Nets get a new arena in Brooklyn, a city with a long history of basketball and across the river from the iconic MSG

Admit it. Most of you newly minted Brooklyn Nets fans were not shouting for Deron Williams and company in the Prudential Center when they ended their 2011-2012 NBA season, winning 22 of 66 games total.

But that's okay; new city, new team, new fans and oh... a new coach, right? You're entitled to jump on the bandwagon.

It may be too early to decide whether or not the city of Brooklyn has accepted the Nets as their home team. However, it's quite evident that the NBA has already made a rivalry between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks. The Nets continue to prove themselves as a lead contender in the Eastern Conference, with an even 2-2 record with New York. But in my opinion, the rivalry is a bit over-hyped.

Don't get me wrong, Brooklyn has raw talent; Joe Johnson is probably one of the most underrated and under-appreciated guards in the league. Brook Lopez, a great scorer, averaging 18.6 points this season so far, is still justifying Shaq's thoughts on him being better than Dwight Howard. Hopefully, if Deron Williams doesn't whisk away another coach, maybe he can lead this team to a Division championship.

MAYBE.

But for a Brooklyn girl, like myself, the tale of these two teams is more than just a bridge between boroughs; it's about two iconic territories: The Garden and The Barclays Center. Brooklyn has history, but Madison Square Garden is historic.

Every kid in New York City aspired to play at The Garden. Since 1903, The Garden has hosted the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) basketball championships. In New York City, Brooklyn is legendary for basketball, producing an epic list of high school basketball players, such as Lenny Wilkins; Fly Williams; Bernard King; Albert King; Connie Hawkins; World B. Free; Chris Mullins; Mark Jackson; Billy Cunningham; Mike Dunleavy; Stephon Marbury; Sebastian Telfair; Gary Forbes; Lance Stephenson; and Epiphanny Prince.

In a recent interview, Telfair said regarding playing for the Brooklyn Nets one day, "I would love to if the opportunity comes, I think I would, I'm from here. I think before I get out of the league, I think I'd give it a shot."

I mean, who wouldn't want to play for Brooklyn? More than just an NBA team, it is home for many of us. Smack dead in the middle of Brooklyn, Barclays is surrounded by at least 10 high schools that are within walking distance:

Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn HS of the Arts
Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School
Pacific High School
ACORN Community High School
Metropolitan Corporate Academy High School
Berkeley Carroll School
Benjamin Banneker Academy
International High School at Prospect Heights
Brooklyn School for Global Studies

The Nets' new home has paved a path for a restructured city and bigger dreams for city kids. A dream for a city kid is right--you can even take in a view of the practice court by stopping into Starbucks at the Barclays Center.

Even "go-hard" Spike Lee, raised in Brooklyn thinks Barclays "is great for Brooklyn." (Don't count on him ever rooting for Brooklyn though.)

I'm actually looking forward to the future of Brooklyn and the Nets. Once the hype dies down between the Nets and the Knicks, hopefully, Brooklyn can re-establish a tone for basketball, and maybe even street ball.

Let's thank Jay-Z for that.

VIDEO DISCUSSION: First time Liberty has made the playoffs since 2012, also first WNBA team to reach 20 wins

The NY Liberty clinched its first playoff berth since 2012 and are the first WNBA team to reach 20 wins this season. In fact, this is the first time the Liberty reached 20 wins in 5 years!

Additionally, rookie Kiah Stokes recorded her THIRD career double-double against the Connecticut Sun. Talk about #BURNINGBRIGHT.

VIDEO Discussion: Freedom Williams Weighs in on New York Liberty and Women's Sports

New York Liberty’s Epiphany Prince dropped a season-high 30 points against her former team the Chicago Sky! She also surpassed Liberty top scorer Tina Charles’ game-high Friday night and the team has the best record in the Eastern Conference as of now. If the Liberty continues to play at this level they will have a golden ticket to the playoffs!!!

VIDEO: Conversation about Epiphanny Prince, Tina Charles, and Becky Hammon

Epiphany Prince rejoins the NY Liberty after missing the first 10 games of the season due to a prior commitment with Russia's National Women's Team. In her season debut with the Liberty, Prince scored a total of 12 points and had 2 assists along with 3 rebounds.

