Jaylen Brown's Problem Under the Basket?

[BostonBurbs]

It seems to me that more often than not, when Jaylen drives to the basket, he loses his grip on the ball.  I can not think of another player that has the ball knocked away as often as happens to him.

Any thoughts on this? 

Small hands?  Weak grip on the ball?  Doesn't protect it enough?

Thanks!

[KGBirdBias]

He tends to dribble the ball like it's a tennis ball. Tatum should work with him on his ballhandling because Tatum has great handles.

Forget all the fancy between the leg dribbles. Brown just needs a few go-to moves, crossover so he can create space for his shot or blow by.

[Sophomore]

It seems to me that more often than not, when Jaylen drives to the basket, he loses his grip on the ball.  I can not think of another player that has the ball knocked away as often as happens to him.

Any thoughts on this? 

Small hands?  Weak grip on the ball?  Doesn't protect it enough?

Thanks!

JB's got some great strengths - his leaping ability, speed, body control - that make him a great finisher on a break or semi-break when the D is disorganized. But he has limitations that give him a lot of trouble in traffic. His handle is very, very loose. I've seen him lose the ball above the break in transition because he lifted his head to scan the court and just lost track of where the ball was. He needs a *LOT* of work on his handle with his head up. He's also got a very limited ability to change speed and direction on his drives; he's all long strides and straight lines, which means people can predict where he's going and when he'll get there. Unless they're off-balance on the break or a close-out, it's hard for him to get by clean.

[footey]

His hands seem weak. Noticed that a lot last year, the ball easily stripped.  Needs to work on that some more.

[BudweiserCeltic]

It seems to me that more often than not, when Jaylen drives to the basket, he loses his grip on the ball.  I can not think of another player that has the ball knocked away as often as happens to him.

Any thoughts on this? 

Small hands?  Weak grip on the ball?  Doesn't protect it enough?

Thanks!

This is more of a "poor handles" issue than a "under the basket" issue.

Yes, he has a lot of work to do on that regard.

[tonydelk]

It seems to me that more often than not, when Jaylen drives to the basket, he loses his grip on the ball.  I can not think of another player that has the ball knocked away as often as happens to him.

Any thoughts on this? 

Small hands?  Weak grip on the ball?  Doesn't protect it enough?

Thanks!

JB's got some great strengths - his leaping ability, speed, body control - that make him a great finisher on a break or semi-break when the D is disorganized. But he has limitations that give him a lot of trouble in traffic. His handle is very, very loose. I've seen him lose the ball above the break in transition because he lifted his head to scan the court and just lost track of where the ball was. He needs a *LOT* of work on his handle with his head up. He's also got a very limited ability to change speed and direction on his drives; he's all long strides and straight lines, which means people can predict where he's going and when he'll get there. Unless they're off-balance on the break or a close-out, it's hard for him to get by clean.

Tp.  Good assessment.  We've known since he was drafted these were things he needs to work on.  I will say he is already much improved and I expect the biggest leap to be in year 3.  He can and will improve his handle.  Not many players have the change of direction.  IT and Tatum have it.  It's a gift and not something that I think can be learned.  Most players can develop the eruo step but that herky jerky action is just a gift.

[dreamgreen]

JB is a hard worker that is working on many things to become better and I'm sure he will continue to get better we just have to be patient.

[droopdog7]

Yeah, he went from too good for summer league to looking terrible.  Of course, I was not very impressed with his first game either.  If he's not hitting acrobatic shots, what's left is a bad basketball player.

Not calling him a bust because he has physical tools. As I said after the first game, just has a long long way to go to actually be good.  The better than crowder comments don't look so good today.

[TheSundanceKid]

Yeah, he went from too good for summer league to looking terrible.  Of course, I was not very impressed with his first game either.  If he's not hitting acrobatic shots, what's left is a bad basketball player.

Not calling him a bust because he has physical tools. As I said after the first game, just has a long long way to go to actually be good.  The better than crowder comments don't look so good today.

In both cases it was one game. He's certainly not ready to be the focal piece in the offense. However as a complementary player on the Cs he's definitely improving. He has a good 3 point shot and he's an improving defender, nice slasher, athletic.

We aren't asking him to play with the ball in his hands. It's something he should use summer league to improve but I won't lose sleepif he makes mistakes, that's what summer league is for.

[droopdog7]

Yeah, he went from too good for summer league to looking terrible.  Of course, I was not very impressed with his first game either.  If he's not hitting acrobatic shots, what's left is a bad basketball player.

Not calling him a bust because he has physical tools. As I said after the first game, just has a long long way to go to actually be good.  The better than crowder comments don't look so good today.

In both cases it was one game. He's certainly not ready to be the focal piece in the offense. However as a complementary player on the Cs he's definitely improving. He has a good 3 point shot and he's an improving defender, nice slasher, athletic.

We aren't asking him to play with the ball in his hands. It's something he should use summer league to improve but I won't lose sleepif he makes mistakes, that's what summer league is for.

My point is, too good for summer league was off from the beginning.  This was never the case because that first game was not that impressive. People were calling him to start after the game.  Not even close.

Fact is, you take any good nba starter and they would indeed be so dominant that they would be too good for summer league.  Jaylen is not close to that yet.

[Tr1boy]

Brown is not great in creating his own shot

His offense is good - when the team is in motion

Straight line drives, spot up shooting.

He is not a perfect player but has the tools to be good. Like a Iguadala

[Boris Badenov]

He had one good game and one bad game in Summer League, and too many turnovers playing a ball-handling/creating role for which he is not well-suited.

We have a full season of actual NBA experience in which he wasn't turnover-prone, in the role he had in our offense.

He may get more minutes next year, but I expect that he will play a similar role and have plenty to time to work on his handles over the next couple of years, a la Bradley.

tl;dr: what's the big deal?

[droopdog7]

He had one good game and one bad game in Summer League, and too many turnovers playing a ball-handling/creating role for which he is not well-suited.

We have a full season of actual NBA experience in which he wasn't turnover-prone, in the role he had in our offense.

He may get more minutes next year, but I expect that he will play a similar role and have plenty to time to work on his handles over the next couple of years, a la Bradley.

tl;dr: what's the big deal?

Its not a big deal.  But just the other day the tune was decidedly different for almost everyone. I may have been the only one that said almost exactly, that he will be a bench player for the next year or two then we'll see on Monday.

[kmart12]

I don't see it as a long-term issue because I think he'll improve, but it's a combination of a poor handle and a poor gather on his drives. He loses control of the ball when he picks up steam and he tends to gather in short and quick steps, which limit the amount of time for him to collect the ball and bring it to his chest or chin. There were plenty of instances of this happening last season where he would get stripped at the waist on drives to the hoop.

He is extremely explosive and so if either of these areas improve he'll be nearly impossible to stop when he gets into the lane. Scouts knocked him for his handle coming out of college so it's not a new thing by any stretch.

[DooVoo]

Got to love the Celtic fanbase. One game and he is too good for the summer league and is the second coming of Christ. Now he sucks and his hands are too small or something. What a fanbase.