FIBA World Cup [USA vs. TUR: 9/3, 8:30 AM EST (ESPN+)]

[gift]

I didn't watch the Turkey game but against the Czech Republic Brown looked very good. Not putting up stats but affecting the game.

I'm surprised if he really did look lost against Turkey.

[Fierce1]

Seeing all this negativity over Jaylen Brown, I predict that he will average 16-18 PPG on 50/40/75 (give or take a few percentage points) shooting next season barring Brad Stevens still putting the shortest leash possible for a rotation player on him.

If Brown will average 16-18 ppg this coming season, I will gladly admit to being wrong about Jaylen Brown.

But there's just so many reasons why I don't think Brown can achieve that.

It's a good thing that the season starts next month.

So that the issue will be settled.

The player that I think will definitely average 16-18 ppg is Gordon Hayward.

If that happens then that means less shots and less minutes for Brown.

Remember, Smart will also play some SG along with Carsen Edwards.

[Fierce1]

I didn't watch the Turkey game but against the Czech Republic Brown looked very good. Not putting up stats but affecting the game.

I'm surprised if he really did look lost against Turkey.

Here's the thing, Brown only played 6 minutes, all in the 1st half.

Pop never let Brown play in the 2nd half.

If Brown is really good then Pop is stupid for not letting Brown play in the 2nd half.

It's very clear that Brown did not get to play in the 2nd half because he was not productive in the 1st half.

[Somebody]

Seeing all this negativity over Jaylen Brown, I predict that he will average 16-18 PPG on 50/40/75 (give or take a few percentage points) shooting next season barring Brad Stevens still putting the shortest leash possible for a rotation player on him.

If Brown will average 16-18 ppg this coming season, I will gladly admit to being wrong about Jaylen Brown.

But there's just so many reasons why I don't think Brown can achieve that.

It's a good thing that the season starts next month.

So that the issue will be settled.

The player that I think will definitely average 16-18 ppg is Gordon Hayward.

If that happens then that means less shots and less minutes for Brown.

Remember, Smart will also play some SG along with Carsen Edwards.

I think Hayward will probably be able to do that, but how well he does that will affect Brown imo. If he's doing that rather inefficiently I can see Brad maintaining that incredibly tight leash on Brown, which will probably ruin his season again.  But yeah I think Brown can definitely average 16-18 PPG on good efficiency plus great defense given that he has a coach that trusts him enough.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I didn't watch the Turkey game but against the Czech Republic Brown looked very good. Not putting up stats but affecting the game.

I'm surprised if he really did look lost against Turkey.

Here's the thing, Brown only played 6 minutes, all in the 1st half.

Pop never let Brown play in the 2nd half.

If Brown is really good then Pop is stupid for not letting Brown play in the 2nd half.

It's very clear that Brown did not get to play in the 2nd half because he was not productive in the 1st half.

False conclusion. That's one possible explanation, but that's not what my eyes saw.

[Sophomore]

I didn't watch the Turkey game but against the Czech Republic Brown looked very good. Not putting up stats but affecting the game.

I'm surprised if he really did look lost against Turkey.

Here's the thing, Brown only played 6 minutes, all in the 1st half.

Pop never let Brown play in the 2nd half.

If Brown is really good then Pop is stupid for not letting Brown play in the 2nd half.

It's very clear that Brown did not get to play in the 2nd half because he was not productive in the 1st half.

From the box score, it looks like Middleton was finally hitting some shots; maybe that was it?

[TDurden]

Overtime. 2/3 foul shots made by Tatum.

Puzzling that Brown has not played any minutes in 2nd half.

It's not puzzling because Jaylen Brown looks lost out there.

He has no identity when he's on the court for Team USA.

It also didn't help that he kept missing FTs.

He really doesn't look lost. He may not have the feel of Middleton or Barnes yet, but he was making a lot of plays when he was out there.. He played really well in his minutes today. In fact, it was when he was in that the team got up by 15. He consistently made several good offensive plays that led to great looks for team USA.

