Jaylen Brown Is The Finals MVP

In 2016, Jalen Brown came into the league as a raw, but extremely talented young prospect, who had the foundation to become one of the NBA's premier wings. And after 8 years of steady improvement, Jalen Brown has turned into one of the best 2A players across the league, and we're currently seeing that in full effect in the NBA Finals. Now the most important element in Jalen Brown's game is going to be his explosiveness. With the ball on the floor, Brown's got elite quickness. Plus he also has ridiculous verticality off the floor. If the defense gives Brown any open space to attack into, Jalen's going to use that to charge up and explode to the rim. But along with those physical tools, Jalen also has a really dynamic game off the dribble. You'll see him here turn the corner off the screen, and watch him get the defense leaning by bringing the ball to his pocket and planting his outside foot. And from this spot, Jalen's got the ball control and footwork to transfer the ball between, and he's again able to use all this open space to build up ahead of Steve and elevate for this jam. And then all that athleticism and on-ball skills carries right over to Jalen's game in transition. Watch him here completely dust Luka with this overcross, to then pick up and explode off two feet. Now when playing in traffic, Jalen also has the ability to play patient with the ball. He loves getting to these two foot stops in the paint to lift the defense up and find finishing windows. You'll see him here get to this left hand as he blow by, and as the backline defense steps up, notice how Brown's going to slightly freeze him by picking up and getting to this quick shot fake. Then he's able to sneak this layup through, and Jalen being able to play off two feet, also opens doors for him to count. Watch him here initiate contact with his inside shoulder, to then again lift the defense up with his shot fake, which then opens up the step through for Brown. Now in previous videos, we've gone over how Brown's really improved his ball security, by using his body and off-arm to shield the rock, to then set up his downhill or mid-range attacks. And that improved ball handling has had a massive impact on Brown scoring throughout the finals, being able to protect the ball while attacking through and around contact. Watch him here transfer the ball between, and bring it out wide and away from his head. And notice how Jalen is going to get active with his off-arm, and pull himself into this drive. And when the help side steps up, Jalen's going to come to a two foot stop and sink this floater. And Brown's improved ability to protect the ball also allows him to play more patient. You'll see him here drop down into this left hand drive, and again notice how he's going to use that off-arm to protect the ball. Then he's going to stop and lift the defense up with his shot fake, and find the shooting window. And Brown's also great at leveraging his downhill attacking to create space for his jumpers. Watch him here catch and rip to his right, and once he gets this defender's hips to open up, Jalen's going to slam the brakes by planting his outside foot, and snatching the ball through. So Brown's ability to protect the ball, play above the rim, and effectively create space in the mid-range, has made him Boston's most consistent on-ball scorer throughout the playoffs, and he's also been able to consistently close out games for the Celtics. So Brown's ability to score from a variety of spots opens up windows for his passing. And to be honest I don't think Brown is the most advanced playmaker, but because Boston constantly has the floor spaced out with four shooters off the ball, it does make Jalen's passing reads pretty simple. Notice here when Jalen attacks and gets into the teeth of the defense, how the Celtics again have the floor spaced out. And if any help defender slides down and collapses the paint, Jalen's got a wide open pass. And Brown's also been a really effective scorer off the ball. Boston loves to space the floor with a 5 out offense, and simply attack matchups. And once Boston is able to get two the ball, it normally leads to a kickout, ball reversal on 3, and Jalen's been able to consistently knock down the open looks that come to him. You'll see Tatum here pull two defenders towards the ball, which puts the weak side defense into a scramble once the ball gets kicked out. And PJ Washington who was originally doubling Tatum, isn't able to recover back to Brown in the corner. And Brown also has a pretty quick trigger off the catch. Notice how Kyrie Irving here briefly gets lost in gap. And once Jalen receives this kickout pass, he instantly gets the ball up to a set point with no hesitation. Off the ball, Brown has also developed into a pretty good cutter. When Boston has a mismatch in the post, the defense normally gets caught ball watching, which allows Jalen to simply cut into open space and get these easy two points. You'll see Tatum here catch with Irving on him. And notice how these 4 defenders turn and completely hone in on the ball, allowing Jalen to cut behind for an uncontested dunk. Now throughout this series, I also think Brown has had just as much of an impact on the defensive end. At the point of attack, Brown has made things pretty difficult for Luka Doncic, where he has both the speed and anticipation to stay in front, plus the physicality to absorb Luka's body bumps. Watch him here pressure up and wedge himself between Luka and the screener. Then he's able to reach down and swipe the ball free. Jalen's also been one of the primary defenders on Kyrie Irving, where again Brown's combination of size and quickness makes him a really tough one on one matchup. You'll see Jalen here slide up and completely wall off his Irving drive. And again he's able to use that length to reach out and poke the ball free. Then he forces Irving into a turnover. And all those physical tools carry over to Brown's defense down low, where he has the stability to hold his ground against Doncic and force him into tougher looks from over the top. And Boss has also been comfortable letting him switch onto Gafford and Lively, where Brown again has the strength to throw his weight around and not give up any advantages down low. And Jalen's also been really effective when defending off the ball. His length and quickness makes him a really effective gap defender, where he's able to slide across and disrupt the rhythm of the ball handler. I love this play here, where Luka is trying to attack Samhauser in isolation, and Brown's going to shift up to provide extra help. But when Luka makes the swing pass over to the opposite corner, Brown's got the mobility to scramble over and swap the shot. And Brown's explosiveness also makes him a pretty effective backline defender, being able to explode up and provide an extra layer of resistance around the basket. This is my favorite defensive play of the playoffs, where Brown first slides across from the weak side, and takes away this Derrick Jones lob at the rim. But when the ball gets moved back around and finds Jones right in the dunker spot, Brown is again able to shoot up and meet him at the rim. So overall, I think Jalen Brown has been Boston's most consistent player throughout the finals. He's been a reliable on-ball shot creator in crunch time, while also providing value off the ball as a spot-up shooter and cutter. And then defensively, he's had a huge impact on the ball, guarding both Luka and Kyrie. And then Brown's physical tools also make him a really versatile off-ball defender, where he has the length and quickness to make plays in gap, plus the vertical explosiveness to be an excellent backline defender. I think Brown's consistent improvement year after year has for sure shown up throughout the playoffs, and I think he's done more than enough to be the finals MVP. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please like and subscribe. And let me know in the comments what you think of Jalen Brown's game.