Brook Lopez has always been a Tim Duncan fan and has tried to emulate the game of one of the best big men to play in the NBA.So after taking part in just his third official practice Sunday, Lopez - the Nets' first-round draft pick - was asked if there are any similarities between him and Duncan, aside from their body types.
"That's it, for now," said Lopez.
The Nets would be thrilled if Lopez turns into anything close to the player Duncan has been. For now, they are just hoping that the 20-year-old develops enough to help them get back to being one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
When the Nets picked Lopez with the 10th selection of the draft in June, they knew they were getting a player with plenty of offensive skills. In 27 games at Stanford last season, the 7-footer averaged 19.3 points while hitting 47% of his shots. But as much as the Nets need offense from players other than Vince Carter, they also need defense, especially in the paint.
Lopez said that over the summer and in the first two days of training camp, his primary focus was on defense.
"You just worry about the facets of the game that you can control," Lopez said. "Defensively, you're either in the right position or you make a mistake, your guy blows by you and makes a bucket."
Having attended Stanford, Lopez has the intelligence to grasp NBA schemes, but he still seemed in awe of the amount of information that had been thrown at him early in camp. Coach Lawrence Franck said that one of the impressive things about Lopez is that he's always looking to learn more.
"The great thing about Brook is he's a very willing learner," Frank said. "He really, really cares. He cares when things aren't going right for him, and that's the first step. Then what do you do about it? You work at it and improve. So I think that he's going to put forth the amount of work that it takes to be a very, very good player."
Lopez is looking forward to developing into the kind of player in the middle the Nets have been missing for so long.
"I definitely want to be that guy," Lopez said. "I've always wanted to be that post presence for my team and I've always tried to work to get there. So right now I'm just concentrating on doing whatever coach requirers me to do to become that presence."
ODDS & ENDS: Forward Sean Williams, last season's first-round pick, is on the hot seat this camp, with a number of players competing for his position. "I think Sean has had three very good practices," Frank said. "He's played very well in these three practices . . . He's attentive. He knows the answers to the questions. The great thing about it is if you compare him this training camp to last training camp, rookie versus second year, you see a huge difference. That's a compliment to his progress." ... F Jarvis Hayes and F Stromile Swift sat out part of yesterday's practice after bumping knees during a defensive drill.
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