The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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BKB PREVIEW 12-13 extensive tours of the AAU circuits the past few summers. But when they arrived at NC State, they saw something both admitted surprised them: a point guard like junior Lorenzo Brown. "He just brings a lot to the table with his N size, quickness and everything else," Purvis admitted. "I am kind of getting used to it now, but at the beginning it was tough." BY MATT CARTER C State's two freshman guards — Tyler Lewis and Rodney Purvis — have played against all kinds of backcourt players during their Brown acknowledged. "I was real nervous at the beginning of last year because I didn't know how I was going to do, but now that I have the trust of my guys and my team- mates, they are confident in me and I feel the confidence level boosting for me." The first mismatch Brown causes for most opposing teams at point guard is his size, something the 5-11 Lewis quickly noticed. "That is very unique," Lewis stressed. "You really don't ever see 6-5 point guards here. They are usually in the 6-0, 6-1 range." Brown downplays that physical advan- "You don't expect him to be so crafty, so Junior Lorenzo Brown Is Developing Into A Top Point Guard "It's college ball, guys don't care how tall THE PACK'S ACE ON THE COURT tage, though. quick," Lewis added. "The way he can score is in a variety of ways. He's been working on his jump shot so much that there really is no weakness in his game." Brown has come a long way in a short time as a collegiate point guard. The 6-5, 186-pounder was not a total stranger to the position when head coach Mark Gottfried handed him the ball-handling responsibili- ties before last season, but the bulk of his playing experience in college had been at shooting guard. Yet by the time the 2011-12 campaign had finished, Brown had averaged 12.7 points and 6.3 assists a game, and posted an almost 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, en route to earning named third-team All-ACC honors. One successful season in the books has only raised Gottfried's expectations for Brown's junior campaign. "I think Lorenzo Brown is as good as any point guard in the nation, period," Gottfried proclaimed. "I've seen the list of all of them. I watch college basketball every night, and I wouldn't trade him for anybody. I think in one year, he has made that kind of im- provement. He's taken a step that's been monumental." Even the often low-key Brown is willing to admit the progress he's made in running the team. "I am pretty comfortable right now," Last season, Brown averaged 12.7 points and 6.3 assists a game, boasted an almost 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and was named third- team All-ACC. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN you are," Brown stated. "C.J. [Leslie] and Rich [Howell] are undersized bigs, but they get the job done. "A lot of guys are surprised that I am this tall and play point guard. It is what it is. I just come out and play my game." Brown's game is what Gottfried most ap- preciates. The coach got a glimpse of how valuable Brown's on-court presence is for NCSU when the point guard missed some offseason workouts because of surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his knee. "I didn't like it, and we aren't nearly as good," Gottfried said. While Leslie, Brown's classmate and a forward, was named the preseason ACC Player of the Year by both the league's coaches and the media, it's Brown that those who follow State closely recognize as the key cog in the team's success. So the concern over Brown's injured knee over the summer was palpable. Brown did not know until the surgery was over that the source of his knee discomfort was a torn meniscus. "My mom, when I woke up from the hos- pital from my medicine, she was like, 'Yeah, you are out five weeks,'" Brown recalled. "I said, 'That's all I needed to hear.'" A healthy Brown has the respect of ACC coaches. Miami head coach Jim Larranaga recently called Brown a "beast" and poten- tially the best player at his position in the league. That's far different from the nervous Brown at the beginning of last season, when at times he tried simply not to have Gottfried get mad at him. "I've talked to Lorenzo about not neces- sarily sometimes [take things personal]," Gottfried said. "I think early with him, he was interested in how I said something as opposed to what I was saying. If I was yell- ing at him or raised my voice, that bothered him. "My thing has been don't necessarily get caught up with how I'm saying it. I want you to get what I'm saying to you, even if I'm emotional. I think he understands that and has taken to that." "[Gottfried] knows better than anybody about winning and losing," Brown added. "Just listen to what he says." Gottfried and Brown have come up with an objective for the point guard this season: do not turn the ball over much and allow State's talented arsenal of offensive talents to shine. Odds are that Brown will succeed. Jeff Goodman, a national college bas- ketball analyst for CBSSports.com, swung through the Triangle in October to watch the area schools practice. Goodman's most- talked about experience in North Carolina was his interview with UNC senior guard Dexter Strickland, where Strickland dis- missed the notion that NC State would be a contender in 2013. "They talk those guys up every single year, and we beat them every single year," Strickland told Goodman. "They are the least of our worries. Beat us one year, and then they can talk smack. Until then, you can't put them in the mix." That interview was before Goodman took in a NC State practice. Goodman tweeted out a picture of Brown during that NCSU workout and said with it, "This guy just may be one of the elite point guards in the nation at the end of the day." Not since Chris Corchiani in 1991 has NC State had a point guard so highly acclaimed like Brown. It's not a coincidence that the early 1990s may have also been the last time State was viewed as highly as it is going into this season. Brown just may also be the type to make Strickland take back what he told Goodman. NC State is counting on it. ■ NOVEMBER 2012 ■ 29