Lorenzo Brown

While the Georgetown game did not turn out how we would have liked there was every reason to believe things will improve. The team played well but the youth and lack of an inside game caught up to them.

Another reason for confidence is Lorenzo Brown. We have not had a player as smooth and athletic as Lorenzo in a long time. My only complaint would be that I would like to see him take control more often. Here is a spectacular play from the game on Sunday. What amazed me was how effortless the play was for Lorenzo.

About Rick

1992 and 2002 graduate from NCSU. Born and raised an NCSU fan. I remember the good ol' days and they weren't in the last 20 years.

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26 Responses to Lorenzo Brown

  1. PapaJohn 11/23/2010 at 2:17 PM #

    Totally agree, glad to see you highlight Lorenzo. It appears CJL may take a little longer to get off the ground, but LB is doing it from day one. I think the extra year made the difference.
    There is an article on SI today that says something about a college player’s biggest talent jump is between freshman & sophomore years. If so, LB is going to be one of the best in the conference and State as a whole will be very, very good.

  2. 44fan 11/23/2010 at 2:22 PM #

    You can really tell that we have a lot of talent…but we don’t have a team yet. Look to me like everyone was trying to make the highlight film instead of trying to win the game.

  3. packalum44 11/23/2010 at 2:22 PM #

    Jay Williams (formerly Jason Williams), the best guard in the ACC in the last 10 years, was pretty impressed. He also had lots of good things to say about State. That wasn’t even Brown’s best play of the evening.

  4. Rick 11/23/2010 at 2:22 PM #

    You this is his “sophomore” year because of his time in prep school. We sure could have used him last year.

  5. tann84 11/23/2010 at 2:25 PM #

    This is brown’s freshman year, prep school does not count against your eligibility.

  6. Wufpacker 11/23/2010 at 2:51 PM #

    Don’t think Rick meant sophomore year eligibility wise, hence the quotation marks. I think he meant that he’d had an extra year to develop physically. But I’m sure he’ll be around eventually to defend himself so just ignore me.

  7. Rick 11/23/2010 at 2:55 PM #

    Wufpacker you are correct. That is what I meant.
    He got to mature and play against better competition.

  8. Texpack 11/23/2010 at 3:21 PM #

    When this State team is playing well, it already plays as a team. When we got out of sync against Georgetown it was the result of all of the young players doing what they had always done in HS, which was to try to take over the game with their raw talent. Both Harrow and Brown made multiple good passes to hit cutters and to set up the bigs for easy shots during the tournament. There is no doubt that with Tracy Smith out, Lorenzo Brown is our best player. I would also look for this team to see a lot of zone this year to minimize the number of time Brown and Harrow beat their man off the dribble to create an easy basket.

    At this point in their careers, Brown and Harrow are well ahead of Lowe and Whittenburg. I think they are also ahead of Corchiani and Monroe. It’s just so enjoyable to see players with guard instincts and excellent physical skills to go with them. They make everybody on the floor with them better.

  9. bluelena69 11/23/2010 at 3:30 PM #

    I am impressed enough in the way he got back down the floor to play D. Also, his ability as a defender makes him ahead of other players at this point in his career.

  10. katymelrose 11/23/2010 at 3:42 PM #

    I don’t think its just the extra year of development. I think its the way he decided to use that extra year. I read an article or two this past spring where he was commenting on how he had options about how to look at the year at Hargrave and he chose to commit to becoming both a better student and basketball player. After all, he only needed…what?…like 3 more points on the ACT to qualify…? Something like that at least.

    It would have been very easy for him to do the bare minimum and just qualify. I think the fact he made the decision not to look at it that way is what makes the biggest difference – that he’s no longer just looking at immediate gratification but is actually focused. I definitely did not have that mentality at 18 or 19.

    ETA: “He threw out the who-cares attitude of high school and tackled his lessons, earning praise from the faculty for his approach.”

    “I want to make A’s and B’s as soon as I get there, that’s my goal school-wise,” Brown said.

    http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/02/27/1278817/brown-matures-on-off-the-court.html#ixzz168e8nDYq

  11. BJD95 11/23/2010 at 4:56 PM #

    I enjoy watching this yound man play. His demeanor and consistency of effort is certainly Monroe-ish.

    I had almost forgotten what it looked like for a Wolfpack guard to play defense.

  12. 61Packer 11/23/2010 at 5:21 PM #

    Amen, BJD! Defense is the key! Now if they can get the other 4 guys on the floor to play D at the same time, we might not have to play on ACC Tourney Thursday!

  13. fullmoon1 11/23/2010 at 5:39 PM #

    I knew he was good when my son and nephew were arguing over who was going to be Lorenzo Brown in the game in the driveway. Usually they fight over being Tracy Smith. (no offense Tracy).They both decided they wanted to be Lo after that Dunk that can be viewed above.

  14. Phang 11/23/2010 at 6:04 PM #

    Cool – I fell asleep in the second half and missed that. Thanks for posting.

