Jason Brown's Future Prospects

[dorispulaski]

Well, it may have been coincidental, but certainly Patrick seems to become more consistent with his 3A and 4T after the move to Colorado Springs. I believe he works with Krall there? Patrick had done both jumps in competition prior to the move, but no one would call him consistent with them at that time.

I believe a jump coach is especially important for Jason because his coach has no other elite level skaters, and is not a jump coach, particularly. Jason has gotten a lot of jump tips over the years from Rohene Ward, his choreographer, but consistency on jumps was never Rohene's strength. Sylvia tells me that Jason works with Anthony Liu at Lake Arrowhead when Jason's coach Kori is there for the summer, but it clearly didn't work last summer.

Ouriashev is close, and it's worth a try.

[emma]

Wow - combining the qualities of Gracie and Jason into 1 skater. That would be one great skater!! The US Fed should make arrangements to bring them together under Frank Carroll or John Nicks to get the best out of them (retaining Ouriashev as jump coach).

Let's dream big - how about combining the skills of Gracie and Jason into 2 skaters!!

[dorispulaski]

In no way would I like to see Jason with Frank Carroll:

1. He never really fixed or improved Evan Lysacek's axel technique.
2. Jason Brown to be Lori Nichol-ized :OH NO MR BILL: I want Jason to have more yummy Rohene Ward choreography. Rohene did Jason's LP, and it is just wonderful, IMO.
3. And this is just my opinion-Frank reveals far too much of his skaters' business to reporters like Phil Hersh, especially when the skater is having problems-witness his overchattiness about Mirai's problems. I don't think it is either professional or kind of him.

[SkateFiguring]

Well, it may have been coincidental, but certainly Patrick seems to become more consistent with his 3A and 4T after the move to Colorado Springs. I believe he works with Krall there? Patrick had done both jumps in competition prior to the move, but no one would call him consistent with them at that time.

I believe a jump coach is especially important for Jason because his coach has no other elite level skaters, and is not a jump coach, particularly. Jason has gotten a lot of jump tips over the years from Rohene Ward, his choreographer, but consistency on jumps was never Rohene's strength. Sylvia tells me that Jason works with Anthony Liu at Lake Arrowhead when Jason's coach Kori is there for the summer, but it clearly didn't work last summer.

Ouriashev is close, and it's worth a try.

Patrick had a very good and dependable 3A before going to Krall as a jump specialist, probably to learn quads. He ended up choosing her as his main coach who helped him getting his quads reliably but somehow messed up his 3A mentally. He has learned to put such technical over-concerns behind him and go with his feelings into his 3A which is now his go to jump. Technical developments take different twists and turns, depending on each skater's physical and mental developments. Jason definitely had his growth spurt to deal with. Now that it is over, for now anyways, we'll see how he goes on from here.

[emma]

In no way would I like to see Jason with Frank Carroll:

1. He never really fixed or improved Evan Lysacek's axel technique.
2. Jason Brown to be Lori Nichol-ized :OH NO MR BILL: I want Jason to have more yummy Rohene Ward choreography. Rohene did Jason's LP, and it is just wonderful, IMO.
3. And this is just my opinion-Frank reveals far too much of his skaters' business to reporters like Phil Hersh, especially when the skater is having problems-witness his overchattiness about Mirai's problems. I don't think it is either professional or kind of him.

Totally agree about Carol; and I do love Rohene's choreo (and skating). I would hate to see Jason get the big ticket jumps and loose these qualities to his skating - the amazing shapes, edges, choreo, and mood he sets. For me, this is what sets him a part and makes him such a joy to watch. I too hope Jason gets some experience with a good jump coach, and the nearby person you mention may be the ticket. I also hope that, perhaps, someone with experience can help him in the same way that Chan had someone talk him through how to jump the quad.

[SkateFiguring]

Maybe Jason should go to Han Yan's coach. Or Hanyu's.

Many young skaters today have learned their quads from various coaches. It's not always the coach that decides if some one can do the most difficult jumps.

[mskater93]

I don't think Corrie Ade and Alex O have similar philosophies in teaching style which would make it difficult for Jason to spend time with Alex. People seem to forget that Jason went through a major growth spurt last spring and lost his triples which shelved some of the time he should have spent working 3A. I suspect it's close just not quite ready.

[Mrs. P]

Here's something I don't think people are taking into account: I think Jason Brown and his team likes perfect programs with no -GOE (or rather, with tons of +GOE). I think that is the gold standard for him and his team.

He did attempt the 3A in a summer comp and while far from perfect (it was two-footed and UR), it's indicative that it's not that he can't do the jump AT ALL. It's that he can't do the jump perfectly.

I'm sure his team knows about Brown's reputation as a all-around packaged skater, so the last thing they want to do is to have that marred by bad 3A attempts. Because he has great choreo, good jump technique on his other jumps and expression, he can get away with this for now. A skater like Kevin Reynolds, for example, doesn't have anything like that, so he has to relay on his jumps — even if they're not executed very well (his quads are pretty cool; but he's had his share of bad 3As).

That said -- yes Brown absolutely needs the 3A (or he can go the Lambiel route and focus on a quad) and his team is aware of that. But I believe there is a long-tail strategy in Brown's development. For those who don't know what that is — in business it means selling "more" unique or hard-to-find items rather than a large volume of a small number of popular items.

In Brown's case, it means not selling — for now — the everyone-must-have 3A and instead selling qualities not seen by those other skaters — great chreo, clean +GOE programs, consistent 7-triple jump programs, expression to the music.

