Brown’s inconsistency remains troublesome
It has been two weeks since Terrell Brown turned a corner for the latest time, posting a seasonhigh and nearly career-best 16 points in Pitt’s 65-56 home loss against Syracuse.
It likely was Brown’s most impactful performance through two years in Pitt’s frontcourt, coming in an ACC game that was mostly close and competitive, if not quite a Panthers victory. But instead of being a breakthrough to build on, four games later — and four defeats — it looks more like just another glimpse of a 6-foot-10 forward’s potential continuing to chase consistency.
“I don’t know,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said Monday when asked what’s behind Brown’s recent
struggles. “I think that’s who he’s been, and that’s what we’re trying to get him out of. He has talent, and we’ve seen that this year. He’s played some really good games and he’s very, very, very important for us. But there’s other times he hasn’t played well, just like everyone on our team.”
Since that shining Syracuse effort against the 2-3 zone — when Brown played 35 minutes, made 8 of 13 field goals and looked every bit the finishing big man who can help Pitt’s guards by converting at the rim — Capel’s most enigmatic puzzle piece has again regressed.
True to form, he put up a 12-point, 6-rebound, 5-block stat line that almost pushed Pitt past N.C. State at home Feb. 9, but that was sandwiched between two scoreless outings and a four-point night at Boston College.
Brown’s showing Saturday in a 70-64 loss against Virginia Tech was perhaps the most troubling, blocking one shot but grabbing zero rebounds while not attempting a shot in just seven minutes. For Capel and the Panthers, they’ll have to hope it’s the bottom of Brown’s slump rather than the new normal. It was an especially damaging no-show considering how Hokies senior big man Kerry Blackshear pummeled Pitt inside, pouring in 29 points on 8-of-9 shooting, 11 trips to the free-throw line and nine rebounds (six offensive).
“The thing we need [Brown] to do is play with a sense of urgency every time he’s out on the court for us, and to play hard and to compete at a very high level,” Capel said.
Read between the lines, and it’s clear Capel can see that Brown’s motor comes and goes. His strong home games against Syracuse and Duke (12 points) bookended two scoreless ones on the road. Brown’s season-long numbers also tell a story of his frustrating up-and-down development. He’s using his size and timing to rank 36th in Division I and fourth in the ACC by averaging 2.04 blocks (2.15 in conference play).
But you won’t find him anywhere near the top of those leaderboards with just 4.6 rebounds per game.
In fact, Pitt’s tallest player, for two years running now, has yet to notch a double-double or even grab 10 rebounds in a game in his college career.
“We need him to rebound,” Capel said.
“That’s something we’ve talked about — that we don’t have any guys that are naturally good rebounders that pursue the ball. We need that from him. He’s our biggest guy, so we need that from him.”
Dating to his high school days, Brown has been a polarizing prospect. He was rated as just a two-star recruit by ESPN’s scouting service before reclassifying for a postgraduate season but was three stars on both Rivals and 247Sports, with an offer sheet including Purdue and Xavier but no others of note.
There remain at least six more games in his sophomore campaign for Brown to combine his physical traits with those that aren’t much more teachable — from energy to hustle to the all-encompassing mental toughness. If he can do so, it could be the difference between the Panthers finishing Capel’s debut season on a high note or the same skid they’ve been on for a month and change.
And, if he can’t, the commitment last week of 6-8, 230pounder Karim Coulibaly looms even larger.