Nets new starter DayRon Sharpe looks to pace himself while keeping his edge

Finally a starter for the first time, Day’Ron Sharpe is going to face more first-stringers and log more minutes than ever.The Nets center knows he’s going to have to pace himself.But pacing doesn’t mean passive.

Sharpe only knows one way to play: all out.“I feel like I played against starters last year as well,” Sharpe said.“Sometimes, when I would come in the game, they would put the more physical guy in the game to deal with me.

So just do my thing, just keep playing hard.“And even if it’s double the minutes, learn how to pace myself during the game, learning what opportunities to take [to avoid] getting in foul trouble, saving myself for later on in the game.But I’m just going to play hard until the wheels fall off.

That’s all I can do.”How much can those wheels take?Sharpe, 24, logged a career high in minutes last season, though it was just 1,160.He could be asked to nearly double that with longtime starter Nic Claxton in Chicago after a four-team trade this summer.As a high-energy bully on the boards — playing harder and more aggressive than most foes — it begs the question of whether Sharpe will be able to maintain that advantage despite scaling up his minutes.“I just think that’s me, bro,” Sharpe said.

“I don’t really look at it how many minutes I’m playing.I look at it more so just stints.

So I probably get more stints of me getting in the game.Last year, it was two stints coming off the bench where I play 10 minutes at a time.

So I really don’t look at it like that.I’m just trying to win.

So when the whistle starts, when the game starts and it’s time to play, I’m playing.When the game’s over, game over.”Over his career, Sharpe has averaged 18.7 rebounds per 100 possessions, including a staggering 8.3 on the offensive end.

The latter figure would rank second best in league history, per Basketball Reference.How much, though, will Sharpe’s edge drop off when having to log more extended playing time? T...