A Gameplan For The Nyets

In order for the Nyets to avoid breaking Philly's 9-73 mark for worst of all time, they need to make the following changes immediately:

-Put Kris Humphries in the starting line-up and send Yi Jianlian to the bench

-Make sure Bro-Pez gets at least 20 shots a game; dude's 50% from the floor and 80% from the line, get him more than 14 shots

-Take less than 10 3s per game as a team; Harris and Lee should be attacking the basket constantly, Tony Parker-style

-Give Tony Battie, Keyon Dooling and Trenton Hassell more run as backups; avoid breaking the record first, then worry about developing the youngsters (apologies to Yi, CDR and T Williams)

-Get out and run, especially against teams on long road trips or back to backs

Overall, they still have the talent to win 15-20 games. Yes, they were hit hard by the injury bug early with Harris missing lots of time. But if they play their hustle and defense guys (Humphries, Hassell, Dooling, Battie) more with their core players (Harris, Lee, Lopez), they'll have no problem getting into double digit wins. If they need inspiration, they should look at the Milwaukee Bucks as an example. The Bucks have marginal talent but they play hard on defense and make sure their offense always goes through their big man (Bogut). And right now, that team's on pace for about 35 wins.

Pictured: Bro-Pez, too good to be on the worst team ever

Loose Balls- Tuesday

*Boston's now 12-1 on the road this year. To me, that's waaaaay more impressive than Phoenix's 8-0 start at home.

*Paul Pierce gave kudos to Memphis after narrowly defeating them yesterday, saying that the Grizz were "up and coming" and "right on our heels." Ummm, really? I don't know, man. I don't see that lineup ever getting above .500, personally.

*How bad is the East? Well, if the playoffs started today, Toronto would qualify for the 8th seed playing .423 basketball. Over 82 games, that projects to a 34-48 record, among the worst in history for any postseason team.

*Speaking of epic failure, the Nyets are spiraling down in pursuit of the infamous 9-73 Sixers for worst record of all time. Currently mired at 2-22, Jersey will have to significantly improve to avoid breaking the futility mark. Good news: with Devin Harris and Courtney Lee back in the lineup, they'll probably squeak by and avoid that dubious distinction.

Pictured: Fred Carter (R), the best player on the worst team in history. Gotta love the laughing teammate in the background.