A few times Turkey players tried to take charges on him when he physicalled his way to the basket. They were starting to get a bead on his driving.

I think it came down to Pop preferring Barnes and Middleton against Illyasova and Erden when they went small ball. Both guys have more experience and have a better feel for defending bigs.

Jaylen is already behind Tatum and the other lottery picks of 2016, like Murray and Hield, when it comes to development.

Tatum came out of college highly developed, Brown did not. As for Murray and Hield, you can have Murray, I will be happy with Brown. And Hield is almost 4 whole years older than Brown. Let's see what 22 year old Brown is like when he is 27, like Hield will be in December.

There's also that problem of Brown on a contract year.

Murray got 34m per year.

Is Brown worth that?

If the Celts don't think Brown is worth that then when Brown is 27 years old, he'll be playing for another team.

And I'm also confused why the Celts used a lottery pick Langford when the Celts already have Jaylen.

I think you probably know the answer already, but...

It's because Celtics management is already bracing for a future without Jaylen Brown.  The two most likely scenarios are that A.  The Celtics can find a trade partner this season that will give up the exorbitant amount Danny Ainge has repeatedly asked for in return for Brown (think about how unlikely this is after what they've already passed up) or B.  Free agency comes along and another team with cap space and a long-term outlook offers Brown a deal that the Celtics can't/won't match because of cap implications (most likely scenario IMO).     

Some people really believe the Celtics are going to go into the luxury tax to resign Brown next year, but I just can't see them doing that for a guy who was benched last season in favor of a hobbled and emotionally fragile Gordon Hayward.  Hayward is taking up more than a quarter of the Celtics' salary cap for the next two seasons and they've shown an obvious affinity for him over Brown.

[Fierce1]

Seeing all this negativity over Jaylen Brown, I predict that he will average 16-18 PPG on 50/40/75 (give or take a few percentage points) shooting next season barring Brad Stevens still putting the shortest leash possible for a rotation player on him.

If Brown will average 16-18 ppg this coming season, I will gladly admit to being wrong about Jaylen Brown.

But there's just so many reasons why I don't think Brown can achieve that.

It's a good thing that the season starts next month.

So that the issue will be settled.

The player that I think will definitely average 16-18 ppg is Gordon Hayward.

If that happens then that means less shots and less minutes for Brown.

Remember, Smart will also play some SG along with Carsen Edwards.

I think Hayward will probably be able to do that, but how well he does that will affect Brown imo. If he's doing that rather inefficiently I can see Brad maintaining that incredibly tight leash on Brown, which will probably ruin his season again.  But yeah I think Brown can definitely average 16-18 PPG on good efficiency plus great defense given that he has a coach that trusts him enough.

It's a good thing that we won't have to wait long.

The season starts next month.

I will gladly admit to being wrong about Jaylen if he averages 16-18 ppg this coming season.

[Fierce1]

Overtime. 2/3 foul shots made by Tatum.

Puzzling that Brown has not played any minutes in 2nd half.

It's not puzzling because Jaylen Brown looks lost out there.

He has no identity when he's on the court for Team USA.

It also didn't help that he kept missing FTs.

He really doesn't look lost. He may not have the feel of Middleton or Barnes yet, but he was making a lot of plays when he was out there.. He played really well in his minutes today. In fact, it was when he was in that the team got up by 15. He consistently made several good offensive plays that led to great looks for team USA.

A few times Turkey players tried to take charges on him when he physicalled his way to the basket. They were starting to get a bead on his driving.

I think it came down to Pop preferring Barnes and Middleton against Illyasova and Erden when they went small ball. Both guys have more experience and have a better feel for defending bigs.

Jaylen is already behind Tatum and the other lottery picks of 2016, like Murray and Hield, when it comes to development.

Tatum came out of college highly developed, Brown did not. As for Murray and Hield, you can have Murray, I will be happy with Brown. And Hield is almost 4 whole years older than Brown. Let's see what 22 year old Brown is like when he is 27, like Hield will be in December.