So now we know Brown can do perfect programs. The next step, logistically is perfect programs with 3As.

[Spun Silver]

I like your analysis, Mrs. P. What Jason has is mesmerizing and exceptional and is getting excellent results. It's something like Sasha. She reached the highest levels without really mastering a 3/3 - and that wasn't what held her back but her confidence. Of course Jason must get the 3A but not at the cost of his confidence or "perfection."

[Bluebonnet]

The hard elements are like cake. The artistic abilities are like icing. If you have the cake, all you need to do is to put on icing. If you have only the icing but no cake, ...

[Nadine]

He's only 17. I find it creepy when one focuses on these youthful athletes and expects them to be all that & a bag of chips right out of the starting block.

It reminds me of the fawning over Sasha Cohen when she still looked like a child. Totally weird.

At least Jason looks his age, but the expectations by some are crazy. But the good thing is that he himself stated in an IN article a while ago about looking toward the 2018 Olympics, not 2014. However, this new article by Philip Hersch makes me think he's believing in his own press a bit, but then on a positive note he says he has two more years in Juniors and knows he cannot crack the top tier in seniors without a 3axel (and I'd say a quad as well when it comes to international competition).

Take your time, Jason, don't let *anybody* rush you. One step at a time. You'll get there. Peace.

[Mrs. P]

The hard elements are like cake. The artistic abilities are like icing. If you have the cake, all you need to do is to put on icing. If you have only the icing but no cake, ...

Jason just doesn't have a piece of the cake. The 3A. Granted it's a big piece, but to say he has no cake is totally misinterpreting his current abilities. While he is known for his artistry, he's no slouch on his tech either. If he was, he wouldn't be winning or getting medal in his competitions. He has the other triples with no edge calls or UR — that is something that many of his competitors cannot say. He has pretty good spins and skating skills. Those are part of the tech too.

Also another note: the judges seem to not mind the lack of a 3A. If you look at his programs at this competition, he had the second highest PCS overall and the highest PCS in the FS in the competition despite finishing third overall.

Also consider: A 3A is worth 8.5 points. Jason only lost in TES to Yan and Farris by 3.67 and 2.64 respectively in the FS. Yes it's because both Josh and Han made mistakes, but consider the BV vs. +GOE earned by the three guys:


BV:
Farris 68.92
Yan 67.86
Brown 63.24

GOE:
Brown: +9.46
Yan: +8.51
Farris: +6.42

Going back to Doris' point in another post — it DOES matter that you can skate a perfect or nearly perfect program. Because Jason did so here, he basically made up some of the point difference lost by not having a 3A.

[emma]

^this is one of the things that is amazing about him -- or two of the things: that is BV is still in striking distance without the 3Axel AND that he gets so much + GOE. Thanks for sharing the actual numbers.

[silverlake22]

Didn't Jason mention he will be working on the 3A by next season
I agree though if he had the 3A even without the quad he would have easily beaten Han Yan and Farris
Farris only did 3A in LP but Brown was still scored more conveniently without the 3A. without a doubt Brown has a bright future hopefully he gets them soon,
I would even say he is miles ahead of Farris.

Farris has the jumps but lacks appeal but with Brown he is an all around.

Jason is good but I don't agree with this at all. Josh had higher PCS than Jason in the SP and was only 0.8 back from Jason's in the FS. There is so much more to Josh Farris's skating than jumps; I mean clearly, you don't score 221+ in a junior event if you just have jumps. Have you not paid attention to his spins, footwork, and sensitivity to the music? To me, Jason and Josh are about even artistically, they have different styles for sure but their PCS would suggest they are on-par with one another, but Josh has the huge advantage of having a nice 3a RIGHT NOW, and further, he's been working on the 4t for two seasons already and we saw at nationals it's pretty close. I like Jason and think he has a lot of potential but I find it almost funny how many people are on his bandwagon and think Josh is chopped liver in comparison, especially when Josh, who is the same age, beat Jason here, gets virtually the same PCS as him at all international events this season, and already has a triple axel (and a nice, solid one at that).

Right now, if anyone is ahead, it's Farris IMO. I think I actually prefer his skating to Jason's and I feel much more comfortable about his future knowing he already has a reliable 3a and is close to having the 4t competition ready. It would appear I'm in the very small minority though...

[DobrinFan]

jason is good but i don't agree with this at all. Josh had higher pcs than jason in the sp and was only 0.8 back from jason's in the fs. There is so much more to josh farris's skating than jumps; i mean clearly, you don't score 221+ in a junior event if you just have jumps. Have you not paid attention to his spins, footwork, and sensitivity to the music? To me, jason and josh are about even artistically, they have different styles for sure but their pcs would suggest they are on-par with one another, but josh has the huge advantage of having a nice 3a right now, and further, he's been working on the 4t for two seasons already and we saw at nationals it's pretty close. I like jason and think he has a lot of potential but i find it almost funny how many people are on his bandwagon and think josh is chopped liver in comparison, especially when josh, who is the same age, beat jason here, gets virtually the same pcs as him at all international events this season, and already has a triple axel (and a nice, solid one at that).

Right now, if anyone is ahead, it's farris imo. I think i actually prefer his skating to jason's and i feel much more comfortable about his future knowing he already has a reliable 3a and is close to having the 4t competition ready. It would appear i'm in the very small minority though...

ITA

And all this rush for Jason to do a 3axel is too much. Why can't he develop at his own pace? According to interviews him and his team know that they need a 3axel to be competitive but what's the rush?