With Rondae Hollis-Jefferson sidelined indefinitely by an ankle injury, the Nets turn to a shooter that hasn’t quite hit shots this season.
Bojan Bogdanovic ended last season strongly, hitting close to 43 percent of his three-pointers after the All-Star Break, and playing much more effective basketball at home than away. He ended the season with a written note to his fans vowing that he’d have a bigger role in the Nets offense.
But Bogdanovic has struggled mightily after a decent start. The second-year guard has shot just 18-56 (32.1%), including 6-26 (23.1%) from three-point range in his last 11 games. He also hasn’t taken more than seven shots in that timeframe, has only recorded two total assists in his last ten games, and his playing time has dwindled as the team has begun gauging interest in him from other NBA teams.
The confidence Bogdanovic had in his shot last season is gone: he’s pump-faking on open three-point attempts and not hitting his clean looks. He replaced Hollis-Jefferson in the starting lineup Sunday night, but was removed in favor of the more athletic, but less offensively skilled Markel Brown to open the second half.
Nonetheless, Bogdanovic said he isn’t frustrated with his role or the team, just himself.
“My percentages are very low, but also, I have to take them,” Bogdanovic said. “I have to be much more aggressive, take more shots. Because three, four shots per game maybe, is not enough to be aggressive. So I have to take more shots and play more for my team also to create (scoring) situations for them.”
Bogdanovic’s value comes on the offensive end of the floor, and the Nets have struggled to manufacture offense this season: they rank second-worst in the NBA in points scored per 100 possessions, ahead of only the 1-21 Philadelphia 76ers. Much of that is due to the team’s league-worst three-point shooting. They’ll need Bogdanovic to start hitting from outside if they want to turn that around.
