This guy caught my attention in the last couple of days, He is averaging almost a double double (19.2 PPG, 9.00 RPG), he has had 9 games with 20 points, and 2 games with 30 points, he is having great sophmore season, I know he is playing with a crappy team and the main offense going through him, but still to me he is doing pretty impressive stuff, what you guys think about him ??, is he a an All-star type of center, or is he just having some good games early in the season. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/brook_lopez/
He will be a dominant center. I've been following him since his Stanford days and the natural tools were always there. He's still figuring out the NBA and once he does he's going to have a chance to put up Dwight Howard type numbers and I honestly think he could be better in the future than Dwight. If NBA GM's could have a do-over for the 2008 NBA Draft knowing what they know now I THINK Lopez would be the consensus #1 pick.... even ahead of Derrick Rose.
seriously? Over Rose? And better than Howard? I don't think so, Lopez is nice, but he's not athletic enough to compete with the best. Look at his games against Orlando, DH makes him his beeyatch
Yes, over Rose. Seriously. Skilled 7 footers like Brook Lopez are extremely rare. He's the prototypical big man GM's dream of building a team around. Not Athletic enough to compete with the best? You make it sound like he's some giant clumsy stiff. He's plenty fluid and athletic to be dominant. Ever heard of a guy named Tim Duncan? Speaking of which.... if anybody can model there game and come close to Duncan in terms of style and effectiveness I'd bet my money on Lopez. And your last argument is the most ridiculous of all. Of course DH should get the better of Lopez. You're comparing a player in his PRIME with 4 more years of experience under his belt to a sophomore who's just getting started.
....and megastar potential PG's aren't? I know Rose isn't exactly having the sophomore campaign everybody thought he would, but there's an equally as strong (if not stronger) argument to be made for a skilled PG's influence on a team as there is for a skilled 7-footer. Lopez is playing well, don't get me wrong. All i'm saying is if Rose was in better situation (with a real coach, dominant big man, team that isn't full of overpaid and/or disappointing misfits), I think he would be looking a lot better right about now. And yeah, it's a great PG's job to maximize the most potential out of the players he's leading and setting up for -- he's still figuring out how to do that. He's not J-Kidd/CP3/Nash-like in terms of natural playmaking ability and making players around him better right off the bat. He'll "get there" eventually, much like Lopez will. I just think Rose's future in this league will be a lot brighter than Lopez's.
Megastar potential PG's aren't common, but they aren't nearly as rare as skilled 7 ft dominant centers.
I don't see him being a dominant center until about 2-3 more years... he still has a lot to work on a what not, but his potential is very good... He can be an Alonzo Mourning type player for a long time.
Time will tell if Lopez is just a 20-10 player that gets the numbers but needs to be surrounded by another star or if he's legitimately a superstar capable of carrying a team. Rose showed a brief ability to do just that last year in the playoffs. That team was outmatched and outcoached yet managed to take the C's to seven games last year due in large part to Rose's ability to elevate his game and his teammates around him. Now, it's time to sustain that type of effect, which would be a lot easier if those aforementioned conditions that put him in a better situation were met.
The statement you made which I bolded is flat out erroneous and wrong. For every 10 Rose's there's 1 Brook Lopez. Just take a look at the league. You got B Roy, D.Wade, Monta Ellis, Devin Harris, Rondo, Mayo, Westbrook and more recently Tyreke Evans and Jennings who are all very similar players to Rose. Then you have players like CP3, DWill, Nash, Kidd, Tony Parker the natural playmakers.. and the old school hybrid players like Iverson, Bdiddy, Gilbert Arenas, Joe Johnson etc. that would all fall under the Derek Rose comparison category and players similar to the Rose mold seem to be the "norm" coming out of drafts every year and for the foreseeable future. John Wall anybody? I'm not dogging on Rose in any way.. all I'm pointing out is that he has a TON of competition at the PG/Hybrid guard spot. I said it before and I'll say it again... It's EASIER to find a Derrick Rose type player to pair with Brook Lopez rather than finding a Brook Lopez type player to pair with Derrick Rose. I thought it was pretty common knowledge that Big men win Championships. Lets take a look at the history of the last 10 Championships. Lakers- Shaq Lakers- Shaq Lakers- Shaq Spurs- Duncan Pistons- Wallace/Wallace Spurs- Duncan Heat- Shaq Spurs- Duncan Celtics- KG Lakers- Pau Gasol (put them over the top) The only exception to the rule was the Pistons and that's rare. The point? Skilled big men who have potential to dominate are much more rare than "megastar potential PG's" or any guard for that matter.