  15. PapaJohn 11/23/2010 at 6:10 PM #

    ^^ funny! Now that is progress!!

  16. Dogbreath 11/23/2010 at 7:15 PM #

    I’m dating myself here but I look at the Brown kid and I see Bruce Dalrymple.

  17. El Scrotcho 11/23/2010 at 8:00 PM #

    During their run, Georgetown showed the Princeton style at it’s most lethal. When you drain all your 3’s the backdoor stuff starts looking effortless. Our young guys hit the panic button during that run – hopefully they’ll respond better down the road and play under control when things aren’t going your way.

    Hoyas played a good game – they look like a very dangerous team at guard, especially matched up against smaller, weaker guards like Gonzalez and Harrow.

  18. wufpup76 11/23/2010 at 8:44 PM #

    This kid is the real deal.

    We’re going to really need to lean on him throughout the season for crunch time scoring opportunities when Tracy isn’t available.

    Hopefully the offense will actually look like an offense for the next 3 weeks as opposed to what we saw in the 2nd half Sunday night. I’m not trying to be too negative, but we got exposed a bit in that half. Hopefully that will be full of teaching points and learning experiences.

    Step up seniors, and take control of this team.

  19. xphoenix87 11/23/2010 at 9:02 PM #

    I was lying back in a recliner watching the game, and that play made me sit bolt upright and yell “WOW!” That just came out of nowhere.

    From the beginning, it’s been the defense that has impressed me most with Brown. The most exciting moment of the Red-White game was when he came from behind to block Tracy’s wide-open layup. He’s tough on the ball, and he’s smart on help defense too. Late in the first half of this game he stole an inbounds pass under the basket because he just read the play perfectly and snuck in to jump the pass.

  20. jaybird80 11/23/2010 at 11:30 PM #

    While watching (the better part of) the Georgetown game, I was stuck by how much Lorenzo reminded me of Rodney Monroe. Rick says it best in the intro in that he is just so smooth. I look forward to watching him for as long as he is here.

  21. JeremyH 11/23/2010 at 11:52 PM #

    “I’m not trying to be too negative, but we got exposed a bit in that half.”

    Exposed is a good word for what happened, and I think it is good in this case because it is fixable. I hope they are watching tons of tape from that game and Sid is dishing out the humble pie. It’s a tough job for a coach though because you have to strike a balance: there is a time for building their confidence up and a time for tearing them down.

    Get well soon Tracy, I really hope the surgery/recovery is as minor as everyone has made it out to be.

  22. Rick 11/24/2010 at 9:35 AM #

    I’m dating myself here but I look at the Brown kid and I see Bruce Dalrymple.”

    Brown is a better shooter and overall better player. But I did like Dalrymple, I just think Brown is on another level.

    As for half court, TS will make a huge difference in our half court game.

  23. ryebread 11/24/2010 at 11:37 AM #

    Before he leaves, I think that LB will be our best SG since Monroe.

    For all of HWSNBN’s love of the 3 pointer and the Princeton offense, the fact that we never really had a great SG baffled me. I always thought that should have been the EASIEST position for him to recruit. His best player at SG was Anthony Grundy and he was more of a tweener (the game of a SF in a SG’s body) than a true SG. Before anyone says it, Arch could hit some 3s but he was such a defensive liability that he really shouldn’t have been starting.

    I thought before the season that LoBrown would be the most college ready of our freshman. He’s actually exceeded my expectations, filling up the stat lines and making it look effortless. Yes, he still has a lot to improve on, but he’s definitely the most pleasant surprise of this young season.

  24. MrPlywood 11/24/2010 at 1:21 PM #

    Hey Lo, save a few of those for Mr Barnes, please.

  25. TOB4PREZ 11/25/2010 at 8:54 AM #

    Zo is truly mature beyond his years on the court…. And, I get the comparisons to Rodney based on his silky smooth demeanor on the court… but, at the end of the day they’re totally different players. Rodney would have NEVER been able to do what you witnessed in the video above, but Zo can’t duplicate Rodney’s pure shooting stroke (the best stroke in the history of our school, IMO.. Gannon’s 2nd). Lo B has a face up game that enables him to get to the hole almost at will, he’s big enough to hold his body control and great with the ball, so he can get to the rim. Just like Rodney though…. he’s quiet, and won’t ever be counted on as a vocal leader… that’s going to have to be T. Smith, Javy, or Harrow… and Harrow’s likely the least shy of that bunch.

    this team has the potential to be really good, all the components are there. T. Smith being healthy is huge however, because that gives us a post presence that MUST be respected, whereas now…. we have some guys with no real track record of being able to dominate down low, so they’re not going to double down on them… and thus not leave open shooters.

    I can’t wait for the year to progress and for these guys to continue to gel…. I think we’re in for some good/great basketball over the next few years….

    Godspeed, T. Smith….

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