Time for Mirza?

Before Kris Humphries was signed to the Nets for  two years, Mirza Teletovic was most likely the starting power forward. Reggie Evans has won favor over those two from Avery and P.J. simply because of his tenacious defense,energy and rebounding. Humphries has been bothered by injuries for the majority of the year and has not played like the Kris Humphries we have seen in New Jersey. People weren't happy with the way Avery Johnson dispersed minutes and now P.J Carlesimo's rotation has been questioned.Now, Nets fans may get their wish sooner than later.

P.J. Carlesimo:

“I think it’s a two-part process. 1) figure out how to get time for him on a regular basis, and 2) make a decision. At some point, as we get into it later in March, we have start saying, “Alright, this has to be our rotation.” I still think even if we were a lot more solid with our rotation, it’s still going to change given matchups. We’re so different if Mirza plays or Hump plays or Reggie plays, and even up front, if we need offense – do we need more Keith Bogans? Or defense off the bench? Or if it’s a small team, do we need more CJ, perhaps more Deron? I think the fact that we have a bunch of different pieces is a plus for us, especially when we get in the playoffs, maybe guys who would get a lot more time against one team, and a lot less time if we play somebody else. You can say this is a team we can play big against a lot or this is a team we’re going to have our small backcourt cause they have two little guards. So I think that’s a plus. It’s not a plus that we still haven’t sorted Mirza out. To me, he’s still the biggest piece that we have to address.”

Avery Johnson has established a defense first culture with the Nets. That is why Evans is the starting power forward and the reason for Teletovic averaging 8 minutes a game.

"It’s just the matchup. He’s a mismatch guy at 4,” Carlesimo said. “The same problem he causes for other teams they can cause for him depending on how they play. If they don’t have a stretch 4 on the floor it’s a question of is their big strong guy going to overpower him, and can we keep him off the glass. Can we stop his postups? Or, can that guy cover Mirza on the open floor? I think he’s going to be a mismatch guy. Clearly we’re not a big, physical rebounding team when he’s on the floor, whereas you put a combination of Reggie/Hump and Andray/Brook on the floor, that’s what we are. We’re big. We’re a big and physical team that hopefully can rebound and defend inside.”

The reason for not playing Teletovic is valid. The Nets average a rebounding percentage of 30 versus the 54% when Evans is playing with Lopez. On offense though, The Nets win 83% of their matchu-ups with Deron Williams,Joe Johnson, Keith Bogans and Brook Lopez according to 82games. We just need to see more of that lineup because pressure is taken away from the Nets best 3 players. His lateral quickness maybe an issue but only time will tell. Hopefully, Teletovic will be able to stay on the floor for the upcoming games.

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