Kurucs gets new power with restart
For the first time since March, the Nets finally had a full five-on-five practice Friday in Orlando. And despite months of rust, it actually went off better than even they expected.
“We spiralled [Friday] in a positive direction, built off [Thursday] where we got a semblance of being back on the floor,” interim coach Jacque Vaughn said via Zoom. “We were able to play five-on-five, get up and down a little. I was pleased with the effort and the conditioning level: An overall really good day in the gym.”
The coronavirus pandemic saw the NBA season suspended on March 11. After a week limited to individual workouts, and building back slowly with three-on-three Thursday in their first day out of quarantine in Disney, the Nets finally ramped up to a full workout.
“It just felt good to get some bump in. Guys were a little rusty, but not as rusty as we’d expect,” Garrett Temple said. “It just felt good to get down the court, play some five-on-five, get back to what we love doing.”
But now comes the work of trying to cobble together a cohesive team for this month’s NBA restart. And as far as this shorthanded team goes, power forward is going to be an issue. Again.
The position has been a problem for years. In Friday’s first full practice, Rodions Kurucs was the starting power forward. Granted, he was the only one, with Kevin
Durant, Taurean Prince, Wilson Chandler and Nic Claxton all out due to injury or COVID-19.
The Nets did add Michael Beasley, but despite being allowed to scrimmage once he clears quarantine, he has to sit out the first five games due to a league suspension. Simply put, Kurucs has to play.
“Rodi is going to be really big for us because of absences that we have coming into the restart. His ability to offensive rebound, his ability to cause havoc on the defensive end, be a nuisance,” Temple said. “And then offensively, knock down open shots and be a great cutter.
“So we expect that from Rodi. We know he has it in him, and we’re going to need him for that. … That’s what we’re expecting from Rodi: His ability to do the little things, be that dog on the inside, get all the garbage points. I’m excited for the opportunity for him especially, and hopefully he takes advantage.”
Perhaps distracted by a pending assault case — pushed back to Nov. 24 — Kurucs has been streaky. He shot a scalding 46.3 percent from deep before the All-Star break, but didn’t hit a single 3 after it. In the team’s final games before the league shut down, the Latvian went 0-for-11 and did not play at all in four of those games.
“You know Rodi, the energy guy — he’s going to sacrifice his body and sacrifice the other team’s body for everybody’s sake,” Jarrett Allen said. “He’s going to go out there and play his hardest. He still has his 3-point shot. He’s still finding his rhythm there.
“I was working with him. They put us in the same group to get some shots up, so he’s definitely knowing what it’s like to be a 4 or 5.”
The Nets signed Donta Hall, but he will have to serve as Allen’s backup and DeAndre Jordan’s replacement. The 6-foot-9 rookie’s minutes at the four will be limited, making Kurucs’ vital.
“[We] really envision his role of running the floor for us, rebounding the basketball for us, guarding multiple positions for us, offensive rebounding,” Vaughn said. “His energy we’ll need to take advantage of.”