calumnus said:
concordtom said:
I've always been super hyped on the Jaylen Brown train.
Me too. I instead criticized the idiot PAC-12 refs and their rewarding of other teams' players that jumped in front of him and flopped. The opposing coaches mostly adopted the strategy but knew the reality and voted Jaylen Freshman of the Year and All PAC-12.
Others criticized a great Cal player, possibly as part of their incessant criticism of the Cal coach, trying to find reasons to denigrate a great season where we won every game at Haas and earned our highest seed in the Tournament ever, then finally being "proved right" when the team flamed out with injuries at guard, a coach dismissed and the university launching a bogus investigation of Martin the day before the team left for the Tournament.
I wrote here on a few occasions that Jaylen Brown had a very effective forearm with which he protected himself and the ball from defenders who tried to stop or hinder his drives to the basket. He would go so far as to punch defenders in the chest on his drives and was not called for a foul by the refs. Thus the defenders were encouraged to flop when Brown drove, as they had no choice. Coaches likely encouraged it, because Brown was not a very good foul shooter, and so fouling him was a good trade-off to get the ball back, without him scoring much. I think, but can't prove it, that the refs protected Brown. Most great players are protected by the ref, because the great players are the ones who sell tickets. It is even more so in the NBA, as the stars are protected. Think of Wilt or Kareem. It was a major event if either one was ever called for a foul. This is no criticism of Brown, it is a criticism of a system of favoritism. And all players will continue to look for an edge, look for moves they can make to get an advantage against an opponent, maybe something that is against the rules, something that the refs will let slide.
Brown made one of the most spectacular plays I have ever seen, and he did it more than once while playing for Cal. I don't remember the opponents, but I remember Brown losing the ball on a fast break, and having recovered, he raced down the court at full speed, and caught up with the dribbler from behind, as the the dribbler pulled up for a jump shot, and Brown made a leap, and blocked the shot from behind, and no foul was called on Brown. I was watching carefully, and I didn't see Brown foul either. At least 99 times out of 100, any player who blocks a shot from behind like that will be called for a foul, but Brown was never called for a foul. He blocked at least 3 or 4 shots from behind that season, and was never called for a foul. And I don't think there was a foul. Truly a great athlete.
SFCityBear
