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MarShon Brooks and Mirza Teletovic ... not done yet

By Net Income
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

MarShon Brooks and Mirza Teletovic were supposed to be part of a strong bench for the Nets, but under Avery Johnson and to a lesser degree P.J. Carlesimo, the two haven't gotten the minutes they expected. Now, there are inklings they will be seeing more time on the court.

Brooks had one of his best games Friday, scoring 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 1-of-2 from deep. He added three assists and two steals. But he admitted that it hasn't been easy.

"It's very tough," Brooks told Rod Boone. "It's very tough to get into a rhythm when you don't play. This is the longest I've ever not played basketball, is when I'm missing games. We don't practice too often. So it's tough. But it's all right."

Although Teletovic didn't get any burn vs. the Bulls, he played 38 minutes in the previous three, scoring 21 points, shooting 8-of-19 overall, 4-of-8 from downtown, while garnering a total of eight boards (but only going to the line once, and turning the ball over four times.) In the last month of Johnson's tenure, Teletovic tallied a total of 39 minutes, with seven DNP-CD's, scoring only 11 points over that stretch.

Teletovic hasn't talked much about his situation. Someone who knows a thing or two about Europeans making the NBA transition has, and thinks it will all work out for the Bosnian. Mirko Novosel, who coached Drazen Petrovic in the Olympics and is now an adviser to the Bosnia national team, told Sport Sport Bosnia Thursday that he expects Teletovic to succeed.

"Mirza is a great player and a great guy. Going through what he went through is a classic story for all rookies in the NBA. Drazen Petrovic had the same story in Portland," said the Hall of Fame coach. "Nevertheless, I think this will be a good experience for him."

Peter Vecsey, in his nightly rendezvous with Nets fans, tweeted about both players. When asked if the Nets want to keep Brooks, he responded, "Not really." As for Teletovic, he seemed to indicate P.J. Carlesimo has been told to give him more minutes, tweeting, "Coaches can make GMs look awfully good (M Jackson plays rookies & signees) or bad. PJ isn't helping own cause by sitting MT."

Meanwhile, another bench player, Tyshawn Taylor, talked to his local paper about his frustration not playing, but added, "It’s frustrating not playing, but it would be a lot harder if I was somewhere else and with a team that was losing."

Carlesimo said he understands Taylor's frustration. “It’s all been positive for Tyshawn. He’s working hard and the coaches are working with him a lot. No question, he’s working at it. I think he’s got a bright future in the league. Right now, it’s just not an easy thing for him to do, because he just needs to play.”

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