Brewer, Brings Defense, Work Ethic

By KEN HORNACK


Ronnie Brewer won't be doing any commercials for Wet 'n Wild if he gets taken by the Orlando Magic in the first round of the NBA Draft.

But unless the Magic trade up or have Villanova's Randy Foye fall into their lap at No. 11, they won't stand accused of being all wet Wednesday night for selecting the versatile guard from Arkansas.

Before he began the fifth grade, Brewer broke his right arm in an accident on a water slide. That explains why his jump shot is not described in glowing terms and his 3-point efficiency is not comparable to that of several other prospects general manager Otis Smith has his eyes on.

Hold on a second: A taller guard with a reputation for defense and an awkward release who hails from a former Southwestern Conference school . . . Oh, no! Is this Jeryl Sasser all over again?

Relax. It isn't.

Brewer is not coming out of college armed with a 39.4-percent degree of accuracy and a jumper that looks like a satellite the former USSR would have launched. He can put the ball in the hole, as his 18.4-point scoring average in the last of his three seasons with the Razorbacks attests.

And while he's not a finished product, he appears willing to put in the time and effort needed to improve. His father, who played at Arkansas for Eddie Sutton and with Sidney Moncrief in the late '70s before embarking on an eight-year pro career, instilled that work ethic in Brewer.

In the interest of disclosure, I should admit to a slight bias toward Brewer. His freshman year coincided with the arrival in Fayetteville of Stan Heath, the coach who took Kent State -- my alma mater -- to within one game of the 2003 Final Four.

So far, the only player Heath has coached to make much of an impact after college is Antonio Gates. And that impact has come in the NFL, not the NBA.

Brewer is unlikely to be an impact player. With apologies to Nick Anderson, you probably have to go back to Reggie Miller in 1987 to find the last time the 11th pick in a draft wound up having a major effect on a franchise.

But the Magic, who have gone wrong in four of the last five drafts, would seem to be in a situation where they can't go wrong by picking Brewer.

Ronnie Brewer
POSITION: Guard
HEIGHT: 6-foot-6 3/4
WEIGHT: 223 pounds
COLLEGE: Arkansas

ETC.: First-team All-SEC selection as a junior . . . had 18 points and seven rebounds in a 74-71 loss to eventual national champion Florida in the SEC tournament. Was held to 14 points in 59-55 first-round loss to Bucknell in NCAA Tournament . . . Top game as a freshman was when he had 23 points against Florida . . . Father (Ron) teamed with Sidney Moncrief and Marvin Delph to form the "Triplets," who led Arkansas to the Final Four in 1978.