Brooklyn Nets: Caris LeVert taking advantage of his opportunity
Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert is taking full advantage of the extended opportunities to play as key players continue to deal with various injuries.
The Brooklyn Nets have been hammered with injuries this season, especially to their backcourt losing team leader Jeremy Lin for the season and top scorer D’Angelo Russell for an extended amount of time. In a scramble to fill the spots, Caris LeVert‘s role has been increased significantly to provide much-needed stability.
LeVert is in his second season and is already being looked at as an impact player for the still rebuilding Nets team. At 6’7″ LeVert has shown the ability to play multiple positions, creating matchup problems for opponents and helpful options for the Nets coaching staff. His 11.3 points, 3.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game show early indications of a well-rounded type of player as his young career progresses.
The Nets approached their home game against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night with two new players in Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskus via last week’s trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. They also knew the Wizards would be without star point guard John Wall, who’s still recovering from an injury allowing opportunity to capitalize on his absence. LeVert did just that with 16 points and eight assists, forming a powerful combination with fellow guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who dished 12 assists of his own.
Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson applauded the efforts of his new backcourt duo, appreciating the strong efforts on both sides of the court. He expressed this and more during the post-game press conference after the nice team victory.
"“Yeah, they’re good together. We’ve got two ball handlers on the court. I thought Caris [LeVert] when we were struggling, we went dead and they came back, I think they took the lead by two, and he just had a stretch where he was pick-and-roll, pass, pick-and-roll, pass, finish, three. I just thought he had a great, great period there that really kept us afloat. I felt like Washington was starting to take over and he really did great.“Defensively, Caris did a great job, Spencer [Dinwiddie] was on him a bit and Spencer did a good job and Allen Crabbe did a good job. We just wanted to wear them down. You’re not going to stop them so the idea was let’s see if we can, he’s playing a lot of minutes, can we wear him down. Good job by those three guys.”"
The former Michigan Wolverine continues to impress with his versatility as either a starter or key player off the bench. His ability to play the point guard position at his size continues to create problems for smaller defenders especially as he becomes more comfortable from game to game. LeVert recently explained to the New York Post his increased opportunity has helped raise his confidence moving forward.
"“I feel like I’m really comfortable playing both [the wing and the point]. Coach is really trusting me with the basketball in my hands, and I’ve done a pretty good job at it. I’m getting more comfortable every game. There are ups and downs in basketball, we all know that. But I feel like I’m at a good place right now, for sure.”"
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The growth of LeVert as a temporary fix at point guard will be put to an interesting test in his next game matching up with the also versatile Frank Ntilikina of the surging New York Knicks.