Andrew Nicholson hoping to return to his rookie-year form

Andrew Nicholson burst int the NBA as a rookie as a throwback low-post player. That diminished the last 2 years. Now he hopes to return to that productivity.

Andrew Nicholson remains an enigma.

He has all the skills that can remind scouts of a different era of NBA basketball — where the low post ruled. And then he has all the skills that can remind scouts of the current era of NBA basketball — where forwards can stretch play out to the 3-point line. Offensively, it seemed, he could do it all.

His first season in Orlando provided so much promise — 7.8 points per game and a 52.7 percent field goal percentage as he worked primarily in the low post. He seemed to add so much to his game when he brought the 3-point shot in and burst onto the scene with 17 points in the 2014 season opener against Indiana.

Then, it all stopped.

Nicholson took an inordinate amount of 3-pointers — 21.3 percent of his shots the last two years have been 3-pointers — and lost the low post game. And worse yet, it seemed Nicholson lost his touch on the low post. Last year, Nicholson accounted for only 0.72 points per possession on 33 post up field goal attempts. He posted up just 17.4 percent of the time.

After such a promising rookie season, Nicholson’s career seemed to have taken a terrible swing south.

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There is hope. A new coach in Scott Skiles sees Nicholson’s potential and promise still in the low post. He wants him back there and that confidence could lift Nicholson back up to where he was two years ago.

“It feels good [to have his confidence],” Nicholson said. “It means he knows what I can do. I’m going to continue to keep working and keep getting better and doing pretty good.

“They are using me differently,” Nicholson continued. “Stuff that will definitely help me. Stuff that I can translate from the summer to here. Looking forward to having a good year.”

Nicholson admitted he was not used correctly in his opinion the last two years. He said he feels Skiles is putting him in better positions to score and be successful. His instructions are simply that, score. That is what he was drafted on three years ago.

The results so far have been pretty good.

Nicholson led the team in scoring during Saturday’s preseason opener against the Hornets with 23 points and he did it in a variety of ways, as Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com highlights in his video review. Eight of his 14 shots came in and around the paint and he displayed a wide array of post moves and counter moves.

The offense had him moving around a lot more, catching the ball at the high post to set up passes and diving down for deep post ups. It was Nicholson at his very best.

During the Magic’s open practice Monday, he again was put in dives and cross cuts to free him in the post and not at the 3-point line. The days of being simply a spot-up shooter appear done for Nicholson. He can get back to being the crafty post player that got him drafted.

“He and Vuc [Nikola Vucevic] are our two best low post scorers,” Scott Skiles said after Saturday’s game. “When he is in the game, we need to be cognizant of that and going down there and trying to get baskets from him. I thought he played well. He did a nice job. A couple times maybe held it a bit too much. He had it going and the guys were looking for him. He’s very good down there. He has good touch and good feel. As long as he can stay in the game defensively, he is an option for us to go down there and get points.”

Defense ultimately will decide whether Nicholson can stay on the floor and, more importantly to him, can get a second contract after his rookie deal expires at the end of this season.

It is good to see he is feeling comfortable in this new offense. His role is still not clearly defined and he will have to play his way into the rotation again. His offense will help him do that for sure. And if he can get back to anything near the level he was at his rookie year, it will help him cement a place in the league.

Really, Nicholson’s eventual staying power is in his hands and how he produces for the team. This training camp is a big one as Nicholson tries to make a good first impression and carve out a role on this team.

“He knows he’s a good low post scorer,” Skiles said Sunday. “We’re not telling him anything he doesn’t know. In theory, Andrew can come in and a little bit like he did [Saturday] night, go to work on the box.

“Basketball is a funny game though. Everybody is connected. Andrew scored for us on the box but was minus in plus/minus for the game [-4 for the game]. The question with Andrew isn’t whether he can score on the box. He can score on bigger people than him. It’s whether he can defend well enough and rebound well enough to stay in the game.”

The question for Nicholson remains the same as it was three years ago. It just seems now Nicholson’s offense and role is bouncing back to a space he can be more successful.

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