SB Nation - Damone Brown

Larry Brown's Young Players in the 2000s

David Arnott — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:28:19 -0000

Rookies! You're getting this many minutes, so show me what you've got!

Let's take a look at the rookies and second year players Larry Brown has coached this decade. I'll list the teams, the players, and their minutes per game. Guys who went on to reasonably decent role player NBA careers or better are italicized.

This ignores Games Played, and obviously, some guys were blocked by legit starters, but... well... draw your own conclusions. All numbers are from the invaluable Basketball-Reference.com.

===

99-00 76ers -- Ira Bowman (1.8), Larry Hughes (20.4), Jumaine Jones (4.2), Todd MacCulloch (9.4), Nazr Mohammed (6.8)

00-01 76ers -- Raja Bell (6.0), Rodney Buford (12.2), Jumaine Jones (13.3), Todd MacCulloch (9.5), Pepe Sanchez (4.8)

01-02 76ers -- Raja Bell (12.0), Damone Brown (3.9), Speedy Claxton (22.8), Samuel Dalembert (5.2), Alvin Jones (5.5), Jabari Smith (10.0)

02-03 76ers -- Efthimi Rentzias (4.1), John Salmons (7.9), Kenny Satterfield (4.8)

03-04 Pistons -- Darko Milicic (4.7), Mehmet Okur (22.3), Tayshaun Prince (32.9)

04-05 Pistons -- Carlos Delfino (15.3), Ronald Dupree (10.0), Horace Jenkins (6.9), Darko Milicic (6.9), Smush Parker (10.0)

05-06 Knicks -- Trevor Ariza (19.7), Jackie Butler (13.5), Channing Frye (24.2), David Lee (16.9), Nate Robinson (21.4), Ime Udoka (14.3)

===

The first major caveat of a backwards-looking glance like this is that we don't know if Brown's methods helped or hurt anyone. Maybe John Salmons really did need to be eased into the rotation at just under 8 minutes per game, and that was the stepping stone experience he needed. Maybe Efthimi Rentzias was railroaded by Brown's total shutdown, and he's selling insurance in Greece because no one else would give him a chance after that.

So, should we be worried by the fact that not a single star has emerged from Larry Brown's influence, with the exception, perhaps, of Tayshaun Prince?

What I see from this list is that Brown will play the guys he thinks are going to help him immediately, and if a guy can't, he'll sit until he's older. That kills the guys whose ceilings are "decent starter". Todd MacCulloch was no great shakes, but he started at center for back to back NBA Finals teams. Samuel Dalembert won't blow you away with his game, but the year after Brown left, he missed the entire season on the injured list, then the next year began starting and has started at center in Philly ever since.

I get the distinct sense it's a very college-hoops-oriented approach: freshmen and sophomores have a higher bar to clear to prove they should play over juniors and seniors. Of course, in the NBA, young players are paid far below their free market value (as are superstars), so it behooves teams to get production from young players while they're cheap instead of sitting them until they reach their qualifying offer years, when their salaries will come more in line with their potential production.

Around the D-League

Scott Schroeder — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:15:08 -0000

Last night in the D-League, we learned that Springfield, Massachusetts is definitely the newest D-League team. This more than likely doesn't affect the Celtics affiliation with Portland, but with a D-League team in an NBA teams state, it made me wonder none the less.

I've also learned that either there are a lot of Dakota fans that check this site out or Dakota should be really good, as Blake Ahearn and Richard Hendrix have 22 of the 56 votes in the most recent poll. In a related note, Josh Davis has only two votes. Disappointing.

Speaking of Dakota fans, and speaking to even non-Dakota fans, I'd like to direct you to this site. Three Wizards (well, two current, Richard Hendrix and Renaldo Major, and one former, Rod Benson) are participating in this years "Brave The Shave" event. This is an event that entails that the three players will be shaving their heads to raise money for childrens cancer research. The thing is, they're looking for pledges to help out the research, with just a small $1,000 goal. If you can, go donate to a worthwhile cause. Even a small donation will do!

