| 10 February 2011
J'Covan Brown sure delivered last night.
No, not on the court. After a game in which he went 0-5 from the field, Brown found another way to do some damage - Twitter. The sophomore guard took to the social networking site and posted a series of puzzling - and alarming - statements.
His first controversial tweet actually came before the game, in which he said:
CoBrown14_AAF AAF TILL THE END
"Jordan got one more time to dis the TRiLL and it's going to be some s***"
Brown confirmed a few tweets later that he was in fact talking about teammate Jordan Hamilton. What the "TRiLL" actually means is unclear, but what I heard today from a Daily Texan staff member is that it refers to J'Covan Brown's hometown of Port Arthur. Anyways, the game goes by. Hamilton scored 20, for the record.
After the game, this tweet appears on Brown's Twitter account:
CoBrown14_AAF AAF TILL THE END
"Went 0 for 5 lol koa*h stop playin me that's whats up I promise if any other N**** on the team go 0 for 5 he still play but f*** it"
It goes without saying that Brown was referring to his performance and that he thought he should have played more. What's alarming with this is that Brown is comparing how Rick Barnes treats him to how Barnes treats other players - never a good thing. Moments later, Brown tweeted that "Gary Johnson is the best player on the team," and that we would "Start to see the old J'Covan."
Quite a compliment sent to Johnson. For my money, and just about everybody else's, Hamilton is the best player on this team. There's a reason he'll most likely be a lottery pick this year. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Gary Johnson fan. The guy is invaluable and without him, Texas wouldn't be nearly as successful this season. But he's not on the level of Hamilton, in my opinion, and I feel most would agree with me.
So, is that tweet some slap in the face to Hamilton? And what does Brown mean when he says we'll start to see the "old" J'Covan? The one who has had academic issues as well as problems with coaches and teammates in the past?
I sure hope not. Brown is a vital part to the team, despite the fact that he didn't register a point last night. He comes up biggest in the biggest games - which, yes, means that he doesn't always come to play in the less-hyped ones - and his teammates trust him to make the right play in the clutch. Without an even-keeled Brown, I wouldn't think Texas could win a national championship.
Brown's spiking levels of temperament reflect his scoring rates. He follows a great game with an equally bad one. His attitude should be Barnes' primary concern, but J'Covan's consistency is a close second. Refer to the chart to see his scoring results from the past 10 games.
Brown has since posted on his Twitter account that he wasn't trying to be selfish and that he was very happy his team won.
Then, this afternoon he deactivated his account. If that was at Barnes' command, we won't know. But it is apparent though that Brown isn't winning over any teammates right now.
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