Oh well.
Sad to see a guy fall this far, this fast. Brown, 28, and his brother, 24, and another man have been charged with a murder that occurred August 8.
Brown has been accused with first degree murder, armed robbery and first degree home invasion. He's innocent until proven guilty, of course, and not all the facts are known, but the charges are very, very serious.
Takais had plenty of basketball talent. He was a stand-out in high school basketball at Flint Central High, graduating in 2004. He went JUCO at Southeastern Illinois College for two years, where he notched 19 points and 9 rebounds per game, and was named a third team All-American.
Brown was recruited to Georgia in 2006, and after serving a two-game academic suspension, led the Dawgs in scoring, averaging 14 points and 6 rebounds. He was again suspended, this time for class attendance issues in 2007, then dismissed just before his senior season (October of 2007) by Coach Felton for a violation of team rules.
Takais played internationally in Puerto Rico, then moved to Finland in 2008, averaging 18 points and 6 boards. He next played in Slovenia (part of the former Yugoslavia) in 2009, where he averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds. He thereafter was recruited to Argentina to play, but didn't pass the physical because of a knee problem. He was drafted in 2010 by the Reno Big Horns of the D-League.
Talent was never the issue for the 6' 8", 252-lb Brown.
It was all the other stuff.
Unfortunately, it looks like the other stuff will have him behind bars for many years to come.
Takais
Showing posts with label Takais Brown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Takais Brown. Show all posts
Friday, August 15, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Snakebit!
Sounds like a bad movie. Looks like one, too.
Last week we got the report that Turtle Jackson had committed. Had me excited. I should have known bad news was coming. I felt something in my bones. I thought it might have been the rheumatism. Nope. Worse. UGA basketball.
Sure enough our collective hopes are jarred once again. This time, it's the arrest of Brandon Morris. The AJC reports that he was arrested for felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
We can harp on "overzealous Athens Clarke County police" if we want, but you can't absolve players just because they're players. Guys have to take responsibility.
Consider the record over the last few years:
2007: Takais Brown, Mike Mercer and Albert Jackson were suspended for class attendance issues.
2008: Billy Humphrey suspended for underage drinking.
2008: Billy Humphrey dismissed
2010: Albert Jackson arrested for hit and run of parked car.
2012: Donte Williams arrested for possession at Lenox Square Mall.
2014: J.J. Frazier arrested for driving without a license.
I could go on. I chose three incidents from the Fox tenure, and three from Felton's. I chose three Athens law enforcement arrests, two from the Atlanta area, and one student discipline matter.
I know that UGA football also has bizarre arrests and problems, but the margin for error with basketball's thirteen-scholarship limit is so small. The impact is much greater when a basketball player gets in trouble.
I could talk about untimely injuries and all sorts of admission matters that impact hoops recruitment (like the Charles Mitchell situation), but you get the point. Every year, it's something.
That's how life goes when you're snakebit.
Last week we got the report that Turtle Jackson had committed. Had me excited. I should have known bad news was coming. I felt something in my bones. I thought it might have been the rheumatism. Nope. Worse. UGA basketball.
Sure enough our collective hopes are jarred once again. This time, it's the arrest of Brandon Morris. The AJC reports that he was arrested for felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
We can harp on "overzealous Athens Clarke County police" if we want, but you can't absolve players just because they're players. Guys have to take responsibility.
Consider the record over the last few years:
2007: Takais Brown, Mike Mercer and Albert Jackson were suspended for class attendance issues.
2008: Billy Humphrey suspended for underage drinking.
2008: Billy Humphrey dismissed
2010: Albert Jackson arrested for hit and run of parked car.
2012: Donte Williams arrested for possession at Lenox Square Mall.
2014: J.J. Frazier arrested for driving without a license.
I could go on. I chose three incidents from the Fox tenure, and three from Felton's. I chose three Athens law enforcement arrests, two from the Atlanta area, and one student discipline matter.
I know that UGA football also has bizarre arrests and problems, but the margin for error with basketball's thirteen-scholarship limit is so small. The impact is much greater when a basketball player gets in trouble.
I could talk about untimely injuries and all sorts of admission matters that impact hoops recruitment (like the Charles Mitchell situation), but you get the point. Every year, it's something.
That's how life goes when you're snakebit.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Where is the UGA Basketball Program Headed?
