Doc Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers head coach, spoke with reporters at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn prior to the Clippers’ game with the Brooklyn Nets

During the press conference Rivers spoke about:

• Adjustments new guys and teams face when they add new players
• A critique of Clippers’ recent game against the Philadelphia 76er’s
• Sixers guard/forward Ben Simmons’ maturity and all-around skill level
• Praise for Nets’ guards Allen Crabbe and Joe Harris. Crabbe for his shooting ability and Harris for his “unshakeable confidence”
• His last opportunity to sit in the stands and watch an NBA game as a spectator

VIDEO: Tom Thibodeau shares with the media his secret sauce for a winning culture

As a basketball coach, Tom Thibodeau, head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is highly respected and one of the lucky ones. Thibodeau graduated from Salem State in 1981 and started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Salem State the same year. Thibodeau was an assistant coach at Harvard, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets. He was an associate head coach with the Boston Celtics from 2007 – 2010, head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 2010 – 2015, and his current position with the T-wolves since 2016.

As head coach of the Chicago Bulls, somehow Tom Thibodeau developed a reputation of being a taskmaster. Although the Bulls were in the NBA playoffs for several years, stories of Thibodeau working his team so hard that players didn’t want to play for him started circulating in the media. And, even though Thibodeau was an NBA Coach of the Year with the Bulls and received numerous other accolades, on May 28, 2015, the Chicago Bulls management fired Thibodeau.

However, the cream always rises to the top, and in 2016, Thibodeau got a better job. The Minnesota Timberwolves named Thibodeau Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations.

It’s important to note that Jimmy Butler, one of the Chicago Bulls’ best players under Thibodeau, joined Thibodeau in Minnesota at his first opportunity, as did Taj Gibson.

And, when the media assembled at the Barclays Center had an opportunity for a Q&A with Thibodeau prior to the Minnesota Timberwolves’ game against the Brooklyn Nets, the conversation was very instructive. Thibodeau most salient points were:

• The importance of building good habits
• Jimmy Butler’s work habits and his impact on the Timberwolves’ players
• Underscoring that Timberwolves are Top 5 in Offensive Categories that matter
• Understanding the need for balance

Now, in case you don’t know, the T-wolves are currently making a push in the NBA Western Conference playoff run and are upsetting the order in NBA Western Conference standings. We’ll be keeping an eye on them.

VIDEO: Sean Marks explains to media the reasoning behind trading Tyler Zeller, picking up Dante Cunningham and Jeremy Lin update

Prior to the Nets’ home game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Sean Marks, the Brooklyn Nets general manager spoke to the media about recent player moves specifically: 1) moving Tyler Zeller to the Milwaukee Bucks, 2) acquiring Dante Cunningham from the New Orleans Pelicans, and 3) Jeremy Lin exercising his player option. Marks also provided insight into the Brooklyn Nets' process for acquiring players.

Tyler Zeller

Tyler Zeller came to the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent in September 2017 after playing with the Boston Celtics (2014-17) and has played in 42 games with averages of 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per contest. On February 5, 2018, the Brooklyn Nets traded Tyler Zeller to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for guard Rashad Vaughn and a 2018 second round pick from Milwaukee provided that the pick falls between No. 31-47. If the pick is not conveyed in 2018, it will become an unprotected 2020 second round pick.

"It's always difficult to see a guy move, especially a guy like Tyler who did everything we asked him to do," said Marks. "Worked hard, developed himself. All the old clichés of first guy in the gym, last guy to leave sort of thing, he was that. But this is a great opportunity for him. He gets to go to a playoff team. Milwaukee wanted him, wanted him badly, and that sort of reflected in what they had to give up to get him."

Dante Cunningham

On the heels of picking up Rashad Vaughn for Tyler Zeller, the Nets acquired forward Dante Cunningham from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Rashad Vaughn.

Cunningham (6’8”, 230), currently in his ninth NBA season, has played in 51 games (24 starts) for the Pelicans this season, posting averages of 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game. Selected out of Villanova University by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 33rd overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Cunningham holds career NBA averages of 6.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per contest in 629 games with Portland, Charlotte, Memphis, Minnesota and New Orleans.

Vaughn appeared in one game for Brooklyn after being acquired on February 5th from Milwaukee.

“Dante Cunningham is somebody I'm familiar with and I think our whole group is familiar with," said Marks. "With Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) being out right now and losing Tyler as well, Dante gives us a positional need, fills that little bit of a void there. But he also brings us toughness, grit. He's a veteran. He's been on multiple teams. He's been on playoff teams. He's been in big moments. And I think what he'll add to our group will be important."

