Second effort
Bogdanovic out to improve on rookie success
DURHAM, N.C. — Lionel Hollins doesn’t have a long list of things he needs to see from Bojan Bogdanovic this season. In fact, he only has one.
“Just be more aggressive,” Hollins said after the Nets’ practice Thursday at Duke University. “He has a high skill set. … Utilize it consistently. That’s all.”
Bogdanovic is in a unique position. On a roster that features several established players along with a combination of young players and reclamation projects, Bogdanovic is the lone member of the Nets both in his prime and projected to take a significant step forward in his second year in the NBA.
If the Nets hope to surpass even the modest expectations placed upon them, they’re going to need the 26yearold Croatian to make that leap.
“I can improve all aspects of my game,” Bogdanovic said. “I want to be more of an allaround player, play much better defense than was the case last season, and I want to be more consistent so I can avoid the ups and downs I had during the games and also during the season.”
Whenever Bogdanovic’s name has come up over the past few weeks, the word “consistency” has almost always been attached to it. The Nets were fans of Bogdanovic for years, going back to when they took him with the first pick of the second round in 2011, and proceeded to watch him become a goto scorer for both Turkish power Fenerbahce Ulker — who the Nets will face in their preseason opener Monday in Brooklyn — and the Croatian national team. They signed him to a threeyear, $10 million contract last summer.
After a rookie season in which he was in the starting lineup for the first 19 games — only to be sent to the bench from where he didn’t play more than 20 minutes in a game for a month — Bogdanovic finished with a flourish. He averaged 11.6 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting from 3point range in 27 games after the AllStar break. He also averaged 14.4 points in nine April games.
Bogdanovic’s finish was an example of what he is capable of and what the Nets are going to need from him this season.
“It also was important for my teammates, to know they have another player on the court to have confidence in me,” Bogdanovic said. “I started to play much better from the start, so in that case it’s about the team, it’s about my teammates, that I can give them confidence I can play.”
Bogdanovic said the Nets have a “big four” of Jarrett Jack, Joe Johnson, Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez in the starting lineup, but, in reality, it will be a significant surprise if he isn’t the fifth starter when the Nets begin the season later this month.
In listing important players to his team Wednesday, owner Mikhail Prokhorov listed Jack, Johnson, Young and Lopez before adding, “And, of course, we are expecting a great season from Bojan.”
Whether he can live up to those expectations is one of the biggest question marks facing the Nets.
“I feel really good,” Bogdanovic said, “that I can make a big step.”
Time will tell if he’s right.