[外電] Lopez First Through Wolves’ Workout Doors
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Stanford center Brook Lopez became the first draft prospect to work out for
Minnesota's brass at Target Center, hoping to impress enough to be considered
for the No. 3 overall pick in the June 26 NBA Draft.
The two-year college standout was the first of several prospects who will be
put through an extensive workout by the Timberwolves' basketball operations
and coaching staffs. On Tuesday, Lopez shot from inside. He shot from
outside. He took contact. He dribbled. He ran. He took foul shots. He ... did
everything.
"I thought it went really well," said a sweaty Lopez as he looked down at
assembled media members after closing the workout with full-court drills. "I
think I can come here and help the team win. I'll do whatever the coaches
require of me and work my hardest."
Lopez came straight to Minneapolis from pre-draft camp in Orlando, and will
continue on to Seattle (who picks fourth), the only other place where he's
scheduled to work out to date. Lopez will stay in Minnesota on Tuesday night
and go through another workout for the Wolves on Wednesday.
"We were able to see him do some different things, put him in situations
where he had to put the ball on the floor, change direction and stuff like
that, that I wanted to see," said McHale. "He showed some range, he showed
some stuff. You just want to see him in situations where you're saying "If
you're going to play with Al Jefferson, these are situations you are going to
find yourself in."
Of course, meshing with Minnesota's double-double machine will be key for
whomever the Wolves choose to select. For his part, Lopez said he'd love to
play with Mr. 20 and 10.
"Al commands so much attention that it would make my game that much easier,"
he said. "I'm so used to in college being double- and triple-teamed, but he'd
open it up for me because he's such a great player."
Yet and still, the process is in its embryonic stages; McHale and Co. have a
lot of work to do before putting someone's name in an envelope on June 26.
"You're looking at everybody," explained the Vice President of Basketball
Operations. "You're trying to find guys that complement, you're trying to
find the best player available ... We are going to assess for that three spot
like eight or nine guys pretty hard and then we are assessing a whole other
level of guys in case we move out of that three spot."
Lopez, familiar with Minnesota's entire roster, did say that he'd like to be
the next player to don the jersey of the team he rooted for growing up.
"They have a good young core," Lopez added. "And I'd like to come in and
help. I hope I can bring energy, defense and all the little things."
Indeed, Lopez explained that he's been "working constantly" on his defense
and rebounding, two areas of common critique despite averages of 8.2 boards
and 2.1 blocks at Stanford. His brother Robin (who Tuesday worked out in
Toronto) was often the Lopez twin more closely associated with those two
skills, but Brook's been doing his best to close that gap.
Though it's tough to take too much away from a 1-on-0 workout, those
assembled at Target Center's practice facility must have noticed that Lopez
comes just as big (7-0, 260) as advertised, and should have been impressed
with his range. Lopez showed an ability to knock down jumpers all the way out
to the NBA three-point line, and was consistently good - and natural - within
the college three-point line. Though he's not explosive (e.g. Amare
Stoudemire) Lopez moves better than you've heard and can finish with both
hands near the rim.
We interviewed Lopez on camera after his workout, and followed up by sitting
down with Wolves broadcaster Jim Petersen, who was charged with bodying Lopez
up 1-on-1 in the paint. Stay tuned for those videos coming soon on
timberwolves.com.
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