Picking at the bottom of the first round and in the second round, a talented player who slipped further than expected and feels he has something to prove, or a hungry young player who wants to show he can play in the NBA, can be good finds.

That’s why the Nets felt good about themselves today when they introduced MarShon Brooks, Jordan Williams and Bojan Bogdanovic to the local media today.

Brooks, the high-scoring guard from Providence, was “really nervous” about falling from the Lottery to the bottom sixth of the first round and he’s going to use it as motivation.

“Let’s just say during the draft process I played really well,” Brooks said. “Let’s just say that.

“I feel like I still have a lot to prove. I have a chip on my

You may have gotten a glimpse of the future last night. Key words being may have.

Derrick Favors was given his first NBA start in the Nets' win over the Bulls. It wasn’t just a one-time thing. But it may not be permanent because the Nets are still involved in trade talks for Carmelo Anthony and Favors remains a central piece of the discussions.

A source recently said there has been “movement” on the Anthony talks. The Nets believe they’re in good shape to get him, but so do several other teams.

Still, the Nets have the most to offer by themselves. They're trying to deal straight up with Denver, but could involve other teams because of their contract situation, flexibility and assets. Either way, they may need to do more, to acquire better players

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Nets, like many other teams, have made mistakes in the draft -- and they don’t want to hear about passing on Danny Granger anymore. But the past two years, the Nets have scored big time. Odds are they will make it three in a row this summer when they have one of the top four picks.

The past two drafts have been impressive, especially where the Nets were picking. Two years ago, Brook Lopez fell into their lap at No. 10, and then they took Ryan Anderson 21st. Chris Douglas-Roberts was a steal at 40. There probably are some that wish they still had Anderson, but Lopez has been the second or third-best player from that draft, and Douglas-Roberts arguably would be top 20 today.

Then last year, the Nets took Terrence Williams with the No. 11 pick ahead of Tyler Hansbrough

The developmental year, as it had been called over and over by general manager/interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe, is seven games from being over and some development is needed still.

Some players did better than expected and others showed signs of improvement but then faded. In a lost season like this, all the players should have improved or least gotten the chance.

But this was a bizarre year in so many ways, and there were times young players weren’t getting the shot they should have. It was one of the many mistakes of this season.

Showed Improvement

Courtney Lee: Quietly, the second-year guard has had a solid season with his defense and shot-making ability. He can’t replace Vince Carter, but Lee’s work ethic and continually-improving play is a reason for optimism for

The opponent doesn’t matter. It didn’t matter either that the Kings were without Tyreke Evans. This was a game the Nets had to have. They knew it and they played like it.

The home losing streak, a record 14 straight, ended last night. The NBA record for worst season ever is up in the air, but the Nets inched closer to making sure they’re not that team with a commanding 93-79 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Defense was part of the story, but the real story was that the Nets finally played with a sense of urgency. They have been talking so much lately about doing whatever it takes to win three more games. (Now they need two). But until last night, they didn’t do what it took.

They would for stretches, but they’re not good enough to just play for stretches,

Fourteen games remain and all the Nets want is three more wins, but more than that is at stake for this team and several guys on it.

The focus should be on getting the wins, but also making sure the players under contract for next season get as much time together as possible, play together and enjoy playing together.

The buzz word when interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe took over was “fun.” Everyone needed to have fun and that lasted for about three games – the Nets won two of the first three under Vandeweghe. But with five wins in the 47 games since there aren’t many guys having much fun.

Here's what's fun: Winning.

A few days have passed since Wednesday’s loss to Philadelphia, but that was a low locker room and understandably so.

The Sixers are terrible,

PHILADELPHIA – This could have been the play-in game for the NCAA Tournament or an early NIT game minus the fanfare and, well, fans. But that should have been expected for two teams a combined 74 games under .500.

It wound up being like a 2-15 or 3-14 matchup because the Nets never were really in this game after the first quarter and there was no reason for that.

Both teams are terrible. But the Nets were that much worse, falling 108-97 in a game that showed the record for worst season ever is in jeopardy.

The Sixers are not a good team, at all, and they were without Thaddeus Young and Marreese Speights. Yet they blew out the Nets, leading by as many as 22.

The Nets didn’t have Devin Harris or Yi Jianlian, but that’s no excuse. Just like Tuesday night against the Hawks,

This season hasn’t gone as anyone around the Nets imagined. We were writing what they were saying, which was they thought they could surprise people and be better than predicted. And they have surprised many people because they have been much worse than predicted.

The reasons are right in front of all of our faces: Injuries, coaching, fourth-quarter execution, getting away from the few things that work in a game and a lack of defense to name more than a few.

And there is little reason to believe the Nets will somehow avoid the worst record in NBA history -- 9-73 by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers. But if you’re looking for something consider this: They haven’t given up the fight. They came back from 21 down to make it a five-point game against the Blazers on Tuesday night.

The best thing for the Nets, after such a tumultuous and trying first half of the season would be to go into the break with a win. Go in a positive, saying they could build off this when they return to action next week.

But the reality is they went into the break exactly how you would have expected them to, with a little help from Mother Nature.

The Nets had played well enough to win more than one of their previous nine games, but last night they reverted back to their old ways. They let an early lead disappear quickly and then the Nets disappeared on both ends of the court in a 97-77 loss to Milwaukee.

The Nets also lost a player to injury – Keyon Dooling – and had a least one more leave the building unhappy – Chris Douglas-Roberts. They also played in front of the