NJ Nets: A Chinwag with RT

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on October 14, 2008 at 8:22 PM, updated October 14, 2008 at 9:49 PM

Rod Thorn had a lot to say this a.m. about everything trip-related - tempered satisfaction, for the most part -- but his most effusive assessment was given to a certain rookie scorer.

"CDR was great in Paris - he probably won the game for us there in the second period," the Boss said of Chris Douglas-Roberts. "We did a lot of good things, but I thought he stood out.

"Chris looks like he's going to get minutes - he's got a game, that kid. He handles it better than you think. And he looks like he feels he can take you any time you want to: He lines you up, goes around you and can finish. And he's super-competitive."

Didn't even mention that the kid had five steals in 42 minutes.

Just throwing this out there: Won't the time come, perhaps fairly soon, that Yi will have to show whether he's got a post game? It's a question for the coach, hardly pressing, and we'll get around to asking it one of these days.

The rationale being, we know he can run and pick-and-pop and catch-and-shoot with range and hit that shot at the dotted line off pindowns. But it wouldn't surprise anybody if the opposition starts guarding him with a smaller 4, in which case you want to run the defender into the post once in a while.

"I don't think that's Yi's forte right now," Thorn said. "It has more to do with his upper body strength than anything else - he has strong legs, but his upper body isn't as strong. As he develops there, we'll see more of a post game.

"We'll see how teams (guard him). I think he'll have to get used to some big, some small. I think it's a possibility the coach may play him at 3, because he can put it on the floor - he really showed that in practice, driving it four or five times and putting up a shot (on the fly) that went down every time."

OK, so a post game is superfluous. For now.

More on the print side on the morrow.

Keyon Dooling figures to make his debut Thursday against the Celtics. The status of the other injured guys - Najera and Hayes - will be determined at practice Wednesday.

This video has been making the rounds (thanks, JB), but we'll post it here in case you want to see Devin get faced by some playground guy in the UK. He was pretty gracious about it, too.

You're probably sick of polls right now, but if you asked somebody in the organization how he'd rank the members of the power rotation after two preseason games, he'd come up with a pecking order that looks something like this: Josh, Yi, Ryan, Brook, Stro, and Sean. Feel free to ignore it, or make up your own after watching the game against Boston Thursday. But don't be surprised if it's a game of leapfrog all the way until end of the month.

The recurring two-word salute to your head coach seems to have lost its gusto, and speaking on behalf of our inbox, we thank you.

Actually, we'll take it a step further: Many Nets fans - at least the ones who correspond with this precinct frequently - are beginning to show an appreciation for Lawrence Frank that wasn't there in the past (Familiarity? Sympathy?), and acknowledge that this is one guy who genuinely gives a damn about his players, and is the best choice to nurture them.

The players themselves sense it, and they all say so.

What is that all about, you might ask?

"These are kids," L-Frank explained to us recently. "But they're also men, professional men. Think about that from a work perspective: You read all these studies, where people are asked about their jobs, and what is usually their number one complaint? It's not money. It's about a lack of caring or a lack of respect from their employer. It's always something like, 'My role isn't defined,' or `What I do isn't appreciated.'

"Money? That's fifth on the list. And this is the way it is, by and large, throughout the entire American adult work force.

"Now, how is it different here? Sure, the money is bigger. But we're not here just to put you on the floor and give you a check. You have to be about what we talk about, and we constantly talk about a family unit. And you foster that only by putting the group first."

We're not sure what studies he's citing. But that may not be relevant. He speaks with the popeyed enthusiasm of a true believer, and that comes across to his kids.

"We deal with the whole person here," Frank said. "It's not just go out and play. Everyone thinks the NBA player is just an athlete. But they're people. They have the same needs and desires and ambitions as anyone else. They just happen to play basketball."