When it comes to end-of-game situations, coaches find themselves in a darned-if-you-do, darned-if-you-don't situation.
The popular wisdom is that the best player takes the final shot. And it's what the star players want.
There's one problem with that piece of hard-ironed basketball fact: The defense knows who's taking that shot, too. And few players have had to deal with that kind of burden quite so obviously as Texas' J'Covan Brown, who seems to have at least one defender magnet-strapped to his chest in the final seconds.
Take the Longhorns' 69-66 loss to Kansas on Saturday, for example. Down the stretch, in the game's final five minutes, the ball was glued to Brown's hands. He missed a jumper, made a layup, drilled a 3-pointer. He drew a foul and made both free throws. He missed a 3-pointer, missed a floater and bounced the game's final attempt, a potential game-tying 3, off the iron. That's six shot attempts in a little less than five minutes of a close game — and two free throws, to boot.
Brown took the final two shots in the final 15 seconds, the first a difficult fade-floater that banked out with Texas trailing by two and the second a 3-pointer on the move over at least two defenders. Neither was what coaches would call an open look, and the degree of difficulty was off the charts.
"It starts with me," Brown said of the team's inability to close. "I want to be that player. I've got to finish games strong. That's really what it is. I've got to be aggressive and find my teammates. In the clutch moment, I've got to come through."
When he's in the game, Brown takes 32.8 percent of Texas' shots. To put that into perspective, the latter figure is almost identical to that of Kemba Walker last season. Walker, of course, was known for strapping Connecticut to his back and taking the Huskies to a national championship.
Brown wants to be that kind of player. And his ability to hit big shots earned him a nickname on last year's team: "Big Shot Bob", one that surfaced after his heroics against Kansas. He nearly single-handedly propelled the Longhorns to the Sweet Sixteen, simply by barreling down the lane, and through contact, over and over again versus an Arizona team that eventually reached the Elite Eight.
But things haven't gone as smoothly for the Longhorns (12-7, 2-4 Big 12) this year, especially in the past two games, both against upper-tier Big 12 teams in Kansas State and Kansas. Against the Wildcats, Texas tried to run a handoff for Brown, but the Wildcats swarmed the play, forced a turnover and a game-sealing dunk. In both contests, Texas had an opportunity to tie or win the game in the final 20 seconds. In both, the Longhorns finished with a loss.
"I'm just frustrated that I'm not finishing," Brown said. "Those guys rely on me to make those shots, and I'm not making them.
"It's not a headache. Sheldon (McClellan) will always come to me, even when I'm missing. He tells me to keep being aggressive, and I tell him the same thing. There's no pressure. I want to be a big-time player, and big-time players make big-time shots."
This season, Brown has certainly been a big-time player. He's averaging 12 more minutes per game than a year ago and has almost doubled his points per game to 19.5 per contest. He's also shooting better from the field and upping his assist percentage while lowering his turnover percentage from last year. He even has been a bit better on defense, generating steals more often.
The Texas coaches have said Brown needs to take a big bite this year for the team to succeed. But at the same time, they want him to lighten his load a bit.
"I don't think it has to be that way," said Texas coach Rick Barnes of the team's over-reliance on Brown at the end of games. "However, I think the other guys do not realize how hard they need to work to get open."
Texas assistant Rob Lanier essentially said the same thing Monday.
"By and large, our poor execution really winds up with the ball in the guards' hands trying to make a play," Lanier said. "We're getting better in those areas, but we're in league play, so we need to continue to improve."
More specifically, the ball winds up in Brown's hands. He paces the Big 12 in scoring and is eighth in assists. The Longhorns appear to be in the process of finding complementary pieces. In the first half against Kansas, Texas was buoyed by three 3-pointers from McClellan. And in the second half, Jaylen Bond provided a spark off the bench.
"We all need to step up," McClellan said. "We need to take some pressure off (Brown). But I think we're doing a better job."
Still, if the Longhorns' game Tuesday against Iowa State comes down to the end, don't be shocked to see No. 14 sizing up a defender, trying to make a play.
"By and large, most teams are going to rely on their best, most effective scorer in those situations and take your chances," Lanier said. "But there may be a situation here or there . . . we can get somebody else an opportunity or run situations where there are multiple opportunities to make a play. The ball could be in J'Covan's hands, but the play may be elsewhere.
"I think in J'Covan's case now, and the role that he's in, which is a new role for him, sometimes maybe in those situations he feels maybe a burden to make a play. Maybe we've got to do a good job communicating to him that we're putting the ball in your hands, but you don't always have to make a shot."
