You are correct, I never thought that Lowry should play with the first unit until recently. The guy has played some great ball, and now I'm not sure who should be starting. I didn't think that Brooks looked very good last night, but he had 5 assists, and 7 points in only 17 minutes. Once Brooks is back up to speed, we should have two good point guards firing on all cylinders.
Agree! But Brooks's offense is way overestimated. When he is on the court, the other players seem hard to find their rhythm and the chemistry becomes a lot worse. Brooks is just a better scorer, but not a better overall offensive player than Lowry.
you know i am actually getting tired myself of this whole debate this will be the last post i am going to make in any lowry/brooks debate so here is my stance: i think lowry should be the starter and brooks should come off the bench much like how Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry and even Manu Ginobili did. A guy who can give you 20 on any given night off the bench. the bench needs some fire power out there and with Miller running the high post offense Brooks would not need to inititate anything. Brooks could do what he does best, end plays. personally I feel that is what could give the rockets the best chance of winning, but I am fine with what Adelman goes with. That guy has been to multiple finals, playoffs and has won several hundred games in the NBA. I've made it to the finals of my local city league a few times. I think when it comes to basketball knowledge Adelman has more than just a slight edge on me. Adelman will most likely have Aaron start again though once he 100% and gets some more practices in with the first team. Hopefully then we can see how the team performs and let their play and the team's success help determine who is the starter. I do think also right now Aaron is our most attractive trade piece, packaged with a large expiring like Jeffries could net us a player that can have a larger impact on the team than either Brooks or Lowry. At the same time I feel that any trade that involves either Brooks or Lowry should result in another PG coming back..doesn't need to be someone as good as AB or KL just someone who could come off the bench. Right now a lot of people are enamored with Ish who I think can be a very productive backup PG in the NBA, but right now the guy plays too out of control and doesnt let the game come to him. Its going to take some time and experience for that to happen, in the meantime we would need a steadier, preferabbly vet PG/SG/SF to help not just play the backup point but also mentor Ish. Much like how Barry was able to mentor Brooks along. The only thing I am worried about with AB is will he be accepted of a lessor role in general? Even if he regains his starter role, one thing has become clear over the past month that Kyle deserves more minutes. AB doesnt have a contract extension and I do not feel he will be able to approach the same sort of numbers he achieved last season without taking away from the other guys on the team. He certainly wont achieve them if he plays fewer minutes. So I am hoping Aaron puts team success over individual success...I am sure a team out there will reward him regardless if he does that, as much as we think that certain GMs are stupid the majority of them aren't and do their homework. They've seen what Aaron can do, seeing him sacrifice for the sake of the team will make coaches happy and understand thats the type of culture you want in the locker room. I certainly do not want the Rockets to overpay for Brooks, but at the same time I do not want Brooks to be underpaid. the guy clearly put in a lot of effort and work and has achieved a lot of success for being a late first round pick and deserves compensation for his efforts At this point the team has won 4 in a row and almost back to .500 and back into the playoff hunt, when they were 3-10 I wasnt sure if it would be possible to say that. I am more happy about that than anything else. Also I just wish these sort of threads stop, there has been more than enough over the past few months and they've gone on and on. I am as guilty as anyone else in all of this posting and backing the "lowry camp" and helping some of these threads grow a lot longer than they should be and thats why I am stopping. the rest of you can continue but one thing I've learnt about people in general that one of the hardest things to do is change someone's opinion. There are plenty of valid reasons for either player to be the starter and people will stick to those reasons so why waste all our time and breath on this? if anything it'll just cause division amongst rockets fan. I am going to approach it like this: we have brooks and lowry, both are very capable starters in the NBA ...its a problem...but its a good problem we always could be like Memphis whose point guards are Mike Conley and.... Mike Conley
The longer lowry's shooting continues, the less likely it is a fluke. If he keeps knocking down jumpers like this he should start. He is a more complete player, and given Scola and Martin's ability to score, Brooks seems like overkill. It's the old there's only one ball adage. To me the Jason Terry comparison is the best one. Terry rarely starts, but frequently finishes. He plays some point, but often plays off the ball. Brooks would still get his minutes, and his points if the rockets could convince him that where he is best utilized. Having said this i'm happy with either player starting, it's a good problem to have, i just think lowry fits in better with the starting lineup.
