Mahwah, N.J.—The players being announced as they approached the court were all Nets, and the court was located at the Bill Bradley Sports & Recreation Center at Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J., but they were being cheered by a crowd full of fans for the first time this season.

The team held its annual Open Practice at the Bradley Center for a second straight season. They opened with an intra-squad scrimmage before participating in several interactive contests with fans.

“We had fun out there,” said forward Sean Williams. “Having the fans watch our practice brings a different kind of energy. It kind of simulates game situations before our first preseason game, gets a little bit of the butterflies out of our stomachs. We had a lot of fun, and that’s what it’s really about.”

The scrimmage moved along pretty rapidly, with the team noticeably attempting to push in transition before deciding whether to slow down the offense on a given play. Devin Harris and Brook Lopez played their normally solid games, while Chris Douglas-Roberts made you notice him with several attacking drives to the rim, even setting up forward Bennett Davis for an alley-oop dunk during a 2-on-1 break.

Rafer Alston’s passing skills were on display throughout, as the Brooklyn-bred guard regularly dished to open teammates for easy looks. He connected cross-court with Bobby Simmons for a couple 3’s, and also dropped a few dimes to Sean Williams down low. Yi Jianlian remained aggressive, notably passing up a long jumper on the wing for a power dribble-drive toward the basket, though he didn’t finish the play.

As a first look, it impressed long-time Nets fan Kevin Williams. The Brooklyn native, a season-ticket holder for five years and self-proclaimed “great Nets fan” since 1967, is raring for the season to get underway.

“Guys look good,” Williams said. “I’m looking forward to Brook doing more out there, being a positive threat against every other team. Guys are going to have to come in and defend against him. And of course Devin Harris is a threat out there, so I’m expecting him to score 20-30 points a night.”

After the scrimmage was complete, the team was introduced one-by-one. The players seemed loose, with veteran Jarvis Hayes joking that Yi and Lopez would have to go down the long line to fist bump each player before pulling them back once they dejectedly started. And when event emcee Jaclyn Sabol revealed it was Courtney Lee’s 24th birthday, Alston grabbed Douglas-Roberts and told the second-year swingman he had to sing because “he’s a rookie until the first game of the season.”

The Nets then played three competitions with fans, with Lopez beating Terrence Williams and then Harris in half-court shooting. Simmons knocked off Alson and Yi to win the three-point shootout, and Terrence Williams won knockout by eliminating Bennett Davis with a free-throw, walking away like he knew the shot was going in as the crowd cheered.

“It’s a great environment and they’ve been great hosts,” said Nets coach Lawrence Frank. “We’ve always attracted crowds, so we appreciate the support we get, and we really appreciate Ramapo extending their facility to us, because it’s really a beautiful facility. It’s top-shelf.”

<< Back to All Access News