P.J. Carlesimo is ready to speak his mind. After being fired as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, the veteran coach landed a job with ESPN working as an NBA analyst and now he is ready to let his opinions on Brooklyn and the NBA be heard. The coach held a conference call to talk about recent happenings in basketball, but was not shy about discussing his former employer.
Carlesimo focused a lot on team management and how that paired with star players equals out to winning team. Brooklyn currently has billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov making all of the team decisions, believing money is not object. He signed several marquee players to large contracts and yet the team lost their first round playoff series to the Chicago Bulls.
The Nets had two different head coaches in their debut season so making the postseason seemed like a win no matter what. However, are they set up for future success? Not according to Carlesimo.
"I don't know if that's realistic the way the roster is right now. I would not say that team could not win a championship. We thought we could this year if things broke a little better for us. But if you have that on your plate, that you need to win a championship in two years, I think it makes it a little challenging," Carleismo said.
The tv analyst understands that Brooklyn believes that with its current roster, a championship is not out of the question, but he is not quick to call them one of the favorites. "I think it's a 50-win team, a playoff team and a team that could do well, particularly in the Eastern Conference. But to win a championship is a bear..."
The Nets have a strong ownership team which is the first step in making a championship team. Prokhorov has proved that he will not shy about from marquee players and he thinks that in itself will win Brooklyn a title. Carlesimo does not find that realistic.
"Still do think it's a good job. I think the expectations are maybe not totally realistic, but you'd rather have that from your owner and you know he's got the wherewithal to back it up. That's his goal. We talked about that from day one. He doesn't make any bones about it. He doesn't want to just sell tickets, he wants to win a championship," Carlesimo said.
Brooklyn currently has three max contracts on the books with Joe Johnson, Deron Williams and Brook Lopez. With their current contracts, they already have $85 million on the books for 2013. The roster is likely to not change, but the head coach will.
