Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown, Bones Hyland or even Jeff Green, without forgetting Nikola Jokic of course, even Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. at times… denverseveral of them have had an interesting start to the season, to the point of helping the nuggets to rise to the top of the Western Conference (19 wins for 11 losses) as Christmas approaches.
No name, however, is more surprising than that of the rookie Christian Brown. Selected in 21st position in the last Draft, he may not have the most impressive statistics (3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds on average in 15 minutes), but he nevertheless managed to make his mark in Michael’s rotation. Malone.
Since the beginning of December, and more exactly for seven games, the 21-year-old has seen his playing time completely exceed the 20-minute average mark (for 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game). Picking up his first tenure on Tuesday evening, against the Grizzlies, given the package of Jamal Murray (spared).
Missioned in defense on the elusive Ja Morant, Christian Braun did what he could against one of the best leaders in the league, without demerit in attack (13 points, 5/11 on shots and 2/5 on 3-pts, in 29 minutes).
” I thought I was doing a good job facing Ja [Morant]then I looked at the stats in the third quarter and he was already at 30 points… », especially regretted the former Kansas, afterwards. ” I might not be doing it right, but I was at least making it difficult for him, making him take the shots he didn’t want to take, like a contested mid-range shot or a floater over the arms of the defenders. These players are going to go out there and do their numbers, find their shooting positions and, the goal is to make them as ineffective as possible. »
An overflowing activity
Judging by the stats, Ja Morant was indeed a hit against the Nuggets, finishing with 35 points and 10 assists in 38 minutes (12/26 on shots, 3/6 at 3-pts). Except that he also lost 7 balls and that he notably had trouble maneuvering Christian Braun, posting a 2/7 on shots when the rookie was defending on him.
A rookie who quickly caught the eye of Michael Malone thanks to all his activity on each side of the floor.
” His first [vrai] game of the season was against Golden State and, like Jamal [Murray] wasn’t playing that night, Christian [Braun] was able to play and he seemed to fit right in “remembered his trainer. ” He attacked, occupied the lanes on the counterattack, made cuts to the circle, defended and just went everywhere. It has a huge amount of energy and that’s what we need. Whether we score shots or not, we need energy, players who are ready to give their all and do damage on the pitch. I think Christian answers that perfectly. »
Off the bench, Christian Braun therefore has a card to play in Denver and this from his first year in the NBA.
| Christian Brown | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2022-23 | DEN | 28 | 15 | 43.3 | 31.3 | 55.0 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.5 |
| Total | 28 | 15 | 43.3 | 31.3 | 55.0 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.5 | |
