Brook Lopez seemingly took a step backwards this season and disappointed a great collection of fantasy basketball players.
Analysis: The most shocking aspect of Brook’s season thus far has been his horrible lack of rebounding. After averaging 9 boards a game in his sophomore season Brook hasn’t even been averaging 6 boards a game this season. To put that in perspective, he is only averaging .2 boards a game more than one of the worst rebounding centers in NBA history, Andrea Bargnani. For a player who rebounded so well his first two seasons this has been incredibly disappointing. Worse still his FG% has gone steadily declined each season, from 53%, to 50%, and finally to 47% this season. His assists have gone from 2.3 last season to 1.4 this season, and he has also had a minor drop off in blocks too. The only positive is that he is averaging a 1/2 point more this season. Little consolation for fantasy owners when he has dropped off in every other category. Brook has been in a losing environment for what will be his third consecutive year, his stats indicate that he is just not as passionate as he once was. He’s not hustling as hard for boards, nor working as hard for blocks.
Projection: Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has finally added a star piece in Deron Williams to give Brook a little more support. Brook will start to his improve numbers across the board because he will finally have a reason for playing again. He’s going to find how much easier the game is when you have one of the best point guards in the league setting you up. Since the trade Brook has shot over 50% in both games, rebounded far better than his season averages, and reached the 20 point threshold both times. These are all good signs for Lopez and his fantasy numbers will make further jumps the more comfortable he gets with Deron Williams.