Brown shines in loss
Rookie steps up to give Cavs boost
Friday, December 01, 2006
Burt Graeff
Plain Dealer Reporter
Embarrassing losses are not always a total waste.
One of the few bright spots to come out of the 101-98 loss to the Knicks on Wednesday night at The Q was the play of rookie first-round pick Shannon Brown.
Getting 13 minutes in his second NBA start as injured Larry Hughes' replacement at shooting guard, Brown had 10 points, two steals, an assist and no turnovers.
OK, the kid was beaten off the dribble a couple of times by Stephon Marbury, but Brown looked more relaxed than he did in his first start on Saturday night, when he missed 5 of 6 shots from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line - getting three points to go with two turnovers in 14 minutes of a 108-95 victory over the 76ers.
"I did feel a lot better in the second start," said Brown, the 25th selection of the 2005 NBA draft.
"My feeling is that no matter how much time I get, I want to take advantage of the opportunity."
Brown did not get off to the sort of start against the Knicks he sought, particularly after his poor shooting performance against the 76ers.
Twenty-nine seconds into the Knicks game, Brown fired up a 3-point airball from the right elbow.
Not exactly a confidence-booster.
"The shot felt good when I took it," he said.
"Then, it just kept going left."
The wide-left missed shot from 25 feet was not a deterrent. Three minutes into the game, Brown took a pass from Eric Snow and buried a 3-pointer. Less than a minute later, he came up with a steal and subsequent slam dunk.
Meanwhile, Marbury beat Brown twice off the dribble for layups.
"[Brown] wasn't the only one Marbury beat off the dribble in that game," said Cavaliers coach Mike Brown. "He beat a number of guys off the dribble.
"Shannon is working on his defense. He's still trying to find a way to guard the quicker guys. I'm limiting his minutes for now, because I want to give him a taste of what is going on."
Mike Brown said that Shannon Brown will likely make his third straight start tonight, when the Cavaliers (9-6) meet the Hawks (6-7) in Atlanta. If so, it will keep intact a backcourt of former Michigan Staters - Brown and Snow.
Snow, 33, said he's known Brown since he attended high school in Maywood, Ill. "Shannon is a tremendous athlete," said Snow. "He has the talent and the will to succeed.
"But, he is a young guy [21], who is going up against great players every night. It is not easy."
The Knicks rolled into The Q with a 5-11 record, having lost four of five, and were playing the second of back-to-back games. It didn't matter.
With an array of quick guards - Marbury, Steve Francis, Nate Robinson and Jamaal Crawford - getting to the basket with ease, parlayed with Quentin Richardson knocking down five 3-point shots to score 27 points, the Knicks prevailed.
No one in the Cavaliers' organization was trilled with November's 9-6 record.
"We should have won more than we did," said LeBron James, who had 27 points against the Knicks, but missed 9-of-13 second-half shots.
"We kept making the same mistakes over and over again."
Snow, who had his best overall game (12 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds) against the Knicks agreed with James. "Now, the question is if we have learned from the losses," Snow said. "It was a pretty good month, but not what we thought it should be."
Hoop happenings:
Hughes will miss his eighth straight game tonight. The Cavaliers were 6-2 in the eight games he started; they are 3-4 since. . . . Donyell Marshall is mired in an early-season slump. In the last four games, he's scored 13 points, hitting 4-of-22 (18 percent) shots from the field. . . . The Cavaliers are 7-2 at home; 2-4 on the road.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
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