Yehor Demin will miss his sixth straight game Sunday in Dallas, but Networks head coach Jordi Fernandez says the sophomore guard is making strides in his recovery from a bruised bones in the right leg, trans Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The team plans to reevaluate Demin’s leg injury after Sunday’s game.
“Yes, he is developing wellFernandez said.He is on the playground. He won’t play (Saturday) or (Sunday) and then we’ll go from there.”
Recruit guard Mikel Brown Jr Lewis notes that he will also be out on Sunday because he is not allowed to play doubles.
“This is a plan that we have with professionals who know exactly how your body is, how you feel afterwardsFernandez said.Then we evaluate the player, and then once we evaluate the player, we continue to build him up. So now he won’t be playing head-to-head.”
Here’s more on the net:
- Talking to LewisNo. 6 overall pick, Brown clarified that he’s healthy and the reason he’s not playing both ends is because the team wants him to continue building his core strength to handle the rigors of a long season. “It’s all about getting stronger” Brown told The Post before Saturday’s game.This is my first year playing against athletes of this caliber. You need to be at an elite level of body performance. But that’s just the day-to-day process when it comes to things like this. I’m constantly in the gym every day, just strengthening the parts of my body that I need. But yes, we are following the plan. I accept everything with it. As long as we win games, that’s all I care about.”
- Sophomore guard Nolan Traore had another encouraging performance Saturday with 19 points (on 8-of-10 shooting) and five steals in 23 minutes. However, he sat out the entire fourth quarter as the Nets squandered a game they had led for the first 46 1/2 minutes. CJ Holmes of The New York Daily News. Instead of bringing Traore back into the game, Fernandez picked up on Brown’s hot hand, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter after starting 0-of-7 from the floor. “Mikel had those five points in a row and I just let him roll” Fernandez explained afterwards.”Because you can’t just take them in and out. I think when I was going to replace Nolan, Mikel made two or three threes and pulled up in the middle distance. So I thought it was the right thing to do. Was that right? I don’t know. Obviously, Nolan did very well. They scored 18 and 19. So that’s a very good contribution from your two point guards.”
- Danny Wolf got his first start of the season Saturday, according to Holmes, subbing Cheney Johnson in a large composition. The second-year forward had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes. Day Ron Sharp also made history in the loss with a career-high — and franchise-record for a center — 13 assists to go along with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his first career triple-double.
- Fernandez praised Julius Randle for being “selfless” after Wednesday’s win over Charlotte, Holmes adds another story. Fernandez wanted to bring Randle back into the game in the fourth quarter with Brooklyn down by double digits, but the veteran forward told his coach to stick with the team that helped the team extend its lead.