Liberty forward Tina Charles scored her 3,000th career point during a recent overtime win against the Washington Mystics. Tina also scored the game-winning shot! Go Tina!!!

Former New York Liberty guard, Becky Hammon scored another milestone. She is a coach of the San Antonio Spurs’ NBA Summer League. Hammon becomes the first woman to coach an NBA Summer League team.

Epiphanny Prince has Good First Game with New York Liberty

Epiphany Prince joins the New York Liberty after missing the first 10 games of the season due to a prior commitment with Russia's National Women's Team. In her season debut with the Liberty, Prince scored a total of 12 points and had 2 assists along with 3 rebounds.

Prior to the start of the season, Prince’s former team, the Chicago Sky, traded her to the Liberty for former Rutgers guard Cappie Pondexter. Prince also played for Rutgers. Both Prince and Pondexter are now playing for WNBA teams in their respective hometowns.

Tina Charles’ Big Show

Liberty forward Tina Charles scored her 3,000th career point during a recent overtime win against the Washington Mystics. Tina also scored the game winning shot! Go, Tina!!!

See video conversation about Epiphanny Prince's return to the Liberty and Tina Charles hits 3,000 points.

Nothing can stop the New York Liberty from #BURNINGBRIGHT

The ladies of New York’s WNBA basketball team, the New York Liberty, are making strides as they begin to wrap up their regular season with just 5 games left. After defeating Minnesota 81-68, the Liberty clinched its first playoff berth since 2012. Soon after they defeated the Connecticut Sun 80-66 and became the first WNBA team to reach 20 wins this season. The last time New York reached that many wins were in 2010 when it was 22-12, which was the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. What’s amazing about this team, is that it is breaking records and making accomplishments as a unit, and individual players are setting career records and receiving league honors.

Epiphanny Prince: The Hometown Hero

Liberty guard Epiphany Prince was named Eastern Conference player of the week for the 4th time of her career, and the second time since she has joined the New York Liberty.

New York Liberty guard Epiphanny Prince defending ball against Chicago Sky.

Prince missed the first 10 games of the season due to prior obligations with the Russian National team. Nevertheless, she went straight to business once she returned to her new team, scoring 12 points off the bench in the team’s overtime win against the Washington Mystics. Since her return, Prince had just one game where she did not score in the double digits. However, she made up for the lost points when she dropped a total of 30 against her former team the Chicago Sky. Prince currently averages 15.5 points per game along with 3.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds. Prince plays a crucial role in the Liberty’s roster and it is evident that her seasoned skills on the court were the missing piece of the Liberty’s winning puzzle.

New York Liberty Rookies Rocking Records

Rookie center, Kiah Stokes is on fire!

New York Liberty's Kiah Stokes blocks Connecticut Suns' Kelsey Bones' shot 

Stokes was named the WNBA Rookie Player of the month. Aside from her rookie accomplishments, she recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds last week in the team’s win over the Sun. Upon entering her rookie season, Stokes struggled to get into the professional flow of the game but once she did, she became unstoppable. On July 16th, she set a franchise record with 8 blocks over Connecticut. She currently is tied for fifth in blocks for the league. However she led all rookies in blocks as well as field goal percentage and rebounds, for the month of August. This month Stokes also scored a career high of 13 points in the Liberty’s 84-63 win over the Chicago Sky. Kiah is en-route to becoming one of the league’s best defenders.

Brittany Boyd is the other rookie on the team and she, too, is coming into her own and setting career highs.

New York Liberty guard Brittany Boyd

Boyd was able to snag a starting position early in the season, but she has since gone down to the bench, but that has yet to stop her from putting on a show-stopping performance. In the Liberty’s 81-76 loss against the Tulsa Shock, Boyd managed to reach her career high of 22 points and was the team’s leading scorer. This rookie is no stranger to being in a leadership position; she led the team in points back in June after dropping 18 in the Liberty’s 73-65 win over the Atlanta Dream. Boyd is a key player for the Liberty, her speed level up and down the court along with her driving force to the basket has helped her team make multiple comebacks throughout the season. Every game she shows that it is only the beginning of her soaring career.

