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Oct. 10 , 2008
Lopez Blog
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Hey Nets fans, it’s Brook Lopez checking in from London. We got here by train earlier today after playing our first game last night. That was pretty exciting. It was kind of surreal for me at the beginning of the game, because we’ve been watching these games our whole lives, watching these NBA games, and to see these guys and teams up close, it’s completely different.
I thought Ryan Anderson did pretty well as a starter. He did a lot of things he did well in college and has been doing well in practice: rebounded the ball well, got offensive rebounds, got putbacks, shot the ball really well, attacked the rack and played defense. He had a really good all-around game. Before the game, along with the Heat, we did an NBA Cares event with the Special Olympics. It was so interesting. I did a Special Olympics event at the Draft, actually, and it was real interesting just kind of comparing the two, How you kind of go in thinking it would be difficult because of the language barrier, but really it’s not that much of a problem, because these kids really want to come in and play basketball. You don’t even need to speak to do that, you can figure out what they want to do, what they’re trying to do, by their actions. I really enjoy the social events. I like to hang out with the kids. Overall, I definitely feel like we’re bonding as a team. It happens even at the high school and college levels, when you go on road trips and stuff like that; we went to Italy with Stanford last year. It’s a great time to bond because you’re around these guys all the time. You really get to know the guys, and really just pick at them. You learn cool things about them, and our relationship goes to a whole new level. When we got here, the league told us, “First, enjoy yourself.” And that we’re trying to really globalize the game, and let another audience experience an NBA game and appreciate one. TOURING PARIS Usually when I get to a city I’ve never been to, whoever I’m with, I just like to wander the streets as much as possible, get to see the real city, stopping in corner bookshops and stuff like that, checking everything out. I ended up down on the main boulevard from the Arc d’Triomphe. They were having this aviation exhibit, the Centenary of the French Aerospace Industry outside, down the street on Champs Boulevard or whatever. I don’t speak French that well, so … it’s interesting to see stuff like that. Then, I went further down there and I saw a really nice garden and I just really got lost there. I have a friend out here that I hung out with today. She’s from France, from Paris. We actually met in the states. She was doing a college year overseas, so I got to know her pretty well. But usually I like to go hang out with Ryan. I’ve made pretty good friends with him, so we like to go and hang out together. The Eiffel Tower was really cool. We didn’t get to go up this time, but I had actually been up one time before. I came with the U.S. Select Team two years prior to this, the summer before my senior year of high school, and I got to go up then. It was really cool, an amazing sight. I was glad to be able to come back and see it. I did get to go inside the Arc d’Triomphe, and that’s another amazing thing too. That was the second time I did that. I’m a really big France football fan, so I’ve kind of got a soft spot in my heart for France. I’m not going to get to see a game because we’re leaving tomorrow morning. I wish I could. I really wish. But I got some cool jerseys, though. I have one France scarf, but I didn’t even buy it here. I bought a Zinedine Zidane jersey, a Thierry Henry jersey, a Franck Ribery jersey and a Patrick Vieira jersey. ON TO LONDON I’ve never been to London before. My older brother Chris is a big Man U fan, so I want to check out some of that stuff, maybe get a few souvenirs for him or something like that. I’d love to see some Shakespeare-related stuff. I don’t know with the schedule, but I’d love to do that. I like a lot of his plays: The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, obviously stuff like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, too. That’s it for now, but I’ll check in again before we leave. Au revoir to the French fans – thanks for coming out to see us play! |
