Dee Brown

[DJessen33@aol.com]

After reading today's Globe by Peter May on Dee Brown, I was inspired to
watch some of pre-Lewis death of Dee. I watched a tape I have of the first
game of the 1993 Hornets/Celtics playoffs(this was Reggie's last game) to
check out Dee. Wow, he seemed like the next Jordan back then. After some
nifty dribbling to lose his man, he pulled up twice at the free throw line to
drain jumpers. He then gets called for goal-tending a Curry layup with his
left hand in a close play. Ten seconds later, he legitimately blocks another
Curry attempt by two foot jumping, blocking the shot with both hands,
volleyball style, grazing his head on the rim in the process. Doug Collins
said that was the greatest play he had seen all year. Later in the second
quarter, he blocked a Kendall Gill jump shot on a curl, straight up, spiking
the ball behind Gill which led to a 3 on 1 fast break score. A few minutes
later, he left his defender in the dust on the wing using Lewis's patented
crossover dribble but to have Mourning block his shot at the last second at
the basket. It was a quite impressive 20 minutes of play. I didn't need to
see the rest of the game. Collins was ranting and raving about Dee's
athleticism. Dee really had game. 
Pitino has said the trick to coaching is to get 12 lights on, all at the same
time. With Dee at 180 pounds, Dee's light may already be on. He may be on the
road to being captain again, the last link to the Bird years. If Pitino can
inspire Dee to play with the enthusiasm and athletic abandon he had pre-Lewis
death, we would have quite a player on our hands.....

40 plus wins