PHILADELPHIA — From losing his starting job through injury to being tasked with learning a new position at the age of 32, it’s been a rough season for the Nets’ DeMarre Carroll.
But he knows he was brought to the Nets as much for his leadership as his play. And how he’s handled adversity is teaching his young teammates as much as he ever could on the court.
“I talk to [coach Kenny Atkinson] on a daily basis,” Carroll told The Post. “He does a good job of communicating with me, tells me all the time I’m a starter. … But I’ve got to keep going with the flow, just keep playing my game and getting my rhythm back. Hopefully I get back to the same level I was playing at, back to the same minutes I was getting last year. But it’s tough.
“You’ve got to be professional. You can’t come in and [gripe]. Sometimes as a veteran, as a leader you have to understand what they really brought you in for. … This team, maybe they need more leadership and some of your play, rather than you go to a playoff team where they need your play and less of your leadership.
“I’ve been through it. I understand what it takes. I’ve just got to keep working. … When my time and opportunity comes, just got to be ready for it, be a true professional. I’m not only playing for here, I’m on an expiring contract. I want to get another good contract, so I have to keep playing well.”
Carroll had the misfortune of getting hurt in a contract year, Oct. 16 ankle surgery costing him three weeks (11 games) and ultimately a starting spot.
“It’s been a tough season for DeMarre. He was slated to be in the starting lineup when we started this thing, all training camp. Then he had surgery,” Atkinson said before Wednesday’s game against the 76ers. “Quite honestly, he has not reached the form or the level he did last year. It’s just not there yet. I see it getting better.
“It’s a little bit him, it’s a little bit me trying to get that confidence back in him that he’s fully healthy and can contribute. He’s not near where he was last year, that’s my estimation. But DeMarre’s DeMarre: That guy’s the ultimate professional, great team guy. We have an understanding where he is.”
Having to learn a new position hasn’t helped. After spending the past six seasons exclusively as a small forward, the 6-foot-8 Carroll was bracing to play some power forward, something he’d done his first few years since he couldn’t shoot.
But the Nets’ need for more rebounding has forced Atkinson to try Carroll at off-guard, a position he hasn’t played in the NBA or even college.
“I went from the 4 to the 2. … That’s crazy. Hey, whatever works. Got to flow with it,” Carroll told The Post. “Man, it’s been a while. … I’ve been in with [Rodions Kurucs], [Jared Dudley], Ed [Davis], so that leaves me at the 2. I have to come off picks, shoot 3s, those type of things. It’s very interesting. But Kenny says that’s my leadership, being able to play many positions. I haven’t played that since high school.
“If I didn’t get hurt, of course I would’ve been starting at the 4, especially with Rondae [Hollis-Jefferson] being out. Then I got hurt, and J.D. has actually been playing pretty good meaningful minutes for us, and Rondae came back healthy. I was last on the totem pole, so I went back to the 3; now I’m playing the 2, the 3, wherever coach put me. I’ve got to learn all the positions. That’s been the biggest adjustment for me this year.”
This story was originally published by NY Post
via USAHint.com
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