Bogdanovic, a Croatian sharpshooter, was drafted by the Heat and traded to the Timberwolves in the 2011 Draft before ending up with the Nets

Clearly, this past season didn't end exactly as the Nets and GM Billy King had hoped, with a disappointing Round 1 loss to the banged-up Chicago Bulls. We saw it all from Brooklyn in that series: offensive inconsistency,  defensive shortcomings, mental lapses, blown leads, and the list can go on and on. But what we didn't see was a very deep bench, as long-gone P.J. Carlesimo shrunk his rotation to astronomically-small proportions at times, sticking with ineffective starters as opposed to fresh reserves. However, one could make the argument that such an action was reasonable, as some of the Nets' bench-players just didn't step up in the playoffs.

Whomever is coaching the Nets next season shouldn't have that sort of problem, as one of the team's Euro-stash players, Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic, is expected to make the jump next season from Euroleague play to NBA play. Brooklyn is planning to use its trade exception (no cap space left, virtually) to sign the 6'7" scorer and bring him stateside to improve Brooklyn's bench. Joining fellow Europeans Mirza Teletovic and Tornike "Toko" Shengalia, Bojan will fit in on the diverse Brooklyn roster from an abstract standpoint, but how about talent-wise?

Yeah, he's very similar to Mirza in that both guys are big, proficient shooters who score most of their point via jump-shots.  But, Bojan is a bit quicker and lower-to-the-ground, allowing for increased agility and versatility on the court that the power forward Teletovic didn't really provide. Also, Bogdanovic is a lot more explosive than Mirza in terms of getting to the basket when necessary, a trait needed for those days when the shot isn't falling.

And with Gerald Wallace's on-and-off play for much of last season, Bogdanovic may see a lot of minutes filling in for him at the small forward spot, as each player compliments the other pretty well in terms of skill-set and on-court specialty.

It was a move in the making since the 2011 Draft, but one without an originally-set timetable, due to the ever-present complications of European transfer players to the US. Good thinking, Billy, because this roster needed a little change that wouldn't violate the Nets' perilous salary cap situaition.

A Brooklyn native and current head coach of SMU, Brown--if pursued by the Nets for their head-coaching vacancy--would certainly be hard-pressed to turn it down

Just some more notes and news tidbits on the Brooklyn Nets' head-coaching search:

I mentioned Doc Rivers as a possible candidate for the Nets a little over a week ago, but the current Celtics coach looks to be returning to Boston for at least another season as GM Danny Ainge confirmed on Thursday. With the older Celtics team in a state of flux, Rivers jumping ship to a more talented and higher-potential Nets team four hours south of Boston would be a reasonable possibility, but one that Billy King didn't necessary appear to be open towards. Cross a name off the list.
 

But as Rivers has been eliminated for the Nets, a new candidate has come into the forefront: Brooklyn's own, Larry Brown. The 72-year-old has had a long and storied career as an ABA player and NCAA, ABA, and NBA coach, even manning the New Jersey Nets for a few years in the 80s. Winning a NCAA championship with the Kansas Jayhawks and NBA title with the Bad Boy Pistons, Brown is a surefire Hall-of-Famer who is now coaching Southern Methodist University (SMU) down in Texas as he winds down his bastketball career.

In a live chat, Dallas Morning News sportswriter Kevin Sherrington noted that Brown would be extremely open to the Nets head-coaching position if the Nets offered it, as he clearly would love the chance to coach the team that now plays in his native borough. But Brooklyn hasn't made an offer yet, and any decision/move is far from happening. Still, the intrigue of having a Brooklyn-born coach take the helm of the Nets--especially one with Brown's credentials--is something that the team's front-office has to be considering seriously, even if he doesn't end up with the job.

Still without a coach as the NBA Playoffs--of which they aren't a part of--the Brooklyn Nets are clearly going to take the process of hiring one slow and make a thorough investigation into every possible candidate that either currently doesn't have a job or is likely to not have one soon. But someone whose team is still alive in the postseason could be added as another potential choice for Brooklyn: Lionel Hollins, head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Even though Hollins' squad is winning 2-1 in its 2nd-round series with the Thunder right now, and may even advance further into the playoffs, it's certainly possible that he will not be brought back next season in Memphis, as an ownership change, front office turnover, and an increased analytical approach --headlined by the recent hiring of John Hollinger, formerly of ESPN.com, who developed the popular Player Efficiency Rating (PER) statistics--may predicate a new voice in the locker room.