Jeremy Lin

And then there was a question about Jeremy Lin, who has been sidelined since October 18, 2017. Lin underwent surgery after injuring his patellar tendon in his right knee during a game against the Indiana Pacers, which was the Nets’ first game of the 2017-18 NBA season. As expected and his righto assert, Lin declared this week that he was opting into the final year of his three-year contract with its $12.5 million salary.

Marks said, "It's certainly something we expected. We talked about it for quite some time now with his representatives. That was definitely no surprise."

VIDEO: Golden State Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, tells reporter why the Warriors are a great team

Golden State Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, in a pregame presser, shows his sense of humor and seriousness. Prior to a game against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Coach Kerr spoke with reporters about a variety of issues including:

• Assessment of Brooklyn Nets management and coaching staff
• Factors that make the Golden State Warriors a great team
• Omri Casspi’s influence on Golden State Warriors
• ZaZa Pachulia’s influence on Golden State Warriors
• NBA Game Scheduling and Resting Players

Allen Crabbe leads Brooklyn Nets scorers with 21 points, as Nets break eight-game losing streak with 104-87 win over Bulls

Last night, Brooklyn Nets fans came out of the doldrums, as the Nets ended an eight-game losing streak with their 104-87 win over the Chicago Bulls and the fans could not have been happier. As the clock ticked down to the final minute at the Barclays Center, Nets fans showed their approval with spontaneous applause.

And, Monday night’s win against the Chicago Bulls was no ordinary win; it is a significant milestone in the recent development of the Brooklyn Nets. This win against the Bulls is the Nets’ 61st game of the 2017-18 NBA season and marks the 20th win of the season for the Nets and matches their win total from all of last season. Moreover, the Nets didn’t win their 20th game last season until their 80th game, which was a home win over Chicago on April 8, 2017.

This game wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. During the first half, the Nets lead by as much as 10 points at 4:27 in the first quarter and ended the first quarter up by nine points. Taking it into to the second quarter, the Nets were up by as much as nine points, 49-40 at 2:24. But by the closing horn of the second quarter, the Nets had lost its edge allowing the Bulls to depart the court at half-time up two points 51-49 and leaving this reporter with thoughts of which Brooklyn Nets team was going to show up in the second-half. Fortunately, the Nets played the second-half with a “take no prisoners” intensity. Nets rookie center Jarrett Allen, with an assist from Spencer Dinwiddie, using a reverse dunk tied the game 51-51 within the first minute of the third quarter. Starting the fourth stanza up 14 points at 84-70, the Nets stayed in control and ended this session with a 104-87 win over the Chicago Bulls, a victory that the team and Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson could feel good about.

“I thought our defense was really good,” Coach Atkinson said regarding the Nets power moves in the third quarter. “I thought our activity was good. I thought we got into them. Spencer (Dinwiddie) starts the first play of the second half, gets the deflection, DeMarre (Carroll) gets the deny and we just kept getting stops and that’s the real story. I think defensively, really good game by us and then 31 assists on the offensive end. I thought we really shared it, really moved it around.”

And, Atkinson didn’t stop there, heaping a whole bunch of praise on Allen Crabbe, who was the Nets leading scorer with 21 points.

“What I’m most proud of, I just told our staff, he was really good defensively also,” Atkinson said about Crabbe whose confidence level has noticeably increased. “When I watch him now, you’re really not worried about him defensively. He’s fighting through screens, he’s breaking up passes and I think that’s been a while now. I’m just glad he’s starting to realize that he can do it on both ends. Then offensively he’s just ultra-aggressive. I still think he can add some things to his game, I still think he can drive it more to the rim with the shot he has, but excellent all-around game by Allen (Crabbe).”

Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg was disappointed that Bulls did not get a “W,” and in his team’s offensive play.

“We missed some easy ones early and I thought that affected everybody, Hoiberg said. “We weren’t getting out with the same aggressiveness in transition. I was really pleased with how we finished the second quarter. I thought we had a really good stretch of basketball, I think we held them to 32 points in the final 22 minutes of the first half and that’s growth for our team.”

“…End of the first half was great and then we came out so sluggish with no energy and the adversity hit and we got stagnant, Hoiberg continued. “It’s just something that has to be a constant, playing through the good times and the bad. Handling adversity well is what you have to do as a young group. Tonight we handled the adversity in the first half but not the second. You have to keep playing through the tough times and we did not do that well tonight.”

In addition to Crabbe, the Nets’ players leading the offense were DeMarre Carroll and Jarrett Allen who both scored 18 points; Allen added nine rebounds and Carroll posted six. Joe Harris added 15 points and seven rebounds. Although newly acquired player, Dante Cunningham, was not a points scoring leader for the Nets, he chipped in nine rebounds (eight of them defensive rebounds). Dinwiddie, who is the NBA All-Star Game’s Taco Bell Skills Challenge winner, wasn’t a leading points’ scorer for the Nets this time around, but he helped his teammates by tallying nine assists and five rebounds.

