EIGHT-MAN ROTATION
Pos	Player	Key Stat	Skinny
PG	Stephon Marbury	21.3 PPG	Breakout season, endorsements ahead
SG	Kendall Gill	.398 FG %	Natural 2 played all over last year
SF	Keith Van Horn	21.8 PPG	Could exploit matchups, may play more 4
PF	Jamie Feick	11.0 RPG	Not bad fit until Jayson Williams returns
C	Gheorghe Muresan	1 game	Who are we to judge? He's in shape
SG	Kerry Kittles	.370 FG %	Injury problems may not be a mirage
SF	Johnny Newman	6.1 PPG	The guy gets around; natural scorer
SG	Scott Burrell	40 steals	Slasher should play a lot

		The Nets are on the bubble to make the playoffs. They have two bona-fide scorers in Stephon Marbury and Keith Van Horn. The big question is how soon Jayson Williams will get back from his broken leg and knee of last season. Even though Jamie Feick has done a good job of rebounding, they still need Williams. If they get him back, I look for New Jersey to get off the bubble and possibly be a playoff team, somewhere between the No. 6-8 spots.

After making the playoffs for the first time in four seasons following the 1997-98 campaign, the Nets were poised to make their move following the NBA lockout.

And move they did-straight to the bottom of the Atlantic Division, a freefall that cost coach John Calipari his job and forced the franchise to start over. Again.

Not from scratch, however. Say what you want about Calipari, but he left the organization in infinitely better shape than the way he found it. Now armed with some of the best young talent in the game -- Stephon Marbury, Keith Van Horn, Kerry Kittles -- and with one of the league's oldest coaches in Don Casey, the Nets are expecting great things of themselves once again.

But just like last season when injuries wrecked any chance the team had of making the shortened season a successful one, the team's health will once again play a prominent role.

The Nets used 23 different players as they tried to patch last season back together after a series of season-ending injuries and finished the year with four players originally signed to 10-day contracts. And they'll start this season in a hole, with Jayson Williams expected to be sidelined until at least January as he rehabilitates a badly broken leg and a (twice) surgically repaired knee. And Kittles, who underwent offseason knee surgery, is not expected to be back until some time after the start of the regular season.

Still, no one is conceding anything.

"We want to win," says Marbury, who tasted the playoffs with Minnesota and did not like going home early last season at all. "We're young, dynamic and determined. If we can go out and play like that, I think we can definitely do something this year."

	Player to watch
	Feick We know Jamie Feick can play. We also know that Jayson Williams is out a while and this team can score with Stephon Marbury and Keith Van Horn. Feick might average double digits in scoring and rebounding, a workmanlike player that this team has needed for years. Then again, Feick might fall flat on his face.

After coming to the Nets in a blockbuster deal and signing a six-year, $72 million contract extension, Marbury wasted little time in placing his stamp on the team. After registering 21 points and five assists in his Nets debut, which, coincidentally, was also Calipari's final game as New Jersey's coach, Marbury went on to average 23.4 points and 8.7 assists per game with the team.

"With everyone knowing me and knowing how I am, it's going to be a lot easier to go out and perform," Marbury says. "When I first came from Minnesota everyone was like, 'How is he? What is he going to do? How does he play?'"

The Nets were delighted they could bring back Sherman Douglas, who was vital to the team's '97-98 playoff run. He's a capable starter or backup and is as good as it gets for insurance on Marbury.

Shooting guard
This is the grand experiment, the shift of Kendall Gill from small forward, where he shot a dismal 41% the last two seasons, to his natural position. If it works, Casey will be hailed as a genius. If not, Gill can go back to small forward and Kittles, who started at the 2 for each of his three seasons in the league, can return to the starting lineup.

"I just want to get back to my position and you'll see what I can do," says Gill. "I'm expecting a great year. I've prepared myself for it. I'm ready to move back to shooting guard. That's what I am."

After offseason knee surgery, Kittles has been slow to return. If Gill can perform and Kittles can adjust to his demotion -- there's no way to sugarcoat his move to the bench -- the Nets will be the better for it.

Small forward
If Gill handles the off-guard duties, Scott Burrell is likely to see most of the playing time at small forward. Although he was a complete bust last season when he reported to camp out of shape following the lockout, injured himself and never got untracked, Burrell was handed the starting job by Casey after he re-signed with the team over the summer. Why? No one seems sure.

"I feel like if I go out there and do the things I can do, (the job) should be mine," says Burrell. "It could be mine. I'm not saying that's guaranteed or anything. I have to go out there and prove myself."

If Burrell falters, Casey can always go to veteran Johnny Newman, who was acquired in the September trade that sent point guard Eric Murdock to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Power forward
This spot belongs to Keith Van Horn. Any questions? While Jamie Feick will see some duty here when the Nets occasionally "slide" -- Casey's term -- the 6-10 Van Horn to small forward, Van Horn appears poised to take his place among the league's best frontcourt players. After leading the Nets in scoring in each of his first two seasons in the league, Van Horn bulked up a bit over the summer and has vowed to improve on last season's 43% field goal shooting.

Center
With Williams out until at least January as he recovers from a badly broken leg, Feick will man the middle just as he did after replacing Williams for the final 20 games of last season. A journeyman who joined the Nets in March on a 10-day contract, Feick earned himself a six-year, $15 million payday by averaging nearly 11 rebounds in Williams' absence. He will play a lot of minutes this season, at the outset most of them as the team's undersized (6-8) center.

The Nets are also hoping to get something from Gheorghe Muresan, the 7-7 giant who has played just one minute in the last two NBA seasons, and defensive specialist Jim McIlvaine, who is back from shoulder surgery that caused him to miss the final 27 games last season.

Coaching
How long can the honeymoon last? The players lobbied hard for Casey to be retained after he guided them to a 13-17 record following Calipari's messy firing last March. They got what they wanted, but all Casey got was one guaranteed year-and that only after Phil Jackson turned down overtures from Nets owner Lewis Katz.

Casey has surrounded himself with a strong staff that includes former NBA head coaches Eddie Jordan (defense) and Jim Lynam (offense). An NBA lifer who speaks often about how close he is to earning his pension, the 62-year-old Casey appears content knowing this is his final shot to guide an NBA team.