clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Joe Johnson still resting his heel as P.J. Carlesimo ponders rotation

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

If you thought Joe Johnson wasn't yet himself over the weekend, you were right. At practice Monday, Johnson was limited as he continued to rest his heel. In the two games vs. the Mavericks and Bulls, JJ scored 22 points. Although he shot 10-of-22 in the games, he hit only 2-of-4 three's.

Meanwhile, P.J. Carlesimo continued on the themes he's talked about since Saturday: shortening and changing the rotation, including playing Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche together, something he said might take some practice to work out. But he said, "we won't be doing it a lot."

As to what he plans to do with the rotation, Carlesimo had little to say. He wouldn't reveal the changes he plans just yet. "It’s a secret," the coach said with a smile.

One thing he did talk about was goals. "Nine would be good, but I don't think we'll get to nine," said when asked specifics. So it sounds like the rotation will be cut from the current 11 players down to 10. That could mean Kris Humphries or MarShon Brooks are out, but Mirza Teletovic is in. Teletovic, asked how difficult it is to go into a game late as has happened lately, admitted, "It's tough. It's really, really, tough."

Does all this mean fewer minutes for Reggie Evans, who is after all leading the NBA in rebound rate and percentage of shots blocked? Carlesimo wasn't saying, but Stefan Bondy noted via Twitter, "22 percent of Reggie Evans' shots being blocked is a crazy stat." Bondy later addended the tweet to note that since the All-Star break, ten of Evans shot attempts have been blocked.

Jerry Stackhouse returned to practice after missing the last week for personal reasons. Carlesimo is taping a CenterStage for YES Network today.

Based on tweets from Stefan Bondy, Rod Boone, Mike Mazzeo, Devin Kharpertian and Zach Schonbrun