There's also that problem of Brown on a contract year.

Murray got 34m per year.

Is Brown worth that?

If the Celts don't think Brown is worth that then when Brown is 27 years old, he'll be playing for another team.

And I'm also confused why the Celts used a lottery pick Langford when the Celts already have Jaylen.

I think you probably know the answer already, but...

It's because Celtics management is already bracing for a future without Jaylen Brown.  The two most likely scenarios are that A.  The Celtics can find a trade partner this season that will give up the exorbitant amount Danny Ainge has repeatedly asked for in return for Brown (think about how unlikely this is after what they've already passed up) or B.  Free agency comes along and another team with cap space and a long-term outlook offers Brown a deal that the Celtics can't/won't match because of cap implications (most likely scenario IMO).     

Some people really believe the Celtics are going to go into the luxury tax to resign Brown next year, but I just can't see them doing that for a guy who was benched last season in favor of a hobbled and emotionally fragile Gordon Hayward.  Hayward is taking up more than a quarter of the Celtics' salary cap for the next two seasons and they've shown an obvious affinity for him over Brown.

It's very obvious Hayward is Brad's boy.

That's why I don't think Brown can thrive when he's up against Hayward.

If Hayward returns to All-Star form then Brown will be redundant.

[Fierce1]

I didn't watch the Turkey game but against the Czech Republic Brown looked very good. Not putting up stats but affecting the game.

I'm surprised if he really did look lost against Turkey.

Here's the thing, Brown only played 6 minutes, all in the 1st half.

Pop never let Brown play in the 2nd half.

If Brown is really good then Pop is stupid for not letting Brown play in the 2nd half.

It's very clear that Brown did not get to play in the 2nd half because he was not productive in the 1st half.

False conclusion. That's one possible explanation, but that's not what my eyes saw.

There will be more games  for Team USA.

But right now, Jaylen is just averaging 1.5 ppg.

So let's wait and see.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I didn't watch the Turkey game but against the Czech Republic Brown looked very good. Not putting up stats but affecting the game.

I'm surprised if he really did look lost against Turkey.

Here's the thing, Brown only played 6 minutes, all in the 1st half.

Pop never let Brown play in the 2nd half.

If Brown is really good then Pop is stupid for not letting Brown play in the 2nd half.

It's very clear that Brown did not get to play in the 2nd half because he was not productive in the 1st half.

False conclusion. That's one possible explanation, but that's not what my eyes saw.

There will be more games  for Team USA.

But right now, Jaylen is just averaging 1.5 ppg.

So let's wait and see.

Again, false conclusion. Focus on the process, not the results. Brown has played really well so far in inconsistent minutes.

[ozgod]

I didn't watch the Turkey game but against the Czech Republic Brown looked very good. Not putting up stats but affecting the game.

I'm surprised if he really did look lost against Turkey.

Here's the thing, Brown only played 6 minutes, all in the 1st half.

Pop never let Brown play in the 2nd half.

If Brown is really good then Pop is stupid for not letting Brown play in the 2nd half.

It's very clear that Brown did not get to play in the 2nd half because he was not productive in the 1st half.

False conclusion. That's one possible explanation, but that's not what my eyes saw.

There will be more games  for Team USA.

But right now, Jaylen is just averaging 1.5 ppg.

So let's wait and see.

Again, false conclusion. Focus on the process, not the results. Brown has played really well so far in inconsistent minutes.

I finally got a chance to watch the game. I'm not sure about the others who watched it as well, but my thought is that Pop sat Jaylen for the entire second half because it didn't look like he was fully engaged in the game in the first half, particularly late in the second quarter. I'm guessing it was 3 things: 1) Jaylen tried to go 3-on-1 on a fast break opportunity and missed the shot with trailers right behind him; 2) the ball was kicked out to him in the corner with 5 secs to go on the shot clock and he didn't seem to be aware of it, he dribbled the ball a couple of times and then seemed to realize and passed it out someone (I think it was Mitchell) who had to take a last second off balance 3 which missed; and 3) threw the ball away when trying to bounce pass it to Harris. To be fair to Jaylen, 3) seemed to be more of an honest mistake but Pop didn't look happy with 1) and 2).

