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Pre-Draft Camp report: Day 3

UConn's Brown garnering attention in Orlando

Posted: Saturday June 10, 2006 1:48AM; Updated: Friday June 16, 2006 11:25AM
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Denham Brown finished off Friday's session with a 20-point performance.
Denham Brown finished off Friday's session with a 20-point performance.
Al Tielemans/SI
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ORLANDO -- When you think of this year's version of the Connecticut Huskies, you might first think of Rudy Gay, the sleek and smooth small forward who is a likely 2006 lottery pick. Or you might think of shotblockers like Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone, who are likely to hear their names called later in the first round on draft night. Point guard Marcus Williams, despite missing the first part of the season, might join Gay in the lottery.

Beyond all those fine players in the UConn pecking order, you will find Denham Brown and Rashad Anderson, a couple of excellent shooters who provided supplementary scoring and the occasional game-winning shot. While the four more-publicized Huskies have chosen to take part only in private workouts for teams during this post-collegiate tryout process, Brown and Anderson have been hard at work at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando all week, trying to solidify their own draft positions.

Brown was one of the most consistent scorers of the week here. He made a handful of perimeter shots in each of his three games, ending up averaging 15 points on 18-for-40 shooting (45 percent). He closed things with a flourish Friday morning, scoring a game-high 20 points in leading Team Two to an easy 95-67 thrashing of Team Three.

Anderson had one huge game and two quiet games in Orlando, registering just four points in two games but erupting for 24 points in his middle game for a three-game average of 10.7 points.

Now that Boone has decided to keep his name eligible for the draft, it's very possible that six Huskies could be drafted on June 28. Brown, rated a better defender than Anderson, looks to be in contention for an early second round selection, while Anderson will likely have to wait until near the end of the draft to see if he is picked. Either way, it's clear that the Connecticut team of this past season, while not a champion, was one of the deepest college basketball teams in many years.

Game 7: Team Two 95, Team Three 67

In addition to Brown's sharp shooting, Team Two got a big effort from Memphis guard Darius Washington Jr., who scored 10 points and delivered six assists. Washington nailed a pair of 3-pointers and executed several pretty passes, including a fine bounce pass to Gonzaga's J.P. Batista for a bucket. Frans Steyn of Southwest Baptist -- previously best-known this week as a practice buddy for Pittsburgh's Aaron Gray in a workout before scouts Thursday -- got a little attention for himself with a nine-rebound, eight-point performance. Active guard Dwayne Mitchell of Louisiana-Lafayette, contributed 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. Three other players, Batista, Georgetown's Brandon Bowman and Washington's Bobby Jones, chipped in 11 points apiece.

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