Brook Lopez made the media rounds a day after booking it before they could grab him following the Thunder loss, and needed only a single sentence to sum up the frustrations that inspired the early exit:
"I expect a lot more of myself," said Lopez on Tuesday at the PNY Center. "That’s pretty much it.
"I hold myself to high standards and I didn’t meet them and then obviously the loss (factored in), too," Lopez continued. "Then after the game I felt I didn’t hold myself right, I didn’t act right. It was just a lot of stuff altogether."
Struggles have been rare for the center this season: Lopez has not only produced a 19-9-2 nightly line, but also has been one of only four Nets to avoid injury thus far. But for perhaps the first time in two months, Lopez hasn't played up to par for more than a single game or half. During the last three games, he has turned in only one above-average half, posting 13 points, six rebounds and a steal in the first 24 minutes vs. Houston on Saturday.
As anyone with an eye on the games can tell you, defenses have begun to take Lopez seriously as a scoring threat, doubling and trapping him in the post. As they attempt to turn Lopez into a passer or bystander, his reactions have been lacking, and he'll be the first to admit it. The 21-year-old needs to make quicker decisions and keep his head better in the face of adversity; he's been working with coach and GM Kiki Vandeweghe on channeling his frustrations onto the court instead of allowing the emotion to overcome him.
Point guard Devin Harris would say this is when Lopez has to begin "adjusting to the adjustments," something Harris struggled with at times during last season's All-Star campaign. Even now – without Vince Carter as an outlet – Harris has been navigating the amount of attention paid his way, only recently showing flashes of the dominance we witnessed a season ago. Monday, that meant managing the game well enough to chalk up a game-high 11 assists while feeding the hot hands of Yi Jianlian (29 points, 11/20 FGs) and Courtney Lee (17 points, 7/13 FGs).
To Lopez's credit, he recognized that the offense doesn't need to be altered – there's a reason his numbers are what they are. And his 7-foot sense of humor remained razor-sharp: as a reporter began to ask, "How much of the frustration comes from all the losing?" Lopez cut him off, excitedly substituting, "... questions from reporters?" and drawing a round of laughter. But he got serious for a second afterward.
"It definitely mounts," he acknowledged. "You’ve just got to try to put it behind you and start with a clean slate."
The session broke up, and Lopez made it about four (massive) steps before cracking wise. He turned back toward the reporters with a goofy smile and taunted, "See if you can catch me after tomorrow's game!" before disappearing to change. The kid's got nothing if he ain't got jokes.
Trenton Tennessee Takes Shots
Despite the losses and accordingly somber postgame locker rooms, the Nets routinely return ready to practice and play the next one, and their affable personalities make for a loose environment that's perhaps surprisingly upbeat to someone who isn't often around the team. Pregame, conversation will crossfire from locker to locker, from college sports to NBA news to cracks about clothes (e.g. Courtney Lee's confidence in his ability to pull off an outfit is cause for many a quip).
Monday night, Trenton Hassell was catching a bad one from Chris Douglas-Roberts and Jarvis Hayes, who double-teamed the veteran forward with impassioned pleas for aggressiveness on offense. Hassell – a known shooting-contest shark – is often among the second team's top scorers during practice scrimmages and will be quick to remind you that although he's made his NBA mark on defense, he was a scorer throughout his three years at Austin Peay, dropping 21.7 PPG as a senior.
But before the Thunder game, Hassell was attempting to defer, citing his role as complementary piece now that the team's scorers had become healthy. CD-R and Hayes were having none of it, with amazement ringing out in a cacophonous clash of Southern baritone and nasal Detroit dialect.
"They try to make me stay aggressive," Hassell said. "I’m aggressive in practice, and sometimes I have a habit of waiting around for the game to come to me. They know I can play a little bit of offense, and it’s just a way to get me focused on being aggressive.
"I don’t need to shoot to be aggressive, but I just can’t be there stationary, so they do that sometimes."
For all the fuss, the prodding apparently poked Hassell in the right direction – the first time he touched the ball against Oklahoma City, Hassell shot off the catch for a swish from 20 feet away. He finished the first quarter with five points, also nailing a pullup jumper and 1-of-2 free throws, on his way to a 14-point, 3-rebound, 5-assist, 2-steal performance.
Several times, Hassell made spinning drives to the hoop that forced the defense to react, whether that resulted in a layup "and-one" or easy buckets for cutting teammates. The eight shots Hassell hoisted (making six) marked his most attempts in nearly a month, dating to a 4-for-10 night against the Kings on November 27th.
Hassell, who scored in double-digits for the first time in eight games, acknowledged that he heard some comments from the peanut gallery after wetting that first jumper.
"You’ve got to understand how Trent comes in here," Douglas-Roberts said. "He can play. He can really play. So that’s just us wanting to encourage him. It’s our way of encouraging him – that’s all it is."
Cross-River Rivals
The Knicks will travel across the river tomorrow to take on the Nets at the IZOD Center (7:30pm, Buy Tickets), having lost two in a row heading into tonight's game against the Pistons. Prior to the recent mini-slide, the Knicks had won 8 of 11 games, placing them squarely in playoff contention
"I think (Coach Mike) D’Antoni really has them playing hard," Vandeweghe said. "They’ve embraced the system. Any system takes a while to get, but they’ve embraced it, they understand their roles and they’ve tasted a little bit of success with that."
An Update on Dual Duties
For all the focus on coaching, Vandeweghe does attempt to remain diligent about his GM responsibilities:
"My primary focus is now on the court," Vandeweghe explained. "I do try and, on a regular basis, keep in touch with teams and try to see if we can improve our team. If we can improve it without impacting next year, you always try to do that. If we can add assets going forward, that’s important. We aren’t looking to bring in veterans to take time from young players. That’s one way we’re not looking. Bringing in someone to take Brook’s minutes, for example, or Devin’s minutes or Yi’s minutes or Courtney’s minutes, we’re not looking to do that. If we can augment, we’ll augment."
