September 30, 2009

Lopez Locked In

The answers were terse. Nets center Brook Lopez is ready to serve as a hub, thinks the team is communicating better and knows that the bigs will have to support the guards with stiff interior defense. The big kid is focused on basketball, and it's understandable.

After averaging 13.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.84 blocks as a rookie, the Vince Carter trade opened both scoring and leadership gaps, and with Devin Harris established as option No. 1, the easiest place for an eye to fall is on a 7-foot center who can play the post and also pick-and-roll effectively. That's a fair amount of pressure for a 21-year-old who can get down on himself for not living up to his own exacting standards. And yet, perhaps it's time.

"I think so," Harris said. "It’s the next progression for him. With younger players, you give them more and more responsibilities as the years go. With Vince leaving, there’s a void there – that he has to fill for us. There’s no time like the present for him. The more repetition he gets at it, the better he’ll be."

Harris acknowledged that Lopez often made good reads setting up teammates out of the post last season, but the Nets need more: need him to command the paint, to dominate. Be not selfish, but aggressive and ready to take advantage of all 260 pounds.

That elides his defensive responsibilities, which this year – for all the bigs – means "calling the commands early and often," if you ask the coach. This vital role falls under improving communication, and after hearing healthy on-court chatter, Lopez feels encouraged about the early returns.

"I think we’ve made a lot of progress just because we’ve been talking a lot the first few days," he said. "We’ve been harping a lot on talking, and it's so much easier when you know what’s going on."

Nasty boys Becoming Made Men
The wings are unquestionably crowded, and the battles for playing time are already fierce, notably between second-year swingmen Chris Douglas-Roberts and Courtney Lee.

"It’s nasty," Harris said. "Just nasty. From watching, two guys I can point out are Courtney and CDR. That’s going to be a battle all year long. Those guys are really competitive, they do a lot of different things on the court. Obviously, Terrence (Williams) has got a bit of a bulldog in him, too, but that matchup right there ... you can see it from playing in pickup. It’s just going to be nasty. That’s good for the competition and guys pushing each other."

NBA Initiations: C-Lee & Caron
Coach Frank might have lost his voice by the end of training camp's second day, but his sense of humor was still intact, giving me a hard time at the end of his media session for asking a question that covered ground he'd been over in detail (co-opting my recorder and asking "Is this thing on?") Luckily, I was in the clear due to a late arrival following an interview with Courtney Lee for the upcoming Quarterly magazine.

Normally relatively reserved, Lee opened up a bit and offered some interesting answers while looking back on last season, and also his future with the Nets. Stay tuned for more ...

Okay, one spoiler: After holding Caron Butler scoreless (0-5 FGs) in the first half of the Magic's January 6th game against the Wizards, Lee – starting for the first time – knew he was in trouble. "When he walked out, Caron looked at me and was like, 'Yeah. It's go time.' I said, "Okay." I was just going to approach it the same way I did in the first half: 'He had zero, so I'm not worried about him.'

"That second half, he scored 29 points, ha. That's what I remember most about that start."