Photo: Nets.com
Bojan Bogdanović continues to be in Lionel Hollins’ doghouse. Through Brooklyn’s past three games this week, Bojan played a grand total of twelve minutes. This included his first DNP of his career in Brooklyn’s 100-98 win over Orlando. It has been a rough stretch for Bogdanović, which has now led to Hollins going public about his benching. According to the New York Post, Hollins believes that Bojan has hit a wall and hasn’t been aggressive. This has been the second time that the phrase “not aggressive” has been said publicly about Bogdanović. It’s a puzzling thing to say, considering how much he shoots.
Whether it’s from continuously shooting three pointers or not being more involved in the offense, something is unclear about this particular situation. Since Sergey Karasev has joined the starting lineup, Brooklyn is 8-5. They are currently on a two-game losing streak following close losses to Miami and Brooklyn. At 16-18, this is a favorable stretch coming up for them. A three game stretch featuring home games against Boston on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Friday should certainly help them. Then they travel to Detroit on Saturday in another winnable game. The week ends on Monday against one of the Western conferences’s powerhouses in the Houston Rockets. Until Bogdanović starts showing more in practice or explodes in a game, it’s hard to see him playing significant minutes. Nets Daily did an excellent job in breaking down his struggles so far this season.
Photo: AP/Jeff Chiu
The long layoff is nearly over for Andrew Bogut. According to Steve Kerr, Bogut could return on Wednesday against Indiana. He’s progressed nicely following the inflammation in his knee. Andrew has been out since December eighth, yet Golden State managed to stay on top of the Western conference. It has been a quiet week for them, although they made a statement on Friday night. They proved that the Western conference is far better than the Eastern conference through giving Toronto a 126-105 beating. Draymond Green had his first career triple-double in what has been a career year for him. They continued their success in a 117-91 win over Oklahoma City.
Golden State is 27-5 and heads into a relatively easy week. Home games against Indiana on Wednesday and Cleveland on Friday should be comfortable wins. Cleveland won’t have LeBron James available, which has left them scrambling for answers. They end the week on the road against Utah. After facing several top teams, the Warriors will be getting a light schedule in the upcoming week. Bogut should feature in at least one of those games. In the Sydney Morning Herald, Blake Griffin has been adamant about wanting to face a healthy Bogut. It’s clear that the rivalry isn’t going away anytime soon.
Photo: Youtube screenshot
Damjan Rudež has recovered from an upper respiratory infection. Unfortunately for him, that hasn’t led to being back on the court. Frank Vogel has him out of the rotation. They’re simply too many better players that deserve minutes. C.J Miles has been on a hot shooting streak that has left Rudez on the bench. Indiana went 2-1 in the past week from beating Milwaukee and Utah on the road. A one-point loss to the lowly Los Angeles Lakers still has to sting.
At 14-22, they’re still right behind Miami for that last playoff spot. A four game stretch is coming up starting from the aforementioned trip to Golden State. That is followed by a home game against the Boston Celtics on Friday. They play back-to-back games in traveling to Philadelphia on Saturday. The week ends on Tuesday in a home game against Minnesota. With a hectic stretch coming up, Rudež could see some playing time. That is still unclear at this time on what their motives are. Vogel seems to be set on a nine to ten man rotation.
~Written by Allen Strk
Twitter: @Allen_Strk
Regarding Bogdanovich and Rudez:
1) Bogdanovich- Good European player who is not cut out to be an NBA player on a regular basis. He’s averaging under an assist a game. You know how hard that is to do?
2) Rudez- A nice guy who I wish well for, but he shouldn’t be in the NBA….especially the Pacers of all teams where he’s nowhere as good as the others.
Armada87, Jackson is clueless.
He traded Tyson Chandler and got back only Jose Calderon. Calderon is only as good as the player who surround him. They could have gotten a much better point guard than him.
The Denver Nuggets got TWO first round picks for former Knick Timofey Mozgov, the guy Donnie Walsh didn’t want to part with in the Carmelo Anthony trade, but James Dolan got involved. Can you imagine if Jackson had kept Tyson and got those first round picks from the Cavs instead?
Their only traceable asset is Hardaway Jr and he is clearly regressing in this regime.
Before the season started, Jackson stated the team would be in the playoffs. They are now 5-35. Even Jackson finally admitted on Saturday that all of his moved have been flops. He was a good coach, but he is not a guy like Pat Riley who knows how to cultivate a team. You add in that he’s now 70 years old and in bad health as this was a disaster from the start.
I’d say Jackson knows what he is doing. He never wanted the job from the Knicks, but they threw $12 million per year at him and he accepted.
@Armada,
No, the Zen master doesnt know what he’s doing. Total money grab. Also, Zen master is the most overrated coach of all time. Not saying that he’s average, just saying that he’s not greatest ever.
1) Jackson ha no clue how to develop players.
2) Jackson had the greatest player ever, and two of the top 20 players ever on the same team. Pippen is up for debate.
3) Jackson didn’t invent the triangle offense.
Huge summer for the knicks. If they dont sign two big free agents, Jackson will bolt. Good bye Phil.
in non-Croatian player news…
boze boze, my fucking Knicks…. Hope the Zen Master knows what he is doing….
thanks for the write up Allen
Poglavnik
Could very well be the case. Then again, Joe Johnson and many of those veterans have never been great defenders. They obviously can get away with it though.
Soul Champ
Thank you. This isn’t an ideal situation with an old school coach and lackluster offense. In the end, Bojan has to make the most of his opportunities.
Not aggressive defensively maybe?
@ Allen
Solid reporting here Brate.
Bojan got burned out a bit.
His next opportunity will come.
If he was on the Spurs he would be flowing on offense.
I more interested to see if Hezonja can mature emotionally and bring that NBA talent state side?
Also need to cultivate the next generation of lead guard. Where is the next Dražen Petrović ?