Hope he can get All-NBA. A supermax for Jaylen would quickly become a decent contract after the TV cap spike.
Jaylen Brown, Year 7
- Thread starter ifmanis5
- Start date
Late to this thread, but I totally agree with everything you say here (as I generally do with your posts). But I'm trying to figure out what you mean by elements of Jewish America "trying to hide in whiteness." I understand the concept of Jews achieving sort of a conditional "whiteness' in the post-war era where we were more freely able to navigate spaces than previously. And most of us have availed ourselves of this level of privilege, not necessarily consciously. But what would the alternative be? How does a Jewish person not "hide in whiteness"? Does it mean actively re-ghettoizing ourselves? Dis-assimilating? Or does it mean something else? Such as being more outward about our identities and being more acutely aware of how tenuous our acceptance really is?
Not critiquing the post -- the concept has been mentioned in other places too -- more just trying to understand.
It's this and the actions and attitudes that should result from it as many did in mid-20th Century - standing in solidarity with other marginalized groups, using our influence and acceptance into white culture to pull people up rather than push them down, etc.
"Hiding in whiteness" is not doing any of that or, even worse, actively pulling up the ladder on other groups in the way that it's been done to us in the past.
It certainly could mean re-ghettoizing or dissimilating, see the haredi--though I absolutely don't advocate for anything like that.
What I meant by "hiding in whiteness," however, is to not only assimilate, but to lean into the identity, privileges, and indifference to minorities that can often characterize the majority. Think of the Irish or the Italians, groups that were once very much the other, but have since been completely integrated into the white majority. The idea that you could see white America systematically discriminate against either of those ethnicities again is absurd--they may have Irish or Italian pride, but it comes with near absolute safety from being the other again. This, for a variety of historical and cultural reasons, simply isn't the case for Jews. We can pretend that we're as universally accepted by the majority as the Irish or the Italians, that they've allowed us to truly join them--and in a lot of ways that's true, but we are, and always will be, excludable. And trying to find refuge in the notion that we can let our guard down on racism and bigotry because we are no longer the target is naïve. I disappear quite easily into the American majority, and it many ways, perhaps even most--I am part of the majority, but it is not something I take for granted.
So to answer your question, it's "being more acutely aware of how tenuous our acceptance really is" AND as a result, refusing to even imagine that we can be part of a complacent majority.
I actually think most Jews I know DO use their influence and status to try and pull others up -- certainly Jews are the most politically and socially progressive of "white" ethnic groups, though there are some exceptions. I guess that's your point.
Yes, it is my point. Hell, I think there are probably more people in America deeply sympathetic to Palestinians among Jews than among any non-Muslims religious or ethnic group. But that doesn’t mean there still aren’t plenty of American- Jews that try to benefit from, or at least ignore, racism too.
Don't look now, but at the quarter season mark JB has had his highest 2-point attempts and free throw attempts per game with the highest percentages. FT% in particular is an eye-opening 83.2% with a previous season high of 76.4% in the somewhat abbreviated '20-'21 season. And almost 20% better than Jaylen's nadir of 64.4% in '17-'18.
Couldn’t be more thrilled at his improvement from the line. It’s seems real and his shot is a bit different than previous years. It’s looks flatter to me, which I would think is worse but it’s working for him.
The parallel conversations about JB's connection to the antisemitism stuff and JB on the court are kind of jarring right now - can we maybe split the antisemitism stuff into its own thread?
If we aren't able to offer him a super max, I'm really hoping that the Hawks either don't have the cap space for a max deal or look hopeless when he's a free agent. They are already at about $113M for the 24/25 cap, and that's not counting Dejounte Murray.
Perhaps he should google the Wahlberg family history ……… just supporting another celebrity friend, I suppose.
This man is weird. Even with a softball question, he took a shot at the city ("I was booed when I first got drafted here — a lot of people don’t talk about that — so when I first got here, you know, I didn’t feel welcomed).
I wouldn't be surprised to see him wearing another jersey when he's a free agent.
Why is that weird? It's a statement of fact. Considering the general sentiment was that the fans wanted the pick to be traded for Butler or used to pick Dunn, I think it's a perfectly ordinary reaction for Brown to have, -especially- with the reputation Boston has.
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Nothing weird about that reply at all. Someone asked him what it was like and rather than be some fake celeb he told the truth. And he followed the negativity with positive things
He was simple stating that Wahlberg reached out to him. Jaylen Brown is not responsible for the Wahlberg’s actions nor is it even reasonable to expect him to be the morality police for celebrities.
