Alvin Gentry Disappointed With Robin Lopez

The big fella’s uneven play this season has failed to impress his head coach, Gentry tells the AZ Republic: “Lopez averaged 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game last season and is playing and producing less this season, getting 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds entering Tuesday night. His shooting percentage dipped from 59 percent to 51 percent, but that is because he has taken more mid-range shots, an area of improvement in his game. ‘That’s probably been the biggest mystery for our team,’ coach Alvin Gentry said when asked why Lopez’s progression has stopped. ‘In actuality, we really thought that he would probably be the second-most-important guy on our team, especially if he took a big leap. I’m not real sure if it’s the injury or what, but he hasn’t been able to give us the consistent play that we thought we’d be able to get from him. We could use it. It’s something that has hurt us a bit. We haven’t really had much inside play. Gortat gives us some. Other than that, we’ve been pretty much resigned to the fact that we’re a perimeter team. That hurts you when you’re going to rely on jump shots night in and night out, even as good of a shooting team as we are.'”