For the Chicago Bulls, Kris Dunn led all scorers with 23 points. Lauri Markkanen totaled 19 points and six rebounds; Bobby Portia scored 12 points and nine rebounds, and; Denzel Valentine chipped in 11 points and 13 rebounds. It should be noted that Noah Vonleh recorded eight rebounds for the Bulls.

Next, the Bulls travel to Charlotte to face the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, while the Nets travel to Cleveland to meet up with the Cleveland Cavaliers, also on Tuesday.

The next home game for the Brooklyn Nets is against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, March 11, 2018, at 7:30 p.m., at the Barclays Center.

Rashad Jennings is making a positive impact on young people through his nonprofit foundation, the Rashad Jennings Foundation

Rashad Jennings, a former running back for the New York Football Giants, is now a free agent, but he is not letting any grass grow under his feet.

On his LinkedIn post, Jennings says he spends his off-seasons traveling, training, and impacting lives through his 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Rashad Jennings Foundation. During the 2015-2016 school year, the Rashad Jennings Foundation was in over 25 schools in four states and impacted over 20 thousand students. The foundation’s focus is on literacy, mentorship, and health & fitness initiatives.

For more information about the Rashad Jennings Foundation’s and to get involved with the Rashad Jennings Foundation on an individual or corporate level, please visit RashadJenningsFoundation.org.

Chadwick Boseman, looking forward to other NBA All-star Game Activities, and catching up with friends in NYC

 Film and television actor Chadwick Boseman didn’t have any concrete plans for the NBA All-Star 2015 weekend but was definitely going to the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, the Taco Bell Skills Competition, and the Sprite Dunk Contest.

The 42 actor used to live in New York City, so he hoped to get to see some of the people he knew when he lived in the Big Apple.

Mike Greenberg, co-host of ESPN’s Mike & Mike; coached the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game team representing the East and his assistant coaches were New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony and Isaiah Austin, formerly of the Baylor Bears.

Allen Crabbe led Nets’ scorers with 24 points; Nets defense broke down in the fourth quarter

The Nets had a 79-73 lead heading into the final period. Brooklyn also led 95-93 after Allen Crabbe's 3-pointer with 4:09 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Nets could not hold on, missing eight shots in the last four minutes. The Nets got within two points with 1:04 to go after Spencer Dinwiddie hit a pair of free throws, but Indiana answered with five straight points, with 26 seconds left. And, at the end of the night, the Nets were on the losing end for the seventh straight game with a final score, 108-103 and a 19-40 win-loss record on the season.

So, what happened down the stretch?

“I think we got the shots we wanted and we missed some,” Crabbe explained to reporters following the loss. “For the most part, we had some costly turnovers too, I mean even me. We were down five so that kind of contributed to us not executing at the end there, coming up with another loss and it’s frustrating. It sucks that we keep putting ourselves in winning situations and we keep coming up short. Like I said, we were definitely looking forward to getting this big win going into the All-Star break. Now, we got like a week before our next game so hopefully, this break gives us some time to really get our minds right and attack this second half of the season.”

For the second consecutive game, Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson blames the team’s lack of, or, stunted defensive capabilities as a major contributing factor for the loss against Indiana.

“We couldn’t stop them,” Atkinson stated. “Defense again I think was our Achilles heel. Thirty-five points is just too many. I just felt like they got too many easy baskets, too many easy looks. There were too many breakdowns. Until we fix up our defense it’s going to be tough to get a W. That’s the way it is. We’re going to look at it, we’re going to look at our coverages; we’re going to look at who’s in the game. That’s disappointing to give up that many points in the fourth quarter.”

Allen Crabbe led Nets players who scored in double-digits, with a team-high 24 points (9-of-16 FG, 5-of-11 3FG) and with a career-high-tying eight rebounds. DeMarre Carroll recorded 21 points (6-of-13 FG, 5-of-8 3FG, 4-of-6 FT), 10 rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes tonight. This is Carroll’s seventh game of 20-plus points this season; it matches his single-season career high seven 20-plus point games in the 2014-15 Season with Atlanta. And, there is still time left in this season for Carroll to break his record. D’Angelo Russell posted 18 points and a game-high nine assists in 29 minutes off the bench. Nets rookie Jarrett Allen totaled 10 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes in his ninth career start. Allen has scored in double figures in 10 of his last 12 games.

Although Spencer Dinwiddie did not score in double digits, he tallied seven points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in 33 minutes.