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The “fans” that booed him were shitty fans. Same shitty fans that to this day shit on Al Horford.
I have to admit, I don't even know what Wahlberg is supposed to have done that we're supposed to be offended at. And I'm not sure why (or what) Jaylen Brown is supposed to know.
Jaylen struggled mightily in year 1 and probably heard boos for the first time in his life (because it was probably the first time that he ever really struggled on court). One can definitely mention that a lot of fans are too stupid to realize that a wing who just turned 20, had one year of college, and is physically immature compared to his older peers is going to struggle even as a high pick (look at Jalen Green's sheet so far). That shit happens. Fans are stupid. But I don't blame him for remembering it rather unfondly. It probably bummed him out and confused him. And his story is one of a guy who found the positive through connections with people.
Here you go
Not that JB should know about this or be held responsible for Wahlberg reaching out to him.
I wasn't a member of SOSH back then, but on the Stuck on 16 board, some posters were apoplectic about the selection of Brown at No. 3.
Crazy to think that the big knock on Jaylen then was that he couldn't shoot, and now he's a marksman.
Yeah, I know. I was just making light of it based on his recent defense of Kyrie and the converseation around it in here of how there is a perception that JB cares mostly about the atrocities towards African-Americans. He proactively and positively brought up one of the most racist Bostonian celebrities having reached out to him — I genuinely wonder if he knew that Mark Wahlberg used to violently harass, assault, and throw racial epithets at African-Americans (and others) in his young adult life.
He had a long history of violent racial abuse of AAs and others in his young adult years. He did prison time for robbing and attacking a Vietnamese man where he spewed racial epithets, and had other instances where he chased, harassed, and threw rocks at young AA teens. He’s a racist piece of shit who has made $200M so we’re supposed to look past it.
Just a guess, but it’s also concievable that it was Celtics super fan Donnie who Jaylen was speaking with the most considering his regular appearances on the broadcast in floor seats. Even less of a reason to be concerned about Mark’s run in with the law all those years ago.
I suspect any NBA player who is booed when drafted is going to remember it. Not that different from Pierce remembering all the teams that passed on him and the players who went ahead of him.
There was an event at the garden that night. The booing was in the garden. There were rumors we were going to trade the pick for Jimmy Butler. Some wanted Kris Dunn.
We have outrageous expectations of super star 19 year old athletes if we expect them to know the checkered past of some B level celebrity
Oh... blurgh. Admittedly, I got thrown off by "Wahlberg family history" because when I googled that, I ended up with "Mark Wahlberg, millions."
Narrowing it down to a specific search of Mark Wahlberg, racist gets me a 'two incidents as a teenager' article and accusations of BLM hypocrisy due to those incidents. Which, I'll grant you, is bad, but... I'll be frank here, I don't see any incidents post-1984-1986. Has he done a lot more since he was a teenaged racist idiot?
Googling "Wahlberg Jaylen Brown" mostly gets me Donnie Wahlberg, who seems super-psyched about the Celtics to the point of showing up at Brown's events that he hosts, which... I will say, I'm kinda boggled as to why Donnie seems to be lumped in as "Wahlberg family racism" here.
I'm not really sure why Jaylen Brown is supposed to be chewed out here for saying "The Wahlbergs called me to welcome me to Boston", though.
He didn't permanently disfigure anyone. Read the article that was posted.
It was a shitty thing and he likely is very much a complete dick but we don't need to exaggerate the incident
I’m not chewing him out. I was mostly being facetious. I have 3 Celtics jerseys in 47 years, #33, #5, and now #7.
This thread has spent 3 pages talking about his inappropriate support of Kyrie. This thread has talked about how he posted a picture of an anti-semitic group, unknowingly, and did a poor job at recanting it. This thread has talked about his strong support of BLM and other AA related groups, and how he probably isn’t as smart and polished in his overall thinking on things outside of the direct realm of AA issues based on his errors in judgement in supporting Kyrie (and Kanye).
There was then an article posted about him talking about Boston — and the first reference was to the Wahlberg family — whose most famous member was a virulent, violent racist. And, personally, I don’t think his actions (not just beliefs) warrant any sort of “well, he was only 17” dismissals. Let’s be honest, he’s very rich and has a great PR team, so people look past it all. I genuinely think if Jaylen knew the backstory, he would probably think differently about them (and from knowing people that knew the family, they are all shit).
