Lopez's fits make him fit

¹²³ · May 14, 2010

Suns center Robin Lopez must be about ready to play because his disdain for media interviews and moments of practice rage are back.

Lopez would have probably already returned to action if the San Antonio series had lasted any longer than it did. But the Suns gave themselves a break with the week between series providing several days of full-court scrimmages to help Lopez's conditioning, his lone remaining vulnerability since going out with a bulging disk after March 26.

But this is no easy return. Not only has Lopez not played for seven weeks but he is making he is a 22-year-old getting his first taste of NBA playoff action in the Western Conference finals. He is barely more than rookie with 111 career appearances.

"He's crucial to this series because of his length and size," Suns forward Jared Dudley said. "He's looked good out there."

And by good, he means big, mobile and menacing.

And the temper?

"Still there," Dudley said with eyes widened. "It's still there. That's good, though. You want your bigs to have a temper. I don't mind him fouling and messing someone up. That's a part of the game. You want your bigs like that."

He is supposed to be an interior intimidator, after all. At the same time, he has taken down a practice court playoff banner in frustration and had to be chastised by the staff for blowing his lid during practice action. He is extremely competitive. The broken-door incident came after losing a two-on-two game.

Then, it was Jarron Collins as his adversary. Now, it's Dwayne Jones, who declares Lopez "ready to go."

"He's definitely got a lot better in the past week or two since we've been going at it," Jones said. "It's literally starting to get full blows.

"He can't push me around so I'm having a little fun with it. Well, I'm having fun. I have fun getting under people's skin."

Barring an unforeseen setback, Lopez will start Game 1 on Monday.
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Lopez's fits make him fit

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