Imagine the Suns clinging to a lead in the final seconds. The opponent's top wing gets loose and is heading for the basket only to find a 7-foot deterrence in the lane. He pulls up early, only to have the 7-footer block his shot to save the day.
With the start of Suns training camp Tuesday at University of Arizona's McKale Center, it was easy for Robin Lopez to picture the moment even in his first NBA practice. Lopez lived it the last time he set foot inside McKale.
Lopez was looking for Wildcats star Chase Budinger on Tuesday to relive how he grazed Budinger's potential game-winning 5-footer with a fingertip for Stanford in February.
There is more looking ahead in Lopez's transition to being a pro center. He is counted on to be the Suns' first rookie to be part of the rotation since Leandro Barbosa and Zarko Cabarkapa five years ago.
Instead of spending life alongside his twin, Brook, he's limited to frequent text messages between Suns and Nets camps.
Instead of sharing the front line with his brother, Lopez is a backup to a legend.
"It's been an invaluable experience,"
Lopez said of his time with Suns center Shaquille O'Neal. "I can't imagine any other rookie big man in the NBA being in a better situation than me. I'm learning from one of the greatest centers of all time. You can pretty much talk to him about anything."
"I've been hearing a lot from him. Even today, I learned so much."
Drafting Lopez 15th in June gives the Suns their first pairing of 7-footers in the rotation since the 1986-87 season, when William Bedford was drafted and joined second-year player Nick Vanos. The 2004-05 duo of Steven Hunter and Jake Voskuhl (6-11) was the next closest.
"We've got two 7-footers who can really cause havoc at both ends of the floor,"
said Suns coach Terry Porter, who plans to have Amaré Stoudemire at center some to play Boris Diaw or Matt Barnes at power forward.
Eased by a familiar arena Tuesday, Lopez set up his smooth start with a summer of work on the summer Suns, the U.S. Select Team and in voluntary workouts. With conditioning in place, he can adjust to the learning curve and rookie chores - such as singing for the team and fetching doughnuts.
"He's a young, energetic guy,"
O'Neal said. "I'm kind of jealous of him because he makes me say I wish I was 20 again. Banging up against me every day is going to make him one of the tops. He's an intelligent guy. He listens. I'm going to give him the same knowledge I gave Amaré. It's obvious that he's going to be the future of this team in 742 days. I'm just going to teach him, and we're going to fight for each other."
O'Neal said Lopez can cover most centers. He will coach him on the four to five "great ones."
"It gives you a lot of confidence playing against somebody that big during practice because you know you're not going to face anybody much larger who knows much more about the game than he does,"
Lopez said.
