Everyone can take a lesson from Thaddeus Young.

The 76ers combo forward followed two inspiring seasons with an off note in 2009-2010. His field goal percentage—which was a robust 53.9% as a rookie—had dwindled down to a 47% mark in his third season. Young was starting and taking more than two 3-pointers per night, but he struggled to define himself on the court and, as a result, couldn’t build his game.

Then the 76ers hired veteran coach Doug Collins.

Where most coaches ask for more from their players, Collins wanted less from Young. Heading into his fourth year, the Georgia Tech 22-year-old product was to come off the bench, play less and stay away from the 3-point arc.

“Just talking to coach Collins,” Young told HOOPSWORLD. “He’s helping me buy into the fact that I’m not a 3-point shooter. I realize that also. I shot the three ball well two years ago, but hey, you shouldn’t live and die by threes. You should always try and be aggressive, try and get to the free throw line and get higher percentage shots. That’s what I’ve been doing—just going for the high-percentage shots.”

Now Young’s making over 54% of his field goals, and while his scoring has dipped for a third straight season (down to 12.6 PPG), he’s now a serious candidate for NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Most importantly, he’s been an integral part of Philadelphia’s second-half push.

He’s also raised his Player Efficiency Rating to a career-high 18.56 (NBA average is 15), thanks to his improved shot selection and a reduced turnover rate. Of course, there a few people that miss that 3-pointers.

“He’s always been efficient to me,” teammate Elton Brand told HOOPSWORLD. “The threes, I kind of liked his three shot a little. He wasn’t bad at them. But he cut them out completely. Maybe he’ll add it again for the playoffs or something, because he can stretch the floor. He’s so efficient now, though, and when he’s on he’s awesome.”

“The guys, when I get the ball at the 3-point line, they want me to shoot it, because they know I can shoot it, but I try and get better opportunities,” Young said. “I feel like a 3-point shot is not a great opportunity for me. I feel like, if we’re down on the shot clock, I can get close, so I’ll take a dribble in, or I can create a shot for somebody else or I’ll let the guards take a three.”

Young has also allowed the 76ers to play different brands of ball. Philadelphia ranks 16th in possessions per game mainly because of alternating brands of ball. Collins sticks to a halfcourt offense when 7-1 center Spencer Hawes starts the game next to veteran power forward Elton Brand, but increases the tempo when Young and point guard Lou Williams come off the bench (the 76ers have the third-highest scoring bench in the NBA). Of course Young doesn’t have to sit when Hawes and Brand come back into the game because he can easily slide over to small forward.

“He’s just very versatile,” Nets guard and Young’s former Georgia Tech teammate Anthony Morrow told HOOPSWORLD. “He does a lot of things. He’s really underrated. He can score, he can rebound. He’s got a good nose for where the ball is going in transition. He’s on a perfect team for him. They’re using him right. He’s just a tough guy to match up with. He can play the 3 or the 4, post up, he has a little perimeter game if you go big on him.”

Ironically, Young’s recent transition from a jump shooter to someone who attacks the basket is a journey he made as an amateur. Once again, Morrow sees a player leaving the perimeter for the paint, where Young’s quickness becomes a dangerous asset.

“He was kind of more like he is now,” Morrow said. “He started out playing more on the perimeter. We started seeing that he would be more versatile if he primarily played on the inside instead of being a bigger guy outside. Once he did that, he did amazing and it really led to him coming out early. He had a great year. He’s good now and I think he’ll be an All-Star one day.”

No Sleep Till Barclays

Remember that Atlantic Yards project pipedream? Well suddenly it’s very tangible.

HOOPSWORLD was among those invited to Monday’s tour of the Barclays Center construction site—the jewel of the developer Bruce Ratner’s Brooklyn commercial and residential endeavor—that will become home to the Nets beginning in September of 2012.

Like most construction sites, it’s pretty much just a muddy hole with some concrete and steal beams sprinkled around the premises, but it’s slowly beginning to resemble a major pro stadium.

