After his record-tying performance from beyond the arc last night, Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Johnson shrugged off the idea that the Nets would remain exclusively a three-point team when Brook Lopez returned to the floor.
“Nah, I think everybody knows who we’re playing through, and that’s the big fella when he comes back,” Johnson espoused after the game. “We’ll throw it down (to Lopez in the post), and if he kicks it out, we’ll try to continue to make threes.”
But according to a little nugget from Nets general manager Billy King, it may actually go in reverse — with Johnson, a talented post player in his own right, kicking out to Lopez.
From a bullet point, lodged deep in his weekly article for Grantland by Zach Lowe:
King … says we might see Brook Lopez start taking 3s at some point. Lopez regularly drills corner 3s during pregame warm-ups.
via Grantland — The reliance on the 3-pointer and whether or not it’s hurting the NBA
Lopez is a talented midrange shooter, but rarely stretches beyond the arc: he’s shot just eight three-point attempts in his five-year career, making one, a turnaround prayer in Game 4 of last year’s NBA playoffs.
Lowe is correct that Lopez routinely hits three-pointers in practice and warm-ups, and even has a practice three-point competition with the other big men on the team. Could it work? I guess we’ll find out.
