There is the question of minutes as a laundry list of candidates cram the power forward and center lists for the Nets. Then there is another reason why Kris Humphries has experienced a drastic drop in playing time for the Nets. Quite frankly — and somewhat diplomatically — he hasn’t been very good which can, you know, hurt his evaluation.
So interim coach P.J. Carlesimo noted “the logjam at four and five, which has been there all year, and how a game evolves” as two reasons why Humphries, who averaged 27.9 and 34.9 minutes in two previous campaigns, gets an ever-dwindling 20.2 this year (Wednesday against Miami, Humphries played 2:07, then 6:34 in the Nets’ 93-89 win over the Bulls Friday night). “Then it’s, when you get in the game, how [did] you do?”
Now we’re getting to the interesting stuff.
“If you get in the game and they get a couple offensive rebounds over you or you’re in the wrong place on a play, you’re not going to be in the game very long,” Carlesimo said.
That happened Wednesday. Friday night, Humphries was around a little longer but the Nets had trouble guarding Chicago’s smaller alignments. So they went small, not finding real success inside until the fourth quarter — when Humphries was back on the bench.
Against Miami, Humphries played in the first quarter. Friday night, he played in the second quarter. This is not what anyone envisioned when he signed a two-year, $24-million free agent deal last summer, a pact that makes him as tradable this season as a vial of Ebola.
Carlesimo has an assortment of bigs in Brook Lopez, Reggie Evans, Andray Blatche, sometimes four Gerald Wallace, Mirza Teletovic and Humphries.
“It’s not a good situation,” Carlesimo said of the logjam. “It’s so much easier to play, ‘I’m getting 20 minutes, I can play through my mistakes, I know I’m going to be on the floor.’ But unfortunately most of those guys don’t have that luxury.”
So if you get the chance and make the most of it, you will stay on the floor. Like Humphries did Feb. 20 in the Nets’ 100-92 win over the Knicks, in which he had 14 points and 14 rebounds in 44 minutes.
“I’ve had some good games, had some tough games,” Humphries said. “I don’t know [what’s happened]. Maybe I’ve got to play better. Maybe the team is playing good, and they don’t want to shake things up too much.”
Humphries has suffered two separate injuries, an abdominal strain and a sprained ankle in a season where he last started Dec. 19.
“I’m not focused on all that,” he said. “I just have to play hard when I get in there and not put any [undue] emotions into it. I’ve taken that approach. Just keep working. Humphries said. “I have to get over the ankle. Really turn the corner on [that] and play better consistently.”
Only five NBA players averaged a points-rebounds double-double in each of the previous two seasons: Kevin Love, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Pau Gasol and, yes, Humphries. So this season has been undeniably frustrating.
“Everyone wants to do the best they can when they know what they can do,” he said. “So it can be tough at times but ultimately it’s a team game.”
Carlesimo simply goes with what works.
“If you’re going good which he has done on occasion, then your minutes are going to get stretched out,” he said. “It’s a harder way to play for all those guys. I’ve said it from Day 1, and we haven’t solved it yet: we’ve got five guys we’d like to get minutes at the four and five.”