Shannon Brown –Making the Most of His PT

I figure by now there are a number of Lakers fans trying to figure out who, and where this Shannon Brown kid came from. The guy who seemingly has taken over the first-guard-off-the-bench role.

I read a blip from Kobe reacting to a dunk Brown made after the shot clock sounded versus the Atlanta Hawks:

“Me and (Derek Fisher) were talking about it a little bit after the game…That could be one of the most athletic plays I’ve ever seen just because the guy was on the bench the whole game, and the first play he gets in he dunks on somebody…It’s pretty incredible.”

Who is he?

He is a super-athletic guard who can defend, and get up!

Now, let me take you back to draft day in the NBA. The year was 2006.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were in need of a point guard, as were the Los Angeles Lakers.

The weeks leading up to the draft, all I kept reading was that the Cavs would take UCLA point guard, Jordan Farmar, with the 25th pick, one ahead of the Lakers. It was a shame because after watching UCLA all year long, I wanted to see Farmar in a Lakers uniform.

That would leave the 6′4, 205 lb Michigan State guard, Shannon Brown, as the best available for the Lakers to use their 26th pick. This was fine as the Lakers really liked the way he defended in college. As luck would have it, the Cavs passed on Jordan – whom most would agree will be a fine player in this league – despite the teams’ clear need to find a point guard to help out LeBron, and instead went for an undersized shooting guard in Brown.

That should tell you a little something about this athlete.

Personally, he reminds me a lot of Trevor Ariza, and found his way to LA in a similar fashion. When Ariza was initially traded for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans, no one really thought much of the athletic small forward and figured we were trying to shed some cash off the books. The lengthy forward had yet to do much in the limited time he could get on the court in Orlando and New York, but that was more due to his inability to stay healthy, than his abilities on the court.

Now, the 23 year old Ariza finds himself contributing in the starting lineup for a 60+ win team.

Meanwhile, Brown came over as more of a throw-in for Vladimir Radmonovic. Even I expected #3 pick in the 2007 draft, Adam Morrison, to be the main part of that trade. So far, looks like I was wrong.

Sure enough, Phil Jackson has found playing time for Brown (putting him in ahead of Farmar, ironically) and the young, athletic combo guard performed very well in the past few games.

He is the type of big point guard Phil loves. The triangle does not require a true point guard and with Kobe, Lamar, Luke, Ariza, and others capable of bringing the ball up, Brown can focus on things outside of trying to be something he is not:  The primary ball handler. However, he is athletic, like Ariza, and proven more than capable of playing defense on opposing point guards.

I was not surprised to see him spin and finish on the break versus Portland, for as I said before, he is an athlete. What has been a pleasant surprise is his ability to knock down threes with some consistency.

I first took notice of the kid when he lit us up for 14 in an overtime win for the Bobcats back in February in STAPLES Center. He shot 6-11, including two threes in only 22 minutes off the bench.

With Farmar really not able to do much of anything the second half of this season (it could be due to the fact he came back a month earlier than expected from December knee surgery), it is a great sign to see that there might be some hope for the Bench Mob after all. The ray of light coming from a very unexpected source.

In a three game stretch (vs SAC, DEN, POR), he hit 9-13 from the field including 4-4 from three. He had 24 points, four assists, six rebounds, three steals, and only one turnover in 45 minutes over those three games.

Even more impressive is the fact he can actually bring the ball up, finish in the open court, and still manage to play solid defense on Beno Udrih, Chauncey Billups, and Steve Blake. He had a +16 in Sacramento, +14 vs Denver, and -1 in Portland.

During that same stretch, Farmar had gone 1-12 with seven points and six assists in 34 total minutes. He had a +12, +4, and -1 vs Sacramento, Denver, and Portland, respectively.

While he tailed off in the Memphis game (3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers on 1-4 shooting), he has shown a nice all around game, and who knows; he may have worked his way into Phil’s playoff rotation.

Let us hope he can bring the Lakers more luck in the playoffs than his alma matter had in the NCAA championship game.