Scorching off the Bench

Liberty veteran, Candice Wiggins has been making an incredible impact on her team in the past few games and she continues to show why she is a WNBA champion.

New York Liberty guard Candice Wiggins

Wiggins entered the season on a slow start and was not receiving much playing time. Since the first half of the season, we are now seeing a lot more action from her and are witnessing her divine accuracy from the 3-point line. Wiggins currently averages 41.9 percent from 3-point range, almost reaching her professional career best of 45.7 percent. Wiggins never fails to come with fire off the bench. Early in the season, she contributed as many as 15 points to her team’s 89-81 victory over the Chicago Sky. Wiggins seasoning as veteran adds the perfect amount of heat to the Liberty’s team chemistry.

New York has managed to pull its record to 21-8 which is currently the best-looking record in the league. None of it could have been possible if each of the Liberty’s 11 players wasn't pushing together to become the best team that it can be. New York is looked at to be one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference Finals which creates a huge target on its back. In past seasons, the Liberty was seen as an easy win for other teams in the league and now they are considered the team to beat. The Liberty is set to scorch the court and improve their home court record at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night, against the Chicago Sky. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern standard time.

Liberty’s Sugar Rodgers Much Needed Spark to Dash the Dream

Last weekend, the New York Liberty clinched its first playoff berth since the 2012 season. Being among the WNBA’s best teams comes with a price and the education continues for the Bill Laimbeer squad. Due to their current position atop of the Eastern Conference, the Liberty will receive every teams’ best shot and Monday night’s contest was no different.

The New York Liberty: New York’s Only Relevant Professional Basketball Team

New York’s only relevant professional basketball team needed overtime to outlast the Atlanta Dream yesterday evening, 80-75, and in doing so, received a strong performance from reserve guard, Sugar Rodgers. In 27 minutes of play, Rodgers led the Liberty in scoring with 23 points, a career-high and shot 5-12 from behind the arc, which included the most significant trey of the night. After trading baskets for the first three minutes of the OT period, Rodgers, drained a triple with 1:54 remaining, over the outstretched arms of Angel McCoughtry to increase the Liberty’s lead to five, 76-71.

It signaled the Liberty’s third straight win, improving its regular season record to 21-8, the best in the Eastern Conference while the Dream fell to 12-18, on the outside looking into the postseason. On a night where the Liberty didn’t play their best basketball, Rodgers bailed her team out time and time again with timely hoops. Other than her last points which sealed the Liberty’s fate, Rodgers connected on two three’s in the 4th which helped the Liberty comeback from what was a 10 point deficit late in the third quarter.

While starters Epiphanny Prince and Tanisha Wright struggled from the field, combining for 5 of 18 shooting, Rodgers contributed the scoring punch off the bench that proved to be the winning formula and head coach Laimbeer credited Rodgers performance to her improved work ethic.

Rodgers Shows Hard Work Pays Off

“She showed me that hard work pays off,” Laimbeer said following the win. “She has been in the gym night and day for the last 10 days. I sat her down and told her that she wasn’t working hard enough and somebody else was getting her minutes and she goes to the gym three times a day. It paid off; she’s a much different player today than she has been the whole season and everybody in that room was happy for her.”

Kiah Stokes WNBA Rookie of the Month Playing Like a Championship Veteran

In addition to Rodgers, Laimbeer also praised rookie Kiah Stokes who did a little bit of everything, producing a line of 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals. “That’s who she is, she’s just a glue player,” Laimbeer said. “Once she started playing we realized the defensive intelligence was off the charts. She’s always in position, always in help defense, can guard anybody in the gym and recovers well.”

And Laimbeer isn’t the only person who has recognized Kiah’s game. The WNBA rewarded Stokes with the Rookie of the Month Award for efforts during the month of August. In August, Stokes led the Liberty to an 8-2 record, leading all rookies in rebounds (8.3), field goal percentage (.56) and blocks (1.5). Stokes and Brittany Boyd, along with Rodgers represent the youth of the Liberty which is surrounded by a respected group of veterans and it’s one of the reasons why the Liberty is on the brink of a potential title run.

