Defensive statistics can be so misleading. A player who collects a lot of steals, often is a gambler who can expose the rest of the defense. The mark of a true defender isn’t recognized on the stat sheet.
El Dorado’s Braylee (Mae Mae) Johnson didn’t put up gawdy numbers this season. But she was the Lady Wildcats’ sparkplug at the top of the defense.
“If you’re talking about steals, it’s not. But, if you’re talking about who guarded the best player, then it’s Mae Mae,” said El Dorado coach Jae Kell. “She is more on the ball. She puts pressure on the ball. She makes people think about what they’re going to have to do. Her job is to make the offense uncomfortable. She does a very good job of that. She’s physical as all get out. Don’t ask that player to run through something half-speed in practice because she will knock you out. She doesn’t know what half-speed is. She goes full speed the whole time and she is a very physical player. She doesn’t back down from contact. We’ve been very lucky to have Mae Mae on our team.”
The junior wasn’t worried about passing lanes. She went head-up with the opposing team’s primary ball handler. Nothing fancy. Just nose-to-nose, in your face attitude.
“She is a frustrater. She makes other teams very frustrated and then they get flustered. That’s what she excels at. She knows when she has another team on the ropes. That’s when she picks it up,” said Kell. “She just finds a second wind. When we’re tired and in the fourth quarter, it’s like Mae Mae never gets tired. She’s the Energizer Bunny. And we all know she is tired but she’s not going to tell her that and you’re not going to be able to tell when she’s out there on the court.”
It’s often said defense is more about want-to than anything else. Johnson fit into that category.
“I’d say probably 10 percent is technique and 90 percent is just the want to and the grit and the physicality of going out there and playing hard,” said Kell.
“It’s just a testament to the kid. We can teach technique all day long but if you don’t have that grit and that want to and that hustle, you’re never going to be a great defender. Defense is all about doing the hard jobs. Her technique is not bad. She doesn’t get driven around. She doesn’t get scored on very often. Now she does reach in too much and a lot of that comes from, she wants to get steals. She wants to play so physical and that’s where her fouls come from – a mental lapse of, ‘I want to get that ball because that’s what I’ve been told to do and that’s what my job is.’ The technique side of it, yes, we always want her to foul less. It’s a running joke of when Mae Mae is going to foul out. But it’s really because she plays so hard. You know what, most of her fouls I’m not even mad about because she is playing hard. She is doing her job. That’s what we’ve asked her to do – guard the hardest person on the court. She continues to do that.”