Tag: troy brown

How NBA trade deadline impacted every Oregon Duck

The eight Oregon Ducks in the NBA all stayed put during the 2023 NBA trade deadline, but the moves their team made will impact playing time.

The NBA trade deadline is guaranteed to be among the most action packed days in sports every single year, and 2023 was no different.

Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns was the big move, immediately cementing this club as a title contender. The local Portland Trail Blazers made moves involving a pair of former Pac-12 stars, shipping Oregon State product Gary Payton II to Golden State while bringing in Washington alumni Matisse Thybulle.

No Ducks were involved in any deadline deals, although many will feel the effect of this day for the rest of the season. Some guys have a bigger opportunity to snag playing time, while others just saw their chances dwindle over the final few months.

Here is a look at how each of the eight Oregon alumni in the NBA were impacted by their team’s trade deadline acquisitions and departures, with an updated look at their performance on the season as well.

Troy Brown shares epic memory of playing with Tom Brady

Troy Brown had one favorite moment in particular when talking about Tom Brady.

Former New England Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown shared his favorite moment of playing with Tom Brady, following Brady’s retirement announcement on Wednesday.

Brown spent 15 seasons with the organization as a player and was able to work with Brady during the Patriots dynasty of the early 2000s. He finished his career with 557 receptions for 6,366 yards and 31 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl in 2001, when he caught 101 passes for 1,199 yards and five touchdowns.

Despite playing with Brady for a solid part of his career, the wide receiver has one favorite Brady moment in particular: the 82-yard touchdown pass that knocked off the Miami Dolphins in overtime back in 2003.

Brown is still connected with the Patriots organization, serving as the team’s wide receivers coach. Nevertheless, his connection with Brady that day will perhaps be the one he remembers most.

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Top WR prospect singing Troy Brown’s praises at Shrine Bowl

Top receiving prospect has been impressed with Troy Brown’s coaching at the Shrine Bowl.

The New England Patriots coaching staff is in Las Vegas this week for the Shrine Bowl. They have gotten a chance to work with several high-profile prospects, including Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers.

Flowers had a decorated career at Boston College that saw him finish it off with a tremendous senior season in 2022. He set the BC single-season mark in receiving touchdowns with 12 on the year. He also tied the record for receptions in a season with 78. Flowers was clearly a threat at the position, amassing 1,077 receiving yards on the season.

It has been a productive career overall on Chestnut Hill for the top-ranked prospect, who has recorded 200 catches for 3,056 yards and 29 touchdowns in four seasons.

While preparing for the Shrine Bowl, Flowers has had the chance to work with Patriots wide receivers coach Troy Brown, and so far, it has been nothing but a positive experience, as he told Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar.

“It’s been high-demanding. I like that type of coaching,” said Flowers. “Make sure you’re on your P’s and Q’s. Make sure everything gets done the right way, every detail done the right way. It’s been good.”

“He [Troy Brown] makes sure you know everything about the play. He makes sure you’re very detailed and don’t go down the road of running the wrong routes or releases. He just wants you to get the job done.”

Flowers could be an option for New England, as they look to improve their offense. Quarterback Mac Jones is entering a crucial third season and more weapons around him would bolster the offense. Flowers would give New England the playmaking wide receiver needed to compete in today’s NFL.

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Troy Brown admits Marcus Jones is ‘far ahead’ of where he was as a rookie

Troy Brown paid Marcus Jones the ultimate compliment.

New England Patriots wide receivers coach Troy Brown offered some high praise for cornerback Marcus Jones.

Although labeled as a corner, Jones also showed his receiving prowess in Thursday night’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. He caught two passes for 53 yards, including a 48-yard pass that went for a touchdown. It was just another notch in the belt for Jones this season. He has tallied 20 punt returns for 294 yards and a touchdown, as well as 18 kickoff returns for 451 yards.

On top of his return and receiving duties, he has proven to be a valuable corner. He has six tackles in 11 games played this season.