Indiana is the second team this week where all five starters scored in double digits against the Nets. For the Pacers, Victor Oladipo led all scorers with 25 points. Corey Joseph scored 15 points and 11 rebounds; former Nets’ player Bojan Bogdanovic put up 14 points and five rebounds; Thaddeus Young, another former Nets’ player, tallied 13 points and seven rebounds; Al Jefferson came off the bench to score 13 points; and starter Myles Turner posted 11 points and 14 rebounds.

This was the last game for both teams before the NBA All-Star break. Nets point guard Dinwiddie will represent the Nets in the 2018 Taco Bell Skills Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles this Saturday, February 17, at Staples Center at 8 p.m. ET. The event will be televised nationally on TNT.

After the break, the Pacers will meet up with Atlanta on February 23rd, while the Nets will play the Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte on Thursday, February 22nd at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Joe Harris and D’Angelo Russell each scored 16 points, but all Clippers’ starters scored in double digits

Monday night was not a good night for the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center. Team black-and-white could not make any inroads against the Los Angeles Clippers and its 114-101 loss brings the Nets’ losing streak to six consecutive games. Right now, sitting on a 19-39 win-loss record for this season, the Nets need to hustle to bypass its 20-62 win-loss record from last season in order to show that it is an improved team. It hasn’t helped to have several injured players this season. D’Angelo Russell just returned after he was sidelined for six weeks, now both Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert are out with injuries. And, the Nets are really missing Hollis-Jefferson’s defensive presence.

Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters at his postgame presser that “defensively” is where the Nets struggled the most tonight.

“We couldn’t stop them,” Atkinson said regarding the Nets’ defensive abilities. “We never found any solution to stop them. They really got downhill on us. Their pick-and-roll game, their guards were in the paint and they were laying it up or shooting floaters or throwing the lob. We held them to 16 three’s but, again, did way too many paint drives. We knew we had to keep them out of the paint and we never did it. That was the story of the game, couldn’t stop them.”

The picture is not totally bleak, as there were some bright spots for Brooklyn. In this game against the Clippers, the Nets registered 10 steals led by three steals from Quincy Acy and two steals from Allen Crabbe. Brooklyn’s assist game was tight showing that the team played as a team, edging the Clippers 27-19 in assists. The Nets have averaged 30.0 assists per game in their last three games, compared to an average of 20.7 assists per game for their last three opponents.

The Nets weren’t exactly doormats. Joe Harris and D’Angelo Russell each had 16 points for the Nets, with Russell adding five assists, two rebounds, and one steal. Allen Crabbe totaled 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and a season-high-tying two steals in 33 minutes. Spencer Dinwiddie also scored in double figures for Brooklyn, tallying 13 points, eight assists, two rebounds and one steal in 36 minutes. DeMarre Carroll recorded his eighth double-double of the season tonight with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes.

“Brooklyn shoots a lot of three’s and when they get it going it’s tough,” Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said regarding the Clippers’ need to step up its defense. “For the most part, I was pretty happy. We’ve had some bad losses here. The last two years we’ve had some big leads and it looked like it was going to happen again but we caught ourselves. Give Brooklyn credit. All year they come back. That’s how they play and we warned our guys about that when they started coming back. When they put them away at the end it was nice.”

For the Clippers, all of its starters scored in double digits, along with two from its second unit. Lou Williams came off the bench and led all scorers with 20 points. Austin Rivers scored 17 points. Both Danilo Gallinari and DeAndre Jordan scored 16 points. Jordan added 17 rebounds to his tally and Gallinari scored five boards. Montrezl Harrell tallied 15 points off the bench. Avery Bradley tallied 11 points, and Tobias Harris chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.

Next up, the Clippers will face the Celtics in Boston on Wednesday, February 14, 2018. Also on Wednesday, the Nets will face the Indiana Pacers at home at the Barclays Center at 7:30 p.m.

With a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, Isaiah Thomas is ecstatic; St. John’s Red Storm has people talking, and; Le’Veon Bell wants SZA to be his Valentine

In this episode of What's The 411Sports, hosts Keisha Wilson and Mike McDonald are talking about the moves the Cleveland Cavaliers made at the NBA trade deadline; Damian Lillard hitting 50 points in 29 minutes, and should he sit or continue to play until the end of the game; the Top 5 prospects for NBA MVP consideration; Isaiah Thomas says he got his powers back; Paul Pierce celebrated in Boston; the state of the Brooklyn Nets and NY Knicks; Tim Tebow is back with the NY Mets; the New York Yankees acquire Russell Wilson; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell wants R&B singer, SZA, to be his Valentine; and will the XFL get off the ground?

What’s The 411Sports’ Photo of the Week

The What’s The 411Sports Photo of the Week is a photo of Brooklyn Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie shaking hands with his former teammate Trevor Booker who was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.