Brooklyn Nets
Brook Lopez was at the Barclays Center ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday to take in the event and was like a little kid in a comic book store knowing he can finally be part of an exciting and competitive team in Brooklyn. A Nets team that can actually talk about playoffs and compete for a world championship. This has not been the case for Lopez in his first four years in New Jersey but times are changing for the seven footer and the Brooklyn Nets organization.
Lopez sat down for an interview after the event with Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York and gave some key thoughts on the present and future.
Here is a small part of the interview:
Zwerling: What features stand out to you the most as you’ve walked around?
Lopez: For me personally, it’s just when I walked on the court, imagining everyone in here, the sound as loud as can be, the energy, just everyone having a great time. I’m just so excited for opening night. I do think we’ll have great energy here. I think the fans will come in and give us great support. I think they’ll really enjoy the team this year.
Zwerling: The style of the hardwood is different — a triangular shape that almost looks like 3D roofs up close.
Lopez: It’s unique. They tried to do a number of different things unique to this place, trying to make it stand out. We wanted it to be in a league of its own. I think it really is top of the line.
Zwerling: How’s pre-training camp going with the guys?
Lopez: It’s great. I think pretty much everyone has been here for about two weeks now and we’ve had some very competitive 5-on-5 games, conditioning sessions, weights and stuff like that. We’ve had days where we’ve had 14, 15 guys playing, so it just makes it all very exciting.
Zwerling: What are the keys to basically a brand new team coming together in training camp and during the season?
Lopez: I think that’s why it was important that we got out as early as we did, so everyone could get used to each other. We have a lot of great basketball minds, so it hasn’t been as difficult as it could be getting to learn to play with each other.
Lopez, in my opinion, is the “key” to the Nets success this year more than any other player for the simple reason that he needs to show the world and the NBA that he is healthy as well as a much stronger and a more focused player. Lopez was a picture of health his first two seasons in the league and then in his third year he got mono in preseason and it plagued him all year long as he couldn’t keep his weight up.
Last year was a complete disaster as he broke the fifth metatarsal in his foot three days prior to the 66-game strike shortened season and played a total of five games. Lopez was a twenty point and six rebound machine when healthy his first two years and if the Nets are going to be “contenders” this season he will have to get back to playing at that level every night.
Lopez has a ton of critics right now but something tells me not to sleep on this seven footer with a ton of talent around him now.
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