Couch: Minus Kyle Ahrens, Gabe Brown takes the stage for MSU. His excitement is palpable.
Graham CouchDES MOINES, Iowa – As Gabe Brown watched Kyle Ahrens lay on the court in front of him — Ahrens clutching his ankle, wailing from pain and heartbreak — Brown realized, in an instant, his life had changed, too.
“It was quick,” Brown said Wednesday from Michigan State’s locker room at Wells Fargo Arena on the day before the Spartans' NCAA first-round game against Bradley. “But I still feel for my brother, Kyle. That injury, that was devastating — to him, to the whole team and to me. I had to grieve about that, because he helped me a lot in many ways.”
The basketball side of the Ahrens injury story is Brown. Ahrens’ role is his now, for the duration of MSU’s NCAA tournament run. Those critical minutes, at least 10 to 15 a game as MSU’s only wing off the bench, are entirely his.
A month ago, I’d have told you this would eventually bite MSU. Maybe not Thursday in the first round against Bradley. But at some point. Gabe might have told you the same thing.
(Note: Usually in journalism, we use only someone’s last name after the first reference, but Gabe Brown is every bit a Gabe, an excitable, wide-eyed freshman, so he’ll be Gabe for the remainder of this column and perhaps in future columns.)
Ask Gabe about the difference between his understanding now and, say, against Louisville in late November, when he first played meaningful minutes, out of necessity, and hit a couple big 3s, and he’ll give it to you straight.
“I didn’t know what was happening,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about the system, nothing about playing here. I was just out there playing. Now I’m more stable, more locked in on defense, offense, shooting, anything I can bring to the table.
“Probably the Nebraska game (on March 5), that’s when it really clicked. Defensively, that’s when it REALLY clicked.”
Ahrens missed that game, too, with a back injury. Gabe played 22 minutes and missed six of his seven shots. It was the best he’s played all season.
“We put him on (James) Palmer and he did a great job,” MSU assistant coach Mike Garland said. “He is 6-(foot)-7 and he does have length. And he’s a phenomenal, phenomenal athlete. So, you get a guy like that, you get that guy to start defending, you’ve got a heckuva defender.”
“To start defending,” though, is not a decision as much as it is an understanding. Gabe’s patience-testing freshman season has been all about understanding. Because when he “didn’t know what was happening” out there, his teammates knew it, and the trickle-down could be devastating.
“There are more schemes and actions in basketball than football,” Garland said. “Football is formations, set plays. Very seldom is there a counter within the counter within the play while the play is in process of happening. Basketball is so spontaneous that a team can run an action against you and the way you’re guarding it can be correct, but the guy that you’re guarding now decides to alter from that movement and you have to be able to respond, without losing track of him or messing up the coverage.
“That affects everybody. One guy’s mistake, now everybody’s trying to cover. It’s like a chain reaction, within defending that position. That’s when you pick up fouls, layups are scored on you.”
On a team that’s elite defensively because it’s as connected as any college basketball team you’ll ever find, playing Gabe, for much of the season, meant risking that connection. Playing him and fellow freshman Aaron Henry together was asking for it.
“There are no more ‘my bads.’ There are no mess-ups,” Gabe said. “You’ve got to stay locked in to help out your teammates. That’s one thing I’m learning right now.”
He’s got plenty of help to learn it. He has all season. Joshua Langford’s many chats with Gabe included one right after Christmas, when he got after his young friend to keep listening and be patient.
“It’s kind of like trying to get a 4-year-old child to cook a full meal,” Langford said. “He’s never done it before.
“There’s so many different adjustments you have to make, the college life in general. It’s kind of like a culture shock, especially on the basketball court. He’s destined to be a really good basketball player.”
Ahrens, too, has been in Gabe’s ear. Every piece of advice from his teammates includes the phrase “calm down.”
“It’s normal,” Ahrens said. “When you have five different coaches yelling at you, you’re going to get upbeat and not know what’s going on and get stuck in the moment.
“He deserves to be out there. Sometimes you haven’t played, you don’t feel like you deserve to be out there. I just let him know he deserves to be out there. There’s a reason this happens. You were put in this position for a reason.”
If you were to ask Gabe what that reason was four months ago, he’d tell you it was to shoot. After all, that’s why he was put on this earth — to shoot the basketball. When I asked him to rank his loves in life Wednesday, he put scoring first, then shooting the ball.
“Each shot I take, I love it,” Gabe said.
MSU would gladly take a few of those beloved shots falling this weekend and beyond. Gabe hasn’t hit more than one in a game since Dec. 16. He’s 6-for-28 shooting in Big Ten play.
His shot, though, isn’t what the Spartans need from him most right now. It’s his focus and understanding. That can be a little nerve-wracking.
“I’m very excited,” Gabe said, lighting up. “I mean, I’m playing in the NCAA tournament. I’m really excited about this. I'm really excited to see the competition and how our team does.”
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Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.