I thought I understood during the Felton years. Seemed like we were building something. We weren't great, mind you, but considering the trash dump of the NCAA investigation and the self-imposed sanctions, at some point during Felton's tenure I was starting to feel good about the program again.
Over his five full seasons, Felton's SEC win loss record was
7 and 9
2 and 14
5 and 11
8 and 8
4 and 12, not counting four wins in SEC Tournament championship run
That next year, Felton was fired after going 9 and 11 overall and 0 and 5 in the SEC. Felton won a total of 26 regular season SEC games. He lost 61. Felton got us to the NCAA's and Dawg fans enjoyed winning the SEC Tournament. Considering what he had to start with, Felton performed admirably, but a 30 percent record in the SEC is not good enough.
Mark Fox came in and his teams went
5 and 11
9 and 7
5 and 11
0 and 3
Of course there's still a lot of basketball to be played this year. But if Fox could somehow match Felton's last full year mark of 4 and 12, that would be a huge accomplishment. I seriously doubt that even if we win 4 games, we would follow that up by winning the SEC Tournament.
Recruiting:
Felton hit the ground with tough issues to face. Coach Harrick could get guys committed, but getting them into school was another matter (ex., Julius Lamptey, Larry Turner, Alexander Johnson, etc.). In his last class, Harrick had a marginal class of signees, all of whom asked to be released when the NCAA investigation hit, and none of whom did anything much in college basketball.
Therefore, when Harrick was fired, Felton had seniors, but no freshmen and just a couple of scholarship sophomores and juniors. Battling scholarship limitations and the clould of NCAA sanctions, Felton beat the bushes, brought in some low-ranked guys and took a chance on some others.
Over time Felton was able to generate some recruiting momentum. Starting with Levi Stukes and Steve Newman, Felton started to hit his stride by bringing in Sundiata Gaines and Dave Bliss. Things got better from there. UGA basketball had some really important misses, too. 5-star recruit Lou Williams went to the NBA instead of suiting up for the Dawgs (a huge, huge loss). Felton rebounded by replacing Williams with Billy Humphrey, a talented shooter, but he had no stand-in when Derrick Favors decided to go to Tech instead of UGA.
By and large, however, Felton brought in some pretty good players-- guards like Sundiata Gaines, Levi Stukes, Mike Mercer, Billy Humphrey, Ricky McPhee, Dustin Ware and Travis Leslie. We got an even better haul of big men: Trey Thompkins, Jeremy Price, Dave Bliss, Takais Brown, Chris Barnes, Ajax.
Wins and Losses
Felton got the team to perform in his first year, going 16 and 14 overall, 7 and 9 in the SEC, and making the NIT. The second year, in which Felton had just seven scholarship players, the overall record was 8 and 20. Note: There was a significant drop-off in year two, the year when a new coach generally lives and dies with his predecessor's players.
Thereafter, however, performance was trending up. The team went from the SEC basement to the top of the SEC tourney field, from NCAA sanctions to the NCAA Tournament. Felton couldn't sustain it, however, and he was fired mid-season. My point is that although we weren't ever great in basketball, we were respectable and reasonably competitive. In five full years under Felton we went to three post-season tournaments (two NIT's and one NCAA).
Comparison to 2013
We're definitely not trending up.
Recruiting
Recruiting is in trouble, in my opinion. I look up and down the roster and wonder, where's the beef? There's no low post scorer. I thought Donte Williams was going to have a great year, but now that he has been slow out of the gate, we don't have anyone who can finish reliably. Nobody with a big butt and good hands. No Trey Thompkins, no Jeremy Price, no Chris Barnes. Not even a troubled but talented guy like Takais Brown.
Hate to say this, but we don't have makers on the perimeter either. A Ricky McPhee, Levi Stukes or Billy Humphrey sure would make a huge difference to this team. KCP is a great all-around player and Vincent Williams had a nice game against Missouri. Maybe the guys coming in next year will help, but it's the combination that we lack. We need a low post guy who can score and a consistent three-point threat when defenses collapse.
Wins and Losses
Fox has an overall winning percentage in the SEC of 37 percent. The high-point for Fox was in year two, in which he had the benefit of Felton's recruits. Now that Fox is in year four with a roster full of his own players, we are definitely struggling. It's hard for me to watch a game and see us barely show up at Florida, and end up losing by 33 points. Our pre-conference record included defeats at home to teams I had hardly ever heard of.
