I've really been impressed with Brown since the preseason. His ceiling as a scorer looks much higher than I anticipated. He seems to find himself open quite a bit, he is always in the action on a fast break, he creates shots from steals and off the dribble taking it to the hoop. After the summer league I saw no reason to think Brown would be a high scorer, but he looks pretty awesome to me right now. I'm very excited with his progress. I'm now guessing he'll be better than a guy like Derozan within a couple years. If he learns to maintain his concentration and finishes a couple extra dunks/bunnies that he misses per game, he'll score even more on better efficiency.
Ya here is my deal with that. Most of us felt the same way about Brown but after one game we're changing our tunes? Brown looked really good last night and if that's the guy we're getting on most nights this season I'll eat a big plate of crow.
He was up for this game let's see if that continues.
People put way too much stop in summer league. It starts only about what, 6 weeks after the end of the season? How much improvement do people expect to see in that time frame for second year players? Even the preseason has been proven time and time again to tell us almost nothing about the regular season. Systems aren't in place, players aren't always going 100%, players are asked to play outside their expected roles.
Now, on Brown. I've been big fan since the moment he was drafted. If you are picking at #3 go with the guy with the most upside, and I thought brown was that guy. His combination of size and athleticism is hard to find, and honestly it looks like he's gotten both bigger and taller since the draft. How far he goes is gonna depend on how his skills develop. He has to improve his defensive technique, particular in the post where he doesn't always play with the size he has (I think he's better on perimeter guys). He needs to continue to gain defensive awareness, but I think that will come naturally with reps. Don't forget he only got like 17 mins a game last year and only had a short run against starters. I disagree somewhat about his lack of a handle, I think its lose and that leads to turnovers but his general explosiveness combined with some decent moves (spin, eurostep, a developing crossover) allows him to get to the hoop where he's' actually a pretty decent finisher. needs to tighten that handle but even with I where it is it's obvious he can get into the paint which gives him some upside as a scorer. If his three point shot comes along than he could score 20+ a night just with three and attacking off close outs + transition. He's never gonna be a point guard like passer, buts he's not selfish and can make the obvious pass and when he's been given ball handling opportunities in off/pree season he's dropped a couple nice dimes so I don't think he'll be a negative as a passer. So really, I don't see any HUGE deficine or areas where you say "He's hopeless," it depends on what skills he improves and how much they improve. I think he has the right attitude and a strong work ethic and I hope he meets his potential because I see some leadership ability there.
For this season all I want is for him to be aggressive. Go at the hoop hard, improve your shooting, bring energy, work on your defense. That it, show you are improving. There's no free agent to lure this offseason, and with GH done likely no chance of beating Cleveland (I think we still make the second round, but TOR/WAS/MIL would be a tough win). Its not always gonna be pretty, Brown is gonna be asked to do more than we can reasonably expect and that leads to ugly play sometimes, but I'm optimistic.