Official Brook Lopez Thread

[MGrand15]

Well, here are some team stats from Brook's last full year. I don't think they would look like this if Lopez was truly the worst defensive starting center, a major liability on the boards, and as soft as it gets inside.

DEF RTG: 17th out of 30. Slightly below average. Impressive considering we were playing Gerald Wallace's corpse, Reggie Evans, Kris Humphries, Andray Blatche, Jerry Stackhouse, Joe Johnson at 2, Deron Williams (who you have called the worst defensive PG in the league). If the anchor of the defense was really that bad, I think we'd be worse than slightly below average.

Defensive Rebound %: 12th out of 30. If Brook was a liability and still playing 30+ mpg, we'd be getting crushed on the boards. Instead we were above average.

Offensive Rebound %: 3rd out of 30. ELITE offensive rebounding team. Sure, Reggie did great work inside but he doesn't make a team top 3 on his own.

FT Rate: 7th out of 30. Top tier. For a guy that's as SOFT as it gets, he sure drew contact a lot. He led the team in FT attempts despite playing only 30 minutes.

Lopez shoots 70% at the rim. His % of FGA at the rim are basically normal for all big men with post up games that can also shoot from the outside. If he settled for post position 20 feet out, he wouldn't be the most efficient post scorer in the league.

I'm also pretty sure you don't know the definition of effort if you think Lopez is inconsistent with it.

[vincecarter4pres]

Meh, the Hollins and Lopez "tough love" stuff is a little overstated. Avery was the same way with Brook. Realistically, his rebounding issues are overblown. Hollins is familiar with centers that box out but don't grab too many rebounds (Marc Gasol is the same way). I wonder how tough he was on Marc.

Avery wasnt tough on brook at all. he completely babied him. brook hasnthad tough love or been held accountable yet in his career. we have yet to see him ever yanked from a game or benched for soft play. His rebounding issues are real, and an enormous liability... as is his defense

If anything, I'm more excited that Hollins has experience with a scheme that fits a giant like Marc or Brook. Avery had Brook blitzing PnRs. Kidd was uncomfortable with how far back Frank wanted our guys on the PnR. I think the schemes and Brook's lost weight will be much more important than any tough love Hollins will be giving. I don't think Lopez has trouble with PnRs because he isn't tough.

Gasol is nothing like lopez defensively. gasol was a smart player who while not mobile knew where to be and did a decent job getting their. lopez is the worst defensive starting center in the league, with major athleticism and bbiq issues.

Only thing Hollins and his toughness can help with is those rare times where Brook would get flustered because of lack of foul calls and lose focus.

its more then that. he allows guys to push him around. he settles for post position 18-20 feet out and wont fight for more. he is as soft as it gets inside. and he is the most inconsistent guy on the team effort wise

Gasol somehow improved his foot speed to where he was one of the most mobile bigs, especially at center and of his size in the league. He was always pretty quick, but he is not the plodder Brook is. It's not just that he's smart, he is just very mobile. How that keeps up the next few years and beyond with his advancing age and basketball mileage combined with his girth is yet to be seen though.

I've also never found Brook to be soft in the sense of contact or getting pushed around. He gets pushed around because they allow him to post out so far instead of hammering into his head to turn and face when he gets the ball that far out. He gets pushed around because he was literally physically weak, or once strong didn't know how to use his strength or position himself.

Where he is mentally weak and soft, is he allows guys and more so himself to get in his own head. Not in an intimidation manner, but he's like the bipolar kid that flips out on himself because he can't understand something in math class and starts spazzing all emotional and convincing himself he sucks at math and can never figure it out even though he's a math ace, even if just for a couple hours.


As for Avery, he was certainly tough on Brook and PJ Carelessimo was definitely tough on him and definitely benched him, even when he was having a good game just out of precaution and that worked like ****.

[jbeachboy]

Hollins might be only coach to teach him how to rebound, defend and pass

[halfHAVOC]

Brook will definitely improve this year under Hollins...it's just gonna come down to his health.

[Prokorov]

Hollins might be only coach to teach him how to rebound, defend and pass

I really hope this is the case, becasue if it isnt, then you kind of have to lose hope that lopez will ever rebound or defend or play tough.

[Keith Van Horn]

If Lopez put up 15-20 ppg and 9-10 rpg and is able to play in 65+ games you gotta be happy. And if the frontcourt pairing with Garnett helps the overall defense and draws double teams away from Brook, then it's a success. Let's just hope all this "Hollins is a big man's coach" hype is real.

[Prokorov]

If Lopez put up 15-20 ppg and 9-10 rpg and is able to play in 65+ games you gotta be happy. And if the frontcourt pairing with Garnett helps the overall defense and draws double teams away from Brook, then it's a success. Let's just hope all this "Hollins is a big man's coach" hype is real.

For me it doesnt matter if lopez is 20/10 or 14/8. what matters to me is the impact of his numbers. is he getting those points in isolation eating big chunks of the clock or is he getting it in the flow of the offense? ill take 14 ppg from him where he isnt dribbling/taking 10-12 seconds off the clock over 20 points where he is. for rebounds i want him going hard after them. and i want him to own them on the defensive end.

