Starting this week and every Monday here on Nets are Scorching, we give you an update on the Nets assets outside of the immediate roster and personnel.
Bojan Bogdanovic
Bogdanovic is one of the major Nets assets that’s fallen through the cracks here; we haven’t talked about him much mostly because we haven’t seen much footage from his games. If you let the statistics tell the story, they paint a positive one.
Bogdanovic currently leads the 18-10 Fenerbahce Ulker (11-5 TBL, 7-5 Euroleague) in scoring, averaging 12.5 points per game. He’s shooting 56% from the field against Turkish competition, and 49.1% against Euroleague competition.
Bogdanovic excelled in his two games this week; in the Turkish League, Bogdanovic led Fenerbahce to an 84-74 overtime victory, leading all scorers with 27 points on 9-13 shooting, 4-7 from beyond the arc. In Euroleague, Bobo again led all scorers with 17 points in a 65-63 victory over Armani.
If there’s one thing Bogdanovic can do, it’s create his own shot, and given his numbers against European competition, it appears he’s doing that just fine.
The Barclays Center
Firstly, a personal note: I had my first opportunity to check out the outside of the Barclays Center yesterday, and while it’s still very much under construction, the main structure is there, and it’s going to be an unbelievable building. The roof is up and much of the facade is in place, including the glass panels that’ll make up the front windows.
Earlier in this week, we discussed SLAM Online’s interview with Nets CEO Brett Yormark. One thing we didn’t highlight was Yormark’s response to the Atlantic Yards critics, who he says are few and far between:
As far as I’m concerned, all I’m seeing is support for this project. Anyone that was a naysayer, anyone that was truly not supportive early on, realizes that it’s happening. Obviously, we’re months away from opening, and that they need to embrace it. I think that’s the overall feeling. You’re always going to have people, in any situation, that don’t embrace a movement.
Watch Bruce Ratner talk about the Barclays Center’s impact on Brooklyn and the market.
Injuries
Firstly, let’s talk broken fifth right metatarsals! Damion James is out for the year after season-ending surgery to replace the screw in his foot, announced around the same time that Brook Lopez removed his walking boot and began shooting around in practices on his recently-repaired-with-a-screw broken foot.
MarShon Brooks returned to the lineup last night after resting a sore left Achilles’ for the past week, and while he said he didn’t feel anything, he didn’t look particularly healthy. Brooks favored his right leg on occasion and shot just 3-10 from the field.
Mehmet Okur sat for the second straight game last night with a back injury. An MRI on his back came back negative, but given his less-than-stellar play these past few weeks as well as the encouraging emergence of Shelden Williams, the Nets are exercising caution.
Three Nets hit the deck in last night’s Raptors game: DeShawn Stevenson on a collision early in the second half, Deron Williams shortly after, and Shawne Williams while setting a screen. All three returned later, but Stevenson will miss tomorrow’s game against Indianapolis.
Draft picks
If the season ended today, the Nets would have the sixth-worst record in the NBA, giving them a 6.3% chance at the first overall pick. The Rockets are currently the sixth seed in the Western Conference, meaning that if the season ended today they’d relinquish their pick to the Nets, currently 19th overall.
DraftExpress has Kansas junior Thomas Robinson as the 6th pick and UNC sophomore Kendall Marshall at 19th in their mock draft; ESPN’s Chad Ford doesn’t do a mock draft in the traditional sense but lists the 6th-best prospect as Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and the 19th as Washington’s Terrence Ross.
