Jason Kidd: Nets were too 'vanilla' last season

Jason Kidd sounded more like a Ben & Jerry's taste-tester than the Brooklyn Nets new head coach on Tuesday.

The first year coach set a goal yesterday to change the Nets' identity, from the bland tasting squad which fell flat last last season to a more flavorful blend of competitors.  Kidd understands that GM Billy King did most of the prep work already — acquiring the necessary ingredients to make a champion — on draft night with a blockbuster trade.

"I think the identity," Kidd said at the PNY Center. "It was just vanilla [last season] and I think you guys can see after the trade with [Kevin] Garnett and [Paul] Pierce that it's kind of changed. So, I think we're doing the right thing with changing the identity. It was just there was no flavor and no identity. So with that trade, that changes the whole game."

Kidd is confident, but nervous.

"I think I've always been nervous before every game," he said. "You ask any trainer, I've always taken Pepto just to settle my nerves, because basketball's always been something that you can never control. It's something that you just don't know how it's going to turn out, but once the ball is up in the air, your nerves tend to go away, you just respond and react.

"And so I am nervous, but the nice thing is that we do have some talented players who know how to play, who want to be coached and it's exciting. I think it's an exciting nervousness and I'm very excited about this opportunity."

The arrival of Garnett and Pierce, paired with other new additions like Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko, gives the Nets one of the NBA's top starting fives to go along with quality depth. As they get set to start training camp at Duke in six days, Kidd said one of his most pressing challenges is figuring out the different floor combinations he's hoping to use because the Nets easily can go two deep at every position.

He also has to concoct a plan for Garnett, whom Kidd previously said he wouldn't play in the second ends of back-to-backs, believing it's the best way to preserve the 37-year-old's legs and body so he'll be fresh and available for the postseason. Garnett rejected the idea.

Get more Pepto. Sounds like there's already too many cooks in Kidd's kitchen.

Paul Pierce happy to be 'glorified role player' with Nets

There is an "I" in Paul Pierce but, when it comes to the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA star claims there won't be one there this season.

If you look at the old version of the Nets, you might see an NBA squad already loaded with big names — up-and-coming Brook Lopez, one of the best shooting guards in Joe Johnson, and a top point guard in Deron Williams — and wonder how they could fill the roster with any more.

Mix in newcomer veterans Pierce and Kevin Garnett and it now leaves the Nets with a Klieg light-wattage of names on the roster.  Just for fun, throw in other well-known role players like Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko and you've got a cast bigger than Ocean's Twelve.

Now, the former Boston Celtics forward is looking at the makeup of the Nets and claims he is willing to step out of the spotlight with a supporting role with the team as a "glorified role player."

Think DeNiro sharing the bill with Pacino (Okay, D-Will can be Val Kilmer) in Heat.

Pierce told the Boston Globe he's fine with giving up a leading part on the team if it leads to a blockbuster finish at the end of the season.

"There will definitely be less pressure on me on this ball club than there was in Boston," Pierce said. "In Boston, I was the No. 1 primary option. Here we have so many options. We have young All-Stars on this team. My job is to be more of a glorified role player, as Doc [Rivers] used to always say, with the guys we have.

"With my abilities to do so many things, there's going to be nights where I'm not going to score a bunch of points. I can do other things to help this club win. With the combination of these guys, we're going to take pressure off each other."

Pierce — who averaged 18.6 points, 4.8 assists and 6.3 rebounds last season — hasn't been a role player, probably ever, in his basketball life, but isn't ready for the TNT broadcast booth just yet.

The future Hall of Famer could possibly lead this team as a scorer if asked to, and it wouldn't be a desperate move by Jason Kidd. However, to maximize everybody's abilities, the Nets have to get older guys like Pierce and Garnett to sacrifice their own individual games if they are going to save their bodies in the suddenly rough-and-tough NBA East over a long season.

Let's say the Nets decide they need Kirilenko to start at small forward for defensive purposes and bring Pierce off the bench as a scorer, it remains to be seen if Pierce will be open to playing second banana.

And the award for best player in a Nets supporting role goes to ...

