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I love Brook Lopez's game. He's really turning into a fine player.
Since the Nets are jettisioning players, I wonder if they want to part with him? I didn't think so.
Some pretty mature comments from the rookie, all but taking the blame for the loss. He definitely looked like a beast to start the game, and I think he'll have a bright career ahead of him.Brook Lopez learns lessons against idol Tim Duncan in NJ Nets' 97-85 loss to San Antonio Spurs
By Dave D'Alessandro/The Star-Ledger
http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/201...nch_sends.html
SAN ANTONIO – It was not so much a game as it was another series of lessons. And the curriculum covered a wide spectrum of topics – namely, composure, staying in character, and franchise-anchoring, as taught by his touchstone.
They are lessons that the Nets hope Brook Lopez never forgets.
For 24 minutes Sunday night, the Nets’ young center was probably the best player on the floor, rolling up 14 points and seven boards and blocking two shots against Tim Duncan, while putting his overmatched team in position to grab the lead in the opening minutes of the third period.
Then, in what could have been overexuberance, hubris, or nerves – take your pick – Lopez forgot what made him so effective in the first place.
As a result, with their second unit rolling up 58 points, the San Antonio Spurs dismissed the Nets with great ease, 97-85, at AT&T Center.
And now Lopez has six weeks to think about how he’ll approach this matchup with his idol differently.
“He’s definitely one of the best to ever play, so it’s definitely a tough matchup for me,” Lopez said after putting up a good line (28 points, 11 boards, three blocks) in 42 minutes. “It’s a very cerebral battle, there’s so many things he can do. You just have to be patient, because that’s what he’s doing on the block– he’s being patient, reading everything, and making the best read off of it.”
Patience is precisely what Lopez didn’t show in that fateful third period.
Even with Yi Jianlian and Keyon Dooling shooting a combined 3-for-14 – the latter started in place of the injured Devin Harris – the Nets were within two at the break, and they immediately scored on their first two possessions of the second half to earn a 52-49 lead.
At that point, the team was starting to believe – especially in its big man.
That’s where Lopez’s freedom to operate in the paint shrank a bit, and the rest of his game quickly followed.
“I think I just forced it a bit too much,” he said. “We were playing great team ball in the first half, we got away (from it) in the second half. I myself forced it a bit, and I think a few other guys forced it a bit, and it killed our flow. I was definitely a culprit, and it hurt us."
Of course, he wasn’t the only one to disappear: Chris Douglas Roberts was 6-for-11 one play into the third quarter, but 0-for-3 over his last 20 minutes on the floor. And Yi couldn’t buy a bucket all night, going 4-for-17.
But Lopez was the most glaring transgressor.
After Duncan (14 points, 17 boards in 27 minutes) hit a left-box turnaround on him, Lopez came up empty the first two times he touched the ball -- getting his dribble poked out by Richard Jefferson’s dig on his first postup, then getting stripped by Keith Bogans on a drive.
The Spurs cashed in both times, with Tony Parker hitting a pick-and-roll jumper from the elbow, then two foul shots on the next trip.
Along the way, Lopez slipped out of character. He tried a right-shoulder turnaround bank shot from the left box – he almost always goes with his righty hook from there – and it clanked. He flubbed another hook shot. He also attempted a cross-the-lane left-handed runner against Antonio McDyess that isn’t exactly the best part of his repertoire.
The point guard took partial blame: “We’ve got to do a better job of getting him the ball in better places, though,” Dooling said of Lopez.
These were the plays that sprang the Spurs on a 23-6 run that essentially put the Nets to sleep, as their bench – especially Manu Ginobili (21 points) and Ian Mahinmi (15 points, nine boards), playing in his first game since November of 2007 – stretched the lead to 18 by the early fourth.
Just the same, the Nets will call it a success – if only because their young franchise center learned another lesson.
“Brook is great,” Douglas-Roberts said. “What makes Brook really good is he’s so young and he doesn’t know how good he’s going to be. He thinks he’s not patient, but he’s really patient. He’s a willing passer. That is going to make him a great five-man in this league for years to come.”
I love Brook Lopez's game. He's really turning into a fine player.
Since the Nets are jettisioning players, I wonder if they want to part with him? I didn't think so.
Brook Lopez for Ian Mahinmi and Tiago Splitter...
Would you do it?
Oooh. You drive a hard bargain. Throw in CDR and I might.
Of course, I don't know if the money lines up.
I do know that Finley+Ian = Rudy Gay. I ran that through the trade machine and it worked.
Splitter isn't here and I've not seen him play, but I can't imagine him putting up a line like that in his first game. He's not as athletic as Ian, so I really don't see him getting a big block on one end, then running the floor for a two-handed dunk on the other.
Seriously, I don't get rid of Ian for any reason.
Imagine the lessons he could learn playing on the same team as Duncan.
Id throw in George Hill if we had to..
i'd even add in dejuan blair and a first round pick. lopez is going to be tim duncan lite.
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