The Vipers have a little TV show on their website you can check out if you'd like, featuring interviews with Jared Jordan and Jawad Williams. Nothing groundbreaking, but interesting nonetheless.

There were also a couple of good, close games in the D-League last night, with Idaho barely beating a James White-less Arsenal squad, 91-90, and Reno upset Bakersfield, 116-110.

What was interesting about those games? Glad you asked! Not much from a viewers standpoint, so we'll get straight into the standout players after the jump. Spoiler: they include RU's favorite ref and Patrick Ewing Jr!

Marat Kogut reffed the first game, and thus, a technical foul was called that I considered questionable from my spot at home on the couch. Nate Jawai was putting together a huge, momentum filled string of plays, capped off with a big dunk over an Anaheim player, looked at the Anaheim player, got to half court, and Kogut's whistle blew. End of momentum for the home team. Good job Marat!

Luke Jackson started out hot for Idaho, but cooled down quickly. After 10 points in the first quarter, he finished with 23, though rounded his game out with nine assists, eight boards, and six turnovers. Watching Luke play, his body language does not impress me. Just always seems to have something wrong with him, possibly gas.

Marcus Campbell had a good game, despite battling foul trouble right out of the gate. Campbell is a dude that should probably go overseas and make a lot of money, as I like him a lot and don't believe he's got an NBA career ahead of him, but he'll more than likely stick around, maybe catch on with a Summer League team, and come back and enjoy life in the D-League. After all, he played for the Arkansas Rim Rockers way back when. If you're willing to come back to the D-League after playing in Arkansas, you like the D-League.

Patrick Ewing Jr., thanks for finally looking like you deserve a call-up. Not sure what Jay Humphries was doing with him on the bench for so long. Why start drug kingpin Damone Brown or Jesse Smith (who made his Dakota debut with one point, two fouls, a turnover, and making none of his three shots from the field the other day) when you have this ball of energy on the bench? Watching him and Rod Benson on the court is fun. Anyway, PEJr finished with 22 points, 15 boards, multiple alley-oops, and some AGGHHHS after and-ones.

Trey Johnson was Trey Johnson for Bakersfield. Point guard Mateen Cleaves was subbed out with Bakersfield losing 81-67 in the third, and was brought back with Bakersfield down 99-95 in the fourth. While Terrell (I'm kind of a point guard) Everett was subbed in for Cleaves, I'm giving Johnson the credit for bringing the Jam back. Johnson ran the offense, scoring 24 points, grabbing five boards, and dishing four assists.

Others for Idaho: Lance Allred had 18 points, 14 boards, and showed off a decent mid-range game at the end. Nate Jawai finally seemed to have settled in, though struggled with turnovers. Jawai finished with 15 points, six boards, five blocks, and five turnovers. Looked impressive from what I watched.

Others for Anaheim: Kedrick Brown had a clutch 3-pointer that kept Anaheim in the game, and finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. Good, not great. Cedric Bozeman had 23 points before fouling out. Also, I should probably give a shoutout to Cameron Bennerman, who mysteriously showed up on Anaheim's roster tonight without myself ever hearing of him before, playing 28 minutes and shooting 7-for-11 from the field. Good job, guy!

Others for Reno: David Noel had 23, Richie Frahm had 20, Russell Robinson had 18 points, seven assists, and Rod "Boom Tho" Benson remembered how to block shots. Benson finished with 10 points, seven boards, and five blocks off the bench. Would love to see him start over Alton Ford next time out.

Others for Bakersfield: Justin Reed had a big game, but once again, I just can't find myself to like him. Have fun out there, please, J-Reed. Reed finished with 19 points and 14 boards, six on the offensive end. Considering he missed 12 shots, I'm going to go ahead and say his boards are inflated. Nothing else impressed me in the box score.

