Old-school Brunson has game that’s hard to stop
SAN ANTONIO – The first time Jalen Brunson backed Villanova freshman Collin Gillespie down into the post, the bewildered rookie had no clue what was going on.
“Here I am, coming out of high school, and I think I’m gonna be playing on the perimeter all the time,” Gillespie told USA TODAY. “When he first put his shoulder in me, I was taken aback.”
Then the 6-3 junior guard turned around and shot a high-arching fade- away. Gillespie relaxed, thinking it was sure to miss. Instead, it dropped through the net, and the veteran turned to the freshman.
“Don’t worry,” Brunson assured Gillespie, “You’ll get used to it.”
But learning how to play in the post was only part of guarding Brunson, who has won multiple player of the year awards, and on Thursday he took home that honor from the Associated Press. Brunson repeated the other lesson to Gillespie every time he got the freshman
up in the air defensively:
Don’t. Fall. For. Shot fakes.
It is, Gillespie said, much easier said than done, especially when it’s Brunson shot faking.
It’ll be Kansas point guard Devonte’ Graham who has to guard the most unconventional, and maybe most complete, guard in college basketball, when the Jayhawks (31-7) meet Villanova
(34-4) in Saturday’s NCAA semifinals. “He does have a little throwback game to him,” Graham said of Brunson, who averages 19.2 points and shoots
52.7% from the field, second best on the team. “He stays so poised, tries to get you lifted and then make his move. He’s not going to out-quick you. His IQ is real high.”
Brunson is old school to the core, and he has his father, Rick, to thank. A nineyear NBA veteran, Rick Brunson insisted Jalen have an all-around attack, showing him clips of Steve Nash, Chris Paul and even himself to hammer home that the more complex your skill set, the harder you are to guard.
“He wanted me to be the most complete player I could be,” Jalen Brunson said. “We worked on all aspects of my game, on both sides of the floor.”
Brunson has heard more than once that his game reminds people of NBA journeyman Andre Miller, who played 17 seasons in the NBA and was routinely praised for his basketball IQ. Rick Brunson harped constantly on outsmarting your defender.
It’s not about being “overly athletic or eye-popping with quickness,” Jalen Brunson said. “Really skilled, really smart players (find) ways to get into the defense and make plays.”
Wright called Brunson “as complete a player as I’ve seen in high school,” describing Brunson’s game as “refined.” Wright credits Rick Brunson and Brunson’s high school coach with developing footwork and an array of post moves long before he arrived in Philadelphia.
“We received a pretty finished product,” Wright said.
It just took Wright time to realize how to properly use that product. A few years ago, Villanova players were going through a drill where they took turns guarding the post when Brunson got the ball. By the end of Brunson’s move, Wright and his assistants had a new wrinkle for their playbook.
“We put Jalen in there, and everybody, coaches started looking at each other like, wow, his post moves are incredible,” Wright said.
“After that we’re like, we’re going with this, we’re using this. But then as he’s continued to develop, he loves it … and his footwork is incredible.”
Now, Brunson scoring in the paint is a staple of the Wildcats offense. In last weekend’s East Region final against Texas Tech, a Brunson post-up and score gave Villanova a 61-53 edge with 1:47 to play, just as the Red Raiders were starting to cut into Villanova’s lead.
After VU’s 71-59 win that sent the Wildcats’ to their second Final Four in three years, Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said watching Brunson get to the post “was like watching Magic Johnson back down.”
Gillespie knows how Beard feels. He joked that when watching film or from the bench, he empathizes when a defender falls for a Brunson shot fake or suddenly finds himself on Brunson’s hip in the paint.
“Honestly,” Gillespie sighed, “he’s probably our best post player.”
And that’s exactly why he’s likely to give Graham, and Kansas, problems.