EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez would be happy if he never had to field another question about his health again.

The 26-year-old veteran, who looks to be in great shape after putting in plenty of rigorous workout sessions in the offseason, is confident in his surgically-repaired foot and ankle -- and hopes the injuries that have caused him to miss 134 games over the last three seasons are behind him.

“I don’t have any questions about my health,” Lopez said Sunday. “I’m ready to play basketball.”

Brook Lopez

#11 C
Brooklyn Nets

2014 STATS

• GM17

• PPG20.7

• RPG6.0

• APG0.9

• FG%.563

• FT%.817

The questions will not stop until Lopez can prove he is healthy and sustain that health over the course of an 82-game season -- a season the Nets hope also includes a long playoff run.

He will get his chance shortly.

“I feel great right now,” Lopez said. “I’m not looking for any restrictions. If they come, it’s not going to be because I said something. It’s going to be from Timmy (trainer Tim Walsh) or from coach [Lionel Hollins]. I’m just looking forward to getting to work.”

Since being selected by the Nets with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft out of Stanford, Lopez has shown a unique ability to score in a variety of ways. And over time, he has become more efficient.

Last season, he set career-highs in points per game (20.7), field-goal percentage (56.3) and Player Efficiency Rating (25.50) before going down with a season-ending foot injury on Dec. 20 in Philadelphia. In his 17-game 2013-14 campaign, he made 63.6 percent of his hook shots and 47.3 percent of his jump shots.

According to data obtained from Synergy Sports, Lopez excelled in the post. In post-ups, which represented 39.3 percent of his offense plays, the All-Star center amassed 1.157 points per play, good enough to put him in the 98th percentile league-wide in that category.

“He’s very skilled,” Hollins said. “From an offensive perspective, he ranks right up there with a lot of guys from that perspective.”

But it’s on the defensive end where Lopez needs to become a more complete 7-footer.

While he held opponents to just 39.5 percent shooting at the rim and was a strong post defender (1.8 blocks per game), Lopez struggled against the pick-and-roll. According to Synergy, he allowed opposing bigs to amass 0.926 points per play in pick-and-rolls, which put him in the 23rd percentile, or below average.

Lopez has also not averaged more than 6.9 rebounds per game since the 2009-10 campaign -- his second season in the NBA.

“[Lionel] wants me to take more charges,” Lopez said. “Become a better pick-and-roll defender and crash the glass.”

Lopez went into more detail about snagging boards.

“It’s just been a matter of increasing my effort,” he said. “Not just boxing out, but going to get the rebound after and focusing on certain numbers on the offensive rebounds, as well as defensive rebounds.”

Clearly, as Hollins installs his systems and schemes, Lopez is going to be a focal point -- both offensively and defensively. The Nets would like him to be better at facilitating for his teammates as well. Often times during games, the ball would go into Lopez, and it would never come out. This is all part of the learning process, part of Lopez maturing as a basketball player.

For all his talent, and he has quite an abundance of that, many wonder just how much Lopez yearns to be great. He certainly doesn’t have the typical personality of a franchise player.

“I don’t know what the mentality of a dominant big man is,” Hollins said. “But I think that he has a lot of growth left and maturity to go with regards to him wanting the ball and getting to where he can get the ball.”

The organization hopes that Lopez can stay healthy over the course of the season. To that end, they have not said anything about limiting Lopez’s minutes or prohibiting him from playing both games of back-to-back sets. But that is something that very-well could occur as he makes his way back to being 100 percent.

Lopez is looking forward to reestablishing cohesion with point guard Deron Williams. The duo has played just 100 games together, compiling a 55-45 record. Conversely, when either one or neither is in the lineup, the Nets are 67-88.

During his time as a Net, Lopez has had seven different coaches. He has seen both good times and bad.

Now, he hopes, it’ll be good times from here on out.

Lopez has a lot at stake. He will make $15.7 million this season, then holds a $16.7 million player option for 2015-16. If he can stay healthy and return to All-Star form, he’ll be able to reestablish his value and perhaps create a nice market for himself going forward.

And by doing all of that, Lopez will also be helping the Nets get back to where they want to be.