Croatians Around the NBA: Week 7

Photo: AP/John Minchillo

Bojan Bogdanović has been reduced to a bench role for the Brooklyn Nets. After shooting 35 percent in the past eight games, Lionel Hollins felt it was necessary to make a change. Sergey Karasev has replaced him in the starting lineup, although he’s virtually played identical minutes to Alan Anderson. Brooklyn snapped a three-game losing streak in beating the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday by a final score of 88-70. They held Philadelphia to just 31 percent shooting from the field. In 17 minutes of action, Bogdanović scored nine points on four of six shooting. It was a more assertive effort in cutting into the lane to take advantage of Philadelphia’s soft interior defense. This was a solid bounce back game for him following a disastrous past week.

Brooklyn continued their winning ways in an emphatic 114-87 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. On a rare special night, they shot 16 for 23 from three-point range. It led to them being up by 26 at the end of the third quarter. It was the first time all season long that the Nets offense fully clicked. Bogdanović may have only played 19 minutes, but was productive on both ends of the court. A stat sheet of twelve points and six rebounds on four of five shooting from three-point range is a great night off the bench. His quick release caught Charlotte defenders off guard on numerous occasions. While most of the points were in garbage time, it had to be a much-needed confidence booster for him.

Bogdanović played well against the Charlotte Hornets

The brief winning streak came to a halt yesterday in a loss to the short-handed Miami Heat. Despite Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts being out indefinitely, Brooklyn was unable to capitalize in a 95-91 defeat. They were out-rebounded and only shot 39 percent from the field. Bogdanović only played 16 minutes and scored five points on one of four shooting. All four shots were from three-point range, which will sure give Hollins something to grumble about. Bojan still seems far too reliant in shooting from the perimeter at any opportunity. This was another bad home loss for the Nets.

Photo: Denis Lisica

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for them in the upcoming week. They play the Toronto Raptors tonight in a nationally televised game. Then on Friday, Brooklyn travels to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch from last week. A two game home stand begins on Sunday against the lowly Detroit Pistons. The week ends on a Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets. At 10-13, it’ll be hard pressed for Brooklyn to be at the 500 mark going into Christmas.

Photo: USA-Today

Damjan Rudež’s inconsistent playing time continues for the Indiana Pacers. For the past month, there has been a noticeable contrast in his minutes on the court. On one week, he’ll average over 20 minutes a game. Then the following week, Rudež will be fortunate to receive around 14 minutes of playing time. This week was more towards the latter part of the actual minutes he received. It all began on Friday in a 106-94 defeat against Toronto. Rudež played just seven minutes, as Solomon Hill was the beneficiary in receiving thirty minutes. Indiana played hard, but Toronto outrebounded them 52 to 39. Damjan was held scoreless, while Hill scored 16 points on five of eight shooting. Frank Vogel had to ride with the hot hand.

The losses continued for Indiana, as it reached eight games in losing 95-85 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Rudež played just twelve minutes and failed to get on the stat sheet. Vogel seems to be leaning towards Hill and C.J Watson to play more than 32 minutes a game. It seems that Rudež and Chris Copeland are stuck battling for minutes. With the return of David West, this was going to be the most likely scenario. Ben Foster of 8points9second.com analyzed on what player should be playing more between Rudež and Copeland. It’s a very good read for those wondering about the minute’s situation in Indiana and the overall play of both players.

Indiana finally ended their losing streak by defeating the lowly Los Angeles Lakers 110-91 on Monday. They were up 60-27 at halftime in what had to be one of the lowest moments of the season for the Lakers. As bad as they’ve played, for them to be down by over thirty points to a 7-17 team is embarrassing. Rudež only received twelve minutes again and failed to get on the stat sheet by missing all three of his three-point attempts. It was arguably the worst week of his young NBA career.

Rudež will look to bounce back from a dreadful week through a three-game road trip. It begins tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers. That will be followed by a Saturday matchup against the Denver Nuggets. A quick turnaround will take place on Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The busy week ends at home on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans. It’ll be a tough road ahead for the pesky Pacers. A long road trip against talented Western conference teams could lead to the losses continuing in convincing fashion.

Andrew Bogut didn’t played this entire week for the Golden State Warriors. They’ve continued to play well in his absence, as the winning streak reached sixteen games before losing to Memphis last night. Golden State has a lighter schedule this upcoming week starting on Thursday against Oklahoma City. With Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook back, this game is worthy of a nationally televised slot. It’s uncertain if Bogut will play as of now. Then they get the weekend off before playing Sacramento at home on Monday. That will be followed by a Tuesday night trip to Los Angeles to face the Lakers. There is no official word on when Bogut will return, although it’s still considered to not be a serious injury.

~Written by Allen Strk

Twitter: @Allen_Strk