Only on Clutchfans can you have people questioning when Yao Ming has ever been dominant AND people saying Brook Lopez will come to dominate the league.
This post is quite humorous, especially the last team you put on here... implying that Kobe wasn't really a big factor or anything on that championship team. Lakers - Kobe Spurs - Tony Parker Pistons- BILLUPS - omg, you were so biased in this one. Billups was THE reason they won a ring. Spurs - Tony Parker Heat - WADE - WOW HE LED HIS TEAM EVEN SHAQ Spurs - Tony Parker Celtics - Pierce Lakers - Kobe You're trying to say all those big men were necessary to win a ring but they wouldn't have won a ring at all if it weren't for the guys I listed. Pretty bad argument.
Rose was impressive but that C's team was not very good. You know why? Their skilled big man was absent. That's how much of an impact a dominant big man can have. One could argue exactly how "dominant" KG is or isn't but the fact remains KG pushed the Celtics over the top.
The logical response would have been that you need skill and or star power on the perimeter as well as inside. Kobe with no Gasol = No championship. And visa versa. This is applicable to all of the championship teams listed above.
LOL you're a funny guy. All the players you listed are REPLACEABLE. Easily replaceable. Lakers- championships were all due to Shaq. You could easily replace Kobe with Mcgrady or Iverson all those years and they'd each have a few rings. Spurs- Tony Parker? LOL you're quite the joker. Pistons- Billups wasn't any more valuable than the other 4 starters on that team. As a matter of fact one could argue the addition of Rasheed Wallace is what really pushed them over the top. Spurs- There you go listing Tony Parker again. LOL get the **** out of here. I could name 10 other pg's you could have replaced with TP that year. Heat- Wade doesn't go OFF like that with no Shaq. Spurs- ****ing Parker again? LOL by this year there was probably 20 other pg's that Parker could have been replaced with ending in same result. Celtics- Pierce really went far all those years without KG huh? What happened to Pierce last year without KG? Lakers- Kobe hasn't won **** without a quality big man. The year after Shaq jumped ship and Kobe was the focal point the results went like this. No Playoffs, 1st round elimination and 1st round elimination. The addition of Pau Gasol lead to 2 finals appearances and 1 championship.
Thank you. My main point is that skill and or star power is much more rare inside as opposed to the perimeter.
Getting Sheed put that team over the top. If they did not make the trade to get him I don't think they would have won the Championship.
AS, I was with you until you tried to make the case that Wade and Kobe were replaceable. They aren't. I agree with all your other points though. The bigs are more important, they have to cover for their teammates' mistakes on offense and defense. You won't win a championship without dominant post play (why haven't the suns figured this out yet?)
Jordan and Pippen are the exception, but Jordan was a great offensive post player, and Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman were great post defenders. On Brook, I've watched him play and I think he has the skill level of Yao, solid footwork, turnaround jumper, hook shot, midrange jumper, except he is quicker and more athletic, and of course 6 inches shorter. His defense needs work, but he is already a fine shotblocker and like Yao he'll probably improve his overall defense over time. There is definitely a lot of promise there. The knock on him was that he is too soft, VC even called him a 7 foot forward recently, but I think he can be the next Yao.