As far as garnett, i dont think he can take pressure off brook defensively. its just not the way it works. if you have to help your center on defense, you are in trouble cause it just opens up too many holes elsewhere. plus its more team defense now, where its not like you just can have weakside help. not to mention, garnett is the one who may need help gaurding PFs. last year i just thought that pairing was awful. i think our defense is actually better with mirza/brook then it is KG/brook.

And we saw last year, KG isnt preventing anyone from double teaming lopez. teams are glad to let KG take the worst shot in basketball and close out late on it. especially if its coming early in the shot clock. I'd love to see garnett play around the rim more, and really make people pay for doubling lopez. i want to see KG setting screens for lopez, and helping him on offense that way

[MrDollarBills]

Hollins wants to use Lopez in the pick and roll and for him to be prepared to move the ball.

Sounds good to me. Brook is deadly rolling to the rim and he can also take the short J. I'm fine with either look.

[MGrand15]

I wasn't a big believer in KG/Lopez playing together but after looking at Brook's stats last year - I think the sample size was too small to figure anything out. The numbers make no sense. Basically for the 1st half of Brook's season, the team could not score to save its life. The defense was actually pretty good. For the 2nd half of Brook's season, the offense turns WAY up. But the defense slips to below average/pretty bad. Either way, whether the offense was terrible or great, the teams record was about the same.

[Paradise]

Hollins might be only coach to teach him how to rebound, defend and pass

I really hope this is the case, becasue if it isnt, then you kind of have to lose hope that lopez will ever rebound or defendor play tough.

Can we finally end this?

While he held opponents to just 39.5 percent shooting at the rim and was a strong post defender (1.8 blocks per game), Lopez struggled against the pick-and-roll. According to Synergy, he allowed opposing bigs to amass 0.926 points per play in pick-and-rolls, which put him in the 23rd percentile, or below average.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blog ... ty=newyork

[MrDollarBills]

I wasn't a big believer in KG/Lopez playing together but after looking at Brook's stats last year - I think the sample size was too small to figure anything out. The numbers make no sense. Basically for the 1st half of Brook's season, the team could not score to save its life. The defense was actually pretty good. For the 2nd half of Brook's season, the offense turns WAY up. But the defense slips to below average/pretty bad. Either way, whether the offense was terrible or great, the teams record was about the same.

It's not Brook, I just thought that KG sucks at PF at this stage of his career.

[MGrand15]

I wasn't a big believer in KG/Lopez playing together but after looking at Brook's stats last year - I think the sample size was too small to figure anything out. The numbers make no sense. Basically for the 1st half of Brook's season, the team could not score to save its life. The defense was actually pretty good. For the 2nd half of Brook's season, the offense turns WAY up. But the defense slips to below average/pretty bad. Either way, whether the offense was terrible or great, the teams record was about the same.

It's not Brook, I just thought that KG sucks at PF at this stage of his career.

IDK. I kinda thought so too. But when they were paired together, the numbers say they were okay actually. More problems offensively than defensively. Makes me wonder if KG's issues were magnified by Kidd/Frank's lack of cohesion, our poor perimeter play (DWill was out/hobbled, Pierce was still playing SF, Tyshawn Taylor played, Teletovic was playing SF), Kidd's lack of experience, and most importantly, KG not being able to hit a jump shot to save his life and coming into the season out of shape. I'd strongly prefer him at C but I'm willing to give him a chance at PF after what I saw 2nd half of last year.

[Prokorov]

Hollins wants to use Lopez in the pick and roll and for him to be prepared to move the ball.

Sounds good to me. Brook is deadly rolling to the rim and he can also take the short J. I'm fine with either look.

Lopez actually has been pretty underwhelming in the pick and roll. coming off cross screens off the ball he does a TON of damage. id love to see him do alot more of that

[Prokorov]

Hollins might be only coach to teach him how to rebound, defend and pass

I really hope this is the case, becasue if it isnt, then you kind of have to lose hope that lopez will ever rebound or defendor play tough.

Can we finally end this?

While he held opponents to just 39.5 percent shooting at the rim and was a strong post defender (1.8 blocks per game), Lopez struggled against the pick-and-roll. According to Synergy, he allowed opposing bigs to amass 0.926 points per play in pick-and-rolls, which put him in the 23rd percentile, or below average.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blog ... ty=newyork

end what? you just refuted my point about lopez being a poor defender by posting an article that says he is bad post defender.

also, FG% at the rim is one of the worst stats for evaluating rim protection. if you are constantly allowing shots at the rim, then the FG% becomes kind of moot. the idea of rim protection is not to let guys get to the rim. second chance points also make FG% at the rim irrelevant. PPP and FG at the rim are more telling.

[Prokorov]

I wasn't a big believer in KG/Lopez playing together but after looking at Brook's stats last year - I think the sample size was too small to figure anything out. The numbers make no sense. Basically for the 1st half of Brook's season, the team could not score to save its life. The defense was actually pretty good. For the 2nd half of Brook's season, the offense turns WAY up. But the defense slips to below average/pretty bad. Either way, whether the offense was terrible or great, the teams record was about the same.

