Photo: AP
After being sent to Lionel Hollins’ doghouse in December, Bojan Bogdanovic is back in his good graces as the starting shooting guard. It was another positive week by reinserting himself back into a key player for a struggling Nets team. Although they have lost eight out of their last nine games, this is a rebuilding team. It’s hard to place expectations on a team that has been ravaged by injuries and declining players.
The week started with another lopsided defeat against a playoff contender. The Memphis Grizzles had their way with them in a 103-92 win. The game wasn’t as close as the score appeared. Hollins’ couldn’t save his offensively challenged team against his former team. Bogdanovic had a relatively productive game with 11 points and six rebounds on five of eight shooting. Bojan found his openings offensively, but struggled to keep pace with the much quicker Courtney Lee defensively. The growing pains are still evident in watching him defend quicker guards.
Brooklyn finally ended their eight game losing streak in a definitive way against the Washington Wizards. They won 102-80 on the road against one of the best teams in the Eastern conference. It was a much-needed confidence booster in forcing 19 turnovers against such a talented team. Bogdanovic struggled by shooting just three for nine from the field. That didn’t take away from him getting to the line eight times and scoring 12 points. Hollins went to the extent of praising him publicly following his performance. The increased sense of urgency offensively by looking for back-door cuts and being aggressive on pick-and-rolls has been refreshing to watch. Bojan got the message that waiting on the three-point line to contribute offensively isn’t going to cut it.
Unfortunately the brief winning streak ended shortly after. Washington won 99-90 in a rematch on the following night. Bogdanovic had eight points and five rebounds in 26 minutes of action. Alan Anderson is still the preferred option at times for his defensive forte. Brooklyn was out-rebounded by nine and allowed Washington to shoot 51 percent from the field. It was another tough loss at home to simply a better team on paper. The loss of Deron Williams has affected them to an extent. They don’t have enough depth to beat talented teams on a consistent basis.
The Nets have a hectic schedule for this upcoming week. At 17-24, this isn’t the best time to have to go on a three-game road trip on the west coast. It starts tonight at Sacramento. They actually have a nationally televised game against the Clippers on the following night. It’s rare that Brooklyn is featured in a primetime slot. They finish the road trip in Utah on Saturday. A Monday home game against Portland on NBA TV ends the week for them. It’s possible for them to split this week, but this team is very difficult to predict. You never know how a team will play, with an older group of veterans and younger players that aren’t ready for heavy minutes on a nightly basis.
Photo: USA Today/Kyle Terada
It was one of the quieter weeks for Andrew Bogut during his resurgent season. While Golden State continues to win games, Bogut is trying to shake off the rust from his one-month injury layoff. That was evident in Golden State’s 104-89 win over the Miami Heat last Wednesday. Hassan Whiteside gave Bogut problems with his speed and athleticism. Bogut finished with just four points, five rebounds, and two assists in 25 minutes of action. Whiteside is emerging as one of the best big man prospects in the league. He outplayed Bogut with ten points, twelve rebounds, and three blocks in 29 minutes of action. Many centers will have to be aware of his ability going forward.
Bogut was given the night off against Oklahoma City on Friday. Steve Kerr has decided to start giving Andre Iguodala and him rest throughout certain stretches of the season. With such a talented team full of depth, Kerr wants to make sure his key players aren’t being overused according to CBS Sports. Without Bogut, Golden State unsurprisingly faltered defensively and allowed 127 points in defeat. The game off was to make sure Bogut was fresh for Saturday night’s showdown against Houston.
With Dwight Howard healthy, Kerr knew that he needed Bogut at his best. Golden State ended up putting on an offensive clinic shooting 54 percent and out-rebounding Houston by ten. They ended up winning 131-106 in another statement win against a contender. Andrew only played 20 minutes, due to the Warriors having a 22-point lead going into the fourth quarter. A stat line of two points, six rebounds, and two blocks is still fairly productive. Howard did have his way with Bogut at times, which was to be expected. You can only hope to contain a dominant force like Howard inside the paint. His efforts didn’t matter in the end. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined to shoot 18 for 33 from the field in scoring 54 points. If you allow them to be that efficient, there isn’t much hope in defeating them.
How could Golden State possible top a 25-point win over Houston? They annihilated the Denver Nuggets by a score of 122-79 on Monday afternoon. The score was 55-28 by halftime. All five starters ended up playing less than 26 minutes in their most lopsided win of the season. Bogut had three points, eight rebounds, and three assists in 22 minutes of action. Golden State out-rebounded Denver by a 53 to 39 margin. They shot 54 percent, while Denver just shot 34 percent. Those are just a few of the most recognizable stats in such a lopsided victory.
