Lopez may not fit new Nets system
How tough has it been for Brook Lopez to adjust to the Nets’ new system?
He was the highest-scoring center in the Eastern Conference last season.
He mustered just 8.0 points per game on 39.5-percent shooting this preseason.
Yeah, that tough. It’s a daunting adjustment general manager Sean Marks told The Post that Lopez is embracing. But are the Nets — who open the season Wednesday at Boston — trying to put a round peg in a square hole? Or, in this case, squeeze an oldschool player into a new-school system?
“Brook is finding himself in places on the court that he probably hasn’t. All of a sudden, he’s in the corner shooting 3s more than [he] ever [has] before,’’ Marks told The Post. “But, look, we know where his bread’s buttered, and so forth. To have a guy that you have the option of just saying ‘Hey, Brook, go create something, because you’re a big guy and you’re formidable down there.’
“But that’s now what we’re going to do every time. That’s not going to be run through the post every time. Those are options for us, and Brook will get that. He’s enjoying it. If you watch his body language during practice, he’s getting a kick out of the ball really flying around and moving, and bodies moving, too.”
Lopez is a throwback, a classic back-to-the-basket center in an up-tempo, 3-point happy NBA. Despite the Nets going just 21-61 last season, he was fourth in the league in points scored as the roll man in the pick-and-roll (315), and second in points off post-up plays (426).
Under fired coach Lionel Hollins, Lopez got plenty of both. But Hollins’ plodding, isolationheavy scheme is long gone, replaced by Kenny Atkinson’s motion offense.
“It’s definitely something I’m not used to,’’ Lopez said. “This preseason has been a great advantage and tool, and we’ve been scrimmaging in practice as well, so it’s something I’ve been seeing every day now. I’m definitely getting more and more comfortable with it.
“It’s just getting used to the personnel difference and finding that balance like I have been mentioning a lot. Just knowing obviously Jeremy [Lin] is very strong in the pick-and-roll and a lot of guys fit best in a motion dribble-drive, kick-out system, and finding a balance in those three things with those two in the post ups.”
With Brooklyn liberally hoisting up 3s, even Lopez has been encouraged to get into the act. Despite making just 3-of-31 career 3-point attempts, eight of his 27 shots this preseason have been from behind the arc.
One of the NBA’s slowest-paced teams last season has become one of the most up-tempo this preseason. Lopez has had fewer post-up plays and almost no pick-and-rolls with Lin, starting farther from the basket and cutting through the lane as Atkinson force feeds the motion offense.
“I really want to establish our motion offense, [not] come down and run a pick-and-roll every time,’’ Atkinson said recently. “And Brook and Jeremy, they’re both going to have to learn to work within that dynamic.”
Lin already has. But can Lopez? And does it even make sense?
Both Marks and Atkinson have said Lopez is in their plans. But Bojan Bogdanovic repeatedly has drawn trade interest, and Thad Young fetched a first-round pick on draft night. Neither of them are as talented as Lopez.
The Stanford product is smart and skilled, possibly able to adjust to the new offense. But if it limits him, and the Nets are expected to struggle again in as rebuilding season, could they opt to cash in a 28-year-old asset who might not be around when that rebuild is complete?
It’s a question that will persist for as long as Lopez’s struggles do.