For 28 games, forward Mirza Teletovic was little more than an ornament on the Nets bench. A nice, but high-priced, Bosnian ornament.
Then Avery Johnson was fired as coach. And among the items on interim P.J. Carlesimo’s to-do list — not quite as high as “Keep this job” but somewhere above “Bring home milk” — was “Get Teletovic time.” So, especially with a team exhausted by nine games in 14 days — and coming off a double overtime effort, Teletovic is getting time. And he is making the most of it. In so many ways.
“People around basketball don’t really know me,” Teletovic said last night after his finest outing to date in the Nets’ 113-93 home romp over Sacramento. “People think I’m a 3-point shooter, but I can do so much more. I can help the team out in different ways.”
Like with rebounding. He had a personal best six last night. Like with defense. He had a personal best two blocks (both on King DeMarcus Cousins). And don’t forget the scoring and shooting. Yup, a personal-best 14 points. In a personal-high 21 minutes.
“The thing I’m encouraged about are the blocks and the rebounds,” Carlesimo said. “It’s great to see him make shots, but there never was any doubt he could make shots.”
It was just a matter of getting a chance.
“He tries to get you prepared to play every night,” Teletovic said of Carlesimo. “You never know when you will get the call. He tells you always be ready.”
Teletovic has been ready — and has been called upon. Five times in six games, Carlesimo summoned Teletovic. Last night, Teletovic started the second quarter, played nine minutes, scored nine points as the Nets stretched the lead from five to 12. Teletovic then played the fourth quarter when he added a crowd-pleasing break-away dunk.
“The starters the last three, four games were exhausted from so many minutes. [They] told me ‘we need you’ so I was trying to bring a lot of energy,’’ Teletovic said. “I was just excited to be in the game. … It gives me a lot of confidence. I came over to help the team out. I talked to all the European guys and they said once you come to the NBA it’s not real easy. You have to adjust.”
Different from what he was used to. Only twice in those first 28 games did Teletovic play double-figure minutes — and one was when he played 17 minutes in a 30-point loss at Miami. That wasn’t what Teletovic, who accepted the mini mid-level exception and got $9.8 million over three years from Brooklyn, had in mind when he paid $2 million out of his own pocket to get out of his EuroLeague contract.
And definitely not what ownership had in mind when they signed him. So part of the job description for Carlesimo, insiders say, is to play the likes of Teletovic, MarShon Brooks and Tayshawn Taylor and see what the Nets have there.
Give Carlesimo points for trying. In Friday’s double overtime win at Washington, Teletovic played 7:50 of the second quarter, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. He scored again last night — and defended. With Kris Humphries hurt, he subbed in for Reggie Evans.
“You know how difficult it is to replace Reggie? It’s impossible,” the 6-foot-9, 27-year-old forward said with a laugh. “I really learned a lot from him. He’s a great defensive player. I try to copy him somehow.”
At least he is getting the time to try.