June 17, 2014

Closest David Brown comes to being Tim Duncan.

Brown teamed up with Shayne Whittington to be pretty much the entirety of the Western Michigan offense. Whittington took care of the post and mid range areas, while Brown took care of the three point and foul lines. Brown takes a huge amount of both of those, taking 7.5 threes per game (24th in the nation) and 7.8 free throws per game (27th), and because of these, his 41% field goal shooting belies his 57% true shooting percentage.

Essentially playing like a possibly smaller (the measurements seen generous) and definitely less athletic Ben Gordon, Brown wants to shoot every time down. The team's situation rather necessitated that he did, and his shot selection was not as egregious as the three point percentage might make it look - instead, Brown was the focal point of the offense, tough and aggressive, and the closest thing the team had to backcourt creativity. He is a bit streaky and turns the ball over a lot for a man who does not create for others, but he is also unafraid and can win games on the offensive end. In addition to the catch-and-shoot three, Brown can shoot pull-ups and jumpers off of curls, and also get to the rim off of said curls. He drives to the rim in isolation and off close-outs, and takes it into the shotblockers, despite his size disadvantage. He can also be seen to post up to a fallaway on occasion. On defense, Brown gives forth good effort and tries to use his strong upper body to bump cutters

Brown has a bit of an injury history which counts against him, and he is not the most all-around skilled player. If in the game, he is in to score, a philosophy with the aforementioned drawbacks and weaknesses. But being so aggressive and persistent counts for a lot, as does someone capable of getting points in bunches like this. He is applying for a sixth season of eligibility, which, if he gets it, makes all this irrelevant. Yet if he gets it, with no Whittington in the fold, Brown will return having to shoulder an even bigger offensive burden.

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