Are Lionel Hollins and Brook Lopez Feuding?
Brooklyn Nets coach Lionel Hollins and starting center Brook Lopez are not seeing eye-to-eye
It appears as if Brooklyn Nets coach Lionel Hollins has had about enough of Brook Lopez, to the extent that he didn’t even want to talk about him after the Nets embarrassing 95-83 defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat’s B-team.
Hollins sharply said “I don’t want to talk about Brook right now. I don’t want to talk about any individuals, I want to talk about the game and our effort. I hear what you’re asking. I just don’t want to go there right now. It’s not a good time — for me.”
Hollins had good reason to be upset with Lopez, after he put up a paltry five points and one rebound in 22 minutes against a Heat team that was missing Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng. Backups Mason Plumlee (two points, seven rebounds) and Jerome Jordan (four points, two rebounds) didn’t fare much better, but Hollins’ anger runs deeper than just this game.
The oft-injured Lopez hasn’t been much of a rebounder in his career (averaging 7.2 in 33 minutes per game), but he’s really fallen off this season, with just 4.8 rebounds in 27.4 minutes. Over the last four games (all Nets losses), Lopez has a total of 13 rebounds in 105 minutes.
The 7-footer from North Hollywood, California is averaging a paltry 3.9 defensive rebounds per-36 minutes, which is good for eighth on the team and is barely ahead of point guards Jarrett Jack (3.1) and Deron Williams (2.7).
Lopez tried to look at the bright side of things, though he acted more like a man with low expectations as opposed to the former all-star who has averaged over 20 points per game in two different seasons. Here’s what he had to say:
"It’s tough. I expect myself to be better. I think I did decently well defending Bosh. I’m trying to find positive things to look at. I’ve just gotta stay positive. I’m all for the team. I’ve always been [that way], and so if that’s the way it’s gonna go — and it’s the best look — so be it. I’m gonna be out there cheering my guys and supporting them."
That’s a great attitude to have from a backup center who is more happy to be on the team than anything else. It’s not the attitude you want out of your star center. It’s no wonder Hollins is so upset with Lopez right now — whether it’s on the court or off the court, he’s just not showing that aggressive side that the Nets need so badly right now.