His versatility has caught the eye of Brown to the point where the Patriots Hall of Famer admitted the rookie playmaker is “far ahead” of where he was when he started his NFL career.

“Marcus is far ahead of me,” said Brown, per NESN’s Dakota Randall. “He’s far ahead of where I was — especially at this point in his career. He’s continuing to earn the right to be out on the field. We just hope he keeps it up.”

For the record, Brown recorded two catches on offense and was a return specialist in his rookie season. His role was not exactly the biggest.

Even still, there is no denying Jones is making a major impact. He’s given New England fans a glimpse of what the future might look like and has been an important piece for the Patriots this season in more ways than one.

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Familiar Patriots legend has been crucial to Marcus Jones’ success

Bill Belichick believes Marcus Jones has improved dramatically with one Patriots legend’s help.

The New England Patriots’ rookie class has made a strong impression in its first season for the team. Marcus Jones was an example of that, as he scored the game-winning touchdown on a kickoff return against the New York Jets.

Jones was known as a versatile player in college while at Houston.  He was given the 2021 Paul Hornung award, which is given to the nation’s most versatile player in college football.

That versatility has translated well to the NFL.

Patriots legend and receivers coach Troy Brown has worked closely with Jones over the past couple of months. It’s something that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has noticed, and he has been impressed with the job Brown has been doing.

“I think Troy Brown has done a great job with him,” Belichick said, via NESN’s Zack Cox. “Where Marcus was when he got here and where he is now, they’re an ocean apart. Troy has really done a good job with the ball-handling, ball catching, making the first guy miss, ball security, setting up blocks, having vision on the ball, the gunner, playing the wind, so forth.”

New England came into the 2022 NFL draft placing an emphasis on speed and explosive players. So far, Jones has been able to provide both of those things, as the Patriots remain firmly in the middle of the playoff hunt.

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DeVante Parker comments on sideline blow-up with WR coach Troy Brown

DeVante Parker comments on early sideline blow-up with Troy Brown on Sunday

Things went so great for the New England Patriots in Sunday’s road meeting with the Cleveland Browns that most forgot about the brief sideline blow-up between wideout DeVante Parker and receivers coach Troy Brown.

The two had to be separated after tempers flared during a heated discussion. Whatever the issue both men had was obviously addressed considering Parker had himself quite the game, leading the team with four receptions for 64 yards.

When asked about the argument after the game, Parker refused to go into the exact details, but he did pour a bucket of ice water on any attempt to make the situation bigger than what it was.

“That’s what happens,” said Parker, per NESN.com. “It’s the NFL. Arguments happen. It’s football.”

Parker isn’t wrong.

Arguments do happen all of the time when teams are competing and trying to win football games. The good news for the Patriots is there weren’t any lingering effects from the sideline spat, as Parker went right back to the business of dominating Cleveland’s defensive backs.

Here’s to hoping there’s more where that effort came from in the coming weeks, as the Patriots look to improve their standing in an increasingly competitive AFC East division.

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Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton has high praise for this Patriots legend

Tyquan Thornton has enjoyed learning from former Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown.

New England Patriots wide receiver Tyquan Thornton has been practicing with a Patriots legend, who also used to play the same position.

Patriots Hall of Famer Troy Brown, the team’s receivers coach, has been working with the rookie during training camp. Thornton was seven years old when Brown played his final snap with the Patriots. Now, the rookie wideout is looking to learn from Brown as he tries to leave his own mark in the New England offense.

The second-year wideout from Baylor has been watching Brown’s film. Brown had a tenacious, rugged play style, and one aspect of Brown’s game stood out to Thornton.

“His motivation,” Thornton said, via NESN’s Dakota Randall. “Getting coached up by him, then you can go into him and see the film. He used to put fear in guys’ hearts out there — and he tells us every day, he reminds us.

“He’s a dog. He’s a dog. Probably the only person I know that played the wideout position, the Star (defensive) position, and going on defense and going to block punts — that’s a true definition of a dog.”