It's not Brook, I just thought that KG sucks at PF at this stage of his career.

id agree with this. I can live with brook at center. at least he brings some offense. KG at PF brings nothing.

[Prokorov]

I wasn't a big believer in KG/Lopez playing together but after looking at Brook's stats last year - I think the sample size was too small to figure anything out. The numbers make no sense. Basically for the 1st half of Brook's season, the team could not score to save its life. The defense was actually pretty good. For the 2nd half of Brook's season, the offense turns WAY up. But the defense slips to below average/pretty bad. Either way, whether the offense was terrible or great, the teams record was about the same.

It's not Brook, I just thought that KG sucks at PF at this stage of his career.

IDK. I kinda thought so too. But when they were paired together, the numbers say they were okay actually. More problems offensively than defensively. Makes me wonder if KG's issues were magnified by Kidd/Frank's lack of cohesion, our poor perimeter play (DWill was out/hobbled, Pierce was still playing SF, Tyshawn Taylor played, Teletovic was playing SF), Kidd's lack of experience, and most importantly, KG not being able to hit a jump shot to save his life and coming into the season out of shape. I'd strongly prefer him at C but I'm willing to give him a chance at PF after what I saw 2nd half of last year.

I think KG not being able to finsih is a bigger issue then him not being able to hit a jump shot. an 18 foot jumper is your last resort on offense. if he is shooting it at 40% instead of 45% thats not a huge deal since we want other guys taking other shots ideally.

him not being able to finish at the rim is a bigger issue. you can really leave him anytime he drops below the FT line and look to help elsewhere. And if you watch the film from last season, whether he was at PF or C guys werent closing out on him on those jumpers... even later in the year once they started falling. so it wasnt creating space, and allowing a long 2 doesnt kill a defense, cause even the best guys arent hitting more then 45-48% of them

[CalamityX12]

KG not hitting those routine jumpshots from the elbow really hurt us last season... if any the reports are somewhat true about him being better, then if that shot returns, it would work out offensively....

Brook does need to concentrate attacking inside though and get those easy buckets of his as well as draw as many fouls as possible... no more of this I'm 7 ft but i'm going to stand here nonsense lol...

[Prokorov]

KG not hitting those routine jumpshots from the elbow really hurt us last season... if any the reports are somewhat true about him being better, then if that shot returns, it would work out offensively....

Brook does need to concentrate attacking inside though and get those easy buckets of his as well as draw as many fouls as possible... no more of this I'm 7 ft but i'm going to stand here nonsense lol...

I dont think KG missing those shots hurt us. i think him taking those shots hurt us. If KG is taking 18 footers, it means that possesion didnt go very well. taking a long 2 is the second worst outcome to a dead ball turnover and liveball turnover.

even at 44-46%, teams arent going to close out hard, or stick tight on KG. they will be happy to live with that shot. it doesnt really provide any spacing and his inability to finish at the rim really doesnt force teams to play him tight regardless of where he is on the floor.

[Paradise]

I really hope this is the case, becasue if it isnt, then you kind of have to lose hope that lopez will ever rebound or defendor play tough.

Can we finally end this?

While he held opponents to just 39.5 percent shooting at the rim and was a strong post defender (1.8 blocks per game), Lopez struggled against the pick-and-roll. According to Synergy, he allowed opposing bigs to amass 0.926 points per play in pick-and-rolls, which put him in the 23rd percentile, or below average.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blog ... ty=newyork

end what? you just refuted my point about lopez being a poor defender by posting an article that says he is bad post defender.

What are you reading? The article clearly states he is a strong post defender and his pick and roll defense is below average.

also, FG% at the rim is one of the worst stats for evaluating rim protection. if you are constantly allowing shots at the rim, then the FG% becomes kind of moot. the idea of rim protection is not to let guys get to the rim. second chance points also make FG% at the rim irrelevant. PPP and FG at the rim are more telling.

And I've already posted BOTH stats and you still find ways to run away from it. The reality is Lopez is not a poor defender and not the worst defensive center in the league, contrary to your statements.

[Prokorov]

What are you reading? The article clearly states he is a strong post defender and his pick and roll defense is below average.

exactly... below average = poor in my back. either way, using an article that says someone is below average to refute someone who says a player isnt a good defender really isnt great evidence.

Post defense? how many postup bigs are there in the league or offensive centers in the league? that is pretty irrelevant. bargani i believe graded out as an elite post defender the last couple years as well. team defense is really what the league is about these days. brook is bad/poor/below average or what ever adjective you want to use for "not good"

And I've already posted BOTH stats and you still find ways to run away from it. The reality is Lopez is not a poor defender and not the worst defensive center in the league, contrary to your statements.

worst defensie center in the league. no. worst starting defensive center in the league? maybe not, but he is in that group right at the bottom. post articles showing how he is below average doesnt help your case. the guy has been an enormous wekaness for us on defense. there really is no denying that unless you are just a giant homer who refuses to believe what he sees