I personally didn't think it was anything major, we've all seen Jaylen when he seems to be disconnected to what's going on on the court just doesn't seem with it and gets yelled at by his Celtics teammates for doing something boneheaded. Maybe Pop wasn't as used to it. In any case if Jayson has to sit for an extended length of time Jaylen should get his opportunity.

[ozgod]

On another note, Brazil's coach Aleksandar Petrovic (brother of Drazen) threw some major shade at Giannis after Brazil's 1 pt win over Greece:

“Why this sport is wonderful? On the other side, you have a guy who won the MVP, he’s 23 years old and who stops him tonight? The guy who is 40 years old and kicks his ass on the court! That’s basketball!” [Referring to 39 year old Alex Garcia who defended Giannis and last played in the NBA when Giannis was 10 years old]

"We showed that we have several players who can stop Antetokounmpo," Petrovic said. "But yesterday I was more occupied with Sloukas and [Georgios] Printezis, and that's what happened today. When I was preparing this game, a lot of people talked and joked about how to stop Antetokounmpo. I had for six months in my head, since the semifinals between Toronto and Milwaukee, how to stop Antetokounmpo. The problem tonight for us was Sloukas and Printezis." [On who his defensive priorities in the Greece team were]

[RockinRyA]

Overtime. 2/3 foul shots made by Tatum.

Puzzling that Brown has not played any minutes in 2nd half.

It's not puzzling because Jaylen Brown looks lost out there.

He has no identity when he's on the court for Team USA.

It also didn't help that he kept missing FTs.

He really doesn't look lost. He may not have the feel of Middleton or Barnes yet, but he was making a lot of plays when he was out there.. He played really well in his minutes today. In fact, it was when he was in that the team got up by 15. He consistently made several good offensive plays that led to great looks for team USA.

A few times Turkey players tried to take charges on him when he physicalled his way to the basket. They were starting to get a bead on his driving.

I think it came down to Pop preferring Barnes and Middleton against Illyasova and Erden when they went small ball. Both guys have more experience and have a better feel for defending bigs.

Jaylen is already behind Tatum and the other lottery picks of 2016, like Murray and Hield, when it comes to development.

Tatum came out of college highly developed, Brown did not. As for Murray and Hield, you can have Murray, I will be happy with Brown. And Hield is almost 4 whole years older than Brown. Let's see what 22 year old Brown is like when he is 27, like Hield will be in December.

Not true.

Tatum and Brown all played just 1 year of college basketball.
So why would Tatum be more highly developed when both of them played just 1 year of college basketball?

Oh boy. Is this a joke or you really think guys have the same development after college?

[ederson]

On another note, Brazil's coach Aleksandar Petrovic (brother of Drazen) threw some major shade at Giannis after Brazil's 1 pt win over Greece:

“Why this sport is wonderful? On the other side, you have a guy who won the MVP, he’s 23 years old and who stops him tonight? The guy who is 40 years old and kicks his ass on the court! That’s basketball!” [Referring to 39 year old Alex Garcia who defended Giannis and last played in the NBA when Giannis was 10 years old]

"We showed that we have several players who can stop Antetokounmpo," Petrovic said. "But yesterday I was more occupied with Sloukas and [Georgios] Printezis, and that's what happened today. When I was preparing this game, a lot of people talked and joked about how to stop Antetokounmpo. I had for six months in my head, since the semifinals between Toronto and Milwaukee, how to stop Antetokounmpo. The problem tonight for us was Sloukas and Printezis." [On who his defensive priorities in the Greece team were]

he is known to run his mouth.  Lucky for  him Greece gave him every right to be cocky.