<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND - As easy as it is to forget about how young Kwame Brown is, the Lakers' forward won't turn 24 for another week even though he is playing in his fifth NBA season. So when Phil Jackson was asked about his young players who have hit a wall, the Lakers coach included guard Smush Parker on his list but not Brown, even though Parker is a year older than his teammate. Brown's struggles continue to stem from lost confidence, Jackson said, and an anxiety that comes as soon as the former No. 1 overall pick gets his first touch in a game. "Some of it I think has to do with a desire to do well," Jackson said. "He brings a little bit of tension or anxiety to the game. So we're trying to get him to relax a little bit and get into the game and really feel like he's seated in the game." Jackson watched as Brown missed a 3-foot shot early in the second quarter of Wednesday's loss to Portland because he faded away from the basket. Brown finished with one point and two rebounds in the game, missing three of four free throws. "He was almost falling down by the time he got the ball up and it was a point-blank layup," Jackson said. "Those are the things that are like turnovers to a ballclub - it's a disappointment - especially when you use execution to get that kind of a shot." Jackson talked to Brown about keeping his balance as well as his awareness. Brown was hit in the head with the ball in the third quarter when he didn't anticipate a pass from Parker. There also was a distinction Jackson drew in talking about Brown between players who star in practice and those who can do it in games. "There's a lot of guys we say are 11 o'clock players and a lot of guys that are 7:30 players in this game," Jackson said. "It's the tension of the game, the crowd, the referees, yet you want to convert the players that play well in practice to be able to perform. It's a big deal." </div> link: http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_3567706
He's been in the NBA too long now to be anxious. If he wants to prove himself, the time to do it is now. The next 10 games will make or break our season. Ronny is helping him with his confidence, so hopefully he starts performing to at least 8/8 instead of his 6/6 or whatever it is. He played well be his standards against the Warriors, hopefully he can continue his run against the Spurs and Pistons. He's known for occasionally having big games against established stars, we have 3 games against Tim Duncan and Rasheed/Ben Wallace. I'm hoping he comes out huge in one of them games and 8/8 in the others.
It doesn't matter how long he's been in the NBA. His first two years in Washington, Michael Jordan DEMOLISHED his confidence. This was crushing to Kwame, as he looked to Michael as a father-figure because he didn't have a father. His birth father beat his mother and served time in jail. Kwame depended on Michael, what did Mike do? He called him a "fa**ot," "pu**y," and a "bi**h." That is some way to build confidence in the first HS ever taken first in the lottery. Second, his head coach HATED him. Doug Collins never trusted Kwame from the get-go. He was extra-critical of him in practice and removed him from the game after EVERY SINGLE MISTAKE he would make. That's why you see his confidence diminish today when he doens't get off to a bad start. Kwame has every right to be anxious, he's been through a lot of s**t in his life, not just his career. His career was looking so positive until he broke his foot a couple of off-season's ago. He's finally getting that father-figure in Phil, Kobe, and Turiaf. All we need from Kwame is defense and rebounds, which he's starting to be more consistent on.
Leave Kwame Alone. And plzz lets not Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke Luke walton when he comes in for odom cuz odom thinks hes being booed everytime.
