Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from one that didn’t get away in Charlotte
By Phil Watson
2. Different combination at 4 yields better results
On Saturday night, the Brooklyn Nets kept Treveon Graham in the starting unit at the 4 spot, but the depth chart behind him changed considerably.
In Thursday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson got 15 minutes at the 4 behind Graham and Jared Dudley played seven minutes in his first game back after missing 16 games with a hamstring injury.
Graham did not score and was 0-for-4 in 17 minutes, Hollis-Jefferson had two points on 1-of-6 shooting and Dudley didn’t attempt a shot.
Against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, Graham played 19 minutes and had seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, hitting 1-of-3 from 3-point range.
Rodions Kurucs, who had made 29 straight starts at the 3 before sitting out with an injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 13 and who took a DNP-CD against Portland, was first off the bench and played 10 minutes, scoring four points with three rebounds, an assist and a steal on 2-of-2 shooting.
DeMarre Carroll split his time between the 3 and 4 spots, scoring 10 points on 2-of-5 shooting, hitting 2-of-4 from long range and going 4-for-6 at the foul line.
Hollis-Jefferson and Dudley each took their first DNP-CDs of the season. For RHJ, it was just the fifth of his career and his first since taking three in a row from Nov. 25-29, 2016.
Offensively, Hollis-Jefferson has regressed badly this season. Of his five misses against Portland on Thursday, three were on drives to the basket without any sort of fake or misdirection that were ridiculously easy blocks for Blazers defenders.
Dudley was never a top-flight offensive threat in his prime and at age 33 is long past that stage. The plus for Dudley is that he moves the ball quickly and decisively, but he can struggle against size or quickness defensively at times and can be left loosely guarded on the offensive end.
Kurucs has the most upside of the prospective 4s on the roster, but is still very raw and needs to gain size and strength to most effectively fill that spot.
He also has to temper his tendency to create openings for himself offensively by shoving off defenders — a point of emphasis this season that led to both of his turnovers against the Hornets.
Still, it wasn’t hard to notice how much more effectively the offense functioned when not having to try and create movement and spacing while hampered by Hollis-Jefferson, who has reached the point of literally not having to be guarded if he’s more than 12 feet from the basket.