My Thoughts on the Iowa Energy @ Dakota Wizards Game

Scott Schroeder — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:30:07 -0000

I attended the best game at the Bismarck Civic Center in nearly two years yesterday as the Dakota Wizards beat the Iowa Energy 123-116 in overtime. With an announced attendance of 4,351, I have to assume it was the best crowd since the last overtime game in Dakota that I remember, the 06-07 D-League Championship game.

Here are my random observations...

Maurice Baker is clutch. Talked to my dad at halftime, who asked me why Baker yells at his other teammates all the time even when he's not playing well himself. My response: Mo's a good player, he's usually able to turn it on when he needs. Granted, he is starting to look a little bit more like a ball hog, but it's okay when he puts up stat lines like he did yesterday. In nearly 50 minutes, Baker had 30 points, 13 boards, and five assists, with 14 of his 30 points coming in the fourth quarter. Impressive, late.
Othyus Jeffers can play defense. He was given the task of defending Blake Ahearn, and he did this phenomenally. Everytime Ahearn would touch the ball, Jeffers was in his grill. Ahearn had the quietest 19 points of his career, getting up just 10 shots in 40 minutes. Last time Ahearn only shot 10 times in a game: January 31st.
Nick Nurse is not nice. I've never heard a coach complain as much as he did this game. After the game, the officials had to ask security to get him out of their face, which took Nurse's wrath to the scorers table. Not sure one could be mad at the scorers table, but he was. His least favorite official is now Karl Lane, FYI. If a team is outrebounded, commits more turnovers, and shoots worse from the field, I'm under the assumption that the officials aren't to blame.
Courtney Sims might have an attitude problem. He did this game. After a foul was called in overtime with 1:21 left on the clock, Sims jerked out his mouthguard, threw it under the tables, and got T'd up to boot. It also looked like he had just picked up his sixth foul. Seconds later, the foul was attributed to Denham Brown, so Sims acted like he did for no reason. Interestingly enough, Iowa never scored again after this foul.
Scott Woodmansee, Wizards PA announcer, is a genius. Favorite call of the night: "Ahearn from the concession stand!" Clutch. Also, when Curtis Stinson and Sims fouled out, he plays "Apologize" sung by Timbaland One Republic. Most awkward song frequently played to hype the crowd up at a basketball game? We will get to that soon enough.
Hamed Haddadi reminds me of another former Wizard: Leonardo di Pacce dos Santos, AKA Morro. Reason being, Haddadi may as well stay on the defensive end at all times. Offensively, he's a huge liability, which scares me considering he's an NBA player with the Grizzlies. Have never seen a guy with worse hands than him. He doesn't have a back to the basket game, and you'll notice that his offensive rebounding numbers are always very close to his number of missed shots. 3-for-7, four rebounds. See the correlation? On defense, however, he is a stud. Very foul prone, but comes up with clutch blocks, as he swatted a Sims shot with :24 seconds to go that would have given Iowa the game. For that, I will award him best Iranian to ever play in the NBA or D-League. Ever. Hands down. This is non-negotiable.
Curtis Stinson fills up the box score quieter than anyone. It's absurd. In this game, he had 21 points, 14 boards, and eight assists before fouling out. He's just one of the former Wizards that almost came back to haunt them.
The other: Denham Brown. Brown, who the Wizards released due to "salary cap and roster concerns" according to the program, was lights out. 20 points in 31 minutes off the bench. If a team needs to release a player due to salary concerns, I think salaries should become public knowledge.
Richard Hendrix is easily the best dressed player in the D-League. Call him up, he'll at least make your bench look fashionable. Tonight, he was out with a strained calf.
My new mission will be to get salaries published and to disallow any team to release a player "due to personal reasons" or "injury". Gerry McNamara, Billy Thomas, and Ryan Humphrey were all recently released due to personal reasons, which I'm under the assumption means McNamara missed Damone Brown and Thomas was released due to feeling too good for the D-League. Humphrey -- No clue. Derrick Dial was released due to injury March 7th, but in the March 8th game, he played. Interesting? YES! Does it make any sense whatsoever? NO.
With twelve seconds left in overtime, the crowd started the alligator clap, which is traditionally done to signal the end of the game as Woodmansee hits the song Cecelia by Simon and Garfunkel. With a Wizard at the line, however, the music couldn't be played. The crowd didn't care, as 4,000 people were standing, doing the alligator clap. Easily the coolest thing I've ever seen at a Wizards game, and I once saw Keith Closs, full uniform, smoking cigarettes outside before the game.
This rivalry is getting large. Almost reminds me of way back when, in the IBA, when Dakota would play the Des Moines Dragons. bluejayrock wishes it was back to those days, I think.

