Happy New Year, everyone.

And unlike most new years, this time it’s out with the new, in with the old. The NBA replaced the widely detested microfiber balls with the old leather variety beginning on January 1, ending a bumpy chapter in David Stern’s otherwise smooth stewardship of the game over the past two decades.

With the return to the old ball could be a few other changes. The newer ball seemed more likely to produce ballhandling and dribbling miscues, so those numbers could drop a little; on the other hand, it seemed a bit easier to shoot and we could see percentages drop a bit with the leather balls in action the rest of the way.

Regardless, one thing is for sure: At the top of Stern’s list of New Year’s resolutions will be to get more buy-in from players and better communication with the public any time the league makes an equipment change. The NBA could have averted much of the controversy about the new ball if it had simply done more of the necessary legwork ahead of time.

But in addition to the commish’s list, plenty of other resolutions should be made around the NBA. I have no idea if any of the parties below will heed my suggestions, but if they’ve been paying attention, here’s what they’ve resolved to do for the new year:

New Jersey Nets: Stop throwing Vince under the bus. Okay, guys, we get that you’re not entirely pleased with Vince’s effort level, especially at the defensive end. I also get that you need to come up with a good excuse for a 13–18 record, and that pinning the blame on a guy who isn’t likely to be around after this year is the most expedient way of doing this.

But let me offer a few counterpoints. First, Carter statistically is putting up numbers almost identical to a year ago. He’s averaging 26.0 points per 40 minutes compared to 26.3 last year, and doing it while cashing in a higher percentage of shots and making a low rate of turnovers. His rebounds and assists are down a bit, but overall his Player Efficiency Rating (PER, my perminute rating of a player’s statistical effectiveness) has hardly budged — 21.5 compared to last year’s 21.7.

Carter also has the biggest oncourt versus off-court differential on the team, making him a difficult target for the Nets to pin the blame on. Even his occasionally lax defense hasn’t been too problematic in terms of the scoreboard — the Nets give up one point more per 48 minutes with him off the court.

So while Carter’s seeming indifference can occasionally be frustrating, folks in the Swamp need to wake up and realize this is the same guy they had a year ago. It’s the rest of the team around him that’s falling apart. Carter’s doing what he’s always done.

Isiah Thomas: Quit with the excuses. Better yet, just quit. Every time something bad happens to the Knicks, there’s Isiah with his Cheshire grin explaining how it was really somebody else’s fault. Either the refs didn’t give them enough respect, or the opponent was playing over their heads, or George Karl was running up the score. But it has nothing to do with Isiah, even though he’s put together the most spectacularly overpaid roster in basketball history and is riding it to another finish in the lottery — minus the stud draft pick that comes at the end. He’s 13–20 and in danger of finishing in the bottom half of the worst division in history. At this point, the end can’t possibly come soon enough.

Mavs, Spurs, and Suns: Make things interesting by losing once in a while. Has anyone else noticed that these three teams have been absolutely beating the tar out of everybody for about six weeks now? Dallas is 24–3 since its 0–4 start; Phoenix is 20–3 since starting the year 1–5; and the Spurs are merely 12–3 in their past 15 games and have a dominant +9.5 points per game victory margin —all while their coach is complaining about a lack of defensive intensity.

So for the three teams, that’s a combined record of 56–9 in a 65-game span, and it improves to 55–8 if you throw out the Dallas-Phoenix game — which one of them had to lose. Mind you, 55–8 over a full season is a 72-win pace, which equals the best single-season record ever. Can we just give these guys their own league and let the other 27 clubs play it out for the consolation prize?

Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards: Guard somebody. The two hottest teams in the East are the Bucks and the Wizards, and both are riding scorching offenses. Milwaukee has won seven of its past eight games and scored at least 108 points in all but one of them, while Washington has won 13 of 17 behind the lava-hot Gilbert Arenas and hasn’t been held under 100 since December 2.

That said, they’d be even better if they weren’t such horrid defensive teams. Based on my Defensive Efficiency rankings, which measure how many points a team allows per 100 opponent possessions, Washington and Milwaukee are the two worst defensive teams in basketball. The Wizards permit 108.5 points per 100 possessions, while the Bucks allow a ghastly 109.1. Consider the league average is only 103.0, those six extra points the two teams give up place incredible pressure on their offense to light up the scoreboard. If they could get a stop or two in between the fireworks, they’d make the leap from pretenders to contenders in a wide-open Eastern Conference.

Tracy McGrady : Give his new back therapist a six-figure tip. McGrady has been plagued by back problems most of the past few years, but he had some work done in late December with a new specialist and has looked like a new man since coming back.

It’s not just the stats, although they’ve been there, too — it’s the other stuff. McGrady is back to rising over defenders for long-range jumpers any time the mood strikes, elevating around the basket for finishes over big men in the lane, and quick first steps past opponents who play him too close. It’s great to see because he’s as dynamic a scorer as anyone in the game when his body parts are all working, and hopefully he can keep it up the rest of the way.

jhollinger@nysun.com