Brad who?(basketball player Brad Miller)(Brief Article)

Every season has its share of early surprises, but when the Nets and Warriors are winning and Brad Miller is the best center in the Eastern Conference, it's time to take a closer look.

Surprises with staying power. (Brad who?)

The Nets. They started 9-4, putting the team on pace to win 57 games, more than double the total from last season (26). Jason Kidd is the winner Stephon Marbury never was, and Kidd's arrival coincides with a rare run of good health in New Jersey. So far, rookie Brian Scalabrine (broken foot) is the only Net to suffer a major injury this season. If everyone else stays healthy, the team will be a contender, because a lineup of Kidd, Kerry Kitties, Kenyon Martin, Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch is as good as any in the Atlantic Division.

The rookies. Remember last year's great debate for Rookie of the Year honors? Marc Jackson or Mike Miller? Ugh. The worst rookie class in memory has given way to one that rivals the Class of '98, which included Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki and Antawn Jamison. No one expected much from a class with four high schoolers in the top eight picks, but it isn't the preps who are standing out. Joe Johnson (Celtics), Jason Richardson (Warriors), Pau Gasol and Shane Battier (Grizzlies), Jamaal Tinsley (Pacers) and Tony Parker (Spurs) already have cracked the starting lineup. Each of these players probably will put up numbers that would have won him the award last season.

The Jazz, Something you know: They're old. Something you might not know: They play nine straight games on the road in February, when the Olympics are in Salt Lake City. If John Stockton and Karl Malone are tired now--the Jazz ...