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Reg-gie, Reg-gie, Reg-gie! In Brooklyn, Reggie Evans is cool

It shouldn't be a surprise, but in the land of hipsters and hip-hop, Reggie Evans is cool

By Net Income
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Reggie Evans always had a love-hate relationship with fans. Those who he played for loved him. Those who he played against hated him (for the most part).

At age 32, soon 33, Reggie has had a career based on one skill: rebounding and now that he is by virtually every measure the NBA's best this year, Evans has become something he had never become in Seattle or Denver or Philadelphia or Toronto or Los Angeles. Reggie Evans has become cool in Brooklyn. He loves the working class attitude of Brooklyn and at Barclays Center, the fans love him back, embracing him with the chant of, "Reg-gie, Reg-gie." The boards, the beard, the grin, the grit, they love it all, especially the grit. And he is having the best season of his 11-year career.

P.J. Carlesimo, who gave him minutes at the expense of last year's double-double machine Kris Humphries, says he's done well because he sticks to what he's always done and added a few, not many, dimensions to his game.

"It’s more just good decisions," Carlesimo told NESN, the Boston cable outlet's website. "We’ve basically told him all year that if he gets a rebound and he has an opportunity for a stick-back, to go up. If not, try to find a 3-point shooter on the perimeter. That’s pretty much what he’s done, but right now he’s just creating more shots for himself. It’s not just the stick-backs, it’s also the baby left-handed hooks and things like that.

"The thing people forget, he’s not very tall [at 6-foot-8], so it’s not always easy for him to finish inside. It’s not just a question of, he gets a rebound and has to go right back up. He’s got to work a little bit more if there’s not space available to him, and he’s doing that very well."

So he gets called for a three-second violation (mainly because he's always straddling the line to get position) or gets thrown out of a game for tossing a head band or is just plain Reggie, most fans forgive him because he's just plain Reggie (and because he has two years left on his very modest --three years, $5 million-- contract.)

"It’s more just good decisions," said P.J. Carlesimo, who made Evans a starter four days after becoming the Nets’ head coach. "We’ve basically told him all year that if he gets a rebound and he has an opportunity for a stick-back, to go up. If not, try to find a 3-point shooter on the perimeter. That’s pretty much what he’s done, but right now he’s just creating more shots for himself. It’s not just the stick-backs, it’s also the baby left-handed hooks and things like that. "The thing people forget, he’s not very tall [at 6-foot-8], so it’s not always easy for him to finish inside. It’s not just a question of, he gets a rebound and has to go right back up. He’s got to work a little bit more if there’s not space available to him, and he’s doing that very well."

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2013/04/reggie-evans-helping-to-transform-brooklyn-nets-into-near-contender-simply-by-doing-what-he-has-always-done/
"It’s more just good decisions," said P.J. Carlesimo, who made Evans a starter four days after becoming the Nets’ head coach. "We’ve basically told him all year that if he gets a rebound and he has an opportunity for a stick-back, to go up. If not, try to find a 3-point shooter on the perimeter. That’s pretty much what he’s done, but right now he’s just creating more shots for himself. It’s not just the stick-backs, it’s also the baby left-handed hooks and things like that. "The thing people forget, he’s not very tall [at 6-foot-8], so it’s not always easy for him to finish inside. It’s not just a question of, he gets a rebound and has to go right back up. He’s got to work a little bit more if there’s not space available to him, and he’s doing that very well."

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2013/04/reggie-evans-helping-to-transform-brooklyn-nets-into-near-contender-simply-by-doing-what-he-has-always-done/

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