John Brown discusses with BasketNews his feelings on not being named EuroLeague Best Defender last year and explains how he adjusted to a different role. He also weighs in on Mike James' defensive skills and names the team that surprised him the most.
Very few questions can trigger John Brown's emotions as much as the one about him not winning the EuroLeague Defensive Player of the Year award last season.
AS Monaco's power forward received the 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best Defender' awards by the EuroLeague Players Association (ELPA) at the end of the season.
While on a video interview with BasketNews last Monday, Brown was reminded of the accolades. Upon hearing 'Best Defender' and 'ELPA', he let out a grin and sighed.
"Ah, I guess it's ok," he uttered.
"I didn't get the actual award; I need the actual award."
Brown means the DPOY award voted on by the 18 head coaches currently working for EuroLeague teams.
On the other hand, missing out on an individual award was the outcome of Brown's ex-team, UNICS Kazan, being suspended after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February. Had UNICS finished the season, the 31-year-old big man would probably have been able to add some more silverware to his collection.
Looking back, Brown says he didn't win "because of the situation" and adds that he's not keen on talking about something that he didn't get.
"I'll let those emotions go. I don't want to re-open that wound again. The ELPA award was alright, but I'm looking forward to the real one. I'll do my best to get that award. I need that," he repeats.
It goes without saying that Brown ranks himself first on the list of the EuroLeague's best defenders and uses an example to argue his case.
"People can see that our opponents try to sit me in the corner, and when my man comes for the ball screen, no one wants to switch. If you're watching our games, you can see how all these things transpire."
"It's a lost art," John Brown described his talent for stealing the ball in January 2021. "You want to be one of the last artists or currently known artists in that field. It's a good feeling," he smiled.
After all that, Brown would probably be devastated to find out that the EuroLeague editorial team didn't include him among this season's candidates.
Not that it will matter when coaches will look into the matter in some detail and depth to decide the winner, but the 2021 VTB League DPOY would have definitely appreciated the love.
"Other than me, I'd say, Alpha Diallo," Brown picks his second-best candidate. "Not because he's on our team -- I know he won't like that. He's my guy."
And how about Mike James, who coach Sasa Obradovic ranked in the TOP 3 of Monaco's defensive line? Brown thinks his teammate is an underrated defender.
"Yeah, I would say so," he replies.
"He wants to lock in and lock guys down, which I haven't seen myself. He can guard anybody. He's been breaking that out lately, and I think he's going to continue to do so.
On top of scoring, how can you stop a guy who's willing to play defense and go down and give you a bucket? That's a bad combination for the opponent."
Brown admits sometimes, James would make a shot during a game leaving his teammates stunned.
"I'd find myself not clapping. I'm like, 'What did he just do?' He mostly likes to chill and relax, but he occasionally brings out a trick shot," the 2021 EuroCup finalist says.
Now, Monaco will try to make the best out of their home-court advantage to get three wins at the expense of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.
It's a team whose defensive efficiency changes depending on whether they're playing home or away (DefRtg 108.9 and 120.5, respectively).
It's also a squad that cannot be easily tamed, mainly because of their backcourt talent. Brown has been a defensive stopper all year long for Monaco, recording some major individual wins over opponents like Sasha Vezenkov.
In theory, if you can shut down the frontrunner for the MVP award, you can perform any defensive task. That includes containing the action of Wade Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown, who have been unstoppable at times.
"Man, they don't have too many problems," John Brown observes. "Playing away, they've been struggling the whole season. So, we'll try to use that to our advantage. We just have to focus on our tasks and strategy and execute our plan."
According to Monaco's forward, the biggest challenge for him and Monaco against Maccabi on the defensive end will be their pick-and-roll defense.
"Trying to guard pick and rolls and flare screens. They have guys who can move around, like Lorenzo and Wade. They click together, and it's hard to stop them all the time.
We'll try to guard those guys on the ball screens so that they can't see every option. Once Lorenzo does that, he'll get something else, and a chain reaction might occur," he warns.
Speaking of Lorenzo Brown, he and John were teammates at UNICS last year. And even though John says the two keep in touch on a regular basis, they've been cut off from each other as the playoff period set in.
"We haven't talked about it because we understand the level of commitment that we owe to our teams. For sure, he's my brother, but right now, we're going at it. We understand the situation," he explains.
It's not easy for a club to make a smooth transition from EuroCup to EuroLeague with some considerable revamps in the roster, but last year, UNICS found itself in the race for the playoffs.
