[NCarmean18Participant]

 Is anyone else as impressed with Brook Lopez as I am this preseason?  He is playing very efficient basketball.  Right now, he is averaging 17 points, 9 rebounds a game, while shooting 50+% FG and 80+% FT.  He looks to have improved his game both offensively and defensively.  

He’s playing beside Kris Humphries, so he is going to have to compete for rebounds and blocked shots, but he seems like he is ready to have a solid season.  

There are a ton of people who are writing him off and saying that he is already passed his prime and he will never average good scoring numbers again.  To me, that’s garbage.  He may not be a great rebounder, but he can score, and he will definitely do that for Brooklyn this year.  

To me, big men blossom whenever they have an elite point guard on their team who can dish them the ball.  For Brooklyn and Brook Lopez, they have Deron Williams, and All-Pro point guard who played on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, and played very well.  

I feel bad for the Orlando Magic, who could have received Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, and MarShon Brooks in a package deal to ship Dwight to Brooklyn, and they passed on that opportunity.  Now look what they have.  Aaron Afflalo, 2 prospects, and a few draft picks that are almost guaranteed to be at the bottom of the first round every year.  

So, in the end, what do you guys think about Brook Lopez, and how do you think he will fare this season in Brooklyn with the new-look Brooklyn Nets?

[LipstickParticipant]

Who said he was past his prime? He may move up and down the floor like he’s 50, but people rip on him because he is horrendous on defense, which is deserving of attention.

Orlando missed out on a nice package and got like 5 cents on the dollar, but at the same time at least they aren’t stuck with a max contract. This way they can bottom out and build through the draft rather than, well, I don’t know what they would be with Lopez, etc. on the team. Probably a weak playoff team at best and strapped with an overpaid frontline.

[frogmanParticipant]

Dude’s 24 and I haven’t heard 1 person say he is past his prime (probably coz it’s mind blowingly stupid).  He doesn’t rely of athleticism and his skills are still improving so this is really confusing to me

[NCarmean18Participant]

 Not past his prime, but past his prime in the scoring department.  I have seen a few people post on here that he will just drop to a 15 PPG center who shoots a poor percentage and doesn’t rebound.  It seems like he is pretty harshly judged on this forum.  I don’t know if it is because of all of the potential that he has, or if people just simply don’t like him lol. 

[WolfRobParticipant]

 who’s said that…?

[omphalosParticipant]

 Lopez does look intriguing as a guy who could be a first-time All-Star in the absence of Dwight and with Hibbert simply not being that great. I’d love to see the Nets play the Heat in a series, Lopez would be an extremely valuable weapon against a Miami team that lacks great post-defenders.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 I have been impressed with his rebounding. Nobody has said he can’t score. The problem is that he hasn’t rebounded much in the last two years and that is a big problem if you are playing center on a max contract. But he is rebounding well in the preseason. 9 rebounds a game in just 27 minutes?!? Man if he can keep that up into the regular season that would be game changing.

His scoring ability is somewhat overblown by the media because he gets to that magical 20 points per game. He’s never gotten those points with particularly great efficiency. I don’t expect that to change that much. Too few of his shots are dunks and too many are hook shots from 8 feet away from the rim. That is never going to be a high percentage shot. But the team is radically improved around him now. And he is young and should still be developing his game. Especially taking into account that big men tend to develop a little later than guards. 

The key is he has to keep opposing teams off the glass and get a few easy put backs off of offensive rebounds. You have to do that as a center to be good. So far he is doing that in the preseason. 

[BigChamp12Participant]

 Lopez has been putting up the numbers and he has the size and skill set. But I dont really think he’s going to average 9 rebs throughout the regular season. I’ve watched the nets 3 times this preseason and yes his numbers look good, but his play simply does not. Like Lipstick said, he really moves like he’s 50 and a lot of those reboounds he have been getting are ones that fall in his hands. His reaction time is slow and he’s not very physical at all. He does score the ball, but he’s not an intimidator. Idk. maybe it’s just me. I’m rooting for him and I wanna like him, but he makes it hard.

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