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| It's nice to see that familiar #11 back on the court for the Nets |
During the five-game losing streak the Nets began two weeks, they clearly missed their best big man and starting center, Brook Lopez. In consecutive losses to the Heat, Thunder, Warriors, Bucks and Knicks, Brooklyn appeared to be a team without a leader or stabilizing force on the court, even with starting point guard Deron Williams and shooting guard Joe Johnson present. Although inconsistent at some times, D-Will and Joe played pretty well, but it just wasn't the same for Avery Johnson's squad without their (poor rebounding) man in the middle to clog up space.
Brook has received much vitriot over the last few seasons, mainly because of his presumed "softness", quantified by his decreasing rebounding numbers and worsening defensive metrics. Nets fans may have believed that as well, but it was mainly the viewpoint of those who didn't watch Nets games and simply looked at the box score and/or statistical spreadsheet from said games and of Lopez' season. Outside of much of last season (almost completely lost to a broken foot), going back to the seasons prior, Brook played like a budding star center. Atypical? Sure, his methodical layup attempts and odd set-shots of the glass weren't normally seen from 7-footers, but they worked and that's all that truly matters.
Even going back to his personality, Brook doesn't present the normal profile of an NBA player. He's awkward, has a creepy voice that sounds like a 17-year-old at the tail end of puberty, and likes comic books. Under canonical pretenses, there would be no way in hell that a guy like that could be so crucial to a team's success is. However, to the contrary, Lopez is exactly that. As we saw during that losing skid, he's an essential member of this team and even with the talents of D-Will, Joe, Gerald Wallace and the rest of the squad, the Nets just couldn't push themselves over the proverbial hump in most games against good teams. Of course, this led to one loss, which fed into more losses, which built up the streak.
As we all know, Brook finally returned to the Brooklyn lineup in Friday night's win over the Pistons. It was the first time he had seen the floor since the Nets' November 28th win against the Celtics in Boston, a matchup marred by the fight between Kris Humphries, Rajon Rondo, and others. For seven games, the Nets didn't have their center and although Andray Blatche filled in admirably, it just wasn't the same without that goofy California guy manning the paint with his odd Jewfro-like haircut.
The Nets were 2-5 in those dreadful seven games without Brook, looking decent at some points, pretty good at others, and downright disgraceful at some circumstances as well. One would then assume that his return would greatly benefit the team, and so far through two games, it seemingly has. The aformentioned win against the Pistons at Barclays Center, the team coached by Lawrence Frank, who drafted Lopez 10th overall onto the Nets in 2008, was way too close for comfort but may have been one Brooklyn couldn't have won without a healthy Brook. Although he didn't play in either overtime period, Lopez did play about half of regulation and showed some promise, even on a still-healing foot. The Nets desperately needed another big body that night to combat the likes of Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, and Jason Maxiell of Detroit.
Then came the game on Saturday, a one-point loss to the Chicago Bulls. Lopez finally looked like himself, scoring 18 points in just 25 minutes while contributing with a stunning 10 boards as well. He hit nearly 50 percent of his shots from the field and also blocked two shots, giving a positive sign that his rehab period may not have to be as long as previously expected. However, his stellar performance couldn't earn a win for the Nets who just couldn't stop Chicago down the stretchm with the final blow being a defensive breakdown allowing Marco Belinelli to roll right to the hoop for an open layup.
It's interesting how the Dwight Howard trade rumors of last season have downplayed and mitigated the perception of how big a role Brook plays on the Nets. The on-court evidence clearly shows that no number of superstar backcpurt players, effective bench guys, and suitable fill-ins can truly make up for the, literally and figurativelly, enormous space and void he occupies for Brooklyn. Putting the past behind them, the Nets have the daunting challenge of a back-to-back ahead of them, with the Jazz at home tomorrow and the Knicks at MSG on Wednesday. I feel a lot more confident about us winning those games with the Nets' proverbial superhero back and ready to save the day.
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