Good for Joe and the Nets! I went to my first Nets game ever in December at Barclays. There was an older couple in the front row with handmade signs rooting on the Nets, and Joe, Jarrett Allen, Jared Dudley, Allen Crabbe and most other players made it a point to go over and say hi to them (with smiles on their faces) during warmups. And then they went out and clobbered the Hawks! How can you not root for these guys? Go Joe, go Nets!
This story is almost too good to be true.
"He used to be a defensive liability, and now we put him sometimes on the best shooter."
That is unbelievable. Most poor defenders stay that way. Joe Harris looks well put-together and well conditioned. He has worked at it. If it were easy to improve defensively, a guy like Jimmer Fredette would be in the league. But it is very difficult, almost set in a player's innate skills.
Dr. J gave the New York Nets an identity in the Nassau Coliseum days. Aside from a few star players, the New Jersey Nets lacked an identity. In Brooklyn they acquired Jay Z uniforms and the high intensity television lighting, but that cannot confer an identity.
Joe Harris has an opportunity to grow the Nets' organically, and establish a fan base reminiscent of the Dodgers. That would be of great value to the franchise.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is another Net who has a chance to be a very solid player.
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Love this guy. Love this team. Joe Harris -- as well as Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, D'Angelo Russell and others -- are well on their way to becoming marquee names, and will remain humble on the rise, thanks to the brilliant rebuilding strategy of GM Sean Marks and Coach Atkinson.
Proud to call this is my home team. Love me some Joey Buckets.
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It amazes me how this team can come back from one of the worst NBA trades ever in 2014 with the Celtics and my poor Knicks will finish out another pathetic season.
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OK, I'm a bit biased because I too am a Wahoo, but Joe Harris is the epitome of what basketball is supposed to represent. He made it to the NBA because he willed himself to work harder and play smarter than the competition. Selflessness, constant improvement, sacrifice, humility...Joey Buckets exemplifies all the pillars of what was once and can be again the ultimate team game. And, BTW, aren't this year's Virginia Cavaliers and their brilliant coach, Tony Bennett, a thing of beauty. Bennett instills the essence of the team game into everyone fortunate enough to play for him...and in case you didn't know almost all of his players graduate from the University.
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Joe was not a high school All-American. He wasn't even recruited by the "big name" basketball schools. Tony Bennett talked him in to going to Washington State to play for him. When Bennett left for Virginia, Joe Harris followed him.
Joe Harris was a star from his very first game at UVa, and he stayed for 4 years. What's funny is that from what I have read, Caucasian, America-born players are a vanishing group in the NBA. Joe wasn't paying attention!
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@John Maknak
Well, Coach Tony Bennett had a lot to do with Joe Harris. And a degree from Virginia, arguably the best public university in the country, is a good thing to have.
But more players of different backgrounds and abilities should consider staying four years in school, particularly for a great coach.
For example, Jason Terry played for 19 good seasons in the NBA, after spending four years with Lute Olson at Arizona. It's not only about school, college basketball can enhance a players skill set, strength, basketball acumen and grit.
Some guys just can't handle school.
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@John Maknak
I am curious whether Joe thinks he did the right thing staying at UVA for four years, rather than leaving early. I'll bet he would, perhaps similar to Malcolm Brogden, who had matured his game well-enough in college to hit the ground running in the NBA.
I watched Joe play at UVa under Tony Bennett. Great player and a class act. I’m glad to see he’s made it and doing well.
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Mr. Thurston,
Did you attend The University? I was there when we played our home games in Memorial Gym (U Hall was completed in my 4th year). PS: we were terrible:)
It is very unusual in the NBA for a nondescript journeyman to morph into a starter let alone a star. This is a feel good story that is very timely for millions of Americans dealing with bone chilling cold. It is heartwarming.
4
Thank you for a nice feel good story about the Brooklyn Nets. Joe Harris is one of my favorites, and just one of the many such stories on this team. And I would like to belatedly thank the NYTimes for their story on Jarrett Allen as well. Great players to root for on a growing team that has achieved success by working hard every day.
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