AB will be very good by the end of the season. I was impressed with him last night, he would dribble and then look for guys instead of trying to hit some fancy trick shot like last year. His passing is better, and I was highly impressed with his defense. He blocked a ridiculous shot that Bill and Matt disregarded. He is honestly one of the best 1v1 Players in the league as well. But all in all, Lowry should be the starting PG. AB is our Jason Terry.
No matter who starts, Brooks will be on the floor at the end of games. You can count on that. Even in the GS game, a not-in-shape Brooks was out there for half the 4th quarter.
So the starting unit now looks better than it did when the Rockets were beating teams in the playoffs for the first time in 12 years? You must be saying this team is a contender then right Dave?
That's what I thought too, but those two high pick-and-rolls by Lowry and Scola looked pretty good at the end of the Clippers game. (See game thread vids.) One resulted in a jumper by Scola, the other a circus shot + foul by Lowry. I'd like to see how that play looks against better defending teams. Brooks tends to go iso in the closing minutes because he doesn't want the defenders to double him. He's fast enough to take his man one-on-one, but he doesn't have the option that Lowry and Scola had with the pick-and-roll.
Ill stick with Lowry til Brooks learns to run the team instead of stopping the ball movement and taking guys one-on-one. We pretty much don't need him to finish games anymore.
This is the kind of ridiculous dribble that comes off the key boards and into a thread when someone gets so emotionally invested in a debate that he/she will type absolutely anything even if it’s very clearly contrary to the facts.
I have been a supporter of Brooks all along and I continue to be a supporter of AB. However, I have been coming around to the opinion that Kyle should be the starter as of late due to the fact that he is a more complete basketball player. Aaron’s skill set is unique on the team and very lethal. He is one of the better long ball shooters in the league with deadly accuracy 5 feet or more beyond the arc. That’s just crazy. He is quicker that just about any other point guard in the league and has the ability to carry a team offensively. Not the greatest facilitator of offense and very pore on the defensive end of the court. Kyle plays very good defense and is good at facilitating the offense. He gets to the free throw line and the offense does not seem to suffer when he is on the floor. As of right now I think I would stick with Kyle as my starter but I really want to see Kyle and AB on the floor together again like last season. They were a very lethal back court duo.
I tend to agree with you, but saying Brooks playing the first 6 minutes of a 12 minute quarter as proof of him being the closer of games is laughable. "No matter what, Brooks will close games! Just look at how an out-of-shape Brooks got pulled from the GS game with 6 minutes left!" You can do better.
^^ Hey, I was surprised myself at how long Adelman left him out there in the 4th with the game in the balance.
Most definitely Lowry should start over Brooks now and the forseeable future. If I were the Rockets, I would let the league know Brooks is on the market and gauge the interest. Kevin Love is making 3.2 Million this year, 4.3 next year in an expiring and 6.5 if you pick up his contract the third season. Bring Love to Houston in exchange for Brooks and Patterson. I would think the Timberwolves would throw in Rubio. Both teams win, the Rockets improve immediately, while Brooks would get his contract in Minnesota and Patterson can get NBA minutes right away. With Rubio, the Wolves know he won't ever play there, so why not trade him?
I've done a full 180 and definitely believe Lowry's decision making, defense, passing/assist, and significanlty improved shooting makes him the starter. AB's D is flat out horrible, he runs into more screens than mosquito's into a bug zapper. His decision making with the ball and continually throwing the ball at people's feet is unnerving. Plus AB should have an advantage against the 2nd team point guard and allowing him to abuse them.
Starting brooks right now would be just plain stupid. We have finally started to play with some consistency and making plays where guys get the ball where they need it.
