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The Bojan Bogdanovic who helped the Nets get into the playoffs last season didn't show up in Brooklyn until Tuesday night. Before the Rockets game, Bogdanovic had been basically a non-factor. As Andy Vazquez writes; in his previous 11 games, the 6'8" Croatian hadn’t cracked double figures in points or attempt more than seven field goals. Then Tuesday, he scored 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
He finally looked like the Bogdanovic the Nets saw last April, when he was EC Rookie of the Month, averaging 14.4 points on 52.6 shooting overall and 48.8 percent from downtown. A sprained ankle and a less-than-impressive showing in FIBA Europe seemed to stagger him.
"He made shots and he was aggressive," Lionel Hollins said. "We would like to hope that this is a turn-on switch for him to have a series of games where he scores in double figures and shoots the ball well."
Bogdanovic agreed."It was really difficult for me," Bogdanovic said of the slump. "Really. I lose my confidence ... I had many easy points at the beginning. So [hopefully] now I will start to play better."
The Nets will need Bogdanovic to be aggressive over the next two months. That's how long they expect Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to be out. Bogdanovic will never defend or rebound like his 20-year-old teammate, but he can bring what Hollis-Jefferson can't, an unpredictable and sometimes explosive offense.