Bradley New, Improved Nets Would Like Some Beef, But They’re Not Complaining

Before the New Jersey Nets even started discussing basketball, nutrition, gaining weight or anything else with Shawn Bradley, they got into his head.

When Bradley arrived from the Philadelphia 76ers, his head was still ringing with the sound of boos, his psyche badly wounded. Therapy for the 7-foot-6 center was a fatherly pat on the back and a message:

“We told him we wanted him to go out and have some fun,” New Jersey Nets president Michael Rowe said.

Not only has Bradley done that, but the former Brigham Young star has suddenly become a viable NBA center, and that’s one of the reasons the Nets are in playoff contention after unloading former All-Stars Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson.

Since the All-Star break, Bradley has blossomed, averaging 15.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and four blocks in a recent stretch in which New Jersey posted a 6-2 record.

Since coming to the Nets in a multi-player deal that sent Coleman to the 76ers on Nov. 30, the onetime Mormon missionary has gotten accustomed to friendlier surroundings where no one is calling him “The Great White Nope” or wondering how he could have been the second pick overall in the 1993 draft.

“From the first day here, management came in and told me: ‘We’re excited to have you and we want you to enjoy it here,”’ Bradley said.

“They said, ‘We know you are going to have good games and you’re going to have great games. We also know you are going to have bad games and we expect that, too. We just want you to work hard and become better.”’

Assistant coach Clifford Ray was given the job of making Bradley better. Ray had heard nothing but negative talk about Bradley from his former teammates and others, who questioned his desire and his willingness to bulk up. So Ray sat down with his new pupil to find out for himself.

“The thing that surprised me the most is he’s still so young,” Ray said. “He’s only 23 years old and he’s got two kids. It takes a long time for a player to become a true professional.”

For his size, Ray said, Bradley has a normal amount of athletic ability. Experience and patience are lacking.

So every game, Ray sets goals for Bradley. The most obvious are points, rebounds and blocks, but Ray is also looking for the little things, like what he saw against Washington last week when Bradley had a season-high 27 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

The numbers weren’t what mattered to Ray.

When Washington’s 7-foot-7 center, Gheorghe Muresan, gave Bradley a chance to take the jump hook, he took it. When the drop step was there, Bradley utilized it, and likewise, the drive and a couple of other moves.

“I’m being smarter with the ball, and that’s part of the big goal, to be more confident but to play smart basketball,” Bradley said. “By doing that, I’ll become a better player and the team will be a better team.”

His court instincts and the athletic ability were evident a couple of days ago against the Miami Heat during two plays 30 seconds apart.

Playing defense near the foul line, Bradley anticipated a pass to the sidelines by a double-teamed Tim Hardaway of Miami, knocked it down and flipped a pass downcourt to teammate P.J. Brown for a dunk. The pass was made with Bradley in the air preventing the ball from going out of bounds.

A possession later, Bradley was on the other end of the break, taking a pass from Brown for a monster dunk and eventual three-point play.

Best of all, Bradley got a standing ovation from the crowd at the Continental Airlines Arena.

Things were rarely that way in Philadelphia. The boos and catcalls took their toll on the soft-spoken Bradley, who even stops during press conferences to apologize for saying “damn.”

“I wouldn’t say it was a bad experience,” Bradley said. “It was definitely a learning experience.”

What everyone learned is this: a player with one year of college experience cannot take two years off to go on a mission to Australia and then come back and have an immediate impact in the NBA.

Being the second pick in the draft and having a seven-year, $44.8 million contract only made things worse.

“Everyone thought he was going to be the life saver of that franchise, and this was a guy who had been away from the game for so long,” Nets point guard Chris Childs said.

“Coming here, the coaches didn’t even start him right away,” he said. “They let him work his way in, and that was a key to not putting him back in the same situation. It wasn’t like Derrick is gone and he has to step in and take his place. That made him feel a lot better. Now it shows. He’s helping this team.”

If there is a recurring problem for Bradley, it’s picking up too many silly fouls.

“He’s got to be smarter,” Childs said. “He can intimidate just standing there. All he has to do is put his hands up, and they touch the rim. With him in there, we can put more pressure on the ball, knowing that if they come down the middle we have the human fly-swatter.”

With Coleman hampered by injuries and the Nets just a couple of games out of a playoff berth, it appears New Jersey has gotten the best of the trade.

“The progress that Shawn has shown this year, I would have expected next year,” said Hal Wissel, the Nets director of player personnel. “How far he goes really is up to Shawn and how badly he wants it. I think we expected him to be on the level of Rik Smits of Indiana, but I feel he’ll even go beyond that.”

For now, Bradley said he’d be content just playing well and helping the Nets make the playoffs. Down the road, he wouldn’t mind becoming an All-Star or playing on an Olympic team.

That isn’t enough, though.

“I also want to develop my game and the team to the level where we have a shot at a championship,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about. That’s cool.”