Brooks is the real deal. He's our new Sam Cassell (no I'm not saying they have the same type of game). http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6089421.html [rquoter]Speedy guard feared the worst at time of injury By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Nov. 1, 2008, 12:16AM There was no collision, no tangle of legs to make his trek through the lane perilous and the subject of a story to tell. Mostly, Aaron Brooks does not recall how he hurt his right ankle late in Sunday’s practice, believing he did no more than step wrong. But he does remember just how he felt, and even more vividly the stomach-turning thoughts he had right there on the Toyota Center practice court. “When it first happened, I thought I was done,” Brooks said. “It hurt pretty bad. I could barely walk on it.” The next day, he had an MRI and was declared out for up to three weeks. But his time on the shelf lasted just three days. Brooks could have missed 10 games had he been out for all of that potential rehabilitation period. He missed just one, Wednesday’s season opener, then came back to be a stunning key to the Rockets’ win in Dallas. It turns out that one of the NBA’s fastest players is an even quicker healer. “Once they did the X-ray, they couldn’t see why I couldn’t walk on it, so I figured it would get better with time,” Brooks said. “Every day it got better. I mean, it’s not 100 percent, but it was good enough.” Brooks had 14 points and five assists in his 20 minutes off the bench. In just his second season, Brooks played the entire fourth quarter, most against Dallas’ veteran star Jason Kidd who, for his season opener, was in full flight. Eager to play Brooks had to demonstrate before the game he was even ready to play. He went through a workout on the American Airlines Center floor, and then tore out of the locker room in a sprint to make a point — part dramatic, part comedic — that he was as eager to play as he was ready. Rockets athletic trainer Keith Jones watched as Brooks ran around screens and launched pull-up jumpers, acing his pregame test. Once back on the court for the start of the second quarter, Brooks had an assist and a 3-pointer on his first two possessions. But the play that stood out most came much later, when he hit a step-back, fadeaway 3-pointer to beat the shot-clock buzzer as the Rockets were pulling away in the fourth quarter. “I saw the shot clock (running out),” Brooks said. “That’s probably the best time to get a shot up because you don’t have to worry about coach saying something. Against the shot clock, you can shoot anything you want.” Brooks had won Adelman’s trust with an impressive preseason, going from a major question mark as Rafer Alston’s backup to a presumed asset. More than convince Adelman, he convinced himself and teammates. “I put in the work, but I guess I did need to see it,” Brooks said. “I mean, I know I can play basketball, but until you actually play and you do well and you have some success, it’s different. It’s comforting to know you should be out there. With all the weapons we have on this team, you need a good point guard. It’s like the missing piece we need, a backup point guard. I’ve been doing a good job of filling that in.” By the final two games of the preseason, Adelman used Brooks extensively so that he could get accustomed to playing with the stars. With the second unit, he is expected to use his speed to drive the Rockets’ fast break. With the starters, he much more often — and more slowly — needs to get the ball to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady and use his shooting range to draw defenders away from the Rockets’ top scorers. “It’s almost like two different jobs, starting with Mac and Yao and then being with the other guys as a backup,” Brooks said. “You have to pick your spots for it. Mine would be in transition. I’ll be the same when we’re in transition, getting the ball, pushing it up, trying to get an open shot. “But when you have those guys in the game, you don’t want to look for your shot. You have Yao; he’ll create a shot for you. I think I’ve been doing a great job hitting set shots and open jumpers. That’s one of the most important things when they kick it out.” Attacking off dribble But even with the starters, the Rockets expect Brooks to look for his shot. In the Las Vegas summer league, he concentrated on playmaking. Since, he has gone back to looking to attack off the dribble or confidently catch and shoot. He has done both well enough that general manager Daryl Morey said the Rockets were “all pretty down” when Brooks was hurt. It figured then that he picked them up so well when he came back. “I don’t think we’d have panicked,” McGrady said. “But we don’t have to worry about that because the kid is playing well. He looks good. He’s shooting the ball well. You can tell he is playing with such a great deal of confidence out there.” That he is playing at all so quickly was stunning. But less than a week after Brooks feared the worst, he shrugged off the injury as if he could barely remember it. “I just rolled my ankle,” he said. “It wasn’t that bad.” jonathan.feigen@chron.com [/rquoter]
I like him a lot. He and artest bring so much energy to the team. Yao and Mac and the rest of the guys are feeding off of it like piranas on flesh.