Also, look for RU's updated call-up rankings sometime this afternoon!

Um...Damone?

Sean Keeley — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:45:55 -0000

We recently gave away some T-shirts with Damone Brown's signature on them. Something tells me they might be the last autographs Damone signs for a while.

Via RidiculousUpside & The San Francisco Chronicle:

[Damone Brown] was arrested in Reno Thursday morning and was scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court later Thursday on a felony count of money laundering.

Brown, 29, is accused of leasing a safe deposit box at a Buffalo bank for an alleged drug kingpin to store his drug proceeds in. Authorities seized $170,000 from the box before he was arrested.

He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Oh and one other thing:

An FBI agent was shot during a roundup of drug suspects at a house in Buffalo, N.Y. as part of an investigation that also resulted in the arrest Thursday of a member of the NBA Developmental League's Reno Bighorns.

WHAT THE F, DAMONE? This is federal pound-you-in-the-ass prison material, my friend. Less than good. You can see footage of the Reno police making the arrest here.

And so help me God if you got Gerry caught up in all of this. He's an innocent.

To say Brown's season has been on the down-slope would be an understatement. He began the year as Reno's first pick in the expansion draft. He was averaging 16 points a game. But he recently lost his starting spot. And, uh, now this.

There's also this:

He holds the record for minutes played and points in the D-League, having played 163 games over six seasons in the D-League.

I don't know what information means...but I know it means something.

Good luck Damone...I guess.

To: Ex NBAer Damone Brown. Re: Ouch.

Scott Schroeder — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:31:02 -0000

UPDATE: More from Troy Nunes in an Absolute Magician here.

Alright, so the other day a poster asked if Damone Brown might have a chance to be called-up. I said no, because he's coming off the bench. Now there's another reason: It looks like he could be going to jail for awhile for money laundering.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

He was arrested in Reno Thursday morning and was scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court later Thursday on a felony count of money laundering.

Brown, 29, is accused of leasing a safe deposit box at a Buffalo bank for an alleged drug kingpin to store his drug proceeds in. Authorities seized $170,000 from the box before he was arrested.

He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Brown, who is averaging 16 points and seven rebounds thisseason for the Bighorns, has played in 39 games over four seasons in the NBA. He holds the record for minutes played and points in the D-League, having played 163 games over six seasons in the D-League.

Call Pops Mensah-Bonsu up, and other D-League stuff

Scott Schroeder — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:00:09 -0000

"Seriously, 52. Are they just not seeing what I'm doing or what?" -- Pops

(Courtesy facebakersfield.com)

As much as you'd assume it was, this is not just an old post I moved back to the top. As usual, I'm serious, call Pops up. As in, this morning, before another team reads RidiculousUpside, 48minutesofhell, or the D-League website itself. He's hot right now.

Yesterday afternoon, in a 131-124 victory over the Colorado 14ers, Mensah-Bonsu went off, scoring 39 points and grabbing 18 boards. He also had four steals and made 13-of-16 from the charity stripe in his 46 minutes of action. Seriously, 39 and 18, 35 and 14 at the end of regulation. What in the World is preventing this dude from being called-up? He's good enough to play on Britain's national team, but not good enough for a 10-day look?

