LINKOver his past 12 games, Brown is averaging 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds and has worked his way back into the starting lineup. He has led his team in scoring four times this season.
And the Wizards, parked near the bottom of the standings all season, have won three of four games.
Perhaps he isn't quite putting up All-Star numbers yet, but consider this: Brown led the Wizards in scoring a grand total of just once in his first two seasons -- it happened to be Michael Jordan's final game -- and he mostly languished on the bench while averaging 6.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Why the sudden turnaround for the first player to go No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft straight out of high school? There are a variety of reasons:
* Brown is hanging around the low post. He has been playing center when the Wizards go to a smaller lineup, but he's also staying in the paint more when at power forward.
"I love it. It has a lot to do with it," Brown said. "On the wing, I'm not a consistent shooter -- 15, 20 feet away from the basket. The more comfortable I feel in the paint, the better team we are."
* Coach Eddie Jordan is giving Brown a chance. Michael Jordan and former coach Doug Collins often got fed up with Brown's teenage mind-set and would banish him to the bench for long stretches. Collins later admitted he didn't do a good job of handling such a young player. Brown's telling admission he's "not as jittery" says it all.
"I'm not afraid to make mistakes," Brown said. "I can make a mistake, and Coach will allow me to make up for it with my play. I won't find myself on the bench as a result."
* The Wizards are having to make do without injured guards Jerry Stackhouse and Gilbert Arenas, the two players they thought would lead them this season. Someone has to fill the void.
"We don't have that one superstar," Brown said. "With Jerry out and Gilbert out, those are the guys who can put up big numbers."
* Brown is growing up. He'll be 22 in March and has adjusted to the NBA lifestyle. This is his third season, the year players drafted straight from high school often make the big jump. Brown's early struggles were magnified more than others' because he was the first taken at No. 1.
Wiz Kid -- Kwame Finally Getting It
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Joined
·
1,875 Posts
like they said, it's all about consistency.
Joined
·
12,236 Posts
Kwame's finally proving those haters wrong with stellar, consistent play.
All he really needed was consistent playing time, which he never really received. He has a nice strong NBA body, comparable to Jermaine O'Neal's frame. He's still very young, and is still oozing with all that potential people saw when he was picked first overall. I mean that was just an amazing performance shutting down the best big man in the East, and leading his team to a win over arguably the best team in the league.
The Wizards have a tremendous young core of G.Arenas-L.Hughes-J.Hayes-J.Dixon-J.Jefferies-K.Brown-S.Blake, plus that early draft pick there going to have this year. There are tons of teams out there that would kill for a young core like that.
All he really needed was consistent playing time, which he never really received. He has a nice strong NBA body, comparable to Jermaine O'Neal's frame. He's still very young, and is still oozing with all that potential people saw when he was picked first overall. I mean that was just an amazing performance shutting down the best big man in the East, and leading his team to a win over arguably the best team in the league.
The Wizards have a tremendous young core of G.Arenas-L.Hughes-J.Hayes-J.Dixon-J.Jefferies-K.Brown-S.Blake, plus that early draft pick there going to have this year. There are tons of teams out there that would kill for a young core like that.
Joined
·
996 Posts
Is that a washington site? If it's not thats cool that it's not only wiz fans noticing him doing well.
Joined
·
996 Posts
he's averaged 14 ppg over the last 11 games isn't it?
Hawks get the number one pick and draft Howard. His first two seasons, he puts up 6 points and 4 rebounds a game while constantly being labeled a potential bust. In his third season, he starts off the same way, then suddenly hits a stretch of a month where he puts up 14 points and 8 rebounds. Do you not get excited? This kid is supposed to be a superstar and your future, but performs like a 10th man for his first 2.5 seasons, then suddenly starts to show some of that promise that made him the first overall pick.
Kwame was a guy that couln't string two good performances together for during his pre-2004 career, and now he's had almost an entire straight month of good games. I think we have plenty of good reasons to be going "apenuts" over this.
Kwame has alot of haters who consider him a bust, but dont watch the Wizards play. If you read any other forums, alot of people tend to consider Kwame a bust, especially quoting comments coming from the MJ era about Kwame. Theres alot of that which leads the general public to believe he sucks.
Personally, i've always thought he had it in him. I've always thought they never gave him enough opportunities to live through the mistakes, especially during the MJ era. Even now, he doesnt get too many shots, and hes still putting up alot of points. Imagine if he took as many shots as Hughes takes, he'd average at least 20 a game, i dont see how he couldnt.
Personally, i've always thought he had it in him. I've always thought they never gave him enough opportunities to live through the mistakes, especially during the MJ era. Even now, he doesnt get too many shots, and hes still putting up alot of points. Imagine if he took as many shots as Hughes takes, he'd average at least 20 a game, i dont see how he couldnt.
Right now, Kwame takes 7.1 shots a game (making 3.3), with an additional 3 PPG coming from FTs (on 4 attemps per game). Hughes takes 16.9 shots a game (making 6.8) with an additional 4 PPG coming from FTs (on 5 attempts).
This is some extremely rough math, but assuming Kwame shoots the same percentage as now but takes as many shots as Hughes, he'd be making 7.9 shots on 16.9 attempts per game. They'd all be 2 pointers, giving him about 15.8 PPG on field goals.
However, with more shot attempts would come more free throws for Kwame -- I'll just make up a random number and say he attempts 75% more FTs per game based on his approx. 10 more shot attempts per game. If he makes the same percentage, he'd be getting 7 attempts and 5.3 makes per game. Add those 5.3 points to his FG points, and its 21.1 PPG.
Like I said, that is some very rough math, and it entirely assumes that he'll shoot at the same clip he does now, but it's still fun to think about the possibilities
I know :laugh: I'm sure a lot of people are wondering what the big deal is, so just trying to explain it for those who are wondering.Originally posted by <b>JarvisHayes24</b>!
That is totally different... cuz yer talkin' bout my team.
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
