After a flat performance on Friday, Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernández challenged rookie Egor Dëmin to assert himself more or lose his place in the rotation.
The comments by Fernández came after the starter finished with three points, two steals, one rebound and one assist in a 119-111 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on the road. Dëmin connected on only one of his seven shot attempts from the field in 18 minutes of work.
Dëmin failed to get into any rhythm on the offensive end, putting up questionable shot attempts and deferring on a few occasions. He has now scored fewer than 10 points in four out of their five games so far in December, totaling only 33 points in 115 minutes over that span.
“I think that he was trying to fix mistakes by trying to make things happen, and this is not how you want to do things,” Fernández said. “I need him to play with better readiness and physicality, and this is not the way that the team needs him to play.”
Dëmin is averaging 8.1 points, 3.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds on 34.8% shooting from 3-point range in 22 appearances. He is sixth in assists among rookies and is one of 15 first-year players to score at least 20 points in a game.
The eighth pick has started the past 15 games for Fernández, with inconsistent results over that span. They have allowed him to play through mistakes, with the former BYU guard showcasing his potential in spurts over the first quarter of the season.
But Fernández clearly wasn’t pleased with his effort on Friday, after failing to meet the team’s standard and showing a lack of aggression. The group will continue working with him to play more consistently, but a lineup change could come if things don’t improve soon.
“He has got to be better,” Fernández said. “Otherwise, the minutes are going to go down, and somebody else will take advantage of them. I know that he cares. He has always responded and punched back. He is way better than what he has performed tonight.”