Unfortunately for pro Basketball fans in Milwaukee, Harris was unable to play against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night because of a right hamstring injury. They had hoped to see the former Wauwatosa East and University of Wisconsin star, a strong candidate for a berth on the Eastern Conference all-star team.

But the only peek the hometown fans received was of a dapper Devin wearing a suit and sitting on the Nets' bench, with Keyon Dooling taking over at point guard for the second straight game.

"The fact he's been able to score as much is a little bit surprising because he was a career 10-point-per-game scorer," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said of Harris. "We're trying to take advantage of his strengths, and I think he has done a phenomenal job of getting off to a great start.

"We feel strongly he's an all-star. At the end of the day, the way all-stars are evaluated is how you impact winning. But that's for the coaches to decide."

The leading vote-getters at the guard position for the Eastern Conference squad are Miami's Dwyane Wade and Detroit's Allen Iverson, both with more than 1 million votes in online balloting.

Harris ranks fifth in the voting with nearly 475,000 votes, behind Nets teammate Vince Carter and Boston's Ray Allen.

For Harris to make the all-star team and play on Feb. 15 in Phoenix, he will need to be selected in voting of conference coaches. But he is making a fairly convincing case with his averages of 23.1 points and 6.6 assists as well as his 45.5% shooting accuracy.

"It's always what I thought I could do, what I was capable of doing," Harris said. "Obviously the opportunities aren't always there.

"You always have to stay ready for them. Dallas was a little bit different for me. Before I even got there they had won 60 games. They had great chemistry, great teammates, great players already. So my role was limited."

Harris was the key player obtained by the Nets when they cut ties with Kidd and traded him to Dallas last February.

After joining the Nets, he scored in double figures in 19 of 25 games last season and had three games of 10 or more assists.

"The advantage of getting him when we did, at least you get a feel for what he can do," Frank said. "You look at him and the other guys on the team and say, 'What's going to give us the best chance to win on both ends and try to maximize his strengths?' He's been off-the-charts good."

The Nets have decided to go with a youth movement featuring Harris, former Bucks forward Yi Jianlian and rookie center Brook Lopez, the 10th overall pick in the 2008 draft.

Carter is the veteran presence in the starting lineup, and the Nets have a few experienced players on the bench, including Jarvis Hayes, Trenton Hassell and Eduardo Najera.

Harris learned plenty during his three-plus seasons in Dallas.

"You've got to understand, he was the starting point guard on a team that almost won 70 games," said Bucks forward Richard Jefferson, who played with Harris last year in New Jersey. "So now that he's older and more mature, and now that's he's got a chance to be in an offense that is guard-oriented, you expect him to play better and raise his level."

Harris, who has the quickness to penetrate the lane and score or dish to teammates, said he had noticed changes in the way opponents are defending him.

"I've seen a lot more taller guys, and they're starting to use a lot more shooting guards on me," Harris said.

"Teams are putting four or five guys in the paint and trying to force jump shots, but I think we've made good adjustments to that."

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