Brooklyn Nets

Lionel Hollins said Jarrett Jack 'told on himself'

Published Sep. 23, 2015 11:52 a.m. ET

foxsports

Of all the issues the Nets have right now, one of the most beaten to death is their shallow cast of point guards. Brooklyn may have the worst point-guard roster in the NBA right now, made up of Jarrett Jack, Shane Larkin, Donald Sloan and Ryan Boatright, though one of Sloan or Boatright will likely be cut by the end of the preseason.

Brooklyn, though, has shown nothing but confidence in its new starting 1-guard, Jack. What other choice would any organization have? It can't head into a season with a first-time starter and then start sending out all these quotes about how it has no faith in that guy. It's got to go in the opposite direction, and hope for the best.

Nets general manager Billy King is staying consistent with those ideals. Here's what he had to say to media Wednesday when talking about Jack and his prospects of running the Nets' offense, via Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game:

Told on himself...Meaning Jack was actually distributing and doing it well. But, of course, that was just in practice. And not even a real practice, mind you, but an offseason workout.

Hollins has always had some unreasonable amount of confidence in Jack. He played him alongside Deron Williams for much of last year even as their dual plus/minus and Jack's individual one faltered, though Hollins has shown the ability to jeer Jack, too, as Kharpertian pointed out on Twitter:

Still, Jack will be 32 years old at the start of the season and has never been much other than a scoring guard off the bench.

It's unfair to say he's never been a consistent starter before. He started all 79 games he played during 2006-07 with the Trail Blazers. He started 53 of 82 contests for the Pacers during 2008-09. He also ran with the first unit almost the entire time he was with the Hornets in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season. But it's not like his style changed much in that time, save for maybe some moments with New Orleans.

Only once has he posted an assist rate better than 30 percent, which isn't exactly what you want to see from a starting point guard who is supposed to initiate offense and not necessarily create it. Jack will have to get the ball to Brook Lopez, to Joe Johnson or Bojan Bogdanovic or Thaddeus Young this season. If all goes to plan, him taking a shot might be one of the last options, especially considering that his attempts tend to come from inefficient spots on the floor (like midrangers off the dribble).

Maybe things can change. We just haven't seen any signs yet that they will.

(h/t The Brooklyn Game)

I think this is the first time in Jarrett’s career where he’s the starter. He’s always been in that backup role, and so he’s had something to prove. Now he’s going into it knowing he’s going to be a leader, and as Lionel said he saw him run pick-and-roll and find guys. He says, ‘You told on yourself.’ Now, going in, Jarrett understands who he’s playing with and what he’s supposed to do.

He’s also poked fun at him. Case in point, after one good game: “he made plays. Usually he just shoots the ball" https://t.co/VAxnueLTnN
— devin kharpertian (@uuords) September 23, 2015