Bojan Bogdanovic: "Even I was surprised with fact I played a lot"

Lionel Hollins is happy with using Bojan Bogdanovic off the bench.  The rookie had not been shooting well, and had stopped being aggressive. So Hollins put Sergey Karasev into the starting lineup and made Bogdanovic his first wing off the bench ... so there would be no question of what he should do when he got into the game: shoot.

It's starting to work out, with Bogdanovic hitting 3-of-4 three pointers vs. Detroit, scoring 14 points in 13 minutes.Hollins has expressed his

Last week in an YouTube interview, he told a reporter from Macedonia that even he was surprised he was getting so many minutes early.

"My first goal was to fight for minutes and even I was surprised with fact I played a lot," Bogdanovic told Basketball Press. "Coach Hollins trusts me and I would say first goal is complete. My second goal is to adapt with team completely and to help Nets in winning as much as possible."

Helping he said is the presence of fellow Mostar native, Mirza Teletovic.

"It means a lot to me that Mirza is here," he added. "It is my first year here, many things are new for me and it’s helpful to have someone who could talk to in my language with. I’m glad that a lot of Balkans players are in NBA."  (Last month, Nikola Vucevic, from the Balkan nation of Montenegro, told Igor Marinovic of Sportske Novosti in Croatia that Bogdanovic should just relax, that there's always an adjustment period for international players.)

He thinks that the team will right itself. "We had problems with a lot of players got injured. All that affected our game, but I think everything will be set in right place when we will be in full strength again."

Bogdanovic added that he will added motivation the next few games. His family is coming to Brooklyn to see him during the holidays.  He admitted he's still feeling his way and welcomes their visit.  "I’m still in a process of adaptation in living in a NYC. I always have someone here, friend or family member. But big part of my life I play far away from home, so it is nothing unfamiliar to me."

As for the hip hop music in the Nets locker room, Bogdanovic smiled and said he's not a fan.