Honestly, the tone of your posts comes across very much like "The people who greeted you and welcomed you to Boston after you were booed on draft night are actually racists, Jaylen! DO YOU STILL SUPPORT AFRICAN-AMERICAN RACISTS?" gotcha for... I have no idea if you're trying to direct that at Jaylen or the posters you allude to, but either way, it's a straw man argument that I don't think was made in good faith to promote any sort of discussion at all.
If that was supposed to be making light of other posters about a serious subject, I'm afraid I just don't get it, and I especially don't get why your whole argument seems to focus on Mark Wahlberg and 'I know people who know the family' hearsay' and what other posters think Jaylen is supposed to have done for... some other circumstances altogether.
Eh, anyway....
Jaylen Brown seems to be a lot more adaptable to Boston than I thought - because going from Atlanta to Boston has to be a -really- different experience. I've heard Atlanta was basically Black America's capital, but that Jaylen Brown went out of there to California, and then to Boston sounds like a guy who's gonna pick up a lot more experiences outside his comfort zone.
I find it really encouraging that Jaylen is spending lots of time developing his own community programs in Boston, because it means he's found some sort of affinity that makes him happy. Setting up his own business in Boston was pretty surprising to me, actually- I would've thought he would have started in Atlanta, and it really does feel like he's developing roots there.
I wonder if he was the guy who threw the bottle of Gallo white port at my head on Mass Ave one morning at 2 AM. Probably not, cause it wasn’t empty yet.
I agree. He was also quoted about Kyrie a couple days ago after the BKN game and it was perfectly reasonable and fine.
Meh. He said he’s trying to be an advocate for some of the things Kyrie sees. As far as I’m aware, the only thing he’s advocated for regarding Kyrie is his ability to not suffer consequences for promoting and spreading antisemitic hate.
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/FCHWPO/status/1605036540975091714
Inthelab is a twitter account that highlights egregious uncalled traveling in the NBA.
Inthelab is a twitter account that highlights egregious uncalled traveling in the NBA.
Celtics Blog with a look at Jaylen's deficiencies:
https://www.celticsblog.com/2022/12/20/23518326/jaylen-brown-boston-celtics-decision-making-turnovers-defense-elite-scoring
I think the "refusing to pass" piece is a bit overblown. Jaylen is better than those guys and I'm fine with him trying to score most of the time. If he thinks he's got a corner three to shoot, shoot it. Etc. But I do like it when the Cs move the ball a lot, like everyone else.
The turnover problem lately is sorta real, in that 4.3 ToV per 100 possessions is worst on the team (outside of JD, who likely hasn't had 100 possessions yet), but he's averaging more assists per 100 than everyone but Brogdon, Tatum, Smart, and White, which is pretty much where he should be, and lots of very good NBA players average more ToV per 36.
For sure, they've been a problem in the Magic games, but the Clips/Warriors losses he only had 2 each of those games. Pretty good read, anyway.
https://www.celticsblog.com/2022/12/20/23518326/jaylen-brown-boston-celtics-decision-making-turnovers-defense-elite-scoring
I think the "refusing to pass" piece is a bit overblown. Jaylen is better than those guys and I'm fine with him trying to score most of the time. If he thinks he's got a corner three to shoot, shoot it. Etc. But I do like it when the Cs move the ball a lot, like everyone else.
The turnover problem lately is sorta real, in that 4.3 ToV per 100 possessions is worst on the team (outside of JD, who likely hasn't had 100 possessions yet), but he's averaging more assists per 100 than everyone but Brogdon, Tatum, Smart, and White, which is pretty much where he should be, and lots of very good NBA players average more ToV per 36.
For sure, they've been a problem in the Magic games, but the Clips/Warriors losses he only had 2 each of those games. Pretty good read, anyway.
Jaylen Brown is averaging a career high 27 ppg, while also averaging a career high in FG% at just under 50%. He has become an incredibly consistent scorer throughout the season too, he has scored at least 20 points in every game except one since Nov. 4. He's only failed to score 20 or more points on three occasions this season. He's doing this all despite the fact that he is shooting a career-low 33% from three.
How is he doing this? He's making a lot of mid range jump shots. He is making 53% of his shots from between 16 feet and the three point line, up way up from last year when he made 44% of his shots from that distance. How good is 53% from that distance? Noted mid-range maestro DeMar DeRozan averages about 46% from that range over the past two years. Kevin Durant is a career 45% shooter from that distance (he is averaging 54% this year, though). Tatum is currently shooting 49%, Steph Curry shoots 46% from that distance, LeBron 44% and Jimmy Butler just 36%.
From 10 to 16 feet, he is making 54% of his shots, up from 47% last year.
