New Data Reveals Who Must Become Brooklyn Nets' Savior

Has any team been more disappointing than the Brooklyn Nets during the early portion of the 2013-14 season?

Before any games were played, the expectations may as well have been through the roof of the Barclays Center. Perhaps that would be a good thing if it were true in a literal sense, since that would let a little more light into the way-too-dark arena.

The arrivals of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko were much ballyhooed, supposed harbingers of a championship run in the near future. With Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez already in place, it looked like we'd all be watching a new superteam in Brooklyn.

For the most part, there was little hesitation when it came to calling the Nets playoff locks in the Eastern Conference. In fact, it seemed more common to consider them challengers to the Miami Heat than a team that would finish outside the top four in the conference.

But a few weeks into the season, Brooklyn's star has already lost a lot of its luster.

The Nets sit at a pitiful 2-5, being outscored by 5.4 points per game. Only the Washington Wizards have earned a worse mark in the East.

That said, it's still early. There's plenty of time for a massive turnaround, and it all starts with one player: Brook Lopez.  

Offensive Talent

The Nets should not be struggling on offense. 

Williams is an elite point guard, even if he hasn't been playing like it. The massive floor general has a brutalizing crossover and one of the best combinations of scoring and passing skills in the NBA. 

Johnson and Pierce are both adept isolation players, capable of breaking down any defender when the rest of the team clears out for them. Additionally, they're great shooters from the perimeter. 

KG has a silky-smooth jumper from mid-range, and while he's no longer spending much time on the blocks, he's still physical enough that he can stand out every once in a while. 

Finally, there's Lopez. One of the best offensive centers in the game, Lopez is a fantastic scorer in a variety of ways once he gets near the basket. 

With five borderline-elite offensive options who complement each other quite nicely on paper, Brooklyn should be humming along when it comes to scoring. And that's not happening. According to Basketball-Reference, the Nets are putting up just 99.6 points per 100 possessions, a number that beats out only the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Bobcats, Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz. 

It can get better, but only if they start running more sets through Lopez. 

Thus far, he's averaging 19.6 points and 0.4 assists per game while shooting 57.6 percent from the field. It's the most efficient offense he's played, and that's allowed him to score more points per contest than he has since 2010-11, despite taking fewer field-goal attempts than he has since first entering the league. 

Lopez's assist percentage is down. His usage rate is down. Everything but his efficiency is down. 

And because of that, it should be quite clear that he needs more touches. According to NBA.com's statistical databases, Lopez is touching the ball only 36.6 times per game. There are 160 players beating him in that category, which is absolutely unacceptable for such an efficient player. 

Among players touching the ball at least 10 times each contest, Lopez is averaging the most points per half-court touch (0.96). Take a look at how he compares to each of the other starters in Brooklyn: 

Any guesses where the outlier is in that distribution? 

Lopez must start touching the ball more. Even if he doesn't continue adding to his scoring total, he's proven in the past that he can handle more passing responsibilities. 

Brooklyn needs to figure something out if it's going to get off the schneid and start functioning like the elite offensive unit it was made out to be before the season began. Right now, it looks as though that involves feeding the ball to the big man with a lot more frequency. 

Surprising Defensive Play

To be an elite center, a player must be able to function effectively on both ends of the court. No matter how much offense he can provide, it's mitigated by porosity around the basket. 

Historically, a center's primary responsibility has been protecting the hoop and serving as a defensive anchor in the paint, one who can pick up any slack left by his teammates. Offense has typically been gravy on top of an already delicious defensive biscuit. 

However, that hasn't been the case recently. 

In the last few years, there's been more of an emphasis on gleaning offensive production from the 5, and fewer two-way centers have emerged than we saw back in the 1990s—the golden age of the center. But that's slowly changing, as a new breed of young big men are starting to take—apologies in advance for the horrid pun—center stage. 

Could Lopez be leading the charge? 

During the early stage of his career, the Stanford product was a horrific defender. He couldn't stop even mediocre post players, and that severely limited his ability to rise up the ranks of big men, especially because he wasn't a very strong rebounder either. 

Lopez still struggles on the boards, but he's transitioned into—dare I say it—a high-quality defensive big. In 2012-13, he took strides forward as a shot-blocker, but he was still prone to being bodied up on the rare occasions that he rotated properly.

But all the pieces have clicked in 2013-14. 

According to those same databases on NBA.com I referenced in the previous section, Lopez has emerged as an elite rim-protector. Although he's under constant assault—9.0 attempts per game at the rim against him is a number beaten by only nine players in the Association—he's turned away almost everyone who has ventured into his territory. 

Among players facing at least five attempts per game, these are the top players in terms of field-goal percentage allowed: 

1. Joakim Noah, 30.6
2. Brook Lopez, 31.7
3. Tim Duncan, 31.9
4. Anthony Davis, 33.3
5. Roy Hibbert, 33.8
6. Omer Asik, 36.8

Other than Lopez, the list reads like a who's who of great defensive centers. So maybe it's time to start putting him in that category. 

As a whole, Brooklyn has also been a much better defensive unit when he's on the court. Per NBA.com, the Nets are allowing 99.3 points per 100 possessions when Lopez is playing, and the number skyrockets all the way to 108.6 when he sits. That type of disparity is one you might find in a Defensive Player of the Year's resume. 

Compare that to last year.

According to Basketball-Reference, the Nets allowed 2.7 fewer points per 100 possessions when he played. And in 2011-12, they gave up 0.2 more. 

There should be no doubt that Lopez has made incredible progress as a defensive center, and that's allowed him to move firmly into the upper echelon of his position. As a result, he's now, quite clearly, the best player on the Nets, and it's time for them to treat him as such. 

While allowing him to continue serving as the anchor in the paint, Brooklyn must actually trust him. Don't worry about throwing as many help defenders into the colored area of the court when he's being worked against, but instead focus on shutting down individual assignments elsewhere.

Lopez has proven that he can hold his own, but the same can't be said about the overall entity that is the Nets' defense. Basketball-Reference shows they've been a middle-of-the-pack unit, coming in at No. 15 with a defensive rating of 105.2. 

The success of this season may end up boiling down to how much trust Jason Kidd and the coaching staff show in Lopez. Don't worry about him on defense. Allow him to play an even bigger part of the offensive systems. At least let him touch the ball more often and see what happens. 

Changes are needed, and Lopez has shown that he can become the savior. But only if the organization actually lets that happen.