Shannon Brown

I know not a lot of you may know me because of the hiatus I've taken from s2, but long story short, I'm a Shannon Brown fanatic. From his days at Proviso East HS with Dee Brown, when he was rated as one of the top three recruits in the nation (only behind LeBron and Deng), I've been one of his biggest supporters. He's never been in a great situation since high school though. His first three years at Michigan State were characterized by playing second fiddle to the duo of Maurice Ager (now of the Mavs) and Paul Davis (now of the Clippers). State's offense never revolved around him, when it should have, and he rarely got plays called for him as a result. Despite this, his junior year he was by far the most talented and productive player on the squad, even in a lesser role. His rookie year with the Cavs was disappointing. Whether he was really hampered by petty injuries or was kept from playing by a Gibson-biased coaching staff is debatable, but regardless of what your opinion of that is, it's undeniable that he had the potential to do a lot more last season than he did. Into his sophomore year, Brown was again burried by the coaches, but finally given the chance at playing time as of late, he's proving his worth. His 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists against New Jersey was followed up with a 13 point, 3 rebound, 3 assist effort the next day in less playing time against the Wizards. He's one of the most talented players in his age group (maybe the most athletic), has a very well-rounded game, and if given consistent playing time, would more than likely 'slow his game down' and would force less on offense.</p>

So basically, the point of this thread, aside from general SB6 talk, is to basically pose the questions: why is Gibson ahead of Brown in the rotation, why does Brown not get any playing time (even with the King out), and better yet, if he was essentially drafted by the owner and is not a coach's favorite, then why not trade him to an environment where he could be more productive (a lot of teams would definitely insert him into their rotation)?</p>

 

On the Nets broadcast the other night, they were speculating that Brown was being showcased because they needed his spot for Varejao.</p>

That turned out to be untrue, as they released Nichols instead.</p>

Was there a chance they were going to cut Brown? I was surprised to hear that.</p>

 

I was never a fan of Brown, still really am not. Glad the Nets didn't take him.</p>

 

Brown is a dime a dozen marginal NBA wing.</p>

Gibson is ahead of him because he is a better player</p>

 

Brown's more of a combo guard than a wing, and given his age (potential), athleticism, and current abilities, I'd hardly call him marginal.

Gibson's a one-trick pony, a 6'0" two-guard who only scores in bulk because of the focus on LeBron (and more recently a bulk of plays calling his number --- a byproduct of James' injury and the opportunities he had last year that Brown didn't). He can't run the point worth a damn though (as evinced during his days as a Longhorn when he practically ran the program into the ground singlehandedly).</p>

But is that just it? Just "I don't like him" or "Gibson is better"? No real points about his game that you find flaws in, versus Gibson for example?</p>

 

I think Gibson gets more minutes, because the Cavaliers are a supposed contender with a fundamentally flawed roster. They can't really retool with all that salary (they don't want to risk upsetting Lebron either), so they go with a proven contributor in Gibson over a potential one in Brown. It also helps that Mike Brown is a crappy coach.

For the record, I'm with you on Gibson and Brown (although I'm not as high on Shannon as you are). Gibson's such a one-dimensional player and he's stuck at the 1 when he has no business at that position. Brown really hasn't been given a fair chance to demonstrate what he can do.</p>

 

There is no point in attempting to debate Shannon Brown with you. Once someone places a player on a pedestal, like you have with Brown, it is a completely pointless exercise to debate said player with that person.</p>

Gibson is better at his one trick than Brown is at any of his, in your eyes, multiple tricks. There are tons of physically impressive guys that don't make it in the NBA. Until Brown improves his decision making abilities, he will remain a marginal NBA player.</p>

 

I want to argue some of those points, but I'll accept the general premise of your post and assume I'm putting him on a pedestal.</p>

But regardless, Brown did well again tonight. He didn't have a spectacular night, but he proved he could be a valuable contributer in this league, with a 15 point (6-12 FG), 2 rebound, 3 assist, 2 steal outing against the Bobcats.</p>

His performance included this NBA TV "dunk of the night"posterization -</p>

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/pop...&src=sports</p>

Disagree onhis overall abilities as a basketball player all you want, but it's undeniable that Baby Dwyane is one of the most athletic players in the league.</p>