Even counting the extremely challenged 2004/05 team, Felton went 22 and 42 in the SEC in his first four years. Fox will have to go 3 and 10 in the SEC from this point forward just to match Felton's record. Fox can do it, but if your current coach can hardly match the record of the last coach who was fired, that's a bad sign. Especially so when the current coach makes over twice the salary of the last guy.
Where are we headed? I hope Tony Parker comes to town, or we get a big-time JUCO low post scorer somehow for next year. Otherwise, looks like given our downward trajectory, a change is in the wind. 30 percent wasn't good enough in 2009 and it's certainly not good enough now.
Over his five full seasons, Felton's SEC win loss record was
7 and 9
2 and 14
5 and 11
8 and 8
4 and 12, not counting four wins in SEC Tournament championship run
That next year, Felton was fired after going 9 and 11 overall and 0 and 5 in the SEC. Felton won a total of 26 regular season SEC games. He lost 61. Felton got us to the NCAA's and Dawg fans enjoyed winning the SEC Tournament. Considering what he had to start with, Felton performed admirably, but a 30 percent record in the SEC is not good enough.
Mark Fox came in and his teams went
5 and 11
9 and 7
5 and 11
0 and 3
Of course there's still a lot of basketball to be played this year. But if Fox could somehow match Felton's last full year mark of 4 and 12, that would be a huge accomplishment. I seriously doubt that even if we win 4 games, we would follow that up by winning the SEC Tournament.
Recruiting:
Felton hit the ground with tough issues to face. Coach Harrick could get guys committed, but getting them into school was another matter (ex., Julius Lamptey, Larry Turner, Alexander Johnson, etc.). In his last class, Harrick had a marginal class of signees, all of whom asked to be released when the NCAA investigation hit, and none of whom did anything much in college basketball.
Therefore, when Harrick was fired, Felton had seniors, but no freshmen and just a couple of scholarship sophomores and juniors. Battling scholarship limitations and the clould of NCAA sanctions, Felton beat the bushes, brought in some low-ranked guys and took a chance on some others.
Over time Felton was able to generate some recruiting momentum. Starting with Levi Stukes and Steve Newman, Felton started to hit his stride by bringing in Sundiata Gaines and Dave Bliss. Things got better from there. UGA basketball had some really important misses, too. 5-star recruit Lou Williams went to the NBA instead of suiting up for the Dawgs (a huge, huge loss). Felton rebounded by replacing Williams with Billy Humphrey, a talented shooter, but he had no stand-in when Derrick Favors decided to go to Tech instead of UGA.
By and large, however, Felton brought in some pretty good players-- guards like Sundiata Gaines, Levi Stukes, Mike Mercer, Billy Humphrey, Ricky McPhee, Dustin Ware and Travis Leslie. We got an even better haul of big men: Trey Thompkins, Jeremy Price, Dave Bliss, Takais Brown, Chris Barnes, Ajax.
Wins and Losses
Felton got the team to perform in his first year, going 16 and 14 overall, 7 and 9 in the SEC, and making the NIT. The second year, in which Felton had just seven scholarship players, the overall record was 8 and 20. Note: There was a significant drop-off in year two, the year when a new coach generally lives and dies with his predecessor's players.
Thereafter, however, performance was trending up. The team went from the SEC basement to the top of the SEC tourney field, from NCAA sanctions to the NCAA Tournament. Felton couldn't sustain it, however, and he was fired mid-season. My point is that although we weren't ever great in basketball, we were respectable and reasonably competitive. In five full years under Felton we went to three post-season tournaments (two NIT's and one NCAA).
Comparison to 2013
We're definitely not trending up.
Recruiting
Recruiting is in trouble, in my opinion. I look up and down the roster and wonder, where's the beef? There's no low post scorer. I thought Donte Williams was going to have a great year, but now that he has been slow out of the gate, we don't have anyone who can finish reliably. Nobody with a big butt and good hands. No Trey Thompkins, no Jeremy Price, no Chris Barnes. Not even a troubled but talented guy like Takais Brown.
Hate to say this, but we don't have makers on the perimeter either. A Ricky McPhee, Levi Stukes or Billy Humphrey sure would make a huge difference to this team. KCP is a great all-around player and Vincent Williams had a nice game against Missouri. Maybe the guys coming in next year will help, but it's the combination that we lack. We need a low post guy who can score and a consistent three-point threat when defenses collapse.