Sounds like Brooks hasn't been hurt or injured much in his career and he was more scared than anything when he got hurt. Totally understandable to anyone who remembers spraining their ankle for the first time. I like that as soon as he saw there was no real damage he got himself on the court ASAP. I actually didn't believe he would be in the playing rotation and I'm glad that it looks like I was wrong. What a luxury to finally have that jet quick, scoring PG off the bench that has been missing for years. Regardless of how people feel about Rafer, he and Brooks could end up being a hell of a PG combo by the end of this season. Scaling Rafer down to 24 minutes a game with Brooks picking up 16 or so with Tmac/Barry picking up the leftover minutes might just be what this team needs to counter the Deron Williams and Chris Pauls in the league.
I know people have compared him to AI, but I totally disagree. He will never be as good as AI, but one thing that he does have in common is that he's tough. AI normally plays with a laundry list of injuries and just pushes through the pain. Brooks is showing that same mentality. Morey has solidified himself as a strategic genius in the draft, picking up all the right players to get what he wants and screwing over certain teams (Spurs) in the process. nice.
Just one more reason I've been a huge Aaron Brooks fan ever since he got here. I've had faith in his ability from the start, and now we're starting to see some of the dividends. I feel he can be a starting PG in this league, but right now there is no better place for him than coming off the bench and leading the 2nd team and boosting the energy. It is almost a deja vu for Adelman when he was coaching the Kings in their heydey. He had an awesome bench to go in Sacramento. Bobby Jackson was the ring leader of that bench mob and was a contender every year for 6th man of the year. I see Aaron is a very similar role.
It's because he's a lightweight like Iverson. At barely 160lbs he isn't putting any weight on his ankle. All the most durable players in the league are lightweights(ex Rip, Iverson, Bowen, KG) with Livingston being the lone exception. This is why I'm against players bulking up. Bulking up usually leads to injury(Oden, Kobe in 05, T-Mac in 06, Okafur in 05, B-Dizzy, Mashburn, Yao).
I was disappointed last year when thebeought in bobby Jackson because I thought brooks was starting to play well. Jackson brought us Artest so I'm not mad about that any more but mark my words... This is Brooks breakout season and the sky is the limit for him on this team. I'll also go on record as saying, because of his quickness I think he will eventually be a good defender despite being a little undersized.
AB reminds me more of Kevin Johnson with his super speed and small size. If they have to start double teaming him to stop penetration, then the rest of the league will be in trouble. For now, just having a PG that can shoot a decent percentage feels like a luxury.
My only knock on him last year and the first couple of preaseason games this year was that his decision making was suspect and passing was suspect. Then I remembered that wasn't his strength in college, he wasn't called upon to be the playmaker or the facilitator at Oregon. He was the primary scorer. So instead of gnashing my teeth of why Aaron Brooks hasn't progressed in the traditional PG facilitating duties, I've been harping now for Brooks to just play his game and not worry about being something you're not. Lo and behold (I think it was the OKC Thunder preseason game), he started playing well when he just did things that came naturally to him. It will come a time when he'll know when to pull back and involve his teammates just like what he mentioned above in the article, especially when he's on the floor with the Big 3. But the slogan for Aaron now is "Just Play Your Game", cause it's good.
It might be fear of losing his playing time. Small players have been doubted all their playing careers so they don't give the critics any amo they just suck it up and get back out there. Every min I dont have to see Luther Head handling the ball is fine with me. I almost had a heart attack opening night.
Can you image what he's going to put it when he gets 30+ minutes? I can't wait!! I hope in the next few years, he will develop some better court vision and uses his size more to get steals à la Bogues, then we'll definetly have our future starting PG. Brooks is going to be major for us this year, because unlike last year, he has his confidence up and has the green light to shoot. With Rafer out last year in the playoffs and Bobby J playing PG, we looked lost. Now if Rafer goes down, we have a guy who can get it done.
Kevin Johnson is a good comparison for AB's skillset except his jumper needs to be more reliable. AB's ability to finish seems to be much-improved over last year. Hope he keeps it up. This is what you want to see 2nd year players do after they have a year to gauge themselves against NBA competition.
i was a little skeptical about mr brooks. but after seeing him play against the mavs i am now a fan of the man. clearly outplayed skip (from my hometown nyc) in every level. im eager to see him develop some more and contribute to our team like he did vs the mavs. i know there will be some growing pains but the kid got talent. i should have known that from his Oregon ducks days..
Kevin Johnson was also a top ten assist guy most of his career and routinely averaged double digit assists. And did this almost immediately when he was traded from Cleveland (where he was stuck on the bench behind Mark Price with no playing time) to Phoenix. Not knocking Aaron, just saying KJ's game was a bit more complete then Aaron would ever hope his game will be.
I understand that. People like to compare young players with stars as a point of reference and I think AB is more like KJ than AI. We all (should) know he has no chance to be that good. I loved KJ back in the day, especially when he would torch the Sonics. Classy guy who represented the league well.
