Brooklyn Nets: Should Alan Anderson’s Minutes Be Reduced?
By Adam McGee
It’s been a rough start all around for the Brooklyn Nets in this new season. Not only has the team lacked cohesion as a unit, but they also have a number of individual players, such as Alan Anderson, who seem off the pace too. That has a significant impact on how the Nets and their prospects for this season are perceived, as quite simply, they don’t look like the team that most people expected.
Sure, after a tough run of five straight losses, Brooklyn have steadied the ship a little with two wins of their last three, but then when you take into consideration that those two wins came against the Philadelphia 76ers and the hobbled Oklahoma City Thunder, and any cause for optimism quickly evaporates.
One of the biggest problems for the Nets is that they don’t seem to have the type of depth that they thought they had entering into the season. With Andrei Kirilenko seemingly headed for the nearest exit and Mason Plumlee struggling from a bit of a post-World Cup hangover, what was supposed to be an extremely strong second unit has instead started to look extremely mediocre.
Another player who falls in line with that analysis is Alan Anderson. At 32 years old, Anderson is a veteran who has bounced from team to team, not only in the NBA but across the globe. He had been nothing more than a journeyman, until last season, when already loaded up with star salary, Brooklyn decided to give him a chance to help flesh out their roster.
Anderson wasn’t outstanding but he was solid. He hit his fair share of shots, and scored in decent volume during his limited minutes on the court. As a result, not only did Anderson get good opportunities as part of Brooklyn’s bench brigade, but he also got a chance to mesh with the starters.
Out of his 78 total appearances, Anderson started 26 games. It was a pleasant surprise for the Nets, as he quickly became a favored option of then head coach Jason Kidd. It’s easy to see why Kidd valued him too, as in just over 15 minutes per game Anderson was very productive. He averaged 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and one assist per game for the season.
Through the first 16 games of this season, he hasn’t exactly looked like the same player though. Anderson has seen an increase in his minutes from Lionel Hollins, but that has coincided with an almost universal drop off in his performance.
In 19.2 minutes per game, Anderson is averaging only 4.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists. His shooting percentages are not a pretty sight either. With a field goal percentage of 41.1, and a three-point mark of 30.8 percent, not only is Anderson scoring very few points, but he’s getting them in a very inefficient manner too.
Unless there’s a turnaround in his form soon, it’s difficult to see how Hollins can justify maintaining Anderson’s current role in the rotation. Instead, he might be better served by finding a way to build more regular minutes in for rookies Markel Brown and Cory Jefferson.
Alan Anderson’s career may have taken a significant upswing in the last 18 months, but if he wants it to continue, he’d want to regain his form, and soon.