Some say he is a mini-version of Charles Oakley without the jumper, a guy who does the thankless toiling inside, sacrificing his ribs and ego for the sake of a rebound or a loose ball. But Jamie Feick begs to differ.

“I have a jumper, you just haven’t seen it,” Feick said.

Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. But what the Nets have seen so far in the 24-year-old forward, they like. A lot. Eight days ago, Feick, a ’96 second-round pick of the Sixers, was sitting at home in Ohio, out of the NBA, following his second flirtation with the Bucks. Then the Nets, who seemingly have not been able to go a full day without a serious injury, came calling with a 10-day contract.

“I’ve watched him. He was with Philly in the summer league two years ago and I liked what I saw. I thought he was pretty good. I thought he would make their team and he did that rookie season for a while,” said Nets GM John Nash. “I’ve always been a fan.”

At first, the Nets needed Feick to fill in on the bench for Rony Seikaly and Jim McIlvaine, both injured. Then Saturday, they needed Feick to fill in as a starter for Keith Van Horn, who’s also injured. The Nets, in keeping with the customs of the season, lost, 109-99. But Feick more than did his part with 12 points and 11 rebounds. In very un-Net-like fashion, Feick took four shots. And he made four shots.

“I just wanted to do the best I could to help this team, to go out and do what I’ve been doing, which is to bring energy to the team, to rebound and to play a physical game,” said Feick, a Michigan State (’96) product. “I can only control my part of it and that’s just playing hard. When you play hard good things happen all the time.”

Now the Nets might not come calling with a 10-year deal, but they’ll almost certainly want to keep Feick around for another 10-day deal, at least, if not for the remainder of the season. His style reminds people of Oakley or Jayson Williams, though obviously not as advanced as those vets.

“He plays hard. He’s a big guy. He’s like 250, solid. I like playing with him. I like playing with guys who work hard,” said Williams, who admitted he sees himself in Feick’s game.

Feick, who led the Big 10 in rebounding as a senior and who had pro cameos in Charlotte and San Antonio in addition to his Milwaukee stint, figures to be playing a bigger role for the Nets, who at 5-23, coming off a 1-3 homestand and heading into Orlando’s snake pit tomorrow night, don’t have a whole lot to lose at this point.

“He’s giving us tremendous effort,” said interim coach Don Casey. “He goes to the basket and he’s getting more stick-backs than people we’ve had all year. His toughness, is great.”