Brooklyn Nets Morning Dish: City Edition unis are a real Biggie

The Brooklyn Nets Morning Dish serves up the new City Edition uniforms on a Friday and the tribute to Brooklyn hip-hop legend The Notorious B.I.G. are hot.

It’s Friday and the Brooklyn Nets Morning Dish is still fired up about Thursday’s official unveiling of the team’s City Edition uniforms for 2018-19, which are a tribute to the late Brooklyn hip-hop legend The Notorious B.I.G.

Per a press release from Nets.com, the uniforms feature the traditional Brooklyn black-and-white body and lettering combination, but with a colorful twist — a pattern dubbed “Brooklyn Camo” that runs down the sides of the jersey and shorts and adorns the trim around the neck and arms.

Look, I’m not a jersey guy by nature — never really understood the appeal of wearing someone else’s shirt, to be honest — but I’ve got to get myself one of these. That’s how good they are.

The pattern is a nod to Biggie’s Coogi sweaters that he donned while he dominated the hip-hop charts in the 1990s.

Adam Caparell of Complex Sports talked to Brooklyn guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who you could say is a fan of the look:

"“I thought the jersey was dope. I actually just saw it officially in person for the first time [Tuesday]. I know it got leaked on social media but, nah man, I wish we could wear it more than 16 times.”"

The Nets will debut the jerseys for their Nov. 17 game at Barclays Center against the Los Angeles Clippers in a (perhaps unintentional) nod to the East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry.

The full schedule for the City Editions includes:

• Nov. 17 vs. Los Angeles Clippers
• Nov. 30 vs. Memphis Grizzlies
• Dec. 7 vs. Toronto Raptors
• Dec. 8 at New York Knicks
• Dec. 14 vs. Washington Wizards
• Dec. 18 vs. Los Angeles Lakers
• Dec. 21 vs. Indiana Pacers
• Jan. 11 at Toronto Raptors
• Jan. 25 vs. New York Knicks
• Feb. 4 vs. Milwaukee Bucks
• Feb. 8 vs. Chicago Bulls
• Feb. 21 vs. Portland Trail Blazers
• March 1 vs. Charlotte Hornets
• March 9 at Atlanta Hawks*
• March 11 vs. Detroit Pistons
• April 10 vs. Miami Heat

The March 9 date carries special significance as 2019 will mark 21 years since the death of the artist, who was born Christopher Wallace.

As part of the unveiling Thursday, Nets D’Angelo Russell and Rodions Kurucs ran a clinic at Bed-Stuy’s Christopher Wallace Courts, where basketballs were given to neighborhood kids as well. The Nets plan additional community outreach in conjunction with the City Edition platform.

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … yeah, a plane

Thursday also marked the introduction of a Nets-themed specialty aircraft at JFK Airport, an Airbus A320 painted in the black-and-white color scheme of the Brooklyn Nets rather than the company’s traditional blue paint scheme.

The airline recently extended its partnership with the Nets and Barclays Center as their “Official Domestic Airline” for another five years.

Dinwiddie not starting, but he’s a big finisher

Guard Spencer Dinwiddie may not be a starter for the Brooklyn Nets all season, but when it comes down to crunch time, Dinwiddie is one of the go-to guys for the 3-5 club.

Dinwiddie had his clutch gene on full turbo mode Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons, hitting a game-tying 3-pointer in regulation, the go-ahead 3 in overtime and then providing the game-clinching stop at the defensive end to seal Brooklyn’s 120-119 come-from-behind win.

Kenny Atkinson told Peter Botte for Newsday that Dinwiddie’s performance comes down to confidence.

"“It shows his growth. I think when he first came into our program, he was not a supremely confident player. But I think he’s just growing, his confidence is growing. He’s a talented, talented guy. I remember last season he made some important game-winning shots.“And when he’s got his 3-pointer going like that, it just makes him very hard to guard. He’s made, I’d say, some spectacular shots.”"

Dinwiddie had seven buckets in 2017-18 that tied games or gave the Nets the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime, tied with CJ McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers for third-most in the NBA.

Dinwiddie likes what getting the call late in games signifies.

"“It’s always great when you have your coach’s trust. I think the difference between me and some guys is I really don’t care if I miss. It doesn’t really even occur to me in the moment that I might miss. I think it’s going in.”"

Allen draws more appreciation

In a recent piece for HoopsHabit, Alec Liebsch discussed the rapidly rising star of Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen.

Allen was an under-the-radar selection in the 2017 NBA Draft, taken 22nd overall, well behind the likes of Jayson Tatum, Lonzo Ball or Donovan Mitchell.

How big an impression has Allen made? A recent video from The Ringer that re-drafted the 2017 class had Allen moving from his original spot at No. 22 all the way into the top 10 at No. 9 overall.

Allen has been much improved in the early going, even as he’s shown areas in which he still needs work.

Even as he’s expanded his range out to the 3-point area in the corners, Allen has remained efficient with his shooting, currently ranking 12th in the NBA at 61.7 percent overall. He is also tied for eighth in the Association with an average of 2.0 blocks per game.

The remarkable part of Allen’s game is how controlled and disciplined he is defensively. Even with the blocks and lack of experience, Allen has committed just 15 personal fouls in eight games.

Consider that six of those came in Wednesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons and you have a player who, for the most part, doesn’t raise concerns for coach Kenny Atkinson about having to juggle minutes and switch up rotations to account for foul difficulties.

The improved field-goal percentage is notable in that he’s averaging two more shots per game than he did as a rookie, yet he’s shooting 2.8 percentage points higher than he did in 2017-18.

Increased volume rarely yields that sort of a result.