The Nets are hoping that Brook Lopez, their first-round pick from June's draft, can develop into an NBA-quality big man.

Lopez, taken with the 10th overall pick, is very polished offensively but New Jersey is in dire need of defense in the paint.

"You just worry about the facets of the game that you can control," Lopez said. "Defensively, you're either in the right position or you make a mistake, your guy blows by you and makes a bucket."

Coach Lawrence Frank believes that Lopez has the talent and smarts to be an NBA starter.

"The great thing about Brook is he's a very willing learner," Frank said. "He really, really cares. He cares when things aren't going right for him, and that's the first step. Then what do you do about it? You work at it and improve. So I think that he's going to put forth the amount of work that it takes to be a very, very good player."

"I definitely want to be that guy," Lopez said. "I've always wanted to be that post presence for my team and I've always tried to work to get there. So right now I'm just concentrating on doing whatever coach requires me to do to become that presence."