It was a dream summer for Lorenzo Braun who led Spain to the EuroBasket title.
Later, on top of the waves of success, came the start of a tremendous season in Maccabi Tel Aviv in which he appeared to be the best player in the EuroLeague. But almost as if at the push of a button, it seems that Maccabi's center is turned off. this season.
Lorenzo Brown is the Euroleague player who made the most mileage of minutes this season, since the beginning of September when he played for Spain in the European Championship.
Vasilija Micic, is the only one who compares to him in the number of minutes in the connection of the Eurobasket and his team Anadolu Efes.
The thing that with Micic it also happens because of the minutes he has to fill due to the lack of Shane Larkin.
Micic.
The only one that competes with Lorenzo, photo: EPA
Since the beginning of September, for two and a half months, Brown has played 22 games and over 600 minutes.
By this Sunday, Maccabi is expected to play 3 more games, and he will reach 700 minutes.
Since the beginning of September, the average is almost a game every three and a half days.
In the Euroleague, his average minutes is almost 32. The seasonal average in all frameworks - almost 30.
At Maccabi, he took part in 14 out of 16 games this season.
The only games in which he did not play are the quarter-finals of the Winner Cup (because he just joined) and the league game in Eilat.
There is no time to rest him.
Add to that the fact that Brown started the preparations for the season a month before all the Maccabi players because of the Spanish team, and the bottom line - he has been restless since the beginning of August.
No wonder that in the last games he looks exhausted as if we are at the end of a season and not in the first third of it.
It started with a drop in ability in the second halves, continued with a defensive retreat and now it is also reflected in the attack - in the last two games (Partizan in the Euroleague and Derby in the league) he did not reach double digits.
Lorenzo Brown.
In front of Hapoel Tel Aviv, photo: Alan Shiver
Maccabi Tel Aviv wants to take the load off him, but can't, because every game is important. Yesterday was a derby, and until Sunday there will be 3 more important games: tonight Olympiakos, Thursday Red Star Belgrade and Sunday Hapoel Jerusalem.
After this series, Maccabi will have to make decisions.
A league loss or two is not a national disaster, and the continuation of the season of its most important man is more important than one loss or another.
After the victory in the derby, coach Oded Ketch said: "At the end of the season, we will reach where Lorenzo Brown will take us this season."
To get far, the hall will have to make him refill the gas tank.
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