Jarrett Jack is the team’s opening night starter, barring a drastic change.
But Nets coach Lionel Hollins wouldn’t commit to Jack starting throughout the season, or even beyond the first phase of the season, saying it would depend on how well the players fit together.
“Right now we’re just trying to build our group, build what we’re going to do and how we’re going to play,” Hollins said Thursday. “If (Jack) fits into that with the rest of the group then he’ll be the starter.
“If not, somebody else fits better, then (that guy will) be the starter, and we won’t even have to deal with what Jarrett has to do.”
Hollins is known for lineup shakeups. Last season, he moved Deron Williams and Brook Lopez to the bench temporarily, in an effort to improve on the team’s second-quarter woes. He didn’t consider it a demotion, per se, but rather an alteration to the flow of the game.
But he did reiterate that he’s slated Jack (barring injury) as the opening night starter, joining Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Johnson, Thaddeus Young, and Brook Lopez. “The five veteran guys, the core guys, will be the guys that get the opportunity first, and then those other guys will have to come in and supplant them. As I say, it’s not always how well you’re playing as an individual, but how well those groups fit together.”
Behind Jack, the Nets have a glut of young point guards. Only one — the speedy 22-year-old Shane Larkin — has a guaranteed contract, making him the natural candidate to supplant Jack should a change come. Larkin spent his first two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks, and didn’t fit with either, particularly struggling with the Knicks’ Triangle offense.
@uuords they'll see lol.
— Shane Larkin (@ShaneLarkin_3) September 23, 2015
“He was a very good player (at Miami), good ball skills, good facilitator, good scorer,” Hollins said of Larkin. “Anybody that knows how to play, got quickness and athleticism, can fit in.”
The Nets also have two point guards on training camp deals: Donald Sloan, who’s on his fifth team in as many seasons, and rookie Ryan Boatright. It’s most likely that one of them will make the team. “We have 3-4 guys that are making a mad dash, and we’ll see which two rise to the level that we need them to rise to,” Hollins said.