Marcus Williams also had a pretty good game, scoring 30 points and dishing five assists for the Toros. For the 14ers, eight players were in double figures. Newcomer John Lucas III, who is probably better than the guy he's replaced, Eddie Gill, came off the bench to score 20 and dish five assists with just one turnover. Not sure how they made it to overtime after starters shot like so: Billy Thomas 6-for-18, Josh Davis 3-for-10, Dominique Coleman 4-for-10, and Vernon Hamilton 2-for-8, but they did it. Impressive, Colorado.

In the other game I didn't extensively cover, I wish I would have.

Idaho was led by Luke Jackson, who shot just 4-for-13 from the field and missed all three of his shot's from behind the arc. However, he was 15-for-16 at the line. In two of his four NBA seasons, he's shot less free-throw's (playing in at least 13 games all four seasons). He also picked up a technical foul. Mildon Ambres had a good game for Idaho as well, scoring 19 points and grabbing 14 boards off the bench. He also picked up a technical foul. Jamaal Tatum came off the bench to score 11 and pick up a technical foul. Lance Allred had a good game, with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and no technical fouls. Coach Bryan Gates also picked up a technical in the victory.

Reno was led by Damone Brown, who came off the bench to score 17 points and didn't pick up a technical. Patrick Ewing Jr. had a frustrating night, apparently after he didn't get invited to the Knicks tryout. Ewing scored seven points, grabbed seven rebounds, shot 1-for-9 from the field, had three turnovers, fouled, and picked up two technicals. Yikes! Kansas' own Russell Robinson got the start, shot 1-for-8 from 3-point land had five steals, picked up five personal fouls and a technical. Reno's coach, Jay Humphries, picked up two technical's as well, the last with 2:47 in the fourth.

Continue on for analysis that I don't dare put on the front page!

RidiculousUpside's most mentioned official, Marat Kogut, more than likely broke his own record, calling nine technical's in a 106-82 game between the victorious Idaho Stampede and hosting Reno Bighorns. Yes. Nine technical's. In one 24 point game. I'm just as impressed as you are. NINE. Wow, Marat. I think this is illegal for me to mention, and sorry to Vegas NBA fans, but I think Marat may have somehow had this in the Vegas sports books. I can see him stopping at Terrible's, picking up some cheap breakfast, playing blackjack, dominating, and convincing the sportsbook to let him put his winnings on an over-under technical fouls bet on Sunday in the D-League. +/- was eight, but Marat made sure there were nine. Congrats to the Magic Man!

Signature Win

Sean Keeley — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:47:20 -0000

I guess we all got a little cocky in the guessing for the Autographed Reno Bighorn T-shirts. Every single one of the 90+ guesses went over the actual 25,721 announced attendance number. So, the three who low-balled the attendance are also the three winners. They would be:

26,892 (CuseHoops11)

26,632 (Mookie Scoop)

26,000 (TenFingGames)

Congrats folks, you each win a Reno Bighorns T autographed by Syracuse son's Damone Brown, Donte Greene and Gerry McNamara.

Bighorns, Little Signatures

Sean Keeley — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:55:41 -0000

It was only for a brief moment in time but the Cusian stars aligned in Reno (as they usually do) last week when Donte Greene joined Gerry McNamara and Damone Brown on the roster of the Reno Bighorns. Alas, Donte is already gone but we can remember this special epoch when Jupiter and Uranus were in alignment in a very special way.

With autographed swag!!!

At first, it looks like your mild-mannered Reno Bighorns T-shirt. No big deal, right? We've all got plenty of those. But upon further inspection, things get a little crazy...

BOOM JUST WENT THE DYNAMITE.

