CHAPEL HILL - In eight NBA preseason games, Elton Brand has already taken on power forwards Antonio McDyess, Dale Davis, Kevin Garnett and Anthony Mason, and Chris Webber would have been added to that list if he were healthy.
As Duke's former national player of the year knows, there will be no more nights when he can score at will against undersized opponents.
"You play 82 games and every night there's going to be a top player.... That's the biggest difference," Brand said after his Chicago Bulls fell to the Charlotte Hornets Friday night in an exhibition game at the Dean Smith Center. "I look forward to it, though. I look forward to the challenge."
Brand will face many more challenges this season as the first pick of the NBA draft and the new star of a team that went 13-37 a year ago to kick off the post-Michael Jordan era. The Bulls open their 1999-2000 campaign Wednesday against the defending Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks, and within a week they might lose as many games (two) as the Blue Devils dropped all last season.
So far, though, Chicago coach Tim Floyd has been more than satisfied with Brand's transition
"We've been very pleased," he said. "He's been more than what we expected. He's always been a good learner and he's always been a good competitor, which he's been here. But he's rebounding the ball well for us and scoring in variety of different ways. He's still learning the offense.
"We've been pleased with how he's handled the notoriety and the pressures of being the overall No. 1 pick. He's been a great teammate. He's a willing learner; he really wants to do well. You tell him something one time and he retains it. Whatever Mike [Krzyzewski] told us was right-you can tell he's been very well-coached."
Brand had what Floyd called his best game of the preseason Friday as the Bulls fell 103-89. The 6-foot-8, 260-lb. forward scored a team-high 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds in 35 minutes. The Hornets struggled to stop Brand once he got the ball, double-teaming him frequently and sending him to the free-throw line eight times.
The rookie's performance impressed Charlotte coach Paul Silas, a former NBA power forward who stands 14th on the all-time career rebounding list.
"He really knows how to use his body," Silas said. "He posts up well, and he can run the floor and rebound. He's a really good player. All you can say is that at the tender age of 20, he can only get better. He took on a pretty good player tonight in [Anthony Mason] and did a credible job."
Brand said he was happy to be back in his old stomping grounds and to see some familiar faces in the stands. The first Blue Devil ever to turn pro early has kept in touch with former teammates Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier, as well as fellow NBA rookies Will Avery and Corey Maggette.
"I definitely miss Duke," Brand said, "all my friends, the team, the coaches, just the good time I had at school."
The Peekskill, N.Y., native, who signed a three-year, $10.7 million deal in July, has already used his new-found wealth to relocate his mother and older brother to Chicago with him. Brand said he's adapting well to the independence and increased responsibilities of NBA life, but the most difficult adjustment might playing for a losing team.
"It's a big change," he said. "You just have to stay positive and keep trying to go out there to win every night."
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