No. 3 Failing to Play Anthony Brown Sooner or Tarik Black At All
Until January, all of the minutes at the small forward position went to Bryant and Young. For most of the season Brown, did not even dress for games. He should have been getting the same minutes that fellow rookies Russell and Nance have gotten. If he had, he would be much farther along and would not be really starting his NBA career midseason.
During the preseason, Scott declared that Brown was already the best on-ball defender on the team. His fellow rookies had voted him one of the top defensive players in the draft. Furthermore, from the very beginning of the year, the squad was in desperate need of outside shooting and Brown excelled at making three-pointers in college.
The traditional thinking is that whoever starts the final preseason game is going to play when the season starts. Not only did Brown start the last five preseason games, he had his best night of the preseason in the final contest. Yet, for no apparent reason, Brown was nowhere to be seen when the regular season started.
While Scott will take credit for deliberately bringing him along slowly, Bryant missing more and more games and Young being the only other small forward on the roster left Scott no choice but to turn to Brown, who has been getting solid playing time the past five games.
Black, however, is still missing in action. No one knows why or when his banishment will end, if at all.
Black is a high energy guy who doesn’t have great form, but always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He is an undersized center, but can still grab more rebounds in his sleep more effectively than Roy Hibbert while also score more points. He doesn’t have Hibbert’s size in the paint, but in combination with Randle, Nance, or both, Black would bring speed and hustle on both sides of the floor.
Black had a solid rookie season last year, thus his unexplained disappearance is especially puzzling. He is a good communicator and leader on the court. In a season full of mistakes, one of the biggest so far has been the team’s failure to find playing time for Black.
Next: No. 2 Focus on Kobe's Farewell Tour