Hollins' contract with Memphis expires after this season, and his no-frills, no-nonsense style of coaching would suit the sometimes-undiscliplined Nets extremely well, as guys like Andray Blatche, MarShon Brooks, and Reggie Evans need a stricter voice than P.J. Carlesimo or Avery Johnson to keep them in line. Additionally, as we have seen throughout this postseason, Hollins knows how to manage a rotation extremely well. Brooklyn was crushed this year by head-coach substitution patterns that made no sense and were ineffective. Hollins would clean that issue right up, but the problem is that he may want to stay in Memphis, with a team that he's been with for a number of seasons.

The factor in the Nets' favor regarding pushing Hollins towards Brooklyn is the fact that with the unlimited coiffers of Mikhail Prokohorov, he can be made one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA, as Prokhorov's motto of winning over everything extends to the checkbook as well. However, noone knows what is going through Hollins' head right now, since he has to balance leading his team through the daunted Western Conference playoffs with worrying about his future with the Grizz in addition to comptemplating a more lucrative deal from a different team, like the Nets.

Like all coaching searches, the Hollins-to-Nets one is developing, far from being seriously considered, and is very fluid. We'll keep you updated on all things Nets this offseason, especially the coaching search, as they change and come about. But for now, I would be pretty happy with Brian Shaw and Lionel Hollins at two of the top candidates.

Ever since the firing was announced, and even earlier in the season when P.J. Carlesimo's departure from the Nets seemed more imminent, tons of free-agent coaches and even some under contract were and have been through around in rumors regarding the desirable Brooklyn job.

Former head-man of the Lakers, the stoic and incredibly-successful Phil Jackson was one of the bigger names to be thought of as a realistic candidate for the position. Brooklyn even reportedly contacted the 67-year-old gauging his interest in coming to New York, but later developments revealed that he's basically just looking for a front-office post at this time in his life, and turned down the offer.

Then other well-known coaches that Brooklyn may hold interest in quickly came out of the woodwork, with current Pacers assistant Brian Shaw looking like the No. 1 so far. Shaw, who played in the NBA for more than 10 years in his own right, was an assistant with the Lakers from 2004-11, and was groomed as Phil Jackson's eventual replacement before he was surprisingly passed over for the job when LA hired Mike Brown. Since then, Shaw has been in Indiana and tends to be viewed as one of the top assistants currently in the league, and seems to be thrown into the mix whenever a coaching vacancy opens up.

Also, current Celtics coach Doc Rivers and former Jazz coach Jerry Sloan -- who drafted Deron Williams, now on Brooklyn -- have each been cited as possible targets of the Nets front office. It is highly unlikely that Rivers would return to Boston if the current roster in stripped of veterans like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett this summer, as Doc has made it clear that he does not want to deal with another rebuilding project. If Boston follows that path, Brooklyn would be a logical and interesting spot for the 51-year-old Rivers if he should choose to continue his coaching career against a division rival of the team he recently won a championship with.

As for Sloan, the clear connection and chemistry -- pre-falling-out -- with Deron Williams would make him an easier choice for the position. The only concern there is that it is unknown publicly how well Sloan and Deron's relationship is with each other right now after it was reportedly Williams' urging that led Sloan to resign from Utah and led the Jazz to trade him to the Nets in the first place.

Brooklyn is still very early in the coaching-search process and there are tons of interviews, sit-downs, and phone-calls to go before anything is close to official regarding the team's new head coach. But it appears that there are a bunch of qualified candidates willing to take the job that will be a part of this process.

Which certainly gives GM Billy King some more relief, with the realization that no matter who he ends up hiring will be a good, if not great, coach for this team.

Joakim Noah controlled this game down low, from start to finish, dominating Brook Lopez

In the biggest game of their entire season, the Brooklyn Nets crapped the bed. Although they were taking on an injury-depleted Chicago Bulls team with no real reason to think they could win a Game 7 on the road, the Nets started the game flatter than they would if they were playing the Charlotte Bobcats in the middle of January. Never leading on Saturday night at all, Brooklyn was beaten down both physically and emotionally by Chicago, which seemed to play with a massive chip on its proverbial shoulder, especially with the brutal injuries suffered by key players during this series.

No Derrick Rose (ACL), Luol Deng (spinal tap procedure/viral infection), or Kirk Hinrich (calf), no problem for Tom Thibodeau and his Bulls, massive problem for Carlesimo's Nets. Forced to dig deep into his already-shallow bench, Thibs got great performances (in limited time) from deep reserves Marquis Teague (14 minutes, four points, three assists, +4) and Daequan Cook (eight minutes, three points, three assists, +10), who made his first series appearance in its final game. Although relatively minor in terms of broad impact, the way these seldom-used players stepped up to the big stage in a big way for Chicago says all you have to know about this game, which was rarely in doubt throughout the night, even though the Nets were able to come within around five points down the stretch.

