Backcourt gets boost with GM Ferry's picks
By Terry Pluto
* Backcourt gets boost with GM Ferry's picks
* Raptors make big man from Italy top draft pick
* Gibson versatile guard
* A friendly draft pick for Cavs
CLEVELAND - Understand this much about the 25th pick of the NBA Draft -- you can find a good guard if you do your homework.
In terms of the sheer number of hours of watching film, making calls, studying statistics and checking character, few teams can match the Cavaliers staff assembled by General Manager Danny Ferry.
That's why there is reason to feel good about the selection of Shannon Brown late in the first round. Ferry didn't try to get tricky. A very, very good guard who had started 89 games for Michigan State was available -- and Ferry picked him.
This was smart, obvious and simply makes sense for the Cavs.
Brown is 6-foot-4, a gritty guard who made the All-Big Ten Defensive First Team. He averaged 17 points a game, and had a demanding Spartans coach, Tom Izzo, screaming, pleading and pushing him for three years.
Some scouts have wondered if he'll be a pure point guard, because he shared the ballhandling chores with teammate Maurice Ager (who went No. 28 to Dallas).
He's a ``combo guard,'' meaning he has some point guard skills, some shooting guard skills.
Here's the deal: Brown doesn't have to be the second coming of Mark Price, the best No. 25 pick in Cavs history. He just needs to be a solid guard, fitting in with LeBron James and Larry Hughes.
Odds are that he should he able to do that, and perhaps even more. But he probably won't be another John Morton, another No. 25 pick by the Cavs.
He also was a combo guard, and never had enough skills to play either position.
So let's not compare Brown with Price or Morton.
Let's just say the Cavs got a good guard. They had a viable option in UCLA's Jordan Farmar, more of a classic point guard. But they like Brown's athleticism and defense a little more.
At the end of games, the ball will be in the hands of James and Hughes, so Brown doesn't need to immediately set up the offense. Keep in mind that Cavs fans never saw the real Hughes, because he had a finger injury and played only 45 games. Hughes has excellent ballhandling skills, as he showed at times.
Every basketball fan knows James is a superb passer.
So what does Brown bring?
Start with defense, which is critical to coach Mike Brown's system. He's a sturdy 6-foot-4, 205 pounds with long arms and a knack for making steals. Mike Brown knows that defense begins in the backcourt, where he wants his guards to defend the pick-and-roll and stop the other team from driving to the basket.
Shannon Brown should help in that area.
He also can run on the fast break. He's a leaper who once finished behind James in a slam-dunk contest when both were high school seniors.
While there have been some doubts about his shooting, there are indications Brown can improve in that area. Most good college players improve their jumpers as they mature and play in the league for a few years.
But even more revealing is that Brown was a career 83 percent shooter from the foul line for three college seasons. Some scouts believe a college player who is above 80 percent from the line must have the proper mechanics and release on his shot, and that should transfer to shooting from the field.
It will just take work.
According to Ferry, Brown loves to work. The general manager called Brown ``a gym rat.'' Like most GMs on draft night, Ferry said he didn't expect his selection to be available. But many other NBA scouting services had Brown going higher, in the middle of the first round.
In the second round, the Cavs picked another guard, Daniel Gibson of Texas. He's 6-2 and was more of a shooting guard in college. He needs to develop his ballhandling skills, but he's also a decent pick who shot 39 percent from 3-point range.
The good news for fans is the Cavs knew they needed more than a Band-Aid in the backcourt, and they used their picks to bring in some experienced college guards.
At least one of them should help.
