Nets don't see a big difference in time-shortened game
A day later, after things had a little more time to sink in, the Nets' feelings surrounding their guinea pig-like experiment had all the vigor of a flat bottle of soda.
No fizz whatsoever. Still.
Being a part of the NBA's 44-minute test on Sunday against the Celtics essentially registered a collective yawn, given that many didn't see much of a difference from the usual 48-minute contest.
Joe Johnson said it's not as if the fewer minutes did anything to lessen the usual aches and pains the day after.
"Nah, I don't feel any different," Johnson said before the Nets' 99-88 preseason win over the 76ers at Barclays Center Monday night. "Like I said, it doesn't matter to me anyway. I mean, I don't think it makes that big of a difference in a game if you take off a minute in a quarter."
In listening to its coaches at one of their recent meetings, the subject of the length of games came up, and the NBA decided to check into possible solutions. So the league elected to use Sunday's preseason game to observe and examine the flow of a shorter game.
But other than taking a few seconds of playing time away from the reserves, there was nothing overly tangible to take from the whole experience, and it's not as if the phone of Nets coach Lionel Hollins was buzzing with inquiries.
"No, [Mavericks coach] Rick Carlisle texted me last night and asked me what I thought," Hollins said, "and [referee] Bob Delaney came into my office afterward and asked me what I thought . . . But it was just a game. I prefer 48 minutes. I thought it went by really fast. But it didn't change how I subbed or anything like that."
On Monday night, with the usual 12-minute quarters back in play, Hollins started Andrei Kirilenko at power forward so he could get an idea of how the combination of Kirilenko and Mason Plumlee might fare, and if Mirza Teletovic is more of an offensive spark as a reserve.
"I want to see what AK looks like and see what Mirza is better at -- starting or is he better coming off the bench -- and where the team is, where the team is with or without him at the beginning," Hollins said. "Obviously, when the season starts, if we have Brook [Lopez] and we have KG [Kevin Garnett], he'll be coming off the bench. I wanted to see if he supplies the group without those two guys the same kind of energy as he would if Mirza was starting."
Notes & quotes: The Nets are encouraging fans who attend Sunday's 11 a.m. open practice at Barclays Center to stay after the oncourt festivities and get involved in the team's attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest game of basketball knockout, which currently stands at 581 participants. To be a part of it, fans must RSVP at brooklynnets.com by Wednesday. All guests must have a ticket.