Mike Brown Discusses Player Rotation Changes
MILWAUKEE — Mike Brown mentioned that Mohamed Diawara’s calm attitude allowed him to feel comfortable removing the rookie from the game rotation, giving Jeremy Sochan a shot.
“Yes, you can,” Brown reflected about confidence concerns. “But my job is to communicate with him or anyone when something like this happens.” He admitted, “I could be wrong here, but I feel pretty certain since I started him. I thought it might rattle him—turns out, it didn’t. We put him on the bench in the first half, and then he didn’t play at all in the second half. But he didn’t seem fazed by it, at least from what I’ve seen. And as I mentioned earlier, the real test is tonight. He might not even get to play two games; it might be a big game, and he’s like, ‘OK.’ Honestly, he seems pretty confident in his game.”
Before the All-Star break and Sochan’s signing, Diawara was showing promise. Now, his playing time has become inconsistent. He even recorded a DNP against Chicago on Sunday, while Sochan, being a backup forward, aims to prove his worth for the playoffs. Sochan has struggled often.
Brown expressed uncertainty regarding the backup forward’s playing time. In Tuesday’s loss to the Cavaliers, Sochan started but didn’t perform well, allowing Diawara to take the floor in the second half.
Currently, Brown acknowledged Sochan has the upper hand, yet Diawara is “on his way back.” He noted, “It’s a back-and-forth situation. Tonight it might be Jeremy, tomorrow it could be Mo. Mo’s been improving. Jeremy hasn’t had the same opportunities. The key point is that Jeremy is in his fourth season; he’s a bit bigger and stronger, and he knows the league better. But Mo is coming. I think it’s important to recognize that. It’s not just about Jeremy. Everyone should know that Mo is making strides.”
In other news, OG Anunoby has struggled since returning from a toenail injury, averaging 10.5 points with a shooting percentage of 34.7 over his last four games.
Before his two-week absence, he had been averaging 21.7 points on 58.6 percent shooting.
That’s quite a difference.
“He was performing at a very high level,” Brown recalled. “We even had talks when he wasn’t playing. He’d say, ‘Dude, I was in a great rhythm.’ He was hitting threes, rebounding well, crashing boards hard. He was quick in transition, making decisive plays, and he was really impacting the game on both sides. Then the injury happened, and he hasn’t quite returned to form yet, though he’s only played a few games since coming back.”
