NET NOTES

MILWAUKEE – The Nets are using a center-by-committee approach. Whoever plays well, plays. Bucks coach George Karl is fine with that. He wants anything that keeps Dikembe Mutombo on the bench.

“Is he mad, is he really not playing as well as he can? I don’t know,” said Karl, who saw Mutombo beat his Sonics in ’94 and his Bucks in ’01 with the Nuggets and Sixers, respectively. “This is what I do know: Mutombo always beats me when he’s in there. Personally, I don’t like him out there. I feel better when I see him on the bench.”

Still, Byron Scott will go with what works. In Game 1, Jason Collins worked. In Game 2, Aaron Williams worked (8 points, 8 rebounds, 19 minutes) while looking to score.

“I can score. They called a couple of plays for me, so I just tried to get the job done,” said Williams.

And that was what Scott wanted. “Defensively, we were doing a pretty good job, but offensively we really weren’t getting out and getting up and down the floor,” Scott said.

* Jason Kidd was excused from practice yesterday for what the team called “personal reasons.” Kidd may have stayed home to be with son T.J., 4, whom he landed on while chasing a loose ball in fourth quarter.

Some watching the Spurs series mention Kidd’s name every time point Tony Parker struggles. Kidd is always linked with San Antonio with his impending free agency, but he feels Parker should not have to deal with this. “That’s not right for my name to come up if Tony doesn’t play well. I’m not on that team,” he said.