Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 11:00 am  |  32 responses

Brook Lopez’s Frustration Mounting

As the Nets focus on developing Eazy Yi, Brook grows more and more frustrated with the state of things in New Jersey: “Asked whether he believes that his opinion might be the most pertinent as they climb out of this train wreck of a season, and whether he might have one of the most important voices in where the organization is going, Lopez replied, ‘I know that. I just don’t know if it’s my place yet.’ Which is why he’s still dodging what is becoming obvious lately: The Nets are starting to neglect his development for the purpose of getting Yi Jianlian going. ‘Yeah, I think it’s just been a tough adjustment having another post guy out there – reading when and where he is, and where I need to be, I guess,’ Lopez said. But he had six shots in 34 minutes against the Bucks. In most cases, that should necessitate a conference with your coach and point guard. ‘I talked to Roy’ Rogers, the assistant coach, Lopez said after a laugh. ‘He just said stay aggressive and post earlier. I don’t know what else to say about it.’ True to form, Lopez (12 points on 6-for-10, eight boards in 34:43) turned down a request to speak after Wednesday night’s 119-89 rollover against the Hawks here, stating, ‘I’ve got nothing to say.’ In short, the Nets had better start thinking about their center’s state of mind. ‘Outwardly, he’s showing it more than anyone else,’ Jarvis Hayes said. ‘But we all feel it.”’

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  • http://www.slamonline.com riggs

    FREE HIM, that man doesnt deserve to be on this bum a*s team.

  • http://www.slamonline.com riggs

    also you know your team is messed up when the shyest guy on the court is lashing out.

  • tavoris

    the man has a point. Those two guys should be able to co-exist tho.

  • http://slamonline.com YKnot

    Yeah but Yi wil sell more Jerseys than Lopez, and at this point a winning season is out of the question so I guess we go into recoup mode!

  • tavoris

    Yi is looking like a young Dirk lately.

  • MikeC.

    @tavoris – I haven’t seen any Nets games this year, so I’m not sure if your reference to Yi looking like a young Dirk is a good thing or not. As I recall, Dirk was pretty godawful his rookie year.

  • http://slamonline.com/ niQ

    Why can’t they just make it work? There’s nothing wrong with having TWO people can play in post. Sure your stats might be affected. But look at Duncan and David Robinson, Bynum and Pau, heck you can even say Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.

  • LA Huey

    Brook’s turn to shatter a door

  • tavoris

    @MikeC-Yi is putting up 16 & 6 this season (his 3rd), and that’s right in line with Dirk’s second season. He is a little more willing to mix it up in the post than Dirk was at the same stage.
    With that being said, Lopez still should be the #1 option on the team. He’s really THAT good.

  • erich

    @MikeC – Yi is not in his rookie season.

  • TheTruth

    I feel bad for him he is a great young talent and deserves to be on a winning team

  • robb

    It would be cool if Lopez could get out of there and sign with a young talented team like OKC. Leave the chinese dude develop in that lame team nobody gives a sh*t about.

  • http://www.everyjoe.com/nbaobsessed/ James

    Does this mean that New Jersey is giving up on Brook Lopez for Yi? Seems like they would want to hold onto all the talent they can get their hands on and not discourage the young guys. This franchise has fallen apart.

  • http://www.realcavsfans.com Anton

    “New Jersey State of Mind”
    Yeah I’m out that Jersey
    Now I’m down in Tribeca
    Right next to New York
    But we’ll be lottery-bound forever
    We’re the new epic fail
    And since we’re stuck here
    We can make it brick 3′s from anywhere
    (Yeah they love to boo us from everywhere)
    We used to go to the Finals
    All of my 01-02 team, no lyin
    Right there off of LA
    Brought me back to the bright lights
    We got ready to unleash the Van Horne
    But instead we ended series early, on the plane home watchin p0rn
    In Jersey!
    Toxic jungle where dreams crush down,
    There’s not much you can do
    Now you’re in Jersey!
    These streets will make you feel dirt sick
    The lights will make you wish for death quick
    Let’s hear it for Jersey, Jersey, Jerseeeeeyyyy!
    Catch me at the X with OG at a Nets game,
    We made losing more famous than any team can
    We got some cap room, that means we have it made
    If LeBron’s a “no”, we’ll ask Dwyane Wade

  • nastierthanu

    Lo frank nice work. From sugar to sh!t.

