New Jersey Nasty Boys
September 30th, 2009 | by Ryan Jones |The New Jersey Nets are slowly getting into training camp mode and the fierce competition between the wings is helping to move things along. One man that doesn’t have to worry about looking over his own shoulder — point guard Devin Harris — has taken notice of the battle.
“It’s nasty, just nasty. From watching, two guys I can point out are Courtney (Lee) and CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts). That’s going to be a battle all year long. Those guys are really competitive, they do a lot of different things on the court. Obviously, Terrence (Williams) has got a bit of a bulldog in him, too, but that matchup right there … you can see it from playing in pickup. It’s just going to be nasty. That’s good for the competition and guys pushing each other.”
Even with Vince Carter now in Orlando, there are plenty of choices for Lawrence Frank when it comes to the wings. Even after CDR, Lee and Williams, he has Jarvis Hayes and Bobby Simmons. For a team expected to be one of the worst in the league, that is a ton of potential fire power.
The Nets didn’t want to bring anyone into camp other than those under contract, but it’s promising to see there is still no lack of competition. You can find guys across the league that lose their fire because they have a guaranteed contract, but it’s refreshing to see the early signs point to that not being a problem in New Jersey.
There will be plenty of opportunities for players that prove they are here to win. Camp opened with an unsourced report about Rafer Alston wanting out. Hopefully going forward there are more stories like this one about position battles.
Tags: Chris Douglas-Roberts, Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams
By Sami on Oct 4, 2009
The Nets are more athletic this year, they should be able to protect the basket a little bit better. Offensively, it may be a work in progress. But I love the talent with Harris, Lopez, Lee, T Will and CDR.