He's not necessarily taking more of these shots, but he is being way more efficient. This is obvious if you watch the games, Jaylen has emerged as a master of using his strength and improved handle to muscle his way into the mid range and elevates to get clean looks at the basket.
https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=93&GameID=0022200549&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Brown 14' Pullup Jump Shot (14 PTS)
https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=109&GameID=0022200525&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Brown 18' Pullup Jump Shot (6 PTS)
https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=243&GameID=0022200525&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Brown 17' Pullup Jump Shot (8 PTS) (Smart 4 AST)
https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=265&GameID=0022200525&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Brown 11' Pullup Jump Shot (13 PTS)
Despite the stigmatization that the mid-range shot has had over the years, it is making a little bit of a comeback and these are good shots, provided Brown can continue to be efficient while shooting them. They are also important shots to have in your bag during the playoffs, when defenses clamp down and it becomes harder to get clean looks from three and at the basket. Having the ability to muscle your way against tight defense into getting a high percentage shot is a very key skill that players need to have if they want to win a title.
How is he doing this? He's making a lot of mid range jump shots. He is making 53% of his shots from between 16 feet and the three point line, up way up from last year when he made 44% of his shots from that distance. How good is 53% from that distance? Noted mid-range maestro DeMar DeRozan averages about 46% from that range over the past two years. Kevin Durant is a career 45% shooter from that distance (he is averaging 54% this year, though). Tatum is currently shooting 49%, Steph Curry shoots 46% from that distance, LeBron 44% and Jimmy Butler just 36%.
From 10 to 16 feet, he is making 54% of his shots, up from 47% last year.
He's not necessarily taking more of these shots, but he is being way more efficient. This is obvious if you watch the games, Jaylen has emerged as a master of using his strength and improved handle to muscle his way into the mid range and elevates to get clean looks at the basket.
https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=93&GameID=0022200549&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Brown 14' Pullup Jump Shot (14 PTS)
https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=109&GameID=0022200525&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Brown 18' Pullup Jump Shot (6 PTS)
https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=243&GameID=0022200525&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Brown 17' Pullup Jump Shot (8 PTS) (Smart 4 AST)
https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=265&GameID=0022200525&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Brown 11' Pullup Jump Shot (13 PTS)
Despite the stigmatization that the mid-range shot has had over the years, it is making a little bit of a comeback and these are good shots, provided Brown can continue to be efficient while shooting them. They are also important shots to have in your bag during the playoffs, when defenses clamp down and it becomes harder to get clean looks from three and at the basket. Having the ability to muscle your way against tight defense into getting a high percentage shot is a very key skill that players need to have if they want to win a title.
We'll see if he can maintain the >50% percentage, but I think it is reasonable to expect that he can because his shot selection has been very good. Brown needs an efficient midrange game, because teams defend him by letting him drive into tight spots where they gets swallowed up. That won't work if he doesn't rush into the trap.
He's also shooting well below his career average from three, that something that he is probably going to improve as the season goes on. So even if he regresses a bit from mid-range, his efficiency should still be good.
Great post.
The depth of shooting and JBs further ascension helps playoff proof this team a little. You can't double or hedge both JB and JT, so they'll get past their guy. And if you choose to defend only the rim, they'll screw you from 15. And if you double off the corner 3, even better.
I also noticed that Brown has 32 dunks this year, already more than he had last year in twice as many games, and his career high is only 54 that he had in his sophomore season. Tatum (41 dunks) is also on pace to smash his career high. Usually guys set their career highs in dunks early, in the first few years of their career, but I think the improved offense with Brodgan/White getting integrated and Smart embracing his playmaking, has led to more off-ball easy baskets for Tatum and Brown. Brown has been a menace this year cutting baseline and it feels like he has at least one awesome dunk per game on that move.
The article should have started with the defense, mentioned the TOs, and left out the refusing to pass part. Those three clips were pretty bad. I mean the first clip he clearly looks at Hauser; doesn't see a lane; and gets fouled. What more do you really want?
I agree with everyone that JB falls asleep on defense more than he should. However, it doesn't happen every game and probably is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
JB is clearly on a mission to make All-NBA. He's got a lot of money riding on it.
The 5-out offense has really opened up the lane for JB and JT, which has lead to many of those (non-fastbreak) dunks. The dunks for them will probably go down when TL comes back to the starting lineup (though TL will be the beneficiary of more dunks).
In addition, his midrange shot has extra equity because if you try to contest it, he can get blowbys to the rim and up-and-unders for fouls. His footwork on the latter has improved, and he's had the former option in his bag for a couple years now.