Zen-like Todd
February-10th-2004, 09:34 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30203-2004Feb10.html
Suddenly, in Year 3 Brown's Playing Like He Could Be the One
By Tony Kornheiser
Wednesday, February 11, 2004; Page D01
Don't look now, but guess who's coming around? Hint: His name rhymes with "Mommy's gown."
Um, Jared Jeffries?
No, dopey, Kwame Brown.
Stand back, I'm about to drink the Kool-Aid!
For his first two seasons, Kwame Brown was absolutely the worst overall No. 1 NBA pick in the last 30 years -- since LaRue Martin was taken in 1972 by Portland. (Over Bob McAdoo!) You remember LaRue Martin, don't you? Of course you don't. Because he stunk and he was out of the league before the mashed potatoes got cold. Career averages: 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds.
That's where Kwame Brown hovered for more than two years -- flirting with the LaRue Martin line of death. Kwame was a stone cold lox: 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds. (Curse O' Les Boulez, natch.) This is what Michael Jordan hired all those scouts, draft specialists and high-priced executives for? To pass on Pau Gasol and draft Kwame Brown? They'd have gotten more mileage out of Downtown Julie Brown.
In Kwame's defense, much was said about how he was mistreated and psychologically scarred by the demanding Michael Jordan and Doug Collins. The optimistic spin was that with Eddie Jordan and Ernie Grunfeld in charge, Kwame would flourish. But that was hard to see through the first 20 games of this season, as Kwame averaged 7.3 points and 6.4 rebounds. That's gravy from a second-rounder. It's horrendous from the No. 1 overall pick.
But a funny thing happened on the way to oblivion: Kwame Brown seems to have found something resembling a game. In his last 20 games, Kwame has averaged 14 points and 8.5 rebounds. It gets even better in his last 10 games: 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds. Holy cow, in his last three games Kwame's averaging 19 and 9! Okay, that's against Memphis, the Clippers and Cleveland, not exactly Murderer's Row. But the only times Kwame rolled up higher numbers was when he was pulled over in Georgia. I don't want to load you down with a whole bunch of statistics. But you can see the plot of the graph. It's going up. It's what they call in the NFL "a Levitra situation."
How much of this is attributable to the tender loving care of Kwame by Grunfeld and "the other" Jordan? How much of this is attributable to the widely held notion that it takes young big men longer to blossom than young guards? (Look how much longer it took Jermaine O'Neal than Stephon Marbury, five years to almost half an hour. Of course, it didn't take Amare Stoudamire long at all.) Either way, for the first time since Kwame Brown began playing with the Wizards there is now reason to believe the team won't be better off without him. The Wizards don't have to trade him. Or cut him. And they don't have to fear he'll become a terrific player somewhere else. They can keep him.
See, he doesn't have to become Tim Duncan. He just has to become more than Tim McCarver. If this is real and not an illusion, not some fluke, not some false spike in the market that will be corrected by a crash, if Kwame Brown is really on the verge of becoming a double-double guy at big forward, then the Wizards might actually be able to beat some teams in this league that aren't named "Chicago."
You put Kwame Brown out there with Jerry Stackhuose (or however he spells his name), Larry Hughes and Gilbert Arenas, you might have the makings of a pretty good team. Stevie Blake and Etan Thomas have been pleasant surprises. Juan Dixon can score in a hurry. By this time next year we could be talking about Jared Jeffries the way we're talking about Kwame Brown right now.
Whoa, Tony! Could you get the drool off your mouth. What are you, working for LaSooz? She giving you a commission on all the 10-game packages you move? Just YESTERDAY Hughes went on the injured list for four to six weeks. That means the team's best three players will each miss between 20 and 45 games this season. I mean, could the Curse O' Les Boulez be any more apparent?
Point taken. I haven't been called "Mr. See Ya At 9 and 20" because I'm optimistic.
The Kwame bounce isn't all roses. On some level it might have been easier if he showed no signs of life. Then you dump him and move on. This way the Wizards have to wonder if they're being teased. Do they convince themselves they can depend on Kwame Brown, and offer him a new, big contract? But what if Kwame's sudden improvement pushes the Wizards to win just enough games to take them out of the running for Emeka Okafor? And then he never really takes off, and he winds up being the anchor that ties the Wizards to the second division -- and Cleveland, Orlando and Miami honk as they pass on the left?
The thing about Kwame is, as long as he's here we're always going to be blinded by him being the No. 1 overall pick. It was the luckiest of moments. After all those No. 5 and No. 6 picks, to finally hit the lottery and go to the top. And it was Michael Jordan doing the picking. This was back when everyone here was still in love with Jordan -- even Abe. Kwame Brown represented hope. And in a sense we will always associate him with that hope, and we'll wait longer for him and root harder for him than perhaps we should. Because in that moment it seemed so clear the corner had been turned. Nobody wants to think it's a cul de sac we live on, and there is no corner.
