Jason Kidd isn’t able to talk about the specific moves the Nets have made so far this offseason, including the blockbuster trade with the Celtics and re-signing Andray Blatche.
But Kidd didn’t shy away from the sky-high expectations that surround the Nets now that they’ve added a pair of future Hall of Famers to an already talented and experienced core group of players for him to coach.
“They were always high,” Kidd said when asked if the expectations for this team have changed. “As a competitor, you have one goal, and that’s to try to win a championship.”
Kidd smiled when asked further questions about the roster, saying with a smile, “I don’t know what the roster holds.” But that didn’t stop him from saying how helpful it will be to have a locker room full of strong veteran personalities to lead the team moving forward.
“It’s big when you have a team that has veteran guys that have won and understand what it takes to win,” Kidd said. “And not just players, but also coaches.”
Some other morsels from the over nine-minute conversation Kidd had with the media:
— Kidd revealed a bit of his philosophy on dealing with players – something that many have speculated could be an issue for a first-year coach handling such a veteran roster – when asked how he’d keep big-name players happy and satisfied with how things are going.
“There’s only one name, and that’s the Nets,” he said. “That’s a big name. That’s the way I’m going to coach the guys … it’s about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.”
For the record, I don’t think Kidd’s going to have problems with this, anyway – he was one of the most widely respected players in the league, one that current players speak in reverential tones about, including his new star point guard, Deron Williams. But it was interesting to see his response.
— In another interesting moment, Kidd revealed a bit about how the Nets may play this year when he was asked if he’s changed his philosophy about wanting to play at an uptempo pace, with the obvious (but unmentioned) reference to the Nets adding Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry in the Celtics deal.
“We’ve got to go north and south. I don’t know what speed we’ll go on the treadmill … we’ll see. But we do have to go north and south, and I don’t know if it’s going to be at a level of 10, but hopefully it will be above a five.”
I’m sure some will scoff at that quote, thinking that it’s impossible for a veteran team like the Nets to play at a fast pace. However, look at how the Spurs played this season, and particularly against the Heat in the Finals, and you can see how it would work.
Instead of walking the ball up the floor and taking their time getting into their sets, the Spurs would often try to get the ball into the frontcourt as quickly as possible, allowing them to get into their sets with 18, 19 or even 20 seconds remaining on the shot clock.
There were possessions against the Heat were Duncan would have the ball in the post on offense within five seconds of the ball going through the hoop at the other end, preventing Miami’s excellent halfcourt defense from getting set and preparing to stop the Spurs from running their sets.
This is at least an indication that the Nets will consider playing a similar style. We’ll see if that’s how it turns out.
tbontemps@nypost.com