The renderings have been impressive so far. The outside of the building gently slopes around itself within the 675,000-foot triangular plot. And unlike the comparably utilitarian Madison Square Garden, there are no hard angles or single points of symmetry to be found. Instead, the Barclays Center is a futuristic glimpse from the past, impossible to label as retro or ultra modern, but nonetheless pleasing to the eye.

“The building is a building of its own,” Forest City Ratner Companies senior vice president and deputy director of construction Linda Chiarelli, told HOOPSWORLD.

But as unfamiliar as the exterior may seem, the interior evolved from arenas currently in use. In fact, some Pacers fans might find themselves right at home in the Barclays Center.

“We looked at dozens of arenas examining bowl shape more than anything else,” Chiarelli said. “The bowl, I would say it’s probably he Conseco Field House bowl that inspired the bowl shape.”

The interior happens to be designed by Ellerbe Becket, which is the same firm that did Conseco FieldHouse. And, unlike the Nets’ former home, the Izod Center, the Barclays Center and Conseco FieldHouse (and the Nets current home, Newark’s Prudential Center, for that matter) features a narrow lower bowl. That means Ellerbe’s Barclays design lets the team sell two tiers of suites while allowing for over 2,000 upper-deck seats (which will cost $15 or less) to be reasonably close to the action.

“This is the opposite [of the Izod Center],” Chiarelli said. “It’s a very intimate bowl. That was the goal here to establish that level of intimacy.”

But the most striking aspect of the Barclays center, Chiarelli said, is the main entrance. Fans arriving from the Long Island Railroad or subway will float up the escalator toward the atrium to find an entrance unlike any other in professional sports.

“I think that coming in through the oculus area is going to something that’s never been done before,” she said. “There’s going to be programming LED in the center of that and then you walk into this very large, impressive lobby and you can see right down the main vomitory (editor’s note: a tunnel-like structure, not a place to vomit) into the court from there. I think that’s what’s going to strike people first.”

Since Brooklyn is often viewed as the most-secluded of New York’s five boroughs, it’s important to note how easy it will be to attend games.

Nine subway lines (2, 3, 4, 5, N, R, Q, B and D) will link up with the Barclays Center, and the station will also connect to the LIRR, which services the rest of Long Island. And, if a New Jersey resident wants to remain a fan of the Nets, they won’t have to cut through Southern Manhattan to drive to the game. Traffic can be avoided by simply driving through Staten Island and over the Verrazano Bridge.

No stadium is perfect, but the Nets have already positioned themselves to be a cheaper, and possibly more convenient way for New Yorkers to see the NBA.

{AUTHOR_BOX} Rocky Mountain Riviera

Danilo Gallinari thought he had a sweet deal going.

A native of Sant’Angelo Lodigian, Italy, the 6-9 small forward was supposed to play for his father Vittorio’s friend and former teammate Mike D’Antoni with the Knicks. And while Danilo’s professional relationship with D’Antoni ended abruptly at the trade deadline, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes that it wasn’t easy for the Knicks coach to say ‘goodbye.’

Vittorio told Begley that D’Antoni and Knicks president Donnie Walsh assured him Gallinari would not be included in a deal for Carmelo Anthony, but ultimately the Italian sharpshooter was sent packing.

Vittorio told Begley that Gallinari could wind up in New York again. “If he plays another ten years in the NBA, who knows?”

In any case, Gallinari is with the hottest team in the NBA and making major contributions to boot. He currently is averaging 15.9 PPG with Denver while shooting 36.6% from 3-point range and grabbing 5.6 RPG.

Oh, and he’s only 22.

Speaking of Walsh

Knicks president Donnie Walsh can come back if he wants to, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Two sources have gone on the record as saying owner James Dolan wouldn’t stop Walsh from coming back next year.

Of course, Walsh is 70, and with such a hands-on owner hovering over him, the veteran executive may decide to step away completely or take a chance at another job. In any case, there could be a window open for Walsh’s return.

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