What's more, the Russian team was full of colorful characters like 'Super Mario Hezonja', the inspirational 'shush' man Isaiah Canaan, the 'assist-king' Lorenzo Brown and, of course, John Brown himself.
"We always keep that bond. We're still in the UNICS group chat. It's still love," Monaco's Brown comments.
Now that all the key players that brought UNICS close to the playoffs have joined other teams, Brown seems to have an idea of who to root for. Or maybe not?
"Honestly, I don't care what happens in the other games. No disrespect to the other teams, but I don't really watch basketball and sports at all. I play basketball too much to watch it," Brown admits.
But then, he remembers that some of his friends are actually involved in those playoff series.
"If I had to think of a team to see, I'd like to see my boy Isaiah Canaan. He's having a good situation with his team [Olympiacos Piraeus], and I want to see him succeed. I also want to see Mario [Hezonja] succeed, but he needs to take care of business also."
There you have it -- Olympiacos and Real Madrid are the two teams John Brown would like to see in the Final Four, although if Monaco advance as well, the Reds will be facing the 2021 EuroCup champs in the semifinal.
Brown thinks the Monaco-Maccabi series will not be the single-most competitive in the playoffs this year, even though the two teams were placed 4th and 5th in the regular season.
"Olympiacos-Fenerbahce involves two powerhouse EuroLeague teams, Partizan and Real Madrid will be interesting. So, I might be tuned in to that a little bit. In terms of guard play, our series is the best," he confirms the common perception.
Still, Brown approaches the first playoff series in his EuroLeague career "just like any other game."
"I don't know what to expect, but it will be competitive and tough. So, I'm going to keep that in mind and not be surprised by anything. My emotions are steady at the moment.
I've been to some playoff series before. At that moment, every small detail counts. But no one has given me any advice," he points out.
Comparing and contrasting John Brown's seasons with UNICS and Monaco leads to the conclusion that the Florida-born player has taken on a different role this season.
His scoring average has dropped from 10.3 to 5.5 points per game; his rebounding tally from 4.8 to 3.6; his playing time from almost 31 to 22 minutes.
Most importantly, his incredible 2.8 steals per contest has been sized down to 1.3. Brown had never been much of a shot-blocker, anyway. His defensive impact is mostly measurable in his steals but also manifests in how little his opponents score when he's on the court.
However, the most perceptible change for him was the setting. Brown had played in Italy for several years (Roma, Treviso, Brindisi, Brescia), and Kazan was way different.
But Monaco allows him some more sun than he was used to enjoying while in Russia.
"Outside of basketball, it's been wonderful. I had to adjust because of my role here, lock in, and understand the bigger picture and the task that we want to accomplish. It was fairly easy," he says.
For Brown, the big picture is Monaco making history.
"Hopefully, we can win the title. The team has been to the playoffs before, so it's nothing new to them," he argues.
"We just have to get over that hump that they struggled with last season. We just won the French Cup for the first time in club history, but unfortunately, we couldn't enjoy it because we have a game Tuesday. It was a light celebration."
If Brown had to name the reason behind Monaco's consistency throughout the season, he would only use one word: trust.
"We trusted the process and understood there was going to be ups and downs. We also trusted what the coach had planned for us to go out there and execute it effectively. We just have to keep the same mentality," he highlights.
On a personal note, the interesting part was for Brown to be a good fit in a team with many different scorers that play with the ball. It has been a real challenge, but the Florida-born player seems to be up for it.
"My touches have decreased," he admits. "I have no problem with that because I'm here to play defense, and anything I do offensively is a plus. I try to fulfill that role to the best of my ability and make my teammates proud."
Apart from the people he shares the locker room with, Brown wants to make Monaco fans happy too.
"I want to see the EuroLeague environment in the playoffs," he says.
Well, that was the environment that Kevin Durant described as 'The Apocalypse.' KD came to Monaco and Piraeus to witness Games 4 and 5 featuring Monaco and Olympiacos at Mike James' invitation. Brown says he doesn't think his teammate will bring Durant this time.
"It would be crazy if he did. But I don't know, I have to ask him about that," he reflects.
Now that Brown completed his first regular season in the EuroLeague, he's qualified to name the competition's biggest surprise. His winner for 2022-23 is Zalgiris Kaunas.
"It was a real surprise, mainly because of how they were last season. Not every season can be like that, but last year, they really hit rock bottom. Salute to those guys."
On the other hand, Brown wasn't surprised at all by the team Monaco built.
"Anything less than the Final Four will be a failure this year," he says and signs off to catch up on Sasa Obradovic's practice.
