Brian Shaw gets good grades for player development in Indiana

Brian Shaw isn't talking to the media and he won't be able to speak with the Nets until the playoffs are over, but two of the best young Pacers credit him for their development, Tim Bontemps reports from Miami.

"He’s motivated me," Lance Stephenson said after practice earlier this week. "My first two years, I couldn’t hit [any] threes. [But] by playing with him in a little 3-point game and getting with him and giving me the confidence to knock down big shots, he helped me a lot with the confidence in my jump shot."

Stephenson, a Brooklyn native, said the two had a friendly but daily competition on three point shooting. "He gives me the confidence in the game to knock down big shots."

Paul George, at 23, is an NBA All-Star. says Shaw's championship pedigree has been a big help to him getting to the next level.

"So everything he says has value, and he knows what it takes. Besides being around Kobe, he’s been around Penny [Hardaway], he’s been around Larry [Bird]. ... He’s been around some guys that’s been [elite] guys in this league. I think just his presence, being at practice and his whole mentality. ... He’s a champion."

Player development is high on the Nets list of coaching skillsets as they look at possibilities.

• Pacers’ Stephenson big fan of assistant coach Shaw - Tim Bontemps - New York Post