Marbury Gives Nets Big Weapon

Brooklyn native Stephon Marbury, who has the words “Coney Island” tattooed on his arm, wanted to come home so badly that it didn’t even matter that he went from a legitimate playoff contender to the worst team in the East.

He wanted the Knicks, he got the Nets. He’s happy anyway.

“It’s nothing like playing in the Garden, nothing,” Marbury said of the Meadowlands, the Nets’ home six miles west of the Hudson River.

But, for Marbury, it’s better than Minneapolis, playoffs or no playoffs.

The Nets came out the biggest winners on deadline day, pulling off another in a series of trades that have reshaped the franchise - even if it hasn’t led to many victories this season.

Two years ago, they pulled off what’s generally regarded as a heist when they sent Shawn Bradley to Dallas in a nine-player trade that brought them Sam Cassell, Jim Jackson, George McCloud, Chris Gatling and Eric Montross. They turned McCloud into a first-round pick that they packaged with Jackson and Montross for the draft rights to Keith Van Horn.

Last year, they packaged Yinka Dare and other assorted castoffs in a deal for Rony Seikaly and Brian Evans. And Thursday, they put Cassell, Gatling and Evans together to get Marbury from the Timberwolves.

“Think of the change in personnel they’ve done in two years,” said Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, who claimed he was not envious despite the Knicks’ last-minute attempt to get Marbury. “I’m telling you what, they’ve got it going. That’s a hell of a trade.”< The Nets put most of their other main pieces together through other deft trades. When they knew they would not re-sign Kenny Anderson in 1996, they shipped him to Charlotte for Kendall Gill. And in 1992, they got Jayson Williams from the Philadelphia 76ers for a pair of second-round draft picks.

The quick heave

Seems as if referees are being a little tougher on the Utah Jazz, who often are criticized as being one of the whiniest teams in the league.

Referee Steve Javie gave coach Jerry Sloan the heave-ho late in the first quarter of the Jazz’s game against Denver on Thursday night.

Sloan was screaming about what he thought was illegal defense being played by Antonio McDyess, which earned him his first technical.

When Sloan said a naughty word while telling Javie to stop making up the rules as he went along, he earned his second technical and an automatic ejection.

They were Sloan’s second and third technicals in two games since returning from knee surgery. John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek also have drawn quick technicals recently.

Last season, the Jazz drew 98 technical fouls in 82 games, an average of 1.2 per game. This year, they have drawn 34 in 19 games, an average of 1.8.

Dennis Rodman drew his first ejection of the season Wednesday night. After picking up his first technical in the first half, he was tossed by referee Joey Crawford while seated on the floor in front of the Lakers bench for saying something to the officials after they called a double-technical on Derek Harper and Darrick Martin.

“The technicals he got were very, very uncalled for,” teammate Robert Horry said. “I’ve heard players like Karl Malone use swear words and not get technicals. Dennis didn’t say anything like that. He just said, `What did I do?’ or something like that.”