Bojan ’kers

Bogdan’ steps up for Nets’ playoff push

Thaddeus Young shares a corner of the Nets locker room with rookie guard Bojan Bogdanovic. But just because the two of them are near one another doesn’t mean Young has someone to talk to.

“He’s very quiet,” Young said with a smile after Friday’s 11780 whitewashing of the Wizards in Brooklyn. “He doesn’t say anything.

“Even on the court, he doesn’t really talk a lot,” Young added with a smile. “Sometimes he might yell, he might scream … but you can’t understand him.”

When Bogdanovic plays like he did against the Wizards, however, going 6for6 from 3point range and scoring 22 points off the bench, the Croatian rookie doesn’t need to do much talking, his game will do it for him — something the Nets will hope will continue when they face the Bucks in Sunday.

And his game has had plenty to brag about of late, as Bogdanovic’s performance against the Wizards was just the latest in a series of impressive showings from the 25yearold rookie since the AllStar break, as he now is averaging 10.8 points on 50.7 percent shooting overall and 42.5 percent shooting from 3point range since the AllStar break.

“He’s playing with a lot more confidence,” Deron Williams said when asked to describe the change in Bogdanovic. “He seems more comfortable. I don’t know if he hit the little rookie wall, but he’s bounced back and he’s playing great for us. He’s doing a little bit of everything.”

It’s been an upanddown rookie season in the NBA for Bogdanovic, who began it as a member of the starting five, only to lose his place in the rotation completely before eventually settling into the role he has now: as a scorer off the bench behind another rookie, Markel Brown.

Coming off the bench has appeared to suit Bogdanovic just fine, and he more than anyone has been a huge beneficiary of the improved ball movement the Nets have exhibited in recent weeks, including their 29 assists on 45 made baskets in Friday’s blowout win over Washington.

The ball movement has freed up Bogdanovic, an excellent shooter, to get one open look after another and, like he did against Washington, he often has knocked them down.

“We play great [in the] pick-and roll,” Bogdanovic said. “Our point guards, they find us, and also Brook is killing everything, so they have to trap him, so there are many open looks for the guards.”

Bogdanovic has been sinking more than his fair share of those open looks in recent weeks, giving the Nets the kind of consistent 3point shooting threat they desperately had been lacking since losing Mirza Teletovic for the season because of blood clots in his lungs. Add on the fact Bogdanovic is being more aggressive and attacking the rim more often, and the Nets have plenty to be excited about with him as the first year of the threeyear, $10 million contract he signed with them last summer draws to a close.

“He’s going out there and giving his all,” Young said. “He’s a very good player, and he knows how to play basketball. That’s the biggest thing. We have a lot of players who know how to play basketball, and he fits right in.”

The only team in action Saturday with playoff implications for the Nets is Miami, which trailed the Nets by two games with three games to play headed into last night’s South Beach battle with Toronto. .

The Nets will go into Sunday’s action with a magic number of two, regardless, because the Pacers also are off until they play the Thunder on Sunday.