Huge thanks to the Adam Cooper and the Reno Bighorns for sending over THREE, count'm, THREE autographed T-shirts of the Cusian Trio. I know the photo of the shirt makes it look like I ran it through a tye-dye machine but I assure you they are all pristine and white, my camera phone just blows.

So what am I to do with these goodies? Well, I suppose I could keep them and use them as dish rags. Now all I need is dishes.

Then again...I guess I could just give them away. Okay, fine, let's do that.

TO WIN ONE OF THE AUTOGRAPHED SHIRTS, YOU MUST ENTER THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IN THE COMMENTS BELOW NO LATER THAN 11:59 AM EST ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 25TH.

1. What will the announced attendance be at Syracuse - Louisville game on Sunday?

2. Tie-breaker: How many points will Syracuse score?

The three answers closest to the actual announced attendance will win the T-shirts. In the event of a tie, we'll go to the tiebreaker question to settle it. Get your guess in, you don't want to miss out on these kick-ass T-shirts. Unless you're a Georgetown fan. Or a Utah Flash fan, I suppose.

Once again, big thanks to the Bighorns. If they're playing near you anytime soon, try to check them out. Or if you live near Reno, stop by and say hi.

Update: Here's a little bonus to help in your guessing...Ticket sales are approaching 25,000 as of today.

Syracuse Basketball: Generations

Sean Keeley — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:22:38 -0000

That's Gerry McNamara (#12), Donte Greene (#22) and Damone Brown (#11) on the Reno Bighorns bench Reader Brad sent over some photos that friend Kevin Z. took during last night's 106-97 win over the LA D-Fenders. Judging by how close he was able to get, great seats clearly still available at the Reno Bighorns box office.

Damone Brown got the start and scored 8. Despite coming off the bench, Donte Greene put up 14 points in 32 minutes. Gerry added 5 points and 3 assists. More photos below...

By the way...if you add up all of their jersey numbers, you get 45. One more than 44. Coincidence?

Yeah.

Not sure if you can buy Reno Bighorn jerseys but if the chance to own your very own Donte Greene Reno gear becomes available, this is where it'll be.

Reno 44

Sean Keeley — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:38:47 -0000

There's two kinds of Syracuse fans, really:

1. Those who feel bad for Donte Greene's struggles with the Sacramento Kings that led to his demotion to the D-League.

2. Those who "told him so"

Greene, the 20-year-old rookie small forward out of Syracuse acquired by the Kings in the summer trade with Houston for Ron Artest, hasn't seen the floor in seven of the last eight games and is itching to feel like a basketball player again.

... the Kings announced Thursday that [Pete} Carril will be pulled out of retirement to serve as a consultant and Greene, according to sources close to the team, will join the Kings' NBA Development League team in Reno on Saturday.

It's an absolutely joyous day for the tens and tens of Reno-based Syracuse fans who will now have a local basketball team that consists of three Syracuse players. Damone Brown has been holding it down for the Bighorns all season. Gerry McNamara signed with the team just the other day. And now Donte will be in town, assumedly taking everyone else out for steak dinners every night because he's the only one there that can afford to.

Greene only played in one of the last eight games for the Kings. The move may just be an attempt to keep him fresh and get him some PT and he'd be back in a Kings uni soon enough. I mean, he has to go back, doesn't he? Sweeps week is coming up and The Donte Greene Show needs it's host if it's gonna be a ratings hit.

If you're keeping score at home, that's technically the fourth team Donte will have been associated with in his rookie season (Grizz, Rockets, Kings and Bighorns) and we're not done yet. Demetris Nichols, look out.

Looking at their schedule, the Bighorns will be in LA on January 22nd. It's a Thursday and they play at 3:30 in the afternoon. Not sure I can swing it but I'm gonna do my best. Stay tuned...

(While we're on the subject, any Reno-based Cuse fans out there? Or anyone heading to Reno anytime soon? Not sure why you would be, but, if so let me know. I've got a job for you.)