NET NOTES
A day after Alonzo Mourning vowed he’d return for the start of the season, the Nets center was still unsure – even a little indignant – when asked about whether he’ll play in tonight’s final exhibition game.
“I don’t know,” Mourning said after yesterday’s practice. “We’ll have to wait and see, man. Why y’all so worried about me playing in an exhibition game. We got 82 games to play. Good god, man. Don’t worry about me playing in an exhibition game. I’m not worried about it. I feel good, had a decent practice. I still got a lot of improvement to do.”
Coach Lawrence Frank echoed Mourning’s ambivalent attitude toward playing time in tonight’s game against Philadelphia.
“We’re just worried about today, practice,” Frank said. “We’ll cross that bridge after we watch practice tape.”
Jason Kidd has been cleared to start the on-court phase of his rehabilitation. Kidd, who had a scheduled visit with Dr. David Altchek yesterday, can now begin individual non-contact activity several days a week. Up until now, Kidd has only walked on a treadmill. Now he can run and jog.
He will still not be allowed to participate in any scrimmages with the team and no timetable has been set for his return to the active roster.
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The Nets waived Damone Brown and Darius Rice yesterday, cutting the preseason roster to 16. Frank has to make at least one more cut by the 6 p.m. Monday roster deadline but could make the decision as early as today. Frank said he’d like to keep 15 players for the season.
“A lot of them wouldn’t see time in games, but they’d make your practices better,” Frank said. “And with Jason gone, it’s like having only 14 players.”
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In 14 minutes of play in Tuesday night’s 86-79 loss to the Knicks, rookie Nenad Krstic turned the ball over three times, committed five fouls and scored just two points. Krstic said yesterday that he’s still adjusting to the NBA run-and-gun style of play.
“It’s very hard,” Krstic said. “These are my first games. I’ve only watched tapes. It’s tough. The NBA is much better than Europe.”