UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Brown Poised to Become Next Shooting Star for the Anteaters

Chris Brown is a shooter. Very pure and makes it look simple. His jump shot is like a Fred Couples golf swing--there doesn’t seem to be much effort, but the ball goes a long way. And it usually ends up in the hole.

Last season at Bakersfield College, he put up more than 300 three-pointers and made 130 of them. That’s only 36 fewer than the entire Irvine team made last season.

“He might have some shortcomings,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said, “but you don’t want to play him in a game of horse. Every shot he takes, from anywhere he takes it, has a good chance of going in.”

The Anteaters have guys who can defend, lots of them. They’ve got some rebounders and some ballhandlers and a lot of athletes who can run and jump. But they don’t have a lot of great shooters and, as Baker admitted, “in the end, you’ve got to get the ball to go through the little orange ring.”

The hoop seems to be smaller for the Anteaters than it is for their opponents. Irvine is shooting just 43% from the field.

“I hope I can help turn that around,” Brown said. “I was brought here to shoot the ball, so I’m going to shoot it. And when I’m off, I’m going to try to do other things to help.

“Right now, my shot isn’t very consistent, not like it was last year. But I know I can get it back.”

Brown got a late start this season because one of the classes he needed to be academically eligible was not transferable to Irvine. He became eligible Dec. 10, has played in two games and already has made a more-than-respectable six of 15 three-pointers. Eighteen points on 15 shots is equal to shooting 60% from two-point range.

“It’s going to take a few more games to get everything down, to get my confidence,” Brown said. “I feel like I can be an asset to this team, be an outside threat and knock down the outside jumper.

“I was so pumped up to play and then when I found out that class didn’t transfer, I was disappointed. I was really, really unhappy. Things could have been different and I know I would be in better shape. I think my shot would be better. I would be mentally stronger, too, but there’s no use worrying about it now.”

So Brown uses his spare time to run a couple of miles or puff out some wind sprints on the Irvine track. To earn playing time on this team, you have to be up for Baker’s aggressive, attacking defense, and Brown knows he must increase his endurance to keep from running out of gas.

“Conditioning-wise, I’m way behind. I’m not in shape at all. Hopefully, I’ll have my legs under me by conference, though.”

Clearly, the Anteaters can use an offensive boost if they are to improve on last year’s 4-14 Big West record. And if Brown can sink a few of his long-range bombs early in the first half of some games, maybe Irvine will be able to stay away from its usual catch-up mode.

The Anteaters have trailed by eight or more points in the first half of every game but their first, a 95-67 victory over Division III Salem State.

“We need to work on coming out at the beginning of the game and taking over,” Brown said. “We’ve played real good in the second half. I mean, how many times have we gotten down by about 20 and then come all the way back?

“But that takes a lot out of you. If we can come out strong and get a lead, we should have the game locked. I think if we keep playing really hard on defense, our offense is going to kick in and then we’ll be a good team.”

A hot hand from Brown would go a long way toward that end.

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Starting block: Coaches like to say that starting is over-rated, but Baker probably wishes junior forward Khalid Channell hadn’t worked so hard at proving the point.

Channell came off the bench in the Anteaters’ first three games--including two exhibitions--and hit 18 of 27 shots from the floor, averaging 13 points.

That performance earned him a spot in the starting lineup for the next three games, but he made only five of 22 shots and averaged five points.

Back in a reserve role for the Anteaters’ last two games, Channell is nine of 11 from the field, averaging 13 points.

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Ouch patrol: Center DeForrest Boyer is still bothered by a preseason abdominal strain, but seems to be making progress.

Boyer scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds against Georgetown and had 15 points and 11 rebounds against St. Mary’s.

“Dee is trying to tough it out,” Baker said, “but it’s still tight. It’s like he can’t stretch all the way up.”

Anteater Notes

Three Anteater water polo players were named to NCAA All-American teams. Senior driver Marc Hunt, who scored 60 points this season, was a first-team selection. Senior driver Kurt Edler (41 points) was a second-team pick and goalie Mike Rall, who had 243 saves, was named to the third team. . . . Former Anteater standout Tod Murphy, who was playing with Rochester of the Continental Basketball Assn., was signed by the Detroit Pistons last week. He arrived in Detroit near the end of a Pistons’ practice and was sitting in the stands watching the team compete in a three-point shooting contest. Coach Don Chaney spotted him and asked if he wanted to come down and participate. Murphy hit 10 of 10 three-pointers and won $500.