Cash, Wright and Wiggins Championship Experience Will Matter in Liberty Playoff Push

Swin Cash is a three-time WNBA Champ and Tanisha Wright and Candice Wiggins have both experienced what it’s like to stand alone on the mountain as the league’s best, capturing titles with the Seattle Storm in 2010 and the Minnesota Lynx in 2011, respectively.

Tanisha Wright New York Liberty Game on August 2, 2015. Photo by Danny Karwoski Licensed under CC BY SA 3.0 via Commons

Candice Wiggins New York Liberty game on August 2, 2015. Photo Credit: Danny Karwoski. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

Having vets like Cash, Wright and Wiggins has helped the progression of the Liberty from solid WNBA squad to a consistent winner and Wiggins has enjoyed every bit of the ride thus far, even shedding light of what the Liberty must do in preparation for a deep playoff run.

“We take so much pride in working hard and pushing each other,” Wiggins shared post-game. “I’ve never personally felt this much support on a team before and it goes such a long way when you enjoy the process of getting there and you enjoy the journey and not necessarily just looking at the destination.”

And on the postseason: “We want the No.1 overall seed, we want to do our work and I know from winning a championship, it’s all about doing your work early. The more wins you can collect, then the more it will benefit you in the postseason and we don’t want to depend on anybody else but ourselves,” Wiggins continued.

With five games left on the season, there is no time for the Liberty to relax. Three of their last five games will feature other playoff teams in the Chicago Sky, Minnesota Lynx and the Indiana Fever which will all serve as the perfect tune up for what should be an exciting playoff run for the Girls of Summer.

Geno Smith Gets Mixed Reviews from Media and Boos from the Fans

In this episode of What's The 411Sports, host Glenn Gilliam and correspondent Gregory Alcala are joined by Freedom Williams, a hip hop and dance music performer, who gained fame as the lead vocalist on C+C Music Factory's biggest hits.

Glenn, Greg and Freedom are chopping it over the following topics:

WHAT’S POPPIN’:

• Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg returns to the lineup. Can the Nationals get back to first place in the division?

• New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith is getting mixed reviews from the media regarding training camp

• Sydney Seau, daughter of the late Junior Seau,  stole the show at the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

• New York Liberty guard, Epiphanny Prince, drops a season high 30 points for the New York Liberty

• New Acquired New York Knicks shooting guard Aaron Affalo says Carmelo Anthony is very committed to the New York Knicks and is optimistic about the upcoming season.

• Brooklyn Nets General Manager Billy King announced the signing of guard Donald Sloan.

• What’s The 411Sports acknowledges the passing of NFL Hall of Famer and Monday Night Football broadcaster, Frank Gifford.

UNDER THE RADAR

• Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant believes his Lakers team will make the playoffs.

• Ohio State’s football team is starting the season with some challenges

ON THE BENCH:

• The NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame for its treatment of Sydney Seau
• Los Angeles Lakers’ Jordan Hill for reckless driving
• The San Francisco 49ers Aldon Smith is on the bench for DUI and vandalism charges. Smith is a free agent now that the 49ers cut him.

IN THE PIPELINE:

• The U.S. Tennis Association's Connecticut Open is august 21 -29 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University in New Haven Connecticut. If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you better get moving.

• The USTA's US OPEN (tennis) will be held on August 31 – September 13.

• The multi-sport All Africa Games will be held in Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo on September 4 -19.

Becky Hammon joins Liberty Ring of Honor

It was a great night for the New York Liberty franchise; it welcomed six-time WNBA all-star and former Liberty point guard, Becky Hammon into its Ring of Honor. Hammon joins Liberty Legends, Vicky Johnson, Rebecca Lobo, Theresa Weatherspoon, Sue Wicks and Kym Hampton. Becky Hammon is living proof that hard work beats talent. She entered the WNBA undrafted in 1999, and had to fight for a spot on the New York Liberty. Not only did Hammon become one of the best players to play for the Liberty franchise, she made history twice in the past two years. Hammon is the first woman to obtain a spot on the coaching staff of an NBA team and she is the first female to be a head coach for an NBA summer league team. Becky's induction to the Ring of Honor is well deserved; she is a great role model to the future generation of women’s basketball and an inspiration to all.

