A NEW ’DAE
Hollis-Jefferson coming into his own
PHILADELPHIA — Much has been made about the Nets’ player development, after the success of reclamation projects Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris. But Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has quietly gone from a questionable tweener without a position to arguably the most influential player on their admittedly rebuilding roster.
Granted, that says something about the Nets’ roster, just 25-52 coming into Tuesday’s game at the red-hot 76ers. But unlike Philadelphia — which tanked its way to a horde of high lottery picks — the Nets have to build from the ground up, for better or worse. Is Hollis-Jefferson, the longest-tenured Net, part of that longterm foundation?
They’re 21-33 when he starts and a horrid 4-19 when he doesn’t — their season falling apart when he missed 11 straight games with a groin injury.
Yes, they’ll desperately need size and a stretch-four in the offseason. But this season he’s been their most consistent player, much of it because of his improved maturity.
“Emotional maturity has been big. His growth there has been really good, just moving on to the next play,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “He’s grown in leaps and bounds there. And physically he’s gotten better. He’s not on the floor nearly as much as last year. His balance has gotten better.
“He always plays hard. That’s why you trust him. He’s out there 30 minutes because you want defense, you want rebounding. Sure, he makes some mistakes — we give him some freedom on offense — we feel OK with, especially with all these teams switching. We need somebody in the post to throw it to and make a play. That’s not always perfect, but our guys trust him to be able to punish a mismatch.”
The Nets trust him enough to have already picked up his $2.4 million option for next season. That makes him an incredible bargain as a starter — or an asset who could bring a fair return if traded.
The Nets were just 24th in offensive rating while he was out with a groin injury, but are 13th since he returned Feb. 26. And Hollis-Jefferson is leading the team in scoring (17.1), rebounding (8.6) and steals (1.4) over his past nine games.
“My confidence, my ability to make plays and know and believe that I can make plays,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “Just being more comfortable, another year under your belt, you feel like things start to slow down for you. That’s what I’ve worked on, just being patient. I know I can get to the basket, and now I know I can knock down the mid-range shot. It’s just about being patient.”
That shot has gone from being terrible for a wing last season to serviceable for a power forward. Between sessions with Nets team psychologist Dr. Paul Groenewal and the thousands of jumpers he put up in the offseason, the work has seen him go from hitting just 34 percent from mid-range last season to 42.8 percent.
“All the shots I worked on this summer. It’s easy for someone to say I worked on this, I worked on that. But when you get in the game, the atmosphere, the ball, everything changes. Everything is different,” Hollis-Jefferson said.
“In that moment I’m thinking of it like I’m in the gym right now working out. I’m going to make this same play. That’s how I envisioned it, and it happened game after game. That’s when I started to [think], ‘Oh, you can do it.’ Me seeing [it], watching film, rewinding the play, that made my confidence go to the next level.” Isaiah Whitehead (sprained right wrist) is out Tuesday.