Brown had decent statistics as a defender as well as his reputation for being a stout receiver. For instance, he had three interceptions in the 2004 season, and finished one interception behind Eugene Wilson for the team lead that season.

Thornton won’t probably have the defensive prowess that Brown showed a bit of during his career. However, Brown’s motivation and body of work as a receiver are things that Thornton can try to emulate.

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Lonnie Walker and Troy Brown, who just agreed to sign with the Lakers, are also apparently besties

Lakers fans would love it if these guys could host a podcast together.

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly agreed to terms with two former first-round picks, Troy Brown Jr. and Lonnie Walker IV.

Brown and Walker represent a change of pace in how the Lakers approach the offseason. For the past few seasons, we have seen the organization target aging veterans including the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard, and Rajon Rondo.

On the other hand, Brown is only 22 years old while Walker is only 23. It’s a wise investment in two former first-round picks who are still young. But it’s also an investment in two best friends, according to Basketball News content chief Alex Kennedy.

Brown was selected at No. 15 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft, and then Walker heard his name shortly after at No. 18 overall. The two were both summer league standouts when they faced each other as rookies.

But they had extensive experience together long before that.

Back in 2016, when they were still playing at the AAU level, the two prospects actually traveled to the Bahamas (alongside other future NBA players like Wendell Carter Jr., Jarred Vanderbilt, and PJ Washington).

Both players were later named McDonald’s All-Americans and played together on that roster in 2017. You can watch one of their highlights from the game below:

If you are interested, you can watch a recent video of the two players working out together in Los Angeles. Around the 5:30-mark, they start playing HORSE.

You will not be surprised to learn that both players are represented by Klutch Sports.

According to Kennedy, the two players recently considered hosting a podcast together. Hopefully, they get a chance to do that as teammates on the Lakers.

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5 potential candidates for Patriots to replace OC Josh McDaniels

We take a look at potential replacement options for Josh McDaniels as he leaves for Las Vegas.

With Josh McDaniels set to join the Las Vegas Raiders as the head coach, the New England Patriots will need to find a new offensive coordinator.

In terms of the talent pool, there are some familiar names that are listed as candidates. As coaches look to advance from under the Bill Belichick coaching tree, it seems as though Belichick has had his coaching imprint on the entire league.

Now, the organization may have to look into that talent pool as they look to find someone else to lead the offense. Let’s take a look at five potential candidates to replace McDaniels.

Troy Brown says N’Keal Harry is working to get fundamentals ‘where they need to be’

The Patriots are hoping hard work will pan out for N’Keal Harry. So far? Not so much.

New England Patriots receiver N’Keal Harry saw a major uptick in snaps on Sunday during the team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. But while his playing time jumped, the wideout did not muster a sizable increase in production.

With Nelson Agholor out and Kendrick Bourne on a snap count after missing the whole week of practice, Harry finished with six targets and two catches for 15 yards. He had one drop and quarter Mac Jones threw an interception intended for Harry.

Those looking for Harry’s breakout game need to keep waiting.

“I just want to see him keep working the way he’s been working this year. From day one since he got here, he’s been working hard and willing to do whatever it took to win this football team some games,” receivers coach Troy Brown said on Tuesday. “That’s all I can ask of him is to keep working and keep trying to get his fundamentals better and where they need to be.”

In his third season in the NFL, Harry continues to prove a disappointment. The former first-round pick has 12 receptions for 184 yards and no touchdowns over 11 appearances in 2021. He’s posting fewer yards per game and a lower catch percentage than he did in 2020 when he had 33 catches for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Harry has shown major progress as a run blocker, a role where he’s proven useful. As a true receiver, however, he’s still a work in progress.

The Patriots don’t have much of a prescription for his struggles. They’re hoping hard work — something that Harry has never stopped applying — will finally help the receiver break through.

“N’Keal’s been working hard, and I think he’s just got to continue to work hard, and he’s been practicing hard, doing all the things he can,” Jones said during an appearance on WEEI sports radio on Monday. “I don’t think it’s an effort issue. He’s definitely trying to get better just like all of us are.”

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