Liberty Snags Eastern Conference Top Spot

The night became even more special when the current leading ladies of the Liberty gained another home court win. This game allowed the Liberty to stand one full game ahead the Washington Mystics, securing their number one spot in the Eastern Conference. After dominating the second half of the game, New York proved that they can become contenders for a position in the playoffs. Tina Charles was on fire from start to finish, dropping a total of 29 points against the Storm, one point shy of her season high. Charles carried her team in both the first and second quarters scoring 14 points going into the half.

The Storm held onto the lead for the majority of the first quarter keeping the Liberty down by as little as three points. With just :02 seconds remaining in the first quarter, New York forward/guard, Essence Carson was able to squeeze in a layup to tie the game (23-23). The Liberty had just a one-point lead entering the half. Both teams struggled to make scoring plays during the second quarter and it wasn’t until after the half that the Liberty and point guard Epiphanny Prince showed up and balled out. New York quickly turned their one-point lead into 14 points after going on a 13-0 run in the first 4 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Prince dropped 9 of her 11 points in the third, helping her team take their biggest lead of 17 points.

The Storm battled it out through the fourth, managing to bring the Liberty’s lead down to single digits with a little over 7 minutes remaining in the game. However, the Liberty never allowed the Storm to take another shot at the lead. They walked away with a sixth straight win over the Storm and their 7th home court win. Though the Liberty secured the number one spot in the Eastern Conference, head coach Bill Laimbeer isn’t too sure if that will be enough for the team to be considered contenders for the playoffs.

“I don’t know yet,” said Laimbeer. “We still have a long way to go, the Eastern Conference is tough; got a lot of teams fighting in the Eastern Conference but I do know the first half of our season gave us a leg up and gave us some breathing room, but we can’t relax.”

With 14 more games left in the regular season, the Liberty does indeed have a long way to go. To the team’s advantage, more than half of those games will be played on their home court. The Liberty will return to Madison Square Garden on August 11th, where they will take on the 2014 Eastern Conference champs, the Chicago Sky for the third time this season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm.

Losing is not an option at Madison Square Garden

For the fourth time this season, the New York Liberty has shown the Chicago Sky that there is no room for them in the winner’s circle. The team pulled out their first two wins against the Sky without the help of veteran guard Epiphany Prince, who spent 4 years playing for Chicago. After dropping a combined total of 52 points against the Sky, Prince has proven that the grass is greener on the other side. Prince has now led her team in points for the second game in a row.

She dropped a total of 22 points for the night, 10 of them were made in the first quarter alone. Rookie, Kiah Stokes also landed in the double digits and recorded her second career double-double with a total of 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Liberty are beginning to prove that they can still win games despite the performance of their leading scorer, Tina Charles who only contributed a total of 4 points to the team’s win.

Out the gate, the Liberty’s starting lineup dominated the court and displayed a great amount of chemistry that has been lacking in previous games this season. With help from the bench, New York ended the first quarter with a 9 point lead (26-17). After a sweet three made by Sugar Rodgers midway into the second quarter, the team brought their lead up to the double digits. However, the Sky turned up their defense and managed to pull the Liberty’s lead down to just 7 points before the half. Former Liberty guard, Cappie Pondexter made her first appearance at Madison Square Garden since being traded to the Sky in February. Pondexter made sure to leave her mark at the world’s most famous arena as she battled against her former team. Chicago struggled to pull through without help from their leading scorer, Elena Delle Donne who was out due to an ankle injury. Pondexter carried her team defensively and lead the way with a total of 23 points for the night.

Although a great effort was put forth by Chicago, the Liberty was sure to remind them whose court they were playing on. Not only did the Liberty intensify their defensive performance after the half, they displayed their accuracy from the three-point range. After a trio of three’s made by Essence Carson, Candice Wiggins, and Rodgers all in the third quarter, the Liberty took a 21 point lead, their largest of the night. Fortunately for New York, the three’s didn’t stop there, Brittany Boyd rose off the bench and closed out the game after she nailed a three-point shot with just 40 seconds remaining on the clock. The Liberty has now won 5 straight games at home and it stands 2.5 games in front of the Washington Mystics with a 15-6 record. New York will attempt to improve its 3-game winning streak on Friday night, August 14th, as they travel to the Mohegan Sun Arena to take on the Connecticut Sun. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm eastern standard time.