While Nets and Knicks both lag, the Brooklyn team has more reasons for optimism; Nets try to sell court ad space

The New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets are both 2-4, at the bottom of the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division, causing consternation among some of Nets fans but panic among some Knicks fans.

After all, with two new stars and serious bench players, the Nets have been seen as a championship contender. Indeed, they've beaten defending champion Miami Heat (who are only 5-3) and put up a good fight against the league-leading Indiana Pacers, while losing to faster, younger teams.

The consensus is they need time to find chemistry, but it could come. Then again, wrote the Daily News's Stefan Bondy this morning:

It’s a good time to shift the conversation from progress to actual wins and losses, considering a bad week on the road could leave the Nets 2-7 and create an environment of second-guessing. The Nets, after all, have the oldest starting lineup in the NBA, so how much can they learn about playing tough defense and not giving up offensive rebounds? They’ve been poor in both categories.

That said, given the Knicks' dysfunction, compounded by an injury to center Tyson Chandler, even a partly achieving Nets team might, as NetsDaily reported 10/23/13, fulfill CEO Brett Yormark's goal to "own" New York.

NetsDaily also pointed out:

On business issues, Yormark said the Nets had sold "over 12,000 full season" tickets (a slightly different way of saying "almost 13,000," as Nets officials had been saying.) "We anticipate selling out every night. That's always been the goal moving to Brooklyn."

In other words, you can't quite trust Yormark's numbers.

Selling court space

ESPN reported 10/28/13:

The Brooklyn Nets have placed an ad that appeared Monday morning in Crain's New York Business in hopes of tempting chief executives to put their companies' names on the court at the Barclays Center.
A trial balloon floated by the NBA will result in some teams selling corporate signage on their courts for locally televised games this season.
The Nets placed an ad Monday in Crain's New York Business in hopes of tempting chief executives to put their companies' names or logos on the court at the Barclays Center.
Some executives are hoping to generate millions from the new pieces of inventory opened up in June by deputy commissioner Adam Silver, who will replace David Stern in February.
"You've always dreamed of playing in the pros and here's your chance to get on the court," Nets CEO Brett Yormark wrote in a letter in the ad. "As we embark on what is sure to be one of our most exciting seasons in franchise history, this is your opportunity to be our sixth man."

It's pretty neat when you can turn your paid advertising into so-called free media.

Here's the huckster-in-chief:

"I'm in love with selling this real estate," said Yormark, who can sell the space for 32 of 41 home games because the Nets have nine national games scheduled in Brooklyn. "There are just so few opportunities where you can put your brand on a playing field. It's essentially an implied endorsement from both the team and its players."