Suddenly, in Year 3 Brown's Playing Like He Could Be the One
By Tony Kornheiser
Wednesday, February 11, 2004; Page D01
Don't look now, but guess who's coming around? Hint: His name rhymes with "Mommy's gown."
Um, Jared Jeffries?
No, dopey, Kwame Brown.
Stand back, I'm about to drink the Kool-Aid!
For his first two seasons, Kwame Brown was absolutely the worst overall No. 1 NBA pick in the last 30 years -- since LaRue Martin was taken in 1972 by Portland. (Over Bob McAdoo!) You remember LaRue Martin, don't you? Of course you don't. Because he stunk and he was out of the league before the mashed potatoes got cold. Career averages: 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds.
That's where Kwame Brown hovered for more than two years -- flirting with the LaRue Martin line of death. Kwame was a stone cold lox: 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds. (Curse O' Les Boulez, natch.) This is what Michael Jordan hired all those scouts, draft specialists and high-priced executives for? To pass on Pau Gasol and draft Kwame Brown? They'd have gotten more mileage out of Downtown Julie Brown.
In Kwame's defense, much was said about how he was mistreated and psychologically scarred by the demanding Michael Jordan and Doug Collins. The optimistic spin was that with Eddie Jordan and Ernie Grunfeld in charge, Kwame would flourish. But that was hard to see through the first 20 games of this season, as Kwame averaged 7.3 points and 6.4 rebounds. That's gravy from a second-rounder. It's horrendous from the No. 1 overall pick.
But a funny thing happened on the way to oblivion: Kwame Brown seems to have found something resembling a game. In his last 20 games, Kwame has averaged 14 points and 8.5 rebounds. It gets even better in his last 10 games: 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds. Holy cow, in his last three games Kwame's averaging 19 and 9! Okay, that's against Memphis, the Clippers and Cleveland, not exactly Murderer's Row. But the only times Kwame rolled up higher numbers was when he was pulled over in Georgia. I don't want to load you down with a whole bunch of statistics. But you can see the plot of the graph. It's going up. It's what they call in the NFL "a Levitra situation."
How much of this is attributable to the tender loving care of Kwame by Grunfeld and "the other" Jordan? How much of this is attributable to the widely held notion that it takes young big men longer to blossom than young guards? (Look how much longer it took Jermaine O'Neal than Stephon Marbury, five years to almost half an hour. Of course, it didn't take Amare Stoudamire long at all.) Either way, for the first time since Kwame Brown began playing with the Wizards there is now reason to believe the team won't be better off without him. The Wizards don't have to trade him. Or cut him. And they don't have to fear he'll become a terrific player somewhere else. They can keep him.
See, he doesn't have to become Tim Duncan. He just has to become more than Tim McCarver. If this is real and not an illusion, not some fluke, not some false spike in the market that will be corrected by a crash, if Kwame Brown is really on the verge of becoming a double-double guy at big forward, then the Wizards might actually be able to beat some teams in this league that aren't named "Chicago."
You put Kwame Brown out there with Jerry Stackhuose (or however he spells his name), Larry Hughes and Gilbert Arenas, you might have the makings of a pretty good team. Stevie Blake and Etan Thomas have been pleasant surprises. Juan Dixon can score in a hurry. By this time next year we could be talking about Jared Jeffries the way we're talking about Kwame Brown right now.
Whoa, Tony! Could you get the drool off your mouth. What are you, working for LaSooz? She giving you a commission on all the 10-game packages you move? Just YESTERDAY Hughes went on the injured list for four to six weeks. That means the team's best three players will each miss between 20 and 45 games this season. I mean, could the Curse O' Les Boulez be any more apparent?
Point taken. I haven't been called "Mr. See Ya At 9 and 20" because I'm optimistic.
The Kwame bounce isn't all roses. On some level it might have been easier if he showed no signs of life. Then you dump him and move on. This way the Wizards have to wonder if they're being teased. Do they convince themselves they can depend on Kwame Brown, and offer him a new, big contract? But what if Kwame's sudden improvement pushes the Wizards to win just enough games to take them out of the running for Emeka Okafor? And then he never really takes off, and he winds up being the anchor that ties the Wizards to the second division -- and Cleveland, Orlando and Miami honk as they pass on the left?
The thing about Kwame is, as long as he's here we're always going to be blinded by him being the No. 1 overall pick. It was the luckiest of moments. After all those No. 5 and No. 6 picks, to finally hit the lottery and go to the top. And it was Michael Jordan doing the picking. This was back when everyone here was still in love with Jordan -- even Abe. Kwame Brown represented hope. And in a sense we will always associate him with that hope, and we'll wait longer for him and root harder for him than perhaps we should. Because in that moment it seemed so clear the corner had been turned. Nobody wants to think it's a cul de sac we live on, and there is no corner.