June 17, 2014

Only known instance of Jabari Brown smiling.

Brown plays and photographs with a permanent look of insouciance. He never ever smiles, save for one time after a game winner. It does not undermine his skill set, but it would have helped his draft credentials a bit better had he looked like he was enjoying himself.

Brown played alongside Earnest Ross on Missouri's wings last season, where his role was not to chuck as much as Ross did. He is aggressive as a scorer, hunting his shot and taking plenty of them, but not an undue chucker, who will take some quick shots at times but not too egregiously. An excellent shooter who merits such looks. Brown shoots off the catch and off the dribble from both two and from three, shoots a pull-back, and can make jumpers off a spin move. His drives to the rim are a bit unceremonious at times, but they result in many fouls calls, as Brown is fully prepared to take the contact, and finds plenty of ways to create scoring opportunities for himself.

The downside unfortunately is that Brown cannot create for others at all - he only looks to score, and it is the only thing he is good at. Brown will occasionally throw a nice pass, but he does not feed the post, has little handle, and, on his rather wild forays to the rim, it is to shoot or get to the line, not to pass off. Brown is also a concern defensively - as evidenced by his exceedingly low foul rates, Brown does not always compete defensively, and lapses at times. And despite having a decent frame for the shooting guard position, Brown is not tall, long or elitely athletic, and thus has not the physical tools to make up for this coasting. He seeks only to score and can only be relied upon for such. It is fortunate then that the jump shot is good enough to cure these ills.

In a high tempo game where he can push the ball (which he loves to do), shoot quick and shoot often, Brown thrives. He's going to love summer league, then. After that? There is a small NBA chance.

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