I think Brooks is as good as or better than: Billups - declining rapidly Westbrook - About even, but a much better defender than AB. Parker - in decline - spurs looking to possibly move him My opinion, not really going to argue it either......this thread is not for that. DD
What you hope happens with Lowry is that he becomes Andre Miller. Not a 3 point shooter, but a good defender, good at setting up his teammates, good at getting to the basket.
But Andre can do it in the half court, most of Lowry's game is predicated on getting out on the break. He gets a lot by simply pushing the ball.....which is AWESOME as a change of pace to Brooks. But in the playoffs when things slowed down and other teams paid attention to transition defense, Lowry struggles BIG time. DD
Speed is one thing, size is another. Speed does not help when the opposing PG is posting you up all game. I am not making a case for Martin as a PG......I think it's a r****ded idea, actually. I am just saying, don't act like AB is even mediocre on defense. He is no better or worse defensively than KMart. He is what he is......a shoot first PG with above average speed and below average defense. Doesn't really matter if either plays defense IMO, as long as they both average 25 ppg.
He's top 8 in PER among PG's, if, by 8, you mean "24th". http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/holl...n.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics?position=pg
Thank GOD that did not happen last season and that most PGs are not post up players. And the ones that are: Billups, Davis, Miller...anyone else? Did not really fare that well against AB. So, at the PG spot, Speed is more important, IMO, than posting up ability. Oh yeah the cursory PER argument that is based upon whom you are on the floor playing with......YAWN. I guess according to the Backup Quarterback club that wants Lowry to start, Adelman and Morey didn't know what they were doing by starting Brooks all year. Even though, they said at the beginning of the year that the starting job was open....too bad Brooks shut that door hard. DD
Look, I agree that Brooks is a bad DEFENSIVE PG. But most of the PGs in the NBA have no post up game to speak of. Having the speed to at least keep up with the other team's PG is a must if you can't do anything else on defense. Brooks is very limited on defense, so this is not a credit to him. However, Martin wouldn't have ANY skill on defense as a PG. If Brooks is a 4 on a scale of 1-10, Martin would be a 0. Worse though would be that it would be an automatic that opposing PGs would drive by him into Yao all game long. His length wouldn't be able to make up for his brutal speed difference. I'd rather Brooks get posted up than force Yao to defend an opposing PG as much as Martin at the 1 would require. Edit: meant to say Brooks was bad defensive PG, not a bad PG
One thing I don't understand is why some folks on this board thinks Brooks is easily replaceable . It is not easy to replace a guy who averaged 20 points a game. He averaged close to 20 points while staying within the offense. He is our best 1On1 guy who still may take the last shot even if Bosh and Yao are on this team . He is just one notch below DW and CP3. Adding Bosh and removing Books may slightly improve the team a bit, but without Brooks this team wont be a Championship contender.
The only thing I can think is that they don't understand how important being a threat to score the ball is...at every position on the floor. And maybe they forgot what Rafer Alston looked like out there, as teams didn't bother even guarding him.... Say hello to the Kyle Lowry as a starter defense. DD
Dude, Lowry is not Rafer Alston. Teams didn't guard Alston because he couldn't shoot the three well AND because his driving into the paint was worthless as well.
It's actually not based on that at all. It's based on efficiency which is defined as productivity per unit of time. THe fact is that Brooks has to play lots of minutes and dominate the ball (hence is very high usage rate) in order to get his 20 ppg, and isn't very good at setting up his teammates puts him distincly at a disadvantage in that category vs. the elite point guards, who literally blow hiim away in things like true shooting percentage and assisting. It doesn't really ahve much to do with teammates, which is why guys like Tyreke Evans, Luke Ridnour, and Lou WIlliams are all able to play on bad teams yet are able to easily surpass Brooks in PER. It would help if you could speak knowledgeably about the subject before posting. But you won't or can't, so you don't.
Dude, they won't guard Kyle Lowry and will pack the paint when he is on the floor too. I am sorry, IMO, he is not a good enough shooter to be a starter right now. DD
Good, on a team with Bosh Martin and Yao, let them pack the paint to stop Lowry from driving to the net. Edit: Lowry is also adept at drawing a foul. If they want to focus on keeping Lowry out of the paint, that would be awesome. Battier and Martin can camp outside and Bosh can hang at 15 feet. I dare them to pack the paint.
Wait, so you are saying that the quality of the teamates that a PG plays with and their ability to finish the ball don't matter? So assists do not matter in the PER tabulation? mmmmmkayy..... DD
You can't DRIVE when they have all these 6'9" guys guarding the rim.... Sorry, Lowry has to learn to shoot the ball from the outside to ever be an effective starter. DD
Yes you can. They will either foul him or he can give the ball to one of the other players that they are too stupid to guard in order to pack the paint to prevent Lowry from driving. LOL
