In going to a four-guard lineup, Fresno State coach Rodney Terry was looking to generate offense, to create some opportunities with Tyler Johnson on the floor along with point guard Steven Shepp, Kevin Olekaibe and Jonathan Wills.
And Jerry Brown, the big man in the Bulldogs' small lineup, would continue to defend and rebound and take charges, to play with energy. If he produced any points, it was a bonus.
With the basketball, he was just raw, a blunt force.
"I always used to kid him that he belonged in Pamplona, over there in Spain, where they run the bulls," assistant coach Jerry Wainwright said. "He deserved to be over there ... as one of the bulls."
But with the Bulldogs nearing the halfway point of the Western Athletic Conference season -- they play tonight at Louisiana Tech, which swept a road trip last week at Hawaii and San Jose State -- Brown is emerging to give Fresno State another avenue to the basket.
In the past two games, a victory over Cal State San Marcos and a loss at Nevada, the 6-foot-7 junior has been much more aggressive and yet more deft attacking the rim.
He scored a career-high 17 points against the Cougars and followed that up with 14 against the Wolf Pack, going to the basket and getting to the free-throw line 23 times in the two games. He had taken 28 free throws over the Bulldogs' previous eight games combined.
"We ask him to rebound. We ask him to defend. We hadn't once asked him to score, but he's found ways to score," Terry said.
"I think Coach Wainwright and those guys have done a great job in terms of working with him and working with our post guys. At the start of the year, you know, we'd throw the ball down in there and they couldn't really rip and finish, and we really struggled scoring in the paint. But as the season has gone on, they've gotten much better. They've carried things they've worked on in practice to the games and it's made a huge difference, and I think Jerry has really asserted himself. He's picking and choosing great spots to score for us in our half-court offense and even in transition at times."
Brown, who sat out last season with a back injury, said it was just about time.
"It started off kind of slow because I was a little rusty at first, figuring out the new offense, figuring out the new plays and how I'm going to score and different things," he said. "I stopped worrying about that and just started letting things come to me, and things have been working out.
"My guards have been finding me and finding me in positions I can score and I've just been doing my job and finishing. I'm just being more aggressive, playing my game."
That still includes rebounding, setting strong screens, defending post players who are much bigger -- and all of that, too, has improved. In WAC games, he is ranked third in the conference in steals with 1.6 per game and sixth in offensive rebounds with 2.8 per game.
"If you're a fullback in the NFL, you always have a headache. Jerry has a headache every game for us because he has to do so much of the dirty work," Wainwright said.
"There's no way that I would have said three months ago that he'd be performing at the level that he's performing at now. I thought he really competes. I thought he really had great heart. I know he loves basketball. But he's become a really good inside defender. Unbelievable energy. And it's not easy for him to guard the guys that he has to guard. Right now, his nose is at the level of a lot of people's elbows, so he's not always a happy camper. But he's been great, absolutely great."
And Jerry Brown, the big man in the Bulldogs' small lineup, would continue to defend and rebound and take charges, to play with energy. If he produced any points, it was a bonus.
With the basketball, he was just raw, a blunt force.
"I always used to kid him that he belonged in Pamplona, over there in Spain, where they run the bulls," assistant coach Jerry Wainwright said. "He deserved to be over there ... as one of the bulls."
But with the Bulldogs nearing the halfway point of the Western Athletic Conference season -- they play tonight at Louisiana Tech, which swept a road trip last week at Hawaii and San Jose State -- Brown is emerging to give Fresno State another avenue to the basket.
In the past two games, a victory over Cal State San Marcos and a loss at Nevada, the 6-foot-7 junior has been much more aggressive and yet more deft attacking the rim.
He scored a career-high 17 points against the Cougars and followed that up with 14 against the Wolf Pack, going to the basket and getting to the free-throw line 23 times in the two games. He had taken 28 free throws over the Bulldogs' previous eight games combined.
"We ask him to rebound. We ask him to defend. We hadn't once asked him to score, but he's found ways to score," Terry said.
"I think Coach Wainwright and those guys have done a great job in terms of working with him and working with our post guys. At the start of the year, you know, we'd throw the ball down in there and they couldn't really rip and finish, and we really struggled scoring in the paint. But as the season has gone on, they've gotten much better. They've carried things they've worked on in practice to the games and it's made a huge difference, and I think Jerry has really asserted himself. He's picking and choosing great spots to score for us in our half-court offense and even in transition at times."
Brown, who sat out last season with a back injury, said it was just about time.
"It started off kind of slow because I was a little rusty at first, figuring out the new offense, figuring out the new plays and how I'm going to score and different things," he said. "I stopped worrying about that and just started letting things come to me, and things have been working out.
"My guards have been finding me and finding me in positions I can score and I've just been doing my job and finishing. I'm just being more aggressive, playing my game."
That still includes rebounding, setting strong screens, defending post players who are much bigger -- and all of that, too, has improved. In WAC games, he is ranked third in the conference in steals with 1.6 per game and sixth in offensive rebounds with 2.8 per game.
"If you're a fullback in the NFL, you always have a headache. Jerry has a headache every game for us because he has to do so much of the dirty work," Wainwright said.
"There's no way that I would have said three months ago that he'd be performing at the level that he's performing at now. I thought he really competes. I thought he really had great heart. I know he loves basketball. But he's become a really good inside defender. Unbelievable energy. And it's not easy for him to guard the guys that he has to guard. Right now, his nose is at the level of a lot of people's elbows, so he's not always a happy camper. But he's been great, absolutely great."
