Player Preview: Brook Lopez

At seven feet, Brook Lopez has shown his expertise in scoring, being loyal, being a goof, and completely baffling basketball fans everywhere. While it would seem easy for a center of his height to grab rebounds, Lopez managed to grab only six rebounds a game two years ago, and less than four a game in his five games last season. Now, it's not to say there were no good reasons. He had suffered from both mononucleosis as well as calcium deposit in one of his arms in the same season two years ago. Last season he was returning from a foot injury so his five games should not be a source to describe his supposedly anemic rebounding skills.

Yet, that's what most fans who do not watch the Nets claim, that Lopez is worthless on the defense end due to his lack of rebounding, strength and defensive IQ. During the off-season and the preseason, two of the three prayers appear to have been answered, as Lopez certainly appears stronger than he ever was before and his preseason rebounding numbers show great promise. In the five preseason games that he played, he averaged 10 rebounds per game per 36 minutes, which decreased immensely after one game of merely one rebound in 23 minutes. However, the promise and potential was shown this season and last preseason, which bodes good news for Nets fans who had hoped to see Lopez return to his rebounding form from his rookie and sophomore years, and possibly surpass that.

As for his lack of defensive IQ, that will be on Lopez to work and Coach Avery Johnson to help build. Lopez's lack of athleticism certainly does not help his cause, but there have been other centers who provide positive impacts on the defensive end, such as Tim Duncan. What makes him an elite defender is his incredible court vision for a center as well as his defensive basketball IQ. He knows when to make the switches, how to defend the pick and roll properly and just all the small things that combined form a defensive presence in the post. Brook Lopez to get rid of his "soft" label needs to rebound (which possibly could be solved this season) and has to learn to play defense. With only Kris Humphries at his side, the front-court lacks of a defensive anchor. Both have provided their spectacular moments, and Lopez himself has averaged around two blocks a game. But for the Nets to make a playoff run, Lopez needs to step up and become that defensive anchor like Tyson Chandler, Andrew Bynum, Tim Duncan or Dwight Howard is for their respective teams. Notice that three of the four players mentioned have characteristics of being a fierce player, one that causes intimidation mainly due to their emotions shown on the court. The one player that Lopez has to resemble defensively is Duncan. If anything, defense is the flaw that separates Lopez from being nationally recognized as a top center.

Yet, what allows him to even be in the conversation is his offensive prowess. He has managed to combine a post game with an insane shooting touch aligned with one of the softest touches a big man has in the league today. Even Shaq, although probably out of jealousy or dislike for Howard, claimed Lopez as the best center in the league. Now, clearly Dwight Howard is, when healthy, by far the best due to his strength and athleticism, but there is one thing that Shaq said that was true.

"...being an old-school center, I’m going to go with because they play with their back to the basket.”

“Listen to what I’m saying,” O’Neal said. “I’m not talking about dunking — I’m talking about playing like a big man with the moves. My man, before he had the foot injury, was putting up nice, solid big-man numbers.”

via NY Times

While Lopez certainly seem to use his jumper at a rate more suited for a stretch four rather than a center, Brook Lopez has an arsenal of post moves that very few centers can match. Skipping over that for a moment, another one of Lopez's advantages over other centers is his free throw percentage, which generally hovers in the very high seventies. After being double teamed for most of his career, Lopez learned when the draw the foul, and how to. But not only that, he's managed to draw the foul while converting the and-1 on some shots that would difficult for even the most agile centers.

Aside from his prominent free throw shot capabilities, Lopez has made it a nightmare for opposing coaches to create defensive schemes to stop him. He can hit the jumper from anywhere within the arc, and as mentioned previously can use an array of post moves to get himself a bucket. One topic that seems to have been forgotten due to last year's fiasco is that Lopez worked with Hakeem Olajuwuan in the summer of 2011, the season before he got injured. Is there really much more to say about this? Here is an already offensively gifted center who learned even more moves with one of the greatest centers in the history of the NBA and learned how to use them effectively. After already showing authority over opposing players on one-on-one match ups, this could end up becoming more than just a nightmare for the opposition.

With the additions of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson as well as bench players who can stretch the floor, Lopez will likely see a tremendous decrease in double-teaming this next season. That is, if he increases his passing abilities. Another aspect of Lopez's game that tends to be criticized is his inability to pass out of the double team. That and defense will be the two most important aspects of his game that should be watched this season. With so many shooters ready to shoot, Lopez has to be able to find them and get them the ball when double teamed, or the presence of the other shooters will be minimized. If Lopez can do so, his impact on the team's offensive success will multiply significantly. If not, teams with great coaches will find ways to get Lopez double-teamed once again.

How far this Brooklyn Nets team goes depends immensely on how Lopez plays and develops this season. It will be the first time since his rookie season that he's been on an NBA team with playoff implications.  Lopez will be asked to play a slightly smaller offensive role but will be asked to step it up defensively. At only 24 years old (!!) Lopez has tons of room to improve on both ends of the floor. With the additions of several veterans and a season where trade talks will not besiege him continuously there is lots of potential that can be untapped this season for the budding center. The offense must continue, and there is nothing to say it won't, the rebounding must improve, his preseason seems to show there is life in that hope, and his awareness needs to increase, both offensively and defensively. Just like in previous years, Lopez will likely once again score at around 20 points but an increased efficiency. His rebounding numbers should shoot back to around the upper 8 and lower 9 rebounds per game area but the future of his defensive and offensive awareness is yet to be seen. The hopes that Lopez can once again be a formidable player in this league needs rekindling, and there's no better place to start that up again than in Brooklyn.

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