Name: Brook Lopez
Position: C
Height: 7’0″
Weight: 260 lbs.
Birth Date: April 1, 1988 (age 21)
Birth Place: North Hollywood, California
Number: 11
Drafted: 10th pick of the first round in 2008 by the New Jersey Nets
Experience: 1 year
Contract: 2.25 Million
On offense:
Brook is one of the few young back-to-the basket centers left in the NBA. After an effective rookie season, one in which he finished 3rd in ROY voting, Brook is looking to come back even stronger this year. Lopez showed a nice back to the basket game, and he also showed a nice touch on his shot:
As you can see, he shot 61% from inside the paint, but what really impressed me was the one hotspot from the wing inside the three point line. This is usually where he sets his picks in the offense, and while he only took 30 shots from there, he did hit 15, and to me that is enough to show he can do it, forcing teams to watch out for not only the pick and roll, but the pick and pop. Speaking of the pick and roll, Brook’s big body combined with Devin’s speed makes them the perfect combo for the pick and roll. With Vince Carter gone, this could be utilized more often.
Brook Lopez is a terrific free-throw shooter for a big man, as he shot 79.3% from the free throw line. The only problem though is he doesn’t get there nearly enough. He rated 55th among the league’s 67 centers in free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
The biggest question mark concerning Brook Lopez and his offense is whether or not he can keep up with the teams run and gun style this year. If the first preseason game was any indication, this isn’t going to be a problem. Two or three times, Brook was able to beat David Lee down the court and that resulted in a few easy buckets. Getting easy buckets like this can help turn him from a 13 PPG player to a 18-20 PPG player.
On defense:
On the defensive end Brook Lopez doesn’t have any Sean Williams type blocks, but with his big frame and his timing ability, Brook was able to block a solid number of shots last year, rejecting 2.4 per 40 minutes. The mental side of the game also kept Brook on the court as long as possible, rarely did he pick up any stupid fouls, as his foul rate of 4.11 per 40 minutes was among the lowest at his position.
Miscellaneous:
Brook Lopez still is not on Twitter…
Comment:
A couple of days ago, reports came out that Tony Battie said that he thinks Brook Lopez can dominate the league like Dwight Howard. If that isn’t a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is. While the two big men’s games are different, Tony Battie has been around both of them, and Brook must be really impressing him.
In the end, I think that Brook will have a pretty successful season. I don’t know about 20/10 (yet), but I can see something like 16/9 this year and he should be averaging a double-double in the next couple of years.
More on Brook:
NetsAreScorching