Wins and Losses
Fox has an overall winning percentage in the SEC of 37 percent. The high-point for Fox was in year two, in which he had the benefit of Felton's recruits. Now that Fox is in year four with a roster full of his own players, we are definitely struggling. It's hard for me to watch a game and see us barely show up at Florida, and end up losing by 33 points. Our pre-conference record included defeats at home to teams I had hardly ever heard of.
Even counting the extremely challenged 2004/05 team, Felton went 22 and 42 in the SEC in his first four years. Fox will have to go 3 and 10 in the SEC from this point forward just to match Felton's record. Fox can do it, but if your current coach can hardly match the record of the last coach who was fired, that's a bad sign. Especially so when the current coach makes over twice the salary of the last guy.
Where are we headed? I hope Tony Parker comes to town, or we get a big-time JUCO low post scorer somehow for next year. Otherwise, looks like given our downward trajectory, a change is in the wind. 30 percent wasn't good enough in 2009 and it's certainly not good enough now.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Takais Brown to D-League
Takais Brown, former power forward for the Dawgs, has been drafted by the Reno Big Horns of the NBA's D-League. He was selected in the second round.
Dawg fans might be interested to know that Reno had the first pick in the D-League draft and they used it on Nick Fazekas. Fazekas played at Nevada under current Dawgs head man, Mark Fox. Reno chose James Florence, who played at Mercer, in the third round.
Hard to say if Takais will be able to stick with Reno. He probably has enough talent, but there is no telling if he is past the off-court issues that derailed his progress at Georgia. Hopefully he has put those matters behind him and is ready to contribute to his new squad.
Dawg fans might be interested to know that Reno had the first pick in the D-League draft and they used it on Nick Fazekas. Fazekas played at Nevada under current Dawgs head man, Mark Fox. Reno chose James Florence, who played at Mercer, in the third round.
Hard to say if Takais will be able to stick with Reno. He probably has enough talent, but there is no telling if he is past the off-court issues that derailed his progress at Georgia. Hopefully he has put those matters behind him and is ready to contribute to his new squad.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Takais Brown in Argentina
Takais Brown arrived in Argentina last month, coming from Slovenia, where he had averaged 15 points and 9 boards in 29 games in the Euro League.
Unfortunately for Takais, he apparently has some lingering knee problems, and reports indicate that he might be out of commission for a while.
Unfortunately for Takais, he apparently has some lingering knee problems, and reports indicate that he might be out of commission for a while.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Takais Brown Playing in Slovenia
Takais Brown, former player at University of Georgia, is currently playing for the Alpos Sentjur team in Slovenia. He scored 12 points with 9 rebounds in his last game, going 6 of 8 from the floor.
Brown may be called upon to score more for the team. Alpos Sentjur is ranked near the bottom of the Slovenian Basketball Federation.
As background, Slovenia was part of the former Yugoslavia. Sentjur derives its name from "St. George," who, according to tradition, was a Christian martyr and military hero.
Brown previously played in Helsinki, Finland, for the team, Torpan Pojat. He also played for a brief time in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
After starring at Southeastern Illinois Junior College, Brown was considered one of the nation's top junior college recruits. It was considered a major recruiting coup for UGA when he signed with the Dawgs.
However, due to academic reasons, Brown missed the first two games of the 2006/2007 season. Therefter, Brown proved to be a major contributor, averaging 14 points and 6 rebounds for the year.
Unfortunately, other off-court issues arose and Brown was dismissed from the team prior to the 2007/2008 year.
It looks like Takais is doing well in the international arena.
Brown may be called upon to score more for the team. Alpos Sentjur is ranked near the bottom of the Slovenian Basketball Federation.
As background, Slovenia was part of the former Yugoslavia. Sentjur derives its name from "St. George," who, according to tradition, was a Christian martyr and military hero.
Brown previously played in Helsinki, Finland, for the team, Torpan Pojat. He also played for a brief time in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
After starring at Southeastern Illinois Junior College, Brown was considered one of the nation's top junior college recruits. It was considered a major recruiting coup for UGA when he signed with the Dawgs.
However, due to academic reasons, Brown missed the first two games of the 2006/2007 season. Therefter, Brown proved to be a major contributor, averaging 14 points and 6 rebounds for the year.
Unfortunately, other off-court issues arose and Brown was dismissed from the team prior to the 2007/2008 year.
It looks like Takais is doing well in the international arena.
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