Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s hard work boosts his confidence

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson poured some sweat into his shooting last summer. From there, he could see those shots falling in the fall, winter and spring for the Nets.

“It’s easy for someone to say, ‘Hey, I worked on this. I worked on that,’ ” Hollis-Jefferson said after Sunday night’s loss to Detroit at Barclays Center. “But when you get in a game, the atmosphere, the ball, everything changes. Everything is different. But putting yourself in that moment — I’m thinking of it like, ‘I’m in the gym right now. I’m working out. I’m going to make this same play.’

“And that’s kind of how I envisioned it, and it happened game after game. That’s when I started to [say], ‘You can do it.’ . . . And then me seeing film, rewinding the play; that just made my confidence go to the next level.”

The Nets’ bottom line of 25-52 with five games left is no cause for a party, but some Nets have made a jump in their development. Hollis-Jefferson is at the front of the line. The 6-7, 214-pound power forward’s production is matching his typical Grade A effort.

Hollis-Jefferson has averaged 17.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals since returning to the starting lineup nine games ago. He’s at 14.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists overall heading into Tuesday night’s game at Philadelphia. He averaged 7.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his first two seasons.

He owns 11 double-doubles and 10 games with at least 20 points compared to two in each category in his first two seasons. He has four games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds, and he has scored in double digits in a career-high 12 straight games.

“Another year under your belt,” he said. “You feel like things start to slow down for you.”

Besides bringing defense, rebounding and an ability to take the ball to the basket, he has improved his mid-range shot. After hitting 34 percent of his mid-range attempts in his first two seasons, he’s up to 42.8 percent this season.

“I worked a lot on it,” said Hollis-Jefferson, who is at 47.5 percent overall. “I always felt like this is something that I always could do. It was just pretty much being confident and shooting it.”

Team psychologist Dr. Paul Groenewal helped him with the mental side of the game. Coach Kenny Atkinson sees a difference. “Just moving on to the next play,” he said. “If you make a mistake, you miss a shot, sprint back, or whatever that next sequence should look like to help your team. So I think he’s grown in leaps and bounds there.”

Stan Van Gundy gave Atkinson credit for moving Hollis-Jefferson to power forward. “He put him in a spot where he can utilize his quickness advantage and do the things he does well,” the Pistons’ coach said.

Even though Hollis-Jefferson is only 23 and finishing his third season, he’s the Nets’ longest-tenured player thanks to their rebuilding process.

“I feel like through time, through everything that we go through, it gets better and helps shape us,” he said. “So we’ll get better and we’ll get over that hump, and we’ll be where we’re supposed to be.”