Frank Setting The Scene For CDR On The Bench
October 15th, 2009 | by Ryan Jones |Early on in preseason the star of the Nets has been second year guard Chris Douglas-Roberts. In four games he is averaging 18 points and has shown the enormous athletic ability he showcased at Memphis. It’s being assumed he has done more than enough to not only be part of the Nets rotation this year, but even a starter. Not so says Nets coach Lawrence Frank.
“Chris, we’ve all seen, has had an outstanding preseason. And it started with offseason after his season ended in April. I’m not caught up with starters – we have a lot of different starters we can throw out there, several good players, but undoubtedly he’s had a very good preseason.”
Now, I know what you’re thinking. The coach said his player has had an outstanding preseason and that by not naming Douglas-Roberts a starter he simply wants to keep competition alive. And under normal circumstances I would agree with you, but Frank is not your normal coach.
Last season, Frank seemed unwilling to play the rookie, only calling his number in 44 games.
If you take a quick look at his stat line for the year — 4.9 PPG over 13.3 minutes played — a case could be made that CDR didn’t play because he just wasn’t ready. But if you look closer at the stats, that’s where the rational thought ends. Because when the kid actually played, he produced.
Out of his 44 games played, Douglas-Roberts played 20+ minutes in only ten of those games. And in those games he averaged 12.6 PPG. Not only did he produce, but when he played the Nets won. In those same ten games New Jersey had a record of 6-4. For a team that went 34-48 (.415 winning percentage) it’s hard for any player to claim a winning record, but that’s exactly what CDR can do.
And I think it speaks to his maturity level to come into camp amped and ready to go even though he was relegated to the bench for virtually his entire rookie season.
So far he has definitely done his part.
Now it’s time for Larry to do his.
