Who is the Brooklyn's X-Factor?

Deron Williams is looking like the player the Nets initially traded for. Brook Lopez has been dominant on the offensive end of the floor. Even Joe Johnson has even appeared to get out of his latest funk in the past few games. The Nets have been reliant on the services of Johnson, Lopez and Williams to return to the playoff picture, but their play alone is not enough for Brooklyn to make noise in the playoffs. If the Nets are going to get to the playoffs and contend in a playoff series, one guy besides these three players is going to have to step up. This guy can be seen as an “X-Factor” for the team. I believe that “X-Factor” needs to be Bojan Bogdanovic.

While playing in Europe, Bogdanovic was a star. He was the main player on his team in the Euro league. While playing for the Croatia national team during FIBA last summer, he averaged over 21 points per game. He was a dominant scorer and a world-class shooter before joining the Brooklyn Nets in 2014.

In his short tenure in Brooklyn, Bogdanovic hasn’t really shown that dominant scoring ability that we saw in the FIBA world championships. He averages a shade over 8 points per game this season. At points he has shown the ability to score in quick bursts, but most of his scoring bursts have come from spot-up three pointers. While those spot-up three pointers are helpful when Williams and Johnson are penetrating into the lane looking to kick the ball out, the Nets need more than that from Bogdanovic if they are going to make noise down the stretch.

To me, Bogdanovic’s level of play all comes down to his confidence level. While playing in Europe, he knew that he was the team’s go-to scorer, which allowed him to be aggressive on the court. With the Nets, he appears to have a less-agressive style because he thinks that he is merely a role player for the team. What Bojan needs to realize is that while the Nets have three max players on their team, they don’t have any stars right now. They don’t have anybody that has taken this team and claimed it as theirs. Bogdanovic needs to have the aggressive mentality that he is one of the main scorers on the team. He has showed that in short bursts this year, but he needs to learn to sustain it. Every since All-Star weekend, his confidence and his shot selection have improved. If Bojan can get himself in the right mindset for these last stretch of games, and get into the zone that he is capable of being in, then he can give the Nets a lift and be the X-factor that they need to make a run into the playoffs.