Lost in the chaos of last night was Javonte Brown's play last night. Got a decent run in the second half (8 minutes) and I thought played some of his best ball of the year. Walled up pretty well on defense, grabbed 4 rebounds (3 offensive), and even went 4-4 from the FT line.

I know we probably expected more from the big man when he transferred in, but seems like the lightbulb is starting to turn on.

If he can just learn to not bring the ball down to his belly after every rebound, he'll also start converting those layups too!

He did a fantastic job last night. Hopefully he can improve in the offseason so he can be a solid contributor next year.

When I watched his first couple games, he seemed clumsy and off balanced. Throughout the season he has had ups and downs. I think he is finally started to get his mojo a little bit. When we beat Florida 56-55 in the regular season, her had 6 points and 7 rebounds on 60% FG. I feel like his skills are still raw and he needs to fine tune getting rebounds and going up and getting fouled more. He was 4-4 on Free throws last night! I hope he make some great progress next season.

Gig 'Em!

Yep, let's hope Buzz and staff can mold him into a beast.

I had very different thoughts watching him last night than the rest here. I'll just leave it at that. He did a nice job at the FT line, I will give him that.

MarcAg said:

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I had very different thoughts watching him last night than the rest here. I'll just leave it at that. He did a nice job at the FT line, I will give him that.

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The entire team was on fire from the FT line last night! Brown included.

Same.

MarcAg said:

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I had very different thoughts watching him last night than the rest here. I'll just leave it at that. He did a nice job at the FT line, I will give him that.

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I think we discussed it briefly on the game thread, but I am right there with you. I'm hopeful for his future here, but I don't share others' opinions on his game yesterday…

On offense I just wanted him to dunk the ball every time he was within 3 feet of the goal. Making all his FTs was impressive

I'd pay five dollars to watch Javonte Brown practice one time to confirm what I think about his game.

I'm going to be shocked if he is on our roster next year. If he is, it's because Buzz is an extremely loyal guy.

Brown hit his free throws at the right time and clogged the middle. Looks like more time in the weight room and some footwork coaching would help. Good game.

I've never been more sure he should transfer

He's a young guy that hasn't seen too much court time, obviously he isn't going to come off the bench and be lights out and unstoppable. He made some basic mistakes and just seemed to have no touch when he was around the rim. He came out and was a big body to help secure some rebounds and had a couple shot interruptions, and shooting 100% from the line last night compared to his season average of 26% or something is great for the young guy. Get him comfortable with the ball in his hands and in the offense, the kid could be a great tool for next season.

The FT form was a definite improvement. Hope the off-season helps him strengthen his post game, he did a good job rebounding but needs to clean up his finishing.

He is an off the bench player in the SWAC. That is the hard cold reality.

He did a great job

I'd also like to see Ashton Smith practice.

MarcAg said:

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I had very different thoughts watching him last night than the rest here. I'll just leave it at that. He did a nice job at the FT line, I will give him that.

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Same. I didn't see anything that was particularly encouraging. He grabbed his own rebound a bunch, which means he missed a bunch of shots, and every time he did he brought the ball down to his waist. He never did finish either. Then add in that he was out of position on defense multiple times as well. Glad he made his FTs, but I'm pretty much ready to write him off. We need the roster spot.

Would pay NIL money for a team dunk contest appearance after the NIT.

TMartin said:

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Brown hit his free throws at the right time and clogged the middle. Looks like more time in the weight room and some footwork coaching would help. Good game.

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I thought he did a good job defensively. Altered some shots and cut of driving lanes by his mere presence. Offense left a lot to be desired but my expectations were zero. So the 4 FTs were a huge bonus.

Brown matches up better against mid/small conference teams bc he's so much bigger than the other team, generally. Doesn't apply to conference play. And the wheels starting coming off at the end when he had been in a long time.

I just don't know how you fix lack of athleticism - - which he needs to drastucally increase to play at power 5 type level.

Yes, agree that he is probably going to better playing in a different conference. But I hope if he stays he can develop into an 8-12 minute per game role player.

Inca said:

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Yes, agree that he is probably going to better playing in a different conference. But I hope if he stays he can develop into an 8-12 minute per game role player.

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I think that's everyone's hope. If he stays, we all want him to turn into a good player. But everybody on this board has been saying we have to get better big men. Well to get better big men you have to get rid of guys to get spots to get better big men. So you don't keep the big men that are causing everyone to say we have to go get better big men.

bobinator said:

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I'd also like to see Ashton Smith practice.

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I think you would like it.

That's a potential big wildcard right?

I'm skeptical because he didn't play this year, but maybe there was some kind of external reason why it made sense to redshirt.

bobinator said:

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That's a potential big wildcard right?

I'm skeptical because he didn't play this year, but maybe there was some kind of external reason why it made sense to redshirt.

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I don't know why Buzz redshirted him. He might have had some academic issues, he might have had an injury early that put him behind and they decided lets just redshirt him, they might just have said he isn't going to play a ton this year so let's just not blow a year for only a few minutes. I don't know. I do know the kid has size and athleticism and so I am pretty excited about the base the coaches have to work with there.

I know redshiritng isn't real common in college basketball these days, but Buzz also redshirted Boots at VA Tech.

Forgive my (optimistic) ignorance, but does this mean that you have been able to watch him in practice? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on his game.

If he can fall somewhere between Coleman and Henderson in terms of ability that would be an instant upgrade for us going into next year.

He has size, is strong and athletic. I expect he will grow into being a big part of it next season.

I don't expect him to be a getting big minutes on day one, but anticipate looking back a couple of months into the season and saying this kid has really been coming on and is becoming an integral part of our rotation and success.

What happened to the Hefner thread?

It's baffling to me why Smith wouldn't have seen the
Floor at all . He could play in something like 4 -6 games and still be redshirted. If he'd have helped in just one or 2 games it could have had a big impact on The final outcome.

For as big as Brown is and the reach he has I can't remember him being much of a factor in changing any opponents shots . He didn't look terrible last night but as others have said, it was Alcorn St not LSU or Kentucky . I can see how the coaches would love to see him develop but he has a looong way to go to get to where he needs to be to help elevate the team.

halfastros81 said:

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It's baffling to me why Smith wouldn't have seen the
Floor at all . He could play in something like 4 -6 games and still be redshirted. If he'd have helped in just one or 2 games it could have had a big impact on The final outcome.

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They made the call early that he was going to redshirt this year. I was excited about him, but I didn't expect much from him this year honestly as I knew he was raw. But better to be raw with his size and athleticism.

Boots was an academic redshirt but that meant he couldn't even dress right? I thought I remembered Buzz saying that.

Given how dire our low post situation was this year, the fact that he didn't play at all makes me skeptical of how good he might be next season. But there are good reasons why it might make sense to redshirt him, I just don't know this particular case.

Understood but making the decision not to play him at all and making the decision to redshirt him aren't the same. Playing and redshirting aren't mutually exclusive. I don't see any benefit to not playing him at all unless he was hurt.

I commend him on his free throws.