PORTLAND – Late in the third quarter in Phoenix Wednesday, Byron Scott noticed something in his Nets’ team makeup that he had rarely observed this season. Jason Kidd was on defense. But he wasn’t defending the way Jason Kidd usually defends.
“I knew he was getting tired because he was expending so much energy,” said the Nets coach before his troops tried to end their recent funk – and two game losing streak – against the rampaging Blazers, winners of 11 straight, here last night.
Tell the Nets they owe back taxes and face time in the slammer. Ho hum. Tell them poisonous snakes are loose in the locker room. Bummer, Miller time. Tell them Kidd is getting tired, maybe wearing down. AAARRGGGHHHH! Shoot us now!
Kidd’s minutes have not been inordinate; he was 28th in the league at 37.8 a game. But Kidd is asked to do so much for the Nets: score, rebound, pass, defend, direct. There is a mental burden on him as well as a physical one. His shooting – and he’s never been a great shooter – is .379, but has dipped to .314 in the previous five games. There has been no real appreciable shift in assists or turnovers. In those five games he has had double-figure assists only once, but that’s more of an indictment of Net shooting. Still, he must feel some fatigue.
“I’m sure he is, but he would never let you know if he’s tired,” said Lucious Harris, who reported his bruised hip would not keep him out last night or tonight in Seattle. “He has done a lot, played a lot of big minutes. Guys get tired, they don’t run as hard, but he never stops, no matter how tired he is.”
Kidd shrugs at the thought of fatigue. Even if that’s the case, he’s focused on the playoffs.
“I’m not worried about it. I’m trying to get as much rest as I can. My biggest concern is to make sure I’m ready and the team is ready come the end of April,” said Kidd. “The season is coming to an end and the big thing is to make sure physically and mentally I’m ready for the playoffs. That’s my approach to the 22 games left.”
Scott will monitor Kidd’s minutes down the stretch, but the Nets need Kidd, the player and the leader, on the court. They’ve come too far to plunge in the standings and blow a favorable seeding.
“Until he tells me he’s getting tired, I’m not really worried,” Scott insisted. “Shooting is not a sign. When he’s not picking up guys and he’s not defending guys the way he normally does, that’s what I’d look for. That’s a sign that means to me he’s getting tired.”
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Kidd on his $5,000 fine for flipping the middle finger at a heckler in Phoenix: “It was probably something I shouldn’t have done. It wasn’t directed toward all the fans, somebody had said something as I left the court. So, the gesture was for that individual.”
Keith Van Horn spent a fairly sleepless night after missing his chance to tie at the foul line in Phoenix with :00.4 left. “That one definitely hurt,” he said.