On the other hand, Brooklyn's bench didn't nearly provide the same benefit as their opposing numbers did. Not one reserve Net posted a positive +/- while the unit combined was just 5-8 from the free-throw line and 8-19 from the field, numbers that are far to inefficient to be helpful and not hurtful. This poor play can also be attributed partly to P.J., who only played MarShon Brooks--the most effective Nets bench-player on Saturday--eight minutes while giving guys like Kris Humphries and C.J. Watson 12 and 17 minutes respectively, even though they missed open shot after open shot in important situations. At least we won't have to deal with his unfathomable/unexplainable rotational decisions anymore.

Some other observations I had from the game: #ReggieEvansPlayoffReboundWatch: 13 in 26 minutes, and hit both free throws he took. Committed two tough turnovers--due to his knack for lowering the ball right into the active hands of the Bulls defenders after he collects rebounds or catches a pass--but was pretty good overall. Was certainly not the problem......You know who was the problem? Joe Johnson, who was woeful shooting in the biggest game of his NBA career so far. Joe scored just six points on 2-14 shooting, missing eight of the nine three-pointers he attempted as well. He was WIDE OPEN on a bunch of those threes, and just one or two of them falling could have altered the entire complexion of this game and may have led to a possible Brooklyn win. There is talk that his recent plantar fasciitis problem is to blame for the horrendous shooting performance, but I'm not going to count that as a acceptable excuse, considering that Joakim Noah was able to score 24 points and collect 14 rebounds with the same injury......Gerald Wallace, surprisingly, might have been the best Net in the whole game. He was hitting threes with confidence, looking to take his own shot, holding Jimmy Butler in check (to just nine points), throwing down highlight dunks, and even making some nice passes (five assists). Scored 19 points on 8-16 shooting while making Nets fans and NBA watchers shut their respective mouths about his so-called "declining talent", a statement backed up by much of his performance this year.....Deron Williams played great too, in the loss, scoring 24 points on 8-17 shooting and 4-8 three-point shooting. Grabbed six boards and dished out seven assists, while not committing a turnover too. Also played good defense on the slippery Nate Robinson......Now for Brook Lopez, who had a great stat-line (21 points, nine rebounds) but was definitively outplayed by Joakim Noah, who dunked all over him, outrebounded him on both ends, and drove on him at will. Bad way to end the year for Brook.

Looking Ahead

A LONG offseason and no games until October (preseason). This team will probably look considerably different then, both in terms of the roster and coaching staff, especially with Sunday's firing of P.J. Carlesimo.

Even before last night's loss, it wasn't likely that Carlesimo would remain at the helm of the Nets for the 2013-14 season. Now it's official that he won't

Serving as the interim head coach of the Brooklyn Nets for around four months (starting in late December and ending in early May) after the team fired Avery Johnson, P.J. Carlesimo led the Nets to their first playoff berth in awhile, finishing the regular season as the East's #4 seed with a 49-33 record. But Brooklyn fell apart in the playoffs, losing Games 2-4 of their series vs the Bulls, capped off with a blown 14-point lead in Game 4 that led to a triple-overtime classic loss. And then, less than a full day later, Billy King and the Brooklyn front office relieved Carlesimo from his head-coaching duties, firing him for a terrible playoff effort.

Down 3-1, the Nets fought back by winning at Barclays and at United Center to tie up the score at three games apiece. Then, last night, in a do-or-die Game 7 in Brooklyn, Carlesimo's squad never led as it was thoroughly outplayed from start to finish by an injury-decimated Chicago Bulls team that clearly wanted the series win more. Rightfully so, that lack of killer instinct and drive in an incredibly-important game sealed P.J.'s fate, and he'll be on the job hunt this offseason, just like the Nets will be on the search for a new coach, one who can lead this team past the 1st round.

If Kirk Hinrich misses Game 7, Nate Robinson will become a focal point of the Chicago Bulls' offensive and defense game-plan

When: 8:00 PM; Saturday, May 4th, 2013

Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY

TV: YES/TNT

GAME 7 GAME 7 GAME 7 GAME 7 GAME 7. I've been waiting for this game for much of my teenage years, a do-or-die playoff game in Brooklyn, against an elite opponent, on national television, with the whole country watching. That moment is now folks, so get ready. Also, coming back from a 3-1 series deficit to win is really rare. Oh, and Deng, Rose, and Hinrich will all probably miss this game. I won't keep you waiting anymore.

Probable Lineups

CHI- Robinson (PG), Belinelli (SG), Butler (SF), Boozer (PF), Noah (C)

BKN- Williams (PG), Johnson (SG), Wallace (SF), Evans (PF), Lopez (C)

Final Thoughts

Game 7's are historically intense and crazy affairs, much like the other games of this series. Expect a whole new kind of crazy tonight at the Barclays Center. #HelloPlayoffs

Luol Deng is out, yet again, for the Bulls in Game 7

Just recapping the injury woes the Chicago Bulls are facing in tonight's pivotal Game 7 matchup with the Nets at the Barclays Center:

Contrary to recent speculation, Derrick Rose will not make his season debut this evening in Brooklyn. He has already been cleared by doctors to return from his ACL surgery, but still doesn't feel ready to get back on the court.