Jason Kidd on Deron Williams: 'He's better than me'

Jason Kidd is considered one of the greatest point guards in NBA history but, as the new Brooklyn Nets head coach, the future Hall of Famer may have a knack for throwing assists to his players off the court as well.

Kidd, who led a group of no-name Nets to consecutive NBA Finals a decade ago, actually believes the Nets now have a better point guard in Deron Williams than his teams did with Kidd as the floor captain.

"He's better than me. I mean, he can shoot," said Kidd, who was the same age, 29, during the 2002 NBA Finals days as Williams is now. "He's a guy who can set the table, he can get to the basket, he can score. I don't look at him as me. Again, he's a little bit better than I am."

Kidd's humble opinion of himself might be a big ego boost for Williams — and boy, can the maligned Net use it.

Williams has seen more downs than ups since joining the Nets in 2011. He has struggled with injuries, weight gain and low expectations on a rebuilding roster in New Jersey. Last season, the first in Brooklyn,  he missed the All-Star game for the first time in four years.

But Williams benefitted from good health and a physical makeover following the All-Star break (he shed 15-to-20 pounds while changing his diet), returning to his Utah form for the greater part of two months.

And he has better supporting cast in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Brook Lopez.

Williams will still have to become a leader on a team now flush with with experienced NBA champions who bring high expectations with them.

"I want to (Williams) to be him," Kidd said Friday. "I want him to be the basketball player that we all know he can be. We're going to set lofty goals where as a coaching staff and teammates put him in a position to reach them."

While Williams is a better scorer than Kidd, he has a lot more to prove as a leader and all-around producer. That's what the Nets are hoping Kidd can bring out out of his floor leader.

Kidd said he'll allow Williams the freedom to call his own plays, as well as orchestrate his teammates in read-and-react situations.

"Just recognizing the situation," Kidd said. "Deron is a very gifted guard, so for me it's about mentally talking to him about different situations and get what he's thinking so we can both be on the same page."

Williams, who returned to his home in Utah for the summer, grew up in Dallas idolizing Kidd. Both have insisted their friendship won't get in the way of their new partnership.

"We're in a family," Kidd said. "My job is to put the guys in position to be successful. His job is to execute. We are friends. But I'm also friends with other players.

"I can't say I will favor or lean on whoever is playing the point because I have four other guys I have to pay attention to."

But Kidd knows — better than anyone — it starts with the PG.

Nets looking to add openly-gay Collins to roster: Report

The Brooklyn Nets keep finding ways to keep their locker room interesting — and complicated. And the next potential Nets move might not be blockbusting but it would be trailblazing.

After announcing an NBA-rocking trade — to become official July 10 — that will bring seasoned veterans Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Barclays Center, a source confirmed Friday that the Nets' organization has discussed signing free-agent center Jason Collins, the first openly gay male basketball player.

The 34-year-old Collins, who revealed his sexuality in a Sports Illustrated article last spring, is no stranger to the Nets' organization. He was teammates with Nets coach Jason Kidd for seven seasons in New Jersey, where they both played under current Brooklyn assistant Lawrence Frank.

Although the Nets may not need another big man, Collins' "name was brought up," said a well-connected source.

Collins, who advanced to two finals with the Nets, has bounced around the league as a backup since leaving New Jersey. He played last season with Garnett and Pierce in Boston, but was released before joining the Wizards.

Although the Nets have interest in Collins, there isn't much room on the roster for another physical presence in the paint. Not only did the Nets draft Duke center Mason Plumlee on Thursday, their blockbuster trade evolved Friday morning so that they are keeping bruising forward Reggie Evans and dealing swingman MarShon Brooks to the Celtics, a source said.

Collins has not played since announcing he was gay in April, so the next time he steps on the court will be a front-page event. And for the Nets, who have been making headlines lately by hiring Kidd and completing the trade for Garnett and Pierce, it's a chance to represent a different kind of Brooklyn — which is home to a large gay and lesbian community.

"It's certainly better than Utah or other communities that are not as cosmopolitan," said sports marketing expert Marc Ganis, adding that such a move could help the Nets win over Brooklyn residents who remain angry about the way the Barclays Center was imposed on the neighborhood.

"It is a demonstration that the Nets are a socially progressive organization. To people who opposed it (the Barclays Center) it could be a relevant factor."