Daily News

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

Mitch Lawrence calls Rogers "a standstill shooter with a 
history of weight problems" and says the Exit 16W's "have 
gotten older and slower with their three major offseason 
moves."



http://nydailynews.com/front/v-pfriendly/story/11051p-
10417c.html
Nets jolly to add Rogers 
By MITCH LAWRENCE
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER 
Thursday, August 15th, 2002 

First there was veteran guard Chris Childs. Then, the 
graybeard of graybeards, Dikembe Mutombo. And now, the 
nine-year journeyman forward, Rodney Rogers.

See a trend here? For the Nets, it's receding hairlines 
and old knees covered with icepacks. After running their 
way to the Eastern Conference championship last season, 
they've gotten older and slower with their three major 
offseason moves.

Gone are Keith Van Horn, 26, Todd MacCulloch, 26, and 
Anthony Johnson, 28. OK, so there are no Carl Lewises in 
that trio. But the players the Nets have added - Mutombo 
maintains he's 36, Childs is almost 35 and Rogers is 31 - 
are all walk-it-up halfcourt players.

The Nets' spin is that they've still got speed to burn 
with Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, Kenyon Martin and 
Kerry Kittles. They also think that the addition of the 
three vets brings much-needed toughness and a wealth of 
postseason experience. On paper, the Nets will be favored 
to repeat as conference champions, something that hasn't 
happened since Michael Jordan's Bulls in 1998.

"We've added players who have played in a lot of big 
games before, and I think that will help," team president 
Rod Thorn said. "We had great chemistry last year. How 
these moves affect that, we won't know until we get on 
the court and see how the different personalities mesh."

Added coach Byron Scott: "We still have our youthfulness, 
but we've added the experience of older guys who know 
what it takes to get back to the Finals."

Just don't look for the second unit to run opponents off 
the floor. Rogers, who signed yesterday for three years 
at around $9.3 million, is a standstill shooter with a 
history of weight problems. He wants to start, but Scott 
already has given the job to Jefferson.

How did the Nets end up with Rogers when Minnesota had 
more money to offer? The Timberwolves could have started 
Rogers at around $4.5 million with the mid-level 
exception - a figure his agent, James Williams, insisted 
on - compared to the $2.75 million he'll get from the 
Nets in year two.

But the T-Wolves ultimately decided that Rogers wasn't 
worth the entire mid-level figure. They tried selling him 
on splitting the mid-level so that they could also sign 
Travis Best or Troy Hudson to play point guard. But 
Rogers, who was the 2000 Sixth Man Award winner in 
Phoenix playing with Kidd, decided to be reunited with 
his ex-teammate.

"He always told me he wanted to get me to come to New 
Jersey, so we can play together again," said Rogers, who 
averaged 12points per game for the Celtics and Suns last 
season. "But the Nets are all about winning and that's 
what I'm about."


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