Lorenzo Brown: from being misunderstood in Fenerbahce to a key player in Kazan / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Roman Kruchinin / Contributor - Getty Images Credit Roman Kruchinin / Contributor - Getty Images

With last week's win over Barcelona and revenge for the infamous 'shush' game, UNICS Kazan are now in fifth place in the Euroleague table with a record of 12 wins and 7 losses.

Lorenzo Brown

MIN:29.45PTS:13.6 (55.69%)REB:3.85As:6.05ST:1.5BL:0.15TO:2.7GM:20ProfileEuroLeague2021/2022

They have now beaten all four teams that reached the EuroLeague Final Four last season: CSKA Moscow, Barcelona, Anadolu Efes, and Olimpia Milan. To make it quick: they're for real.

During the offseason, one of their main additions was American point guard Lorenzo Brown, who's having a fantastic season under coach Velimir Perasovic.

So far, Brown is averaging 13.6 points, 6.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 17.8 PIR per game. His offensive rating is 119.0, per BasketNews.com data, while his defensive rating is 101.6, which puts him among the EuroLeague's elite.

And when we look at his defensive numbers, it's not so surprising to see how good they're because UNICS are, hands down, one of the best defensive teams in the competition.

The Russian team has a 101.9 defensive rating, the second-best of EuroLeague, and in the game against Barcelona, they showed, once again, how disruptive they can be, putting an impressive amount of pressure on the perimeter.

Brown has been a huge factor for UNICS so far, representing the first defensive line on the perimeter and contributing offensively in a pretty good way (Brown is currently UNICS' third-best scorer behind Canaan and Hezonja).

Signed to a one-year deal in July, Lorenzo Brown's addition was probably underestimated a bit at first, mostly because Brown was coming from kind of a disappointing season with Fenerbahce.

His relationship with the Turkish club ended after just one season and without too many regrets at first.

Lorenzo Brown

Team:UNIKS KazanPosition:SGAge:31Height:198 cmWeight:90 kgBirth place:Georgia, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

So what exactly went wrong for Lorenzo Brown in Fenerbahce?

Brown had joined the team in the summer of 2020, a summer of big changes for the Turkish club. Legendary head coach Zeljko Obradovic decided not to extend the contract and take a one-year hiatus from coaching.

Several important players like Kostas Sloukas, Gigi Datome, Nikola Kalinic, and Derrick Williams had decided to leave the team. Fenerbahce had to cut down their budget substantially due to the huge club's debt.

An era was coming to an end, and a new one was supposed to start right away. But the situation was probably much more difficult than expected.

Fenerbahce hired coach Igor Kokoskov to replace Obradovic, and due to budget cuts, they were forced to be more creative on the market, going after some 'unproven' players at the EuroLeague level.

While some additions ended up being solid ones, for example, Dyshawn Pierre, others didn't reach the expectations.

The team struggled, especially in the first part of the season. After the arrival of Marko Guduric, though, results started to improve, and the team went on a winning streak in EuroLeague. Fenerbahce were able to reach the playoffs, but a mix of injuries and Covid cases left them with very few chances against CSKA Moscow.

In the Turkish league, after reaching the finals, Fenerbahce were completely eradicated by Anadolu Efes, a performance that was heavily criticized by the fans and that basically marked the end of coach Kokoskov's tenure with Fenerbahce.

Lorenzo Brown was not spared from this kind of criticism. BasketNews contacted some Turkish reporters to get their take on Brown's season at Fenerbahce and the main problems he faced.

"I think that a player like Lorenzo Brown needs full confidence from coaches and teammates, you should accept his role as the main decision-maker," Turkish reporter Levent Leventci told BasketNews.

"However, in Fenerbahce, he arrived after a player like Kostas Sloukas and had to play alongside Nando De Colo in a club where there's a lot of pressure and expectations from the fans. It was not an easy situation for him", Leventci continued.

Leventci also mentioned that circumstances didn't go Brown's way.

"Coach Kokoskov focused on De Colo as the playmaker of the team, making Brown more of a secondary ball-handler, he had some very good games in that role, for example, against Zenit or in the one against Crvena Zvezda.

But results didn't come, Lorenzo was underperforming a bit, and after the arrival of Marko Guduric, he started to have even more of a secondary role in the team. De Colo and Guduric were the creators, not Lorenzo Brown," Leventci explained to BasketNews.

Another Turkish reporter whom BasketNews reached out to, Fersu Yahyabeyoglu, editor at Basketservisi.com, agreed that the pairing with De Colo was one of the main issues for Brown at Fenerbahce.

"Brown had limited freedom in Fenerbahce. The team wanted to give the main playmaking role to Nando De Colo, and for a player like Brown, who's used to be the 'main guy', that decision didn't help," Yahyabeyoglu explained to BasketNews.

During his sole season with Fenerbahce, Brown averaged 9.4 points, 3.4 assists, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game in EuroLeague. In the previous season, his first in Europe, he had averaged 12.3 points, 4.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game with Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.

The difficulties in sharing responsibilities with De Colo and Guduric, a team in a transition season, lack of clarity on his role - all those combined elements led to a disappointing period for Brown in Fenerbahce.

But a new environment and a clearer role can make all the difference in the world, and Brown is enjoying a very good season in Kazan under coach Perasovic, who's doing a fantastic job after arriving in the offseason to replace Dimitris Priftis.

From the EuroCup to a potential spot in the EuroLeague playoffs, UNICS are aiming for a big target, and Lorenzo Brown is ready to help them achieve that dream.

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