LOS ANGELES, June 4 -- Reserve guard Lucious Harris had first-hand knowledge that the acquisition of Jason Kidd would lead to Nets success. Harris and Kidd were teammates on the Mavericks from 1994-96, a move that lifted Dallas out of the doldrums.

Harris played with Kidd in Dallas. NBAE Photos

"He called me and I thought, let me get in shape before I call him back! I know he's going to want to work out or something," Harris recalled hearing about the trade that brought Kidd to the Nets. "I called him back and told him, 'Man, you're going to love it in Jersey. Everything is going to be fine. I think you're what we need for this team. I know we have a lot of people who can score the ball. I know what type of player you are because I played with you for two years. I know what you're going to bring to this team.'"

Then Harris couldn't wait to share the news.

"I told everybody, 'just be ready.' Going into training camp, I was telling the guys, 'I've played with this dude, be ready to play.'"

To Flop or not to Flop
Naturally, the redundant question at Tuesday's practice was how the Nets plan to defend the Lakers, namely one Shaquille O'Neal against whom New Jersey will pit Todd MacCulloch. The third-year center faced O'Neal last year in the Finals, but in a much more limited role, averaging five minutes a game. MacCulloch did break out with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting in Game 2, with five rebounds. This season, he scored 17 points and grabbed eight boards in his only game against the Lakers -- one in which O'Neal did not play.

Since defending O'Neal will essentially be a new experience for MacCulloch, the question arose as to what the Nets center had learned from the player thus far most effective against O'Neal -- the Kings' Vlade Divac. Namely, can MacCulloch flop?

"I did a little Fosbury flop in high school," MacCulloch said wryly, to little reaction. The NBA beat evidentally doesn't know its track-and-field history. The Fosbury flop is a method of high jumping, named after Dick Fosbury, who won a gold medal in the 1968 Olympic Games with his unconventional style.

With nobody so informed as to then ponder the 7-0 MacCulloch high jumping, questions of defensive strategy persisted until he finally broke.

"Yes, I'm going to flop every time," MacCulloch deadpanned. "I'm going to be on the ground the whole series. I just hope that I don't get hurt falling down. I'm going to get elbow pads and a helmet."

This time, the group laughed.

What the Hall?
With 24 hours to go before Game 1 tips off, a war of words has already begun -- and that's just among the media. A reporter in the back of the pack asked MacCulloch how he felt about people saying his facing O'Neal was the biggest mismatch ever. As MacCulloch began to respond that everyone O'Neal plays against is a mismatch, Arsenio Hall from the "Tonight Show" interrupted with his own question, something about Shaq giving MacCulloch props. MacCulloch gave a mock look of confusion, asking, "like airplane props?" But that got lost among indignant shouts from the media mob, calling out Hall's breach of interview protocol. MacCulloch, for his part, took a step back and let everyone squabble for a bit before finishing his answer to the first reporter's question.

Kittles' Comeback

Kittles has always dreamt of playing for a title. NBAE Photos

After missing all of last season rehabbing from re-constructive knee surgery, Kerry Kittles couldn't be sure that he would even be able to contribute effectively for the Nets again, much less think about advancing to the playoffs. However, the sixth-year guard has played in all 98 games so far this season, averaging 11.9 points in the playoffs. Despite the big turnaround, Kittles insists this trip to the Finals wasn't beyond his wildest dreams.

"I've had those wild dreams before where I thought about playing for a title and now I'm here," Kittles said. "Dreaming is great for everyone to start to make something special happen in your life and in your career. It only motivates you to work hard to get there and be focused on trying to accomplish that goal and make that dream a reality. It's great. I've been there before in my mind and I want to try to make it as fun as I can right now."

Nets-Coast Style
They may be the Eastern Conference champs, but the New Jersey Nets definitely have a West Coast "flava." No fewer than eight players on the roster hail from the left side of the country and four of them are Pac-10 products. The Nets also play under the direction of head coach and former Arizona State guard Byron Scott, who has installed a "West Coast" offense.

What does this mean for their series against the Lakers? It means that tickets to the games in Los Angeles are a ridiculously hot commodity among the Nets. Rookie Brandon Armstrong, a Pepperdine alum, said he's had friends "coming out of the woodwork" asking for tickets. Keith Van Horn hopes the Lakers will open up some more seats to the Nets. But the Long Beach, Calif. native said he wasn't going to let being home again be too much of a distraction.

"I'm getting a lot of people tickets to the games, I went out to dinner with a few friends, but I'm just trying to keep my focus on the games," Van Horn said. "After the games I'll say hello, but I don't want to get too caught up in that, because that stuff starts to wear on you and can get overwhelming. I don't want to allow that to happen."