Brooklyn Nets Talking Championship, Already

The first official basket has yet to be scored in the 2012-13 NBA season. Preseason has yet to begin either and the Brooklyn Nets are already talking as if they are coming off a championship run in 2012. There is one thing on the mind of every Nets player this season and that is a championship.

How could that be? The Nets have only managed to win 58 games in the past three seasons. If anything, they should be talking about trying to have a winning record since the franchise has not had a winning season since 2005-2006. They have been on the decline since then.

Here is what Avery Johnson had to tell NBA.com’s John Schuhmann:

“Where we are now, the goal is to win a championship,” head coach Avery Johnson said. “At the end of the day, that’s what we all play for. I couldn’t say that about the team the last two years, because we weren’t there on any level….

“We’re not a championship team today,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, we’ll be one as we move on in training camp and get on into the regular season, and as we move into the playoffs. But the goal is to win a championship this year.”

Johnson originally said that the team is not ready to win a championship. I guess within a month or so, he has had a change of heart.

The newly acquired Joe Johnson has been talking championship ever since he arrived with the Nets. Here is what he told Schuhmann:

“I think we’ve got everything that you could possibly want on a championship-caliber team,” Joe said. “So now we just have to come together as one and just make it happen. The sky’s the limit for us, honestly.”

Yes, the Nets have the ability to win a championship. Yes, it is going to be extremely difficult especially with the Miami Heat adding another superstar in Ray Allen this year. For the Nets to win, everyone will have to stay consistently healthy and they are going to have to provide defense, something the team has not done in a long time. Point guard Deron Williams steps into a bigger leadership role and he needs to embrace it.

That is the formula for a Nets championship.

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