LeVert works core to help B’klyn corps
A year ago, foot reconstruction robbed Nets rookie Caris LeVert of any kind of offseason, preseason or early season.
But LeVert — who suffered a slight ankle sprain on the final day of camp Saturday — is an entirely different player than the one the Nets saw last year. He’s smarter, stronger and hopefully better.
“Just going through a full year of the NBA teaches you a lot of different things,” LeVert said. “I try to learn from every little thing I went through last year, good and bad. And summer league as well, I can learn from that and bring everything I’ve learned into this training camp and this season.”
The lithe LeVert learned he had to get stronger, as he often was pushed around by bigger, bulkier veterans during his rookie campaign. With the benefit of his first healthy NBA offseason, he has worked with the Nets’ performance team to build up his core.
“I wasn’t doing lower-body stuff at all last year, so just doing squats and things like that is a plus because last year I was just doing rehab,” LeVert said. “And upper body, I feel like my core has gotten a lot stronger. That’s the main thing we’re focusing on, not necessarily looking bigger but just getting stronger. I’ve developed my body a little bit but gotten a lot stronger.”
A summer of core work such as planks has the 6-foot-7, 203-pound LeVert’s core stronger and has left him better prepared to guard bulkier opponents.
“The physical development has been really impressive, first of all,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Last year, he’d fall down a lot. Just getting his core better and his balance better, the performance team has done a fantastic job getting him ready.
“He’s maturing as a player. He’s trusting his catch-and-shoot. And it was nice to see [Saturday] where he got in a ton of pick-and-rolls and really showed his size and passing ability. So with Jeremy [Lin] and D’Angelo [Russell], Caris … that vision of versatility and different guys handling it is pretty good.”
LeVert showed the ability to get to the rim, but like many athletic young players who can penetrate, he has relied on driving. The Nets have tasked him with improving his shooting, not just off the pull-up but in catch-and-shoot situations.
“Absolutely that was one of the things going into the summer myself and the coaches [felt] this is the main thing you need to focus on,” LeVert said. “I took that to heart and really focused on just being ready to shoot, more than changing mechanics or anything like that, just being ready to shoot when I get an opportunity. I’m still working on that, but I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better at it.”
LeVert shot 45 percent as a rookie but a subpar 34.2 percent on catch-and-shoot chances. He’ll have to improve that now, facing more competition for playing time, with the Nets having added Russell, Allen Crabbe and DeMarre Carroll on the perimeter.
With the Nets trying to improve on an NBA-worst 20-62 mark, LeVert welcomes the competition
“Caris is going to make it hard on everybody,” Atkinson said. “He’s going to make it hard on me. He’s going to make it hard against guys competing. That being said, I know where he is in his career and the type of guy he is. He’s going to accept whatever role it is. ‘If you want me to be the 10th man and be a defensive stopper, if you want me to be the sixth man …’ ”