  • http://www.another48minutes.com Gerard Himself

    Tavoris: Yi is looking like a young dirk? Brook was looking like a young Duncan. They are ignoring Lopez completely, and he’s the best player on that team! I’ve been a Nets fan for a long time now, but I don’t care who they trade as long as Lopez and CDR stay part of the team. I’ve seen enough games to not care about any other player out there (well, I love Dooling though – but he’s a back-up)

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Yi and Lopez should be able to co-exist and form a good to great backcourt together… Yi is really developing into a good player and Brook has always shown his potential from the get go… CDR at Small-Forward, Lee at Shooting Guard, Harris at Point Guard… The Nets really shouldn’t be this bad. They have better young talent than the Knicks at this point…

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    robb, stay in the tr@iler and shut up, thanks.

  • Ronald

    Honestly, Yi’s game should complement Brook perfectly. They would be an awesome high-low post combination.

  • wilz

    u guys have go to be kidding me with this “he should be on a better team” bs. the dude’s been in the L 2 years…he doesnt deserve anything but the money he makes.
    but ur right, we should put all the good players on 2 teams, then the NBA would really be fun to watch. those 2 teams could tour every city, we could get rid of the draft cuz there would be no more bad teams that need rebuilding. wow

  • http://slamonline.com maclovenotwar

    people have NJ confused: CDR is NOT all that. All of his points this season have come in garbage-time (ie, four quarters of Nets basketball), and on the rare occasion that a game was close, he would disappear! Brook is a decent 5, but only against weaker opposition. He immediately gets in foul trouble against quality centres, and flips out at refs over EVERYTHING. Devin Harris just drives, draws contact and flails his arms like he was assaulted, and gets bailed out by the refs. Yi was pleasantly surprising before he got injured this season…

  • tavoris

    @Gerard-I agree. Yi’s development should not come at the expense of Brook Lopez. I’m really high on Lopez. Yi looks like he can be a dangerous scorer someday soon-no one can deny that. If they can co-exist somehow (with Lee & Harris manning the two guard spots, NJ suddenly looks like an VERY attractive destination for a particular game-changing, Ohio-bred SF.

  • http://Vikturus Vikturus

    Yi has been playing really well since he returned from injury.. And what did Brook expect? Of course he would get less touches with Yi back. But as many of you pointed out, they should be able to work together.

  • http://www.another48minutes.com Gerard Himself

    maclove: CDR’s points came in arvage time? What games have you been watching? He’s getting a lot of points going backdoor and received a Lopex pass, driving to the basket, taking jumpers… sorry, but this is not true. But lately, like Yi, he doesn’t get the ball anymore.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Wayno

    a “Lopex pass” sounds like something that is really awesome…

  • http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com Chendaddy

    Yeah, I have no clue why they couldn’t possibly co-exist. Yi has the perfect high-post game to complement Brook’s low-post. That is some seriously idiotic coaching telling them both to post up down low, and telling your best scoring option to just suck it up and be more aggressive. If your players don’t know their roles, your team will struggle. If your coaches don’t know their players’ roles, well, then your team is headed for the John Wall sweepstakes.

  • TheVideoRoomCoach

    I don’t understand why Brook Lopez has to suffer at the hands of a developin Yi. In the history of this great league of ours, winning basketball teams have always had a, if not a dominant, at least a stabilizing force in the post. Brook lopez is already a stabilizing force, ready to become a prime time pivot, but no. Instead, his superb play, (and probably a few more W’s) are being overcast by attempts to breed a second dirk. Btw, Dirk has no rings and one MVP, while Timmy D has 4 rings, 2 ot 3 season MVP’s, and was considered the most valuable player of the NBA Finals 3 times. Just sayin, know where your greatest assets lie.

  • http://www.fvsports.com RetepAdam

    This wouldn’t be as much of a problem if Kiki weren’t such a godawful coach.

    Just get a former pro to do one-on-one work with Brook and keep giving Yi touches in the games. It’s not like there are that many other superstars on the team calling for touches.

  • http://none The Philosopher

    Josh Boone is my dude, and that’s for real.

  • http://www.luketynan.blogspot.com litetitan

    you want more touches…? hit the offensive boards.

  • tavoris

    @litetitan-if he wasn’t averaging 3.4 offensive rebounds per game (8th in the L), I’d be with you. But, he’s kinda already doing that.

  • http://nationalhighway.blogspot.com jaywalker

    I guess being so far behind everyone, Nets have given up any hopes of making it anywhere but bottom. And now they want to focus on selling some merchandise…Thats the way, YIah!!!!!!

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