Nuggs I am curious as to what you and your friend thought of AB. We are biased since we watch him every single game and root for his team. What is the outside perspective on him?
My buddy thinks he's a good starting PG. I actually went with an option I didn't list here because I didn't want to overly complicate the poll. I see him as a great guard off of the bench to provide scoring. I think you can win a championship with him as a starting PG, it's just not an ideal situation. Have him coming off of the bench as a scoring guard who can play either position and he'd be deadly. Basically, I think he's a better version of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. But I also need to clarify this with the fact that (sadly) I've yet to see an entire Rockets game this year. I've only seen a half here or there (including, unfortunately, the first half of yesterday's game against Toronto). And I know Brooks appeared to take a leap forward in the playoffs last year. This poll actually turned out pretty close to how I imagined it. I didn't think there would be as big of a gap between the first & second and second & third options as there is, but I just wanted to see how you guys viewed him.
still unproven, but he has great potential. He just needs to be consistent, and then we'll be set at PG for a long time.
I chose solid backup and to me, even that is a level he still has to prove he can achieve. The fact that he is starting right now can be misleading to some outside of Houston. I think because of the weaknesses and inconsistencies in his game, he's best suited in the long run as a Bobby Jackson/Nate Robinson scoring spark type coming off the bench. In a given game, if his shot is falling and he has a favorable matchup, he can get extended minutes off the bench. On the other hand, if his shot is not falling and he's unable to defend his position due to matchup issues, you can limit his minutes in that particular game. A starting PG should have few enough weaknesses in his game that he is not a liability when his shot isn't falling and he shouldn't often face physical mismatches. That is not the case with Brooks. If you want to be the most extreme of optimists, you could hope that he becomes a more efficient scorer and learns how to get to the line more but this is his third year and he hasn't improved much in either area. For Brooks to be a viable starter, he'd have to be one of the most efficient scorers at his position in the league to compensate for his playmaking and defensive deficiencies.
Ａ SG in a PG's body. Made improvements over last season, but is still very inconsistent. His life depends on his shots. Very dangerous to opponents when he has a hot hand, not much use for Rockets when he's cold. Need Lorwry to save him time after time. They are basiclly on the same level. So Brooks can be either 2 or 3.
he is a pg, not a sg stuck in a pgs body, he handles the ball well and can run the offense, he lacks basketball i.q. at times, as he tries to force passes and it ends up as turn overs. Brooks lacks size but makes up for it with speed and shooting, he plays decent defense, so i voted a solid starting pg, but he can be a great starting pg,remember its been a couple of years only. call me biased if you want, but ive been following basketball for a long long time, and Brooks is a good solid pg, think back to matt maloney, moochie norris, bryce drew, mike james, all starters, who were way worse than brooks.
the rockets are 6--1 when he scores 20+ pts but man...he is a SG in a PG body guys! Its not right! I don't care if we win even though a scoring PG is what we need.....i want him to be getting more assists and less points! even if we lose games
The great Clutch who is pretty keen about his observations has even stated i ngames threads the rockets would not win unless brooks scores more, and it has been right almost every time.
People get their panties in a wad when he is compared to TP. Those people obviously DIDN'T follow him his first couple of yrs in SA. He actually had a worse start and SA would scream to trade him. Brooks isn't that much shorter, is more athletic, and has a better jumpshot + matches speed. Parker is amazingly crafty around the basket to a point that it makes him great. I don't know if brooks can do that but I've seen glimpses. These same people saying he is a bench player were so adament on keeping Rafer here and said we through last season down the drain when we heard about the trade. Time only proves them wrong which we must witness once again
Actually Aaron did a great job passing the ball when he gets into the lane the last game against Toronto, but in most of the cases, the guy who gets the pass blows up the easy shots...........
At worst, the second coming of Daniel Gibson; at best, a 5' 11" 160 lb. version of Ben Gordon. A PG who neglects his mid-range shot and relies on the 3 won't get it done. Even guys like Nash and Davis can shoot nice 10ft fade aways and post up respectively.
As you said, he lacks basketball i.q. at times, as he tries to force passes and it ends up as turn overs. That's a sign of SG with great handle to play PG. His team defense has improved and becomes somewhat decent, but he gets post up so easily by bigger and stronger guards, so his defense is below average. None of matt maloney, moochie norris, bryce drew, mike james are solid starting PG, if you ask me. they wouldn't be able to beat Alston for a starting job. So compare Ab to them doesn't mean much. AB's shooting is also overrated, he is a good shooter, but not great by any means in NBA. Alston sure did a good job lower people's expectationf for PG shooting here. Among qualified guards in NBA, Currently AB is 27th in FG% , 34th in 3p%, 17th in assists, 57th in Ast/TO ratio, 5ath in steals, with a net +/- of -4. None of those are really impressive, even for shooting. I know stats is not everything, he is fast and can break down some defense with his speed better than most PGs, but still, look at those numbers, it's really hard to image AB being "great".
yes i said he lacks basketball iq, that comes with time, i compared him to the other pgs weve had because they were rockets starters at one point, i would put ab above all including rafer. you say his shooting is overrated, how about looking up what the rockets record is when he does shoot and score well, as you said stats aren't everything, case in point. I did say his defense was decent, you said he is easily posted, yes he is, but he holds his grown, hes not easily scored on. hes a pg, hes not a sg by any means, forget his stats compared to other pg, he fits the adelman system as the point guard of this team.
I was thinking the same thing . Brooks has to improve his playmaking ability in order to take his game to the next level. All the good PGs in the league can do it. Nash, Paul, Deron, etc.
AB and Rafer are on the same level.It's just a matter of which player fits which team better. AB fits current team better than Rafer because we need scorer with both Battier and Hayes starting, but that deosn't mean he's better than Rafer without a doubt. Rockets had a 22 win streak with Rafer, and Rafer was shooting like AB during the streak. Rafer also played on a team with loads of scoring options and got to NBA final last year. That is the same case with Lowry, he's on the same level, maybe even more potential than AB, but he doesn't fit starting lineup like AB because of his shooting. Now about Adelman's system, a true PG is not a must, that also makes AB look better, and he can just pretend to ba a PG and do a good job.