The upcoming week couldn’t start any better for them. Golden State will be national televised in a home game against Houston tonight. Tensions will be high, as Houston needs to start proving their worth as a legitimate contender. The Warriors will continue their home stand in home games against Sacramento on Friday and Boston on Sunday. The week ends at home on Tuesday against the struggling Chicago Bulls. This is a rare five-game home stretch for the Warriors. You rarely see such a favorable stretch for any team.
Photo: USA Today/Brian Spurlock
Just when you thought Damjan Rudez is headed towards irrelevancy, a breakout game emerges out of nowhere. Frank Vogel gave him an opportunity against Detroit to give the offense a much-needed boost. If you watch the video below, you will see that Indiana was shooting 29 percent from the field in the first quarter. Rudez comes in and starts connecting on a few jump shots from the perimeter. At one point, Damjan actually drove to the hoop in converting an unorthodox running floater. This was his best game to date in a Pacer uniform. In just 16 minutes of action, Rudez scored 13 points on five of eight shooting. Indiana lost in heart breaking fashion, when star center Andre Drummond scored on a tip-in with one second remaining. The Pacers lost 98-96 in a tough divisional battle.
The brutal losses continued, as they lost 80-71 in overtime to the disappointing Charlotte Hornets. Rudez played 25 minutes, which is easily his highest total in January. The momentum from last game wasn’t brought over into this encounter. Damjan scored four points on two of six shooting. Charlotte made it a priority to close down on him from the perimeter. Rudez missed all three of his three-point attempts as well. Indiana’s offensive limitations were once again on display in this loss. They shot just 35 percent in a bizarre overtime defeat.
All of the momentum that Rudez briefly had came crashing down against the Houston Rockets. In just twelve minutes of action, Rudez missed all of his five shots and was uncomfortable against a swarming Houston defense. They were coming off allowing 131 points to Golden State a few nights before. Indiana’s bench did play reasonably well with Donald Sloan and C.J Miles combining for 40 points. They were no contest against one of the best teams in the NBA. James Harden scored 45 points in a convincing 110-98 victory to push Indiana’s losing streak to five games.
Indiana’s schedule doesn’t get any easier with three road games coming up. It starts tonight against the best team from the Eastern conference in the Atlanta Hawks. That leads to a road game against their arch nemesis in the Miami Heat on Friday. A Sunday matchup in Orlando ends their trip down south. They end the week at home on Tuesday against a stingy Toronto Raptors squad. At 15-28, they desperately need to pull together a few wins to stay afloat.
Photo: Sun Sentinel/Robert Duyos
Justin Hamilton continues to be out of the rotation in Miami. With the emergence of Hassan Whiteside, Hamilton hasn’t played significant minutes since December 19th against Washington. It’s hard to see him breaking into the rotation with Chris Bosh healthy. Anything can change in Miami, as they continue to search for their identity. It has been a disappointing season so far at 18-23.
Twitter: @Allen_Strk
Soul Champ
Thank you very much for the praise. I’m hoping Denis gets me a Karlovacko one of these days.
You are spot on about the Warriors. That Oklahoma City game couldn’t be more evident. Speights is a solid big man, but he can’t be relied on as a center.
Its not like those guys grow on trees. I think most national teams in Europe are looking for that.
In Europe you need a PG who can shoot from the outside because so much of the game is pick and roll. The PG we have had have been OK when it comes to club play. Guys like Ukic and Planinic have had nice careers for top Euroleague clubs, but never have been a huge impact for the repka.
@ Allen
Brate your reporting is so iLLmatic it actually has me interested in the NBA again. Svaka čast your are really earning that 1 Kuna.
Bojan is a baller he will adjust to the speed.
Rudez looks good as that stretch 4, he is big dude.
Bogut is an absolute BEAST. Even more respect that he comes back from injuries ready to compete.
As always a Hrvat is the X factor, no Bogut no Chip. Those jump shots will not win in June.
EuroBasket 2015 – pool play in Zagreb.
Is it our time to make a deep run?
@ Svima
Can some one call your guy at the Savez and find out where our next Pravi Hrvat point guard is coming from?
6’3″ – 6’5″, quick ball handler, drops dimes, sticks three’s, can finish at the rim, over all bad ass who lives to compete.
Props to Porcelain Doll Bogut tonight as he completely outplayed Howard and forced Howard to commit some real dumb fouls. True team first guy. If Porcelain Doll Bogut can stay healthy – always a question mark – the Warriors will be a tough team to eliminate in seven games.
Can you imagine the amount of Croatian spoken between Belichick, Vinovich and Carroll?????? Don’t imagine it……they can’t. It would be the same as diaspora hrvati showing up in cro and trying to order drinks.
Bill Vinovich announced as head ref for the Super Bowl. I guess since Bill Belicic spoke to him before the Ravens game, I assume he’s Croatian?
Đžastin Hemilton!
Hopefully our boys find some consistency down the stretch but great to hear some good things.