By Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



Editor’s note: This is the ninth in a series of stories on area seniors-to-be who are expected to have big senior seasons.



He led his team in scoring average and rebounds during the 2006-07 season, but according to Fultondale senior-to-be Chris Brown—statistics aren’t the most important thing on the basketball floor. Brown believes winning basketball starts with leadership.

“Leadership’s the main thing for me as a senior,” Brown said. “Some nights, my shots might not be falling, so I have to play hard on defense and show leadership, so my teammates can have confidence. If their confidence is up, they can make their shots and we can still win.”

Brown, a 6-foot, 3-inch center, knows he and his teammates can get tight before an important game, so he tries to help the other Wildcats control their emotions.

“I tell them, ‘When you get out on the court—just play. It’s just a game. This isn’t about living and dying. You’ve done this your whole life. Just go out there, relax and play hard.’” Brown said. “If I can make them feel comfortable, they’ll feel good about themselves and they’ll make their shots and play good defense.”

Brown admits communicating with his teammates isn’t the only chattering he carries on while he’s on the floor.

“I do a little bit of trash talking,” Brown said. “Not much, but some. Like when an opponent takes a bad shot or turns the ball over, I’ll say, ‘Good play. Or, you made a real good play for us.’ It’s just little something to get inside the opponents head.”

Brown and his Fultondale teammates got into many an opponent’s head during his junior season, as the Wildcats rebounded from a 8-16 record the year before to post a 15-13 mark, missing the sub-state playoffs by just one game. Brown thinks much of the Wildcats success last year began with the mindset the ball club took into each game.

“Just about every time we take the court, we’re the underdog,” he said. “We know we don’t have anything to lose and everything to gain. It makes us fight harder to prove that everyone who looks down on us is wrong about how good we are.”

Brown and his teammates could prove more people wrong this coming season, after the 2A club played a rugged summer schedule this year, filled with games against Class 5A and 6A teams.

Should Brown reach the next level of basketball, he knows he likely won’t be playing the post position he has played at Fultondale since his freshman season. Brown is preparing for his senior season and a possible shot at college ball by polishing his ball handling and his outside shooting. He’s currently working on his ball handling skills two hours at a time, twice a week and working on his jumper two hours at a time, three days a week.

“If I get to play basketball in college, chances are I’d play at shooting guard or small forward,” Brown said. “So, I’m trying to improve my ball handling and working on my jumper more.”

Brown feels he can knock down 15 or 16-foot jumpers regularly, but his favorite move is taking the ball to the hoop.

“I try to use my quickness to get around a defender,” he said. “The key is my head fake, I’ll fake like I’m going to pass to a teammate and then I put the ball on the floor to get around him. I either get an easy basket or draw a foul. If the defender cuts me off, I’ve got enough strength to make an off balance shots in the lane.”

Brown also uses his quickness on the break, as he often outruns the opposing team’s post players in transition.

Brown’s goals for his senior season include adding to his scoring, rebounding and assist numbers from last year. He feels improving those three stats can help the Wildcats win some of the games they let slip away in the past.

“Last year, we lost a few games by just a rebound or two,” he said. “We didn’t get the key rebound and the other team got it and went down and make the basket that wound up winning the game. If my scoring average goes up a little, my rebounds go up over last year and I have more assists than I did last year, we can win some of the close games and get into the playoffs.”