Danny Wolf got a real chance Wednesday night, and he made it count.
With Brooklyn working through a nine-man rotation and head coach Jordi Fernandez still sorting through lineup combinations, Wolf was one of the “Flatbush Five” seeing his minutes squeezed by offseason additions. But when Fernandez turned to him in the third quarter of the Nets’ 114-104 win over the Charlotte Hornets, Wolf stepped in and delivered.
“Obviously in the NBA, there’s going to be times, especially early in your career, that you might not be in the rotation, and that was the case for me [at the] start of the year,” Wolf said to the media after Wednesday’s 114-104 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Fernandez has made it clear that this part of the season will include him testing different combinations, and that opened the door for Wolf in the second half. The message, Wolf said, was simple: stay ready.
“Everyone emphasizes and preaches [that] you got to be ready, and you hear it over and over. Just make sure you’re doing all all your work, doing all your things to make sure that when your number gets called, you’re ready,” Wolf continued.
“I tried taking advantage of all the time I had. When coach called my name in the second half, I was ready, and I was looking forward to that opportunity and tried doing everything I could to help the team win.”
Wolf checked in for the first time with 10:32 left in the third quarter, replacing starter Chaney Johnson. This wasn’t just a few emergency minutes to cover foul trouble or give someone a breather. Brooklyn leaned on him for 19 minutes, and he finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.
He also picked up four fouls, but the production still stood out. Wolf ended the night at plus-17, a strong sign that his minutes moved the game in Brooklyn’s favor.
Before Wednesday, Wolf had appeared in only two of the Nets’ previous seven games, and most of those minutes came after the result was already basically settled. Against Charlotte, though, he gave Fernandez and the staff something to think about. That kind of performance can change how a rotation looks, or at least earn a player a more defined role the next time the Nets need a spark.
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