In the 'Zzone

Williams' Return

Marcus Williams returns tomorrow with the Warriors, but the question is will he play?

I was among the many that thought Golden State would be the perfect fit for Williams, the former Nets’ point guard of the future. (Boy, were we all wrong about that, too).

You don’t have to defend in Golden State. Williams has the non-defending part of his game down.

Keeping Carter Fresh

We’ve been down this road before.

The minutes’ question came up today as in: How many games can you win with Vince Carter playing only 34 minutes?

My guess is not many, but it was effective last night at the Wiz.

The reason we say we’ve been down this road before is because for the past several years we always asked how many minutes would Jason Kidd play to keep him fresh and healthier for the long run and it always wound up being higher than the plan.

Great Beginning

A friend of mine, who is a Washington columnist, said to me after the game: “No Jason Kidd. No Richard Jefferson. No way you lose that game.”

Naturally, he had to do the Wizards’ angle. The Nets’ angle is this: Great performance. Great beginning. Great win.

The Big Night

Opening night’s here as all of you know and Lawrence Frank finally announced his starting lineup at the morning shoot.

As expected, Harris, Carter, Simmons, Yi and Boone.

The next wave? Not surprisingly the coach wouldn’t tell us that. He also wouldn’t tell us that Vince Carter is going to be the captain of the Nets because he hasn’t told the team.

The Starting Five

Coach Lawrence Frank wouldn't commit to anything until tomorrow, but here is your starting five for the opener against the Wizards from what we've seen and heard and believe:

Devin Harris, Vince Carter, Bobby Simmons, Yi Jianlian and Josh Boone.

Brook Lopez and Boone both had moments with the starting five, but Boone did most of his work with the first unit at practice today.

Centers of Attention

Josh Boone went through practice for the first time since experiencing a rapid heartbeat about 11 days ago and still seems to be the frontrunner to start in Wednesday's regular-season opener at Washington.

As much as the Nets like Brook Lopez, and clearly he's the future center of the franchise, there is no substitue for experience. Now as I say that, if Boone struggles in practice tomorrow or isn't up to speed on what he's missed or isn't feeling well physically and conditioning wise, it could be Lopez.

There's a lot of reading between the lines in this business and if I'm reading Lawrence Frank right it's Boone's job to lose.

Breakfast With the Bosses

The day started with breakfast at the Meadowlands Diner with Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe. I won’t bore you with the menu, but I had had the No. 4 – Pancakes, Egg and Sausage.

Just about everything was discussed with the beat guys and you can read it on the print side tomorrow. But here is the CliffNotes version:

Boone On His Way Back

Josh Boone expects to be ready for opening night.

Boone said he hopes to shoot a little Saturday and Sunday and go through practice Monday. That, of course, is if everything is fine and the doctors let him, but he thinks they will.

The Nets' projected starting center said he underwent an EPS test for his heart Wednesday and everything turned out fine. The test was to see if they could recreate the rapid heartbeat he experienced last week and they couldn't, which was a good sign. He'll have a monitor he'll have to put on if the rapid heartbeat returns so they can "record and capture it" and find out exactly what it is.

The Finale and the Roster

The Nets didn't shoot his morning. They're having something at their practice facility later this afternoon before taking the bus to the Garden for the final regular season game.

Don't know everyone's status yet, but it's likely Ryan Anderson will start in place of Yi Jianlian, who's sitting due to a sore right foot. Devin Harris (strained right ankle) likely will play and Jarvis Hayes is expected to make his Nets' debut. We'll know more about Keyon Dooling later. Josh Boone, Eduardo Najera and Stromile Swift are out.

Lawrence Frank will try and play as much a regular rotation as possible but without Boone and Najera and perhaps Dooling it will be hard. Barring the unforeseen, all three will be available opening night. But I think it's pretty fair to assume that Anderson is going to be a part of the rotation.

Defense Rests a Little Too Much

Unless you were at the game, many of you didn’t get a chance to watch last night. Two words: not good.

I’m never one to get too up in arms about the preseason either way, although if the Nets were 6-0 at this point I’m sure we all would be surprised and making a big deal out it. But this was bad.

The Sixers started three guys who probably will be in their rotation, but likely won’t be in the starting unit, got only three points in 17 minutes from Elton Brand, were without Andre Miller and Sam Dalembert and led this game by 24 points.