Nets coach Kenny Atkinson needs something – no, Quincy Acy, not you
On one hand, it is very important for little-used NBA players to stay forever vigilant. When you don’t get many minutes, you need to be ready to perform to the peak of your abilities at a moment’s notice should your coach ever look to the end of the bench and gesture in your direction.
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On the other … sometimes that gesture is just a call for hydration.
At one point or another in our lives, we have all been Quincy Acy, jovial journeyman and current Brooklyn Nets 10-day-contract signee. Eager for an opportunity, holding on to a good thing, hoping for the best, popping up with excitement at the call of our number … only to find out that our particular Kenny Atkinsons are less interested in our services than they are in a nice, cold drink of water. It happens, and it is a bummer when it does.
Weep not for your man Quincy, though. He did get off the pine and into the action, scoring nine points on 3-for-6 shooting with five rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes of work as the Nets knocked off the New York Knicks — one of his numerous former employers, and Brooklyn’s crosstown rival — for a 122-110 victory. The Nets, far and away the worst team in the NBA, have now beaten the Knicks twice in a week, which offers a wonderful indication of where Phil Jackson’s team is these days as New York waits for all those geometry-enthusiast free agents to roll in this summer.
In the meantime, the Nets will continue their brick-by-brick rebuild, focused on finding contributors anywhere they can and hoping to unearth some diamonds along the way. It remains to be seen whether Acy winds up being one of them, but however his tenure in the outer boroughs shakes out, this much, at least, we know to be true:
You are not alone, Quincy. We stand with you — off the bench, ready to take off our warmups and take our shot. No mixed-signal miscommunication will slake our thirst.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!