Of course it helps to have yao in there, but brooks is one of the only players on this team that doesn't need yao. Like i said his rokie yr, he has a special quality. His special quality is he can always get his feet in the paint. As a player, especially a guard, when you can get in the paint, you're a dangerous guy. Brooks have shown there isn't a guy that can stay in front of him when he's decisive with the ball. When he uses his speed in balance and changes speed, then pulls up, he will have a clean look everytime. The looks will be clean mainly because everyone is playing off of him so they can't get beat off the dribble. Not only should he really work on that this summer, but i think he should watch tapes of terrell brandon and how effective he was changing speeds and pulling up. Some of it also may be getting stronger. Not saying he's iverson, but iverson was alot stonger than what he looked and he would have good balance on his mid range shots off a full tilt dribble drive.
i agree for the most part, but in this case not having yao pretty much leaves all the attention on Brooks. He's the only guy who's going to create a mismatch consistently on offense, or at least that's what the defense thinks, so they're going to come down on him more. Even AI can' do his thing if the defense collapses on him. They can always pass off, but that option doesnt sound so great without a lot of offensive firepower around him. More than anything i think his confidence took a hit without yao, he feels he's more likely to get stuck in the paint and/or yao can't bail him out with a board. Hopefully he keeps progressing though, i expected him to excel more and faster than landry, but that hasnt been the case
Brooks came out like gangbusters and the defenses adjusted. Maybe to start the year they werent sure if the play-off performance against the Lakers was a fluke. Maybe they wanted to see how Ariza was integrated. As it is they seem to have made their adjustment and now its up to Brooks to adjust to that. If he can do that(and a midrange pullup is a good choice) that will force them to play a bit more of an honest game. That will allow him to be a triple scoring threat, as well as a threat to dish in the lane. Presto, instant effectiveness at the PG spot.
Houston was 5 for 21 before hitting their last two 3balls. Looks like the two teams were trying to donate some bricks to habitat for humanity.
Jermaine Taylor was effective (on offense) with his drives setting up a couple of easy baskets. Needs to work on defense to get playing time. If I was Taylor I would work like a madman trying to become a legit defensive man. He has already the tools to become an offensive weapon with his slashing abilities. If Scola is not back soon, we wil get to see more of Jermaine.
Last night was probably the worst I've ever heard Bill and Bull announce. They can be so vapid at times, especially Bill. At one point I wanted to just mute the TV so that the endless stream of stupidity would cease. Sometimes it seems like Bill just pulls random quips out of a hat regardless of the situation. "Well these two teams always play hard" -- wth, it's the freaking Sonics dude, we've dominated them since forever. And then he let out this gem when Bull was making a comment about Rockets shooting and shots close to the basket: "well that's because they always make them." Dude, just five minutes ago you just said that the Rockets "miss more layups than any team I've ever seen in my life." Ugh. Every time Bill Worrell tries to "analyze", a few neurons die inside my brain. Bull isn't much better either, unfortunately.
You just have to take it with a grain of salt and laugh... that's what I do. My homerism is matched only by Bull and Bill. So I can hear them say stupid things and it makes me smile.
Good lord, they were "Shakespeare in love with broadcasting" compared to the OKC broadcasting team we suffered with on LP. Argh!
off topic.. but the following picture is from today s game. <img src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/c5/fullj.4ad6d89d0cb710770c4c49ba9b9c0ddc/4ad6d89d0cb710770c4c49ba9b9c0ddc-getty-90040933kc021_houston_rocke.jpg">
I was impressed with what I saw from Jermaine Taylor (offensively). I think he touched the ball three possessions in a row, made a basket the first time, and set up other players for baskets the other 2 times, even though DA bricked one. =/
Dude I have league pass... and i have seen every game with Bill and Bull (or Clyde) Don't you have a channel for each broadcast team?
only thing i remember JT doing is dribbling until he turned the ball over and bricking a 3. hopefully he develops into a decent player
He looked a bit antsy still, not as comfortable as Budinger but the reasoning for that is obvious. I also liked what I saw considering he's a second-round rookie, so there is promise there. He's not as disconnected as Dorsey was.
I thought Taylor looked really good in terms of being able to penetrate a defense and create for himself and others. He definitely looked much better than anything I've seen from Ariza this season so far.
