No Finesse Here

Shapecity · Oct 14, 2008

Zero.

That's what chance Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown would have given that power forward Andre Brown makes the opening-day roster. Andre Brown was good as gone before Friday's exhibition in Memphis, Tenn.

Much can change in four days. The free-agent power forward grabbed nine rebounds against the Grizzlies and demonstrated a rugged presence around the basket.

He's still no lock for the regular-season roster, but what Andre Brown delivered, the Bobcats desperately need.

“We've been begging for guys to set screens, rebound and play defense,'' Larry Brown said Sunday. “He's trying to do that.''

This is a classic example of skill set-meets-deficiency: The new coach has concluded too many of his players are the same guy: A jump shooter who values finesse over toughness.

Andre Brown isn't confused for a finesse player. In hockey, he'd be labeled a “goon,'' and that wouldn't bother him.

“We've got great shooters, we've got great scorers,'' Andre Brown said Sunday. “He looks at me as that guy who wants to do the dirty work. I want to do those things to help the team – getting loose balls, getting rebounds, taking hard fouls. All the little things, sacrificing my body for the team.''

The Bobcats play their third preseason exhibition tonight, in Atlanta against the Hawks. Larry Brown wants to trim the roster after that, and it was clear Andre Brown would have been among the cuts.

That's changed and a glance at the statistics says why: Andre Brown has 12 rebounds in 30 minutes. The starting power forward, Sean May, has four rebounds in 36 minutes.

There are reasons for that: May missed nearly a year, following micro-fracture surgery on his right knee. He is still working up his conditioning to NBA level. However, Brown is intriguing, because he is so willing to do what others refuse.

There's a hunger in Andre Brown's approach, and it's understandable. He traveled the world to make a living in basketball, playing in Italy, Serbia-and-Montenegro, the Philippines and South Korea. He once picked a fight with a teammate to get cut, after a Serbian team refused to pay him but held him to a contract.

He landed on two NBA teams – the then-Seattle Supersonics and the Memphis Grizzlies – but never for more than 38 games. What's kept such a rugged guy from making the NBA?

“I don't know – you'd have to ask them that,'' Andre Brown said. “But I know about sacrificing my body for this team. That's what (the coach) has asked, and that's what I'll do.''
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Source: Charlotte Observer

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No Finesse Here

Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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No Finesse Here

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