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

Devin Harris said no one was jumping through the roof because the Nets won 10 games. But had they not won their ninth or tenth there would have been guys feeling as low as the ground.

Maybe even lower.

Fortunately for the Nets’ players they don’t have to feel this and they can move on with their lives. They deserve that.

Overall, the players have been professional and handled this difficult situation as well as they possibly could, if not better.

If the Nets wouldn’t have won three of their last four games to avoid infamy it would have been partially the players’ faults, of course. But they also have been the recipients of some bad luck and some bad situations. Leave it to former Net Richard Jefferson to be the voice of reason.

“I think it’s been

The Nets were determined to make sure they wouldn’t own or share the worst record in NBA history. Their desire and belief paid off last night against an unlikely foe.

Most people penciled in this game against the Spurs as another Nets’ loss, meaning the Suns on Wednesday, or maybe the Hornets on Saturday, but more than likely the Wizards on Sunday, would be the game win No. 10 was reached.

But the Nets didn’t want to wait and put more pressure on themselves. They got the Spurs on a night they were ripe for the taking and played a terrific fourth quarter on both ends to nab a 90-84 victory that enabled the Nets to show their faces in public again.

No longer will the Nets be mentioned as the worst team in NBA history, although one of the worst, record-wise, will follow

CHICAGO –- The Nets had their shot at what was unthinkable several weeks ago.

They were staring at a three-game winning streak and the tenth win that would have created an ability to avoid any reference to the worst team of all time. All the Nets had to do was play hard for 48 minutes, defend, take good shots and convert layups. Essentially, they had to do what they did to register their only winning streak of the season.

The Nets did none of those things last night in a 106-83 loss to the Bulls. All good things must come to an end.

“We did not come to play,” interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. “We did not have the energy we had the past few games, the drive, the intensity. It showed in our legs. It showed in the layups we missed early. I’m disappointed

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,

The Nets don’t want to say it’s a talent issue, because they think they have enough to win games. They think it’s a mental thing.

When a team makes a run or when the Nets’ offense struggles, they have that 'here-we-go-again' moment, and it dooms them. It happened -– when else? -– in the third quarter against the Miami Heat.

A 14-point third quarter helped lead to the Nets’ 63rd loss, a 99-89 defeat that spoiled the NBA head coaching debut of John Loyer. It wouldn’t have gone on Loyer’s record, who was the acting coach while interim Kiki Vandeweghe was in California with his ill mother. But it would have been an achievement for him and the Nets.

“Pretty much the same thing,” Brook Lopez said. “A 14-point third quarter,

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,

The Nets ran into another team without their best player and they might as well have run into a brick wall. They put up enough bricks to build a wall, anyway.

The Hawks still are a good team without Joe Johnson, but this was a humiliating defeat because as soon as Jamal Crawford got hot in the second quarter the Nets melted and suffered their 60th loss already.

Bad shooting, no energy and overall resignation led to last night’s 108-84 defeat. It’s fair to note the Nets were without Devin Harris.

But they won a game earlier this year – their last victory at home – without Harris and backcourt mate Courtney Lee. Granted, it was against the Clippers, but still. This was a Nets’ team we haven’t seen in a while, one that showed little life, that didn’t