2021 Draft Watch: Observations on Greg Brown

August 18^th, 2020

By Alan Lu

I took the time to watch Texas’ 6-8 incoming freshman forward, Greg Brown III play in a high school basketball game for Vandegrift against Prestonwood Christian that took place on November 25^th, 2019, as I saw this with thanks to YouTube via Chelsey Carman.  Brown is a very athletic, highly touted prospect that could end up getting picked in the lottery of the 2021 draft, and there wasn’t a whole lot of full game footage of him, so I decided to watch this one.  He showed off a wide array of skills, and he especially impressed by having a strong first half.  His play tailed off at the end in his team’s loss, but he generally had a solid showing overall.  Here are my thoughts on how he fared, as well as how his game may translate to the NBA.

Greg Brown III is a solid shooter that excelled at knocking down pull-up threes to space the floor for his team.  He can make step-back threes effortlessly, especially over smaller defenders, as he handles the ball well and he can barrage of jumpers in a hurry.  He struggled to make long-range jumpers in the second half though, as he couldn’t quite find the shooting touch that he displayed earlier in the game.  Late in this match, he tended to miss pull-up threes, as he would fall backwards unprovoked in failed attempts to draw foul calls.

He also excelled at scoring on hustle plays.  Brown is a high-flyer that especially excels at scoring off cuts and in transition.  He was able to score on an acrobatic, between the legs dunk on a drive in transition, and he also caught a lob pass to score on a thunderous alley-oop dunk on the break.  Plus, he also managed to score on scintillating dunks off of cuts.  He also can draw fouls by driving aggressively to the hoop to get to the free throw line, and he has a decent first step to the hoop.  Sometimes though, he can tend to take difficult shots, and he can be prone to missing on contested shots when is not able to draw fouls on his opponents.

Also, Brown can tend to be fairly turnover prone.  On the bright side, he can handle the ball in the open floor, and he is a willing passer off the dribble, as he can find teammates on the move to set up scoring chances for them.  However, he tended to throw hard passes that would be dropped by his teammates, and he also dropped a catchable pass out of bounds.  He also was called for traveling on a speedy drive to the hoop, as he can sometimes play too recklessly when handling the ball on offense.

He also was able to haul in his fair share of boards in this game, as he was able to collect multiple rebounds on both ends of the floor.  He was fairly active at crashing the glass, and he also brought the ball up off of a defensive rebound early on.  However, sometimes balls would bounce off of his hands, as he would not always corral them to secure rebounds.  He also would be prone to committing over the back fouls when going for boards other times.

Plus, Brown also played solid defense.  He is an active, rangy defender that can get numerous blocks and steals for his team, and he can cover plenty of ground defensively.  He would play passing lanes and intercept balls to get steals, and he also would rotate to block shots off of drives and in the post due to possessing very good leaping ability, timing, and instincts.  He had a tendency to swat balls hard out of bounds, and there was one play where he swatted the ball so hard that it caromed off the wall of the gym.  However, sometimes he would struggle to defend on the ball, as he may struggle to move his feet when defending off the dribble, and he can be prone to committing aggressive fouls by trying to always go for shot blocks.  Every once in a while, he may give up too much space to his man, and he may not always be in a prime position to defend shooters when he is on the floor.

Overall, Greg Brown III is a very athletic, talented prospect that can play multiple positions, and he is a high-upside prospect that has the talent to make an All-Star team or two at the NBA level.  However, he will need to be a more consistent shooter in games, as he shot the ball really well from downtown in the first half, and then suddenly really struggled from beyond the arc in the second half.  He will also need to improve his focus on both ends of the floor, as he will need to focus on improving his playmaking abilities and on-ball defense.   He is an intriguing prospect that could end up being one of the best players to come out of the 2021 draft.  Brown is a lottery level talent, but his questionable shot selection and inconsistent play may pose as significant issues for him at higher levels.  Regardless, he could likely project to be a skilled, complementary wing player, as he may have a similar game to current Golden State Warriors’ forward, Andrew Wiggins in the NBA.

Other Notes:

Prestonwood Christian’s 6-3 high school junior guard, Jacob Millhouse excelled as a shooter and scorer to help his team get a surprising win over Vandegrift High.  He excelled at making corner threes, and he also showed a knack for scoring off of floaters when taking the ball to the rim.  Millhouse also excelled at scoring on hustle plays, and he would actively crash the glass to get rebounds.  Sometime he would throw inaccurate passes, which would cause him to commit turnovers.

Overall, he excelled at making shots and at rebounding the basketball.  Though he does not possess elite physical tools, Millhouse is a mobile, skilled combo guard that can make a variety of shots to consistently get buckets for his team.  It’s uncertain if he has the playmaking skills or athleticism to be nearly as effective at higher levels, but Millhouse looked to have the best game among players on his team, and his ability to knock down shots could enable him to be a Division I player at the collegiate level.

Prestonwood Christian’s 6-10 high school junior center, Connor Redrow showed a knack for scoring on long, two-point shots, and he also was an active finisher around the basket.  He was able to score on a put back in traffic after grabbing an offensive board, but he was unable to score on jump hooks in the post.

He also displayed adequate playmaking skills for a player his size.  He is an effective passer out of the post, as he would find cutters to notch a pair of assists.  However, he also was called for traveling when posting up another time, and he also threw a pass that also was intercepted on a separate play.

He didn’t seem to grab many rebounds in this game, but Redrow would actively look to crash the offensive glass to help his team get some boards.  He also played fairly solid defense against Vandegrift.  Redrow was able to intercept a dropped pass that went right to him to get a steal.  He also hustled back on defense to backtap an opposing ball handler to force another turnover.  Plus, he would actively play passing lanes and contest shots in the paint to help his team get stops.  On the downside, he would sometimes struggle to defend quicker players in the post, which lead him to commit a foul midway through this match.

All in all, Redrow is a tall, fairly mobile big man that showed off a pretty good mid-range game, and he also showed the ability to pass out of the post and get steals to help his team get the win.  He may not be an explosive athlete and he will also need to improve his rebounding and interior defense, but he is a skilled player that may have the ability to play at a Division I college basketball team, and he may be a player to keep tabs on in the future.