On Holiday, a Local Lesson for the Nets The Nets are beginning their second year as Brooklyn tenants, and their effort to blend in took them to a far corner of the borough Monday. It was early afternoon on Veterans Day when the Nets held an open practice at the United States Army Garrison Fort Hamilton for a few dozen uniformed troops and military personnel. Later, the players served food and drinks during an early Thanksgiving-theme dinner. Earlier this season, the Nets visited Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park and held a Halloween party at the Brooklyn Museum in Prospect Heights. "Brooklyn has embraced us since Day 1," said Joe Johnson, the shooting guard. This is another great opportunity for me that I can put down in the history books and tell my kids about. The Nets are still transitioning to the area. The team's primary operations are still based in East Rutherford, N.J., and as things were last year, no players are living in Brooklyn. For the most part, they live in northern New Jersey and Lower Manhattan. Before Monday, some players did not know Fort Hamilton existed. "I had no clue it was out here," Johnson said. But it was an honor to be invited. Fort Hamilton sits in the southwest corner of the borough. It opened in 1831 as a part of a larger project initiated after the War of 1812 to enlarge and strengthen coastal defenses. It is named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the Treasury. From the Civil War through World War II, it served largely as a recruitment and embarkation site. Today, it is one of three military bases in the state and the only active military base in the city. The base provided personnel and support after the Sept. 11 attacks and more recently as a key staging area after Hurricane Sandy. Now, it serves largely as a military recruitment and entrance processing station and hosts tenants like the Army Reserves and National Guard. No training takes place on the base. Within cramped quarters, the Nets had plenty to work on at practice. According to Johnson, the workout was focused on the little details - play calling, decision-making and movement - that have sunk the Nets during critical moments. After spirited five-on-five drills, the players posed for photographs on the court with troops and Fort Hamilton officials. The Nets have sputtered to a 2-4 start, dropping their last two games. Patience was always a key theme entering the season, and the Nets hurried these last few months to integrate several high-profile acquisitions. But losing has been a grating experience. Things will not get easier this week, as the team will embark on a rigorous three-game Western trip over four days, beginning Wednesday in Sacramento. The players tried to put a rosy perspective on the upcoming travel, portraying it as a chance to change the scenery, to get away from some everyday distractions. "Going through this little losing streak of two games, sometimes the road can cure some of the problems that you have, and I think we're looking at it like that," Paul Pierce said. It's a three-game trip, but this is something that could really help us turn things around. Coach Jason Kidd said the team needed to improve its performance on the road, where it has yet to win a game. But some of Monday was spent solidifying the team's presence at home. "You couldn't ask for a better day, Veterans Day, here in Brooklyn, our home," Kidd said. Andrei Kirilenko did not practice as he continued to deal with a recurrence of the back spasms that sidelined him during the preseason. ... Tornike SHEngElia and Tyshawn Taylor were recalled from the Development League.