By: Chris Alvino

To start, I want to also welcome Moke to the SNY Blog family.  He will add a lot to this group.

On his opening day, Moke wrote about the depth of the Brooklyn Nets going into the upcoming season.  The recent acquisitions of Childress and Blatche have certainly filled two of the teams more glaring bench holes, and if both players play to their potential, both players can be very strong pieces on that roster to compliment Lopez, Williams and Johnson.

The Nets currently go at least two deep at every position with legitamate NBA talent, and that does not even include Mirza Teletovic who by all accounts can be the best player to come off of that team’s bench.

Then there are the Knicks.  On paper, the Knicks also have strong depth, and aside from their hole at the backup PF spot, the Knicks also go at least two deep at every position with legitimate NBA talent.

So which team is deeper? Let’s take a look at each team’s bench.  The Knicks have more veteran talent than the Nets do and their role players have more defined roles on the roster.  Everyone knows what players like Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby, Steve Novak and Pablo Prigioni are here to do.  The Nets are younger and their bench role players have more explosive potential.  Young players like CJ Watson and Andray Blatche  are new additions who can really fill a stat sheet when on their games.  Watson is a PG, but not necessarily a distributor.  He has played a big role in the Bulls’ success over the last two seasons, but he does not orchestrate an offense in the ways that Jason Kidd will for NY.  Two years ago, Blatche appeared to be one of the up-and-coming bigs in the NBA, but injuries and a poor attitude found him being amenstied by Washington this summer and agreeing to play for the league minimum.  Marcus Camby on the other hand has been a rebounding and defensive machine over the course of his long career.  He can stabilize the painted area.  Camby will not go off for 20 points in a game, but his impact will be felt.  The Nets have Reggie Evans to help provide some of the same force that Camby and Kurt Thomas will give the Knicks, but even a veteran like Evans does not have the resume that the Knicks’ enforcers have.

Assuming the Knicks stay healthy, I believe the Knicks are deeper because I like their veterans and I like that each of their bench players should have defined roles and duties on and off the court.  I feel more comfortable, especially in the playoffs, that their bench players will produce.

But there are certainly cases I have heard giving the edge to the Nets.  What are your thoughts?