Luol Deng, still recovering from a viral infection and spinal tap procedure that caused him to miss Game 6, is out tonight and didn't make the trip to New York, staying in a Chicago hospital.

Also, Kirk Hinrich, who missed Games 5 and 6 with a calf injury, is a game-time decision. If he can't play, Nate Robinson will start for him again.

Each member of the Nets' Big Three (Joe, Deron, Brook) scored 17 points as Brooklyn stunned the United Center crowd to force a Game 7 with the Bulls

Well, they did it, somehow. It wasn't easy, was nerveracking, and was unsure throughout, but the Nets' first-ever road playoff win as a Brooklyn team did the job, to be certain. Coming into tonight's pivotal Game 6, the Nets knew that they just had to outwork and hit a few more shots than the shorthanded Bulls, without Kirk Hinrich (calf) and Luol Deng (viral infection).

The Nets, as they have done for much of this series, started off the night very hot rom the floor, scoring a stunning 33 1st-quarter points against a Chicago team known for its stifling defense. That offense continued over to the 2nd quarter, after which the score was set at 60-54 in the Nets' favor after a late Marco Belinelli three-pointer at the end of the half brought the lead down from nine.

The 2nd half took a much slower pace than the first did, allowing the Bulls--who play a slower pace and tend to score less than the Nets--to climb right back into the game, cutting the Brooklyn lead to four after the 3rd quarter and to two towards the tail end of the 4th quarter, the home stretch of this game. But at the 2:45 mark of the 4th, with the Nets up four, a Deron free-throw-split allowed a Belinelli three (accounting for three of his 22 points) to bring the score to 90-88,just about as close as it was the whole night.

Then, after alternating Brook and Boozer misses, a circus-like layup from Andray Blatche (the undoubted x-factor in this one) off the glass--really, would you expect anything else from 'Dray?--gave the Nets some cushion with a two-possession lead that would soon be cut in half by a Nate Robinson jumper. A Boozer loose ball foul (his 6th and final foul) and a Blatche 1-2 outing from the line later, and the ubiquitous Nazr Mohammed (just subbing for Boozer) hits a wide-open layup off a great Joakim Noah feed, cutting the Brooklyn lead to just one. Blatche would redeem himself with the game's clinching free throws as a Chicago missed three (from Net-killer Belinelli) and Noah turnover finished out the game, sealing another crazy and wild Nets win.

Some other observations I had from the game: #ReggieEvansPlayoffReboundWatch: 15 in 29 minutes. Just what the doctor ordered, especially considering how Boozer and Noah commanded the glass much of the game.....Gerald Wallace, who scored 15, hit two more incredibly-momentous threes in this game, continuing his  unlikely playoff run of clutch shots. Even with one attempt airballing terribly, the confidence looks to be back in Gerald as he's playing more active on defense and throwing down some massive dunks when he gets the chance. When he plays well, it's hard for this team to lose.....Turnovers: Bulls 16, Nets 9. The turnover disparity played a huge role in Game 6 as Brooklyn was able to run a bunch more effective offensive sets for points because they weren't losing possession due to as many stupid passes and fouls as normal.......The Nets were still able to win despite hitting just 67 percent of their free throws (22-33). That's 11 points right there that they just threw away.

Looking Ahead

Game 7 is now on Saturday at 8:00 pm in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. A Rihanna concert scheduled for that date, time, and place was rescheduled for this game. Can we make it count, Nets? I know a win would put us in a series with the unstoppable Heat, but I'd rather get swept than not make the 2nd round at all.

Hinrich missed Game 5, a Nets win, with the same calf injury that is causing him to miss Game 6. Luol Deng, with some sort of viral infection, is out too

When: 8:00 PM; Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

Where: United Center; Chicago, IL

TV: YES/TNT

Kirk Hinrich is out with a calf injury and Luol Deng has a viral infection. On the other hand, the Nets are completely healthy. Also, if Brooklyn loses this game, their season is over. IT'S ELIMINATION GAME 6 FOLKS.

Probable Lineups

BKN- Williams (PG), Johnson (SG), Wallace (SF), Evans (PF), Lopez (C)

CHI- Robinson (PG), Belinelli (SG), Butler (SF), Boozer (PF), Noah (C)

Final Thoughts

No Deng and no Hinrich, shouldn't be a Nets loss. But if it is, will go down as one of the worst playoff eliminations in recent history.