Lionel Hollins, calling Andrea Bargnani a "breath of fresh air," plans on playing him and Brook Lopez together

Tim Bontemps, in looking at who's doing well in training camp, confirms what others have said about Brook Lopez's game, that the "universal thought" is that Lopez "couldn’t be stopped.". The Nets vet credits his improved game to his rehab-free summer.

"My rhythm and touch, they [already] feel there," Lopez said. "I’ve had to work back into it the past few years because I couldn’t do anything with basketball during the summer.

But Bontemps' other tidbit is that Lionel Hollins thinks Lopez and Andrea Bargnani can play together. In fact, Hollins called Bargnani "a breath of fresh air."  So that BIG picture has relevance. However, you won't be seeing it Monday night. Bargnani is out with a hamstring injury.

"Offensively, those guys are very versatile and they give a lot of problems to the defense, because both can shoot, both can pass, and both can put the ball on the floor," Hollins said. "I like those guys playing together at times."

Bontemps writes the two seven-footers played next to each other for long stretches of the portion of Friday’s scrimmage that was open to the media.

The Post beat reporter also notes "it appears the Nets have a starting group of Jarrett Jack, Johnson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young and Lopez to begin with."

In a posting on his Facebook page, where Bontemps is now placing his "overage" material, he writes about the Nets dramatic increase in athleticism.

Another thing that was easy to see is that this year’s Nets team is far more athletic than in year’s past. At least as of now, this appears to be the second group for the Nets: Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Robinson and Bargnani. While Bargnani isn’t exactly known for being athletic, those other four guys are all good athletes, and that would easily be the most athletic group the Nets would have on the floor together since moving to Brooklyn in 2012.

Bontemps also notes that both Sergey Karasev and Donald Sloan have played well, citing some examples.

• One thing is clear after Nets camp: Brook Lopez can’t be stopped - Tim Bontemps - New York Post