on the Nets bench, cheering his former teammates. Williams was assigned to the D-League on Dec. 29 because he simply wasn't getting any time with the parent club due to the commitments to F Yi Jianlian (now injured), F Ryan Anderson and C Brook Lopez.
"Short term, my assignment is to play in the D-League, to get better and try to stay in shape. Long term, it's to better my skills and become a better basketball player, become a better defender and work on guarding more positions," said Williams, who explained he sat on the bench because "I wanted to be with my teammates. I feel this is my team. This is where I belong. I'll take any time to be with my team to support them."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I was just totally embarrassed about our performance. It starts with me and it goes on to our main players. It was an embarrassing, embarrassing start to the game, and I just decided to go in another direction for today." -- Coach Lawrence Frank, who benched stars Vince Carter and Devin Harris for the entire second half after the Nets trailed by 29 at halftime.
