Stefanski's State of the Nets

Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com
September 24th, 2007

NJNets.com sat down with Nets General Manager Ed Stefanski on the cusp of training camp to get his thoughts on the team, the off-season, and the major topics heading into the 2007-08 season.

On a New Season Approaching…

“It’s always exciting, not just for the New Jersey Nets; but every city that has an NBA team has great thoughts. Our thoughts are to win an NBA Championship. You haven’t lost a game right now and you go forward. We obviously have places where you look at to say how is this guy going to perform. And there are certain players that are going to have to improve off of last year for us to be successful.”

On Jamaal Magloire…

“Very excited about Jamaal Magloire coming in; I think he is a piece that is really going to help us from a physical standpoint that we haven’t had here in years. We know he can rebound the ball and he can also score inside. I think he will help complement our guys and give us an added front-court player that we’ve needed. We’ve needed more depth in the front-court and I think he adds to that.”

On the "Big Three"…

“The obvious is the big three coming back. Richard wasn’t healthy last year until the very end and he came on like gang-busters. Hopefully Richard can continue there. We know what kind of players Vince and JKidd are.”

On Nenad Krstic…

“And then you add a Krstic who is hopefully going to be healthy by the beginning of the season – he is progressing very nicely. So, you have a very good nucleus of players.”

On the Bench Players…

“Now, guys coming off the bench. Is Boki going to play as well as he played last year? He’s proven he can play, now can he do better? Can Antoine take another step forward? The two rookies last year, Marcus and Josh, can they take a step forward? They are all questions you ask. Bernard Robinson will get a chance this year. The year we traded for Boki, he didn’t get into a game until the following year when he had a preseason under his belt and the coach felt comfortable. There’s a chance for Robinson to step up also.”

On Sean Williams…

“You have a rookie who is very athletic, but raw. How long is it going to take Sean Williams to figure it all out? We can’t rely on him to figure it out right away but we think he’s got upside.”

On Marcus Williams…

“I thought Marcus had an awesome summer. Everything we asked of him from basketball, from coming here to going to Tim Grgurich’s camp out in Vegas with other pros and playing in the summer league. He fulfilled what we asked of and more from a basketball standpoint.”

On the Team Outlook…

“If we’re healthy, we’re a good basketball team. I think we have numerous pieces. Health is a huge thing. I’d like to see us stay healthy and see where it falls. I think the addition of Magloire and a healthy Krstic are two big additions from last year.”

On the Division…

“The division got a lot harder over night. Boston, with their trades, is a very formidable opponent now. Toronto won the division last year. Zach Randolph goes into NY, very talented player, so they got better. Philadelphia played very well at the end and got good draft picks. The division as a whole got better.”

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