Coaches constantly preach about building a culture, about getting players to buy in and accept roles, even if that means not always getting the minutes they want. Monday’s slump-busting 120-118 win over the Hornets was an example of that for the Nets.
Randy Foye was recently banished from the rotation, but was forced into crunch time with Jeremy Lin’s injury, and hit the game-winning shot. Bojan Bogdanovic lost his starting spot to Joe Harris, but bounced back with a game-high 26 points off the bench.
“I played the last couple of games bad, so that’s coach’s decision — I have to respect that. I don’t have any problem with it. I just try to be aggressive to do something for the team,’’ said Bogdanovic, who had 13 points in the third quarter, when the Nets usually struggle but outscored Charlotte 29-25.
“They started with a 7-0 run in the third quarter, then Joe got injured. I tried to be aggressive.”
Coach Kenny Atkinson had no further updates on Lin, and declined to elaborate on his discussion with Bogdanovic other than to say the wing took the news professionally.
“That’s between Bojan and me. But why do coaches make decisions? You get a lot of information and felt like we needed a change,’’ Atkinson said. “He was extremely professional, even when I told him: ‘Yes, I’ll accept this role.’ We’ll see going forward, and we’ll see the matchups going forward. But I’m proud. He was resilient, he responded. So kudos to him.”
Foye had been benched for four straight games in the wake of Lin’s return, then logged a total of 23:28 in the last three when rookie Isaiah Whitehead was out with a foot injury. But Foye put in the work to stay sharp and got 20:43 on Monday.
“The first thing you think of is the person and how hard he’s been working since he’s been quote unquote out of the lineup. It speaks to his professionalism and staying ready. Everything we want to be about, he’s about,’’ Atkinson said.
“Just the leadership role no matter what. … Always having the character and understanding to stay prepared, stay ready. It’s a long season,’’ Foye said. “Even when I wasn’t playing and I wasn’t getting the minutes, I was working my tail off, just believing one day I’m gonna get in and make something happen.”
He did on Monday.
This was the Nets’ first buzzer-beater since Joe Johnson’s shot to beat Denver last Feb. 8. It was Foye’s second of his career. He did it for the Nuggets against the Clippers in 2014.
Monday marked Harris’ first start as a Net and second of his career. Harris started for the Cavaliers on Jan. 5, 2015.