Brown backcourt has not lived up to its early promise

Production has fallen off for Eric Blackiston and BrianProduction has fallen off for Eric Blackiston and BrianLloyd, leaving the Bears wondering what went wrong If ever there were two complementary players, they are Brown's Eric Blackiston and Brian Lloyd. One is a playmaker who loves to weave his way basketward and finish with an emphatic dunk. The other is a classic long-range bomber. Together, they were expected to fill the shoes of Penn's departed Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney, and assume the title of Best Backcourt in the Ivy League. But the 1995-96 season has proven just how tenuous preseason speculation can be. Both players are having self-described "disappointing" seasons, and the Bears team they were supposed to carry into the upper echelon of the league is floundering because of it. Blackiston's is the more surprising case, given that he was a first team all-Ivy selection last season. Like the Brown squad as a whole, Blackiston has failed to live up to the preseason hype. Expected to challenge for Ivy Player of the Year honors, he has instead watched his hardware hopes go down with his team's conference record. The Wilmington, Del., native, who was recruited by Penn, enjoyed his share of success in high school. As a senior captain at Mt. Pleasant High, Blackiston led his squad to the Delaware state championship game. Upon arriving at Brown, Blackiston continued his rise. As a freshman, he led the Bears in scoring (10.8 ppg) and assists (3.3 apg). For his efforts, he garnered a number of postseason awards. Most notably, the 6-foot-3 point guard was named to the USA Today honorable mention all-rookie team. Not bad for a player who hardly anticipated starting. "It was a big shock -- I didn't expect it at all," Blackiston said. Joining Blackiston in the backcourt that first year was Lloyd. Coming off of a distinguished career at Rutgers Prep in New Jersey, the gregarious Lloyd was primarily confined to substitute duties. This was a first for the 6-foot-4 shooting guard, whose brother, Rick, had been a four-year letter winner for the Bears and whose father is a high school basketball coach. Talented newcomers aside, the Bears had little to be excited about that winter of 1992-93. New head coach Frank "Happy" Dobbs, beginning his task of rejuvenating the comatose Brown program, led the team to a characteristic 11-15 record. The next season gave the Brown faithful reason for hope. Lloyd and Blackiston both took leaps forward. Lloyd cracked the starting five and immediately left an impression. His 12.3 ppg scoring average established him as an offensive force, particularly from three-point range. The sophomore connected on a school-record 72 treys, shooting an impressive 45 percent from behind the arc. Blackiston had already made his mark, so his sophomore season was spent consolidating his position as a star-in-the-making. Although his scoring dipped below 10 points a game, the speedy guard upped his assist total to 115, good for tenth on the Brown single-season record list. The two guards were rewarded with places on the honorable mention all-Ivy team. That summer, rather than return home, the two friends stayed in Providence, R.I. They worked together, and when the workday ended, Blackiston and Lloyd played basketball together, developing the on-court rapport that has been their trademark ever since. "Playing year-round, you really get a feel for where the other guy is going to be," Lloyd said. "I think our games complement each other perfectly. He can take anyone one-on-one." Junior year, the Bears' backcourt continued its rise through the Ivy League ranks. Blackiston earned first-team all-Ivy honors for his 13.3 ppg performance, the first Bear so honored in almost a decade. Lloyd averaged 12.5 ppg and continued his stellar shooting from three-point land. He landed himself on the second-team all-Ivy list. Despite the growing personal success of its best players, the wealth was not trickling down to team as a whole, as Penn continued to run roughshod over the league and the Bears again aimed for the .500 level. "It's frustrating," Lloyd said. "It's the ideal goal to win the championship." The only realistic chance that Brown would ever have to attain glory with Blackiston and Lloyd at the helm would come in 1995-96. But for the first time, the two guards have failed to progress as players, and the team which Athlon Sports predicted to take the Ivy crown for the first time since 1986 currently stands at 3-5 in conference, struggling to match last season's 8-6 showing. Blackiston's regression is a mystery to all. His scoring average is well under 10. "I have no idea -- I haven't shot the ball well," Blackiston said. Although Lloyd's level of play has not slipped as much as his backcourt mate's, he was expected to step up to the position of premiere shooting guard. At 12.3 ppg, Lloyd, who has struggled with a bad ankle sprain suffered against the Quakers January 13, looks much like the same player as the two previous seasons. In addition to his strong outside shooting, Lloyd is nailing his free throws at 90-percent-plus clip. With the Bears stumbling at 8-12, Blackiston, Lloyd and their coach are left to reflect on their careers early. "The two of them have been the cornerstones of this program," Dobbs said. "It's been an uncharacteristic year for both of them. I think they'll be remembered as two of the best players this league has had." The Bears also hope Blackiston and Lloyd's contributions will continue hereafter, through the leadership they have exhibited as two of the three tri-captains, along with forward James Joseph. "I think we're a focal point, since we're Coach Dobbs's first recruiting class," Lloyd said. "We've shown leadership to a lot of very good young players." Whether those young players can rise to the next level, as Blackiston and Lloyd have not, is the question facing Brown's program.