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Brooklyn Nets: Calipari’s 1998 Nets Team That Almost Shocked the Bulls

By Jeremy Goldstein

24 Apr 1998: Head coach John Calipari of the New Jersey Nets talks with his guards Sam Cassell, Kendall Gill and forward Keigh Van Horne during a game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls defeated the Nets 96-93.
24 Apr 1998: Head coach John Calipari of the New Jersey Nets talks with his guards Sam Cassell, Kendall Gill and forward Keigh Van Horne during a game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls defeated the Nets 96-93. /
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20 Feb 1997: Guard Sam Cassell of the New Jersey Nets dribbles the ball down the court during a game against the Miami Heat at the Continential Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Heat won the game 92-87. Mandatory Credit: Bernie Nunez /Allsport
20 Feb 1997: Guard Sam Cassell of the New Jersey Nets dribbles the ball down the court during a game against the Miami Heat at the Continential Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Heat won the game 92-87. Mandatory Credit: Bernie Nunez /Allsport /

1997-98 Regular Season

The season started out with the blockbuster draft-day trade for Keith Van Horn at the 1997 NBA Draft.

Not everyone was impressed with the pick, and that includes their point guard at the time.

"“Sam came up to me and said, ‘How could you take a white guy from Utah, are you crazy?’ And after (Van Horn) got there (Cassell) came up to me and he goes, ‘Cal, good move man, this dude can ball,’” Calipari said."

Sherman Douglas was signed on the maiden day of the regular season to help Cassell with lead guard duties.

The season started with four wins in a row before a loss in Chicago (they lost all four regular-season games to the Bulls).

Jayson Williams was named as the team’s lone all-star representative.

An early March swoon featuring seven-straight losses had the Nets playoff hopes in jeopardy, but the team rebounded and clinched their birth on the final day of the season at home against Detroit. “The last ten games in New Jersey were sold old,” Cal noted.

Related Story. Three Brooklyn Nets jerseys made it in ESPN’s top 74 in history. light

Van Horn was named first-team all-rookie, leading the Nets with 19.7 PPG with 6.6 boards.

Kerry Kittles provided 17.2 PPG to go with a 41.8 three-point field goal percentage in a breakout sophomore season.

Jayson Williams led the league in offensive rebounding and finished fourth in the league overall, gobbling down 13.6 per contest with 12.9 points.

Kendall Gill added 13.4 points with 1.9 steals per game, good for eighth in the league.

Chris Gatling was the highest-scoring reserve with 11.5 PPG.

But Sam Cassell was the real statistical superstar, with counting stats of 19.6 PPG and eight assists per game (tenth in the league) in his age 28 season. His 21.0 PER to with his 29.8 points per 100 possessions would fit right in the modern NBA, with the latter 0.1 greater than DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook’s 2018-19 mark.

As a reward for the season and to get their minds right for the first round, the team spent three-four days in Florida to “get focused.”