this isn't too bad of an idea. brooks is not entirely to blame though. a lineup of yao, scola, battier, hayes, and wafer wouldn't be a bad one. you have offense AND a sufficient defense for any lineup portland throws out.
Man, i wish Yao have the gut so yell at Aaron Brooks for many of his stupid plays. This fool is not going to learn if you don't point out his mistakes. That is the problem with this team, they pretend like nothing happened and just play along when someone commit huge HUGE mistakes during crunch time. I am talking about crucial possessions here.
Agreed. He's just a second-year player. Plus he's not a pure PG by any stretch of the imagination. If he has the ball longer than 3 seconds, he's a disaster.
I want to see Barry get some time instead of Brooks next game. Barry can defend Blake, it's not like Brooks is playing lockdown defense on Blake either.
Yeah, its not like the rockets were going to win it anyway. People act like rafer was going to help the rockets beat la in the playoffs. This is about team growth. They shouldve traded rafer this summer and sped up the process.
We have a PG? Since when and who is that PG? Seriously, guys. In RA's system, the team dont need a PG, and dont need a center, too. All need is three shooting guard and one center can jump shoot and pass around downtown. If there is one more blue-collar player can rebound and block, that would be perfect. Yao isn't obviously not any one of these five players under RA. So trade him, please.
Oh now THIS is good... Aaron Brooks isn't perfect. He's too short. He's too stupid. He's too this. He's too that. I wish I was from this perfect planet most of you are from... ...you know...the one where being right in hindsight makes you smarter than most ..or being irrational excuses it... One of the reasons why Rick Adelman finally decided to move Rafer Alston (aside from what was going one with McGrady), was that he felt that, offensively, he would be a perfect compliment to Yao Ming. Simply, that you couldn't double-team Yao with a perimeter player because there'd be a chance that you'd leave Brooks alone on the perimeter, and that would be death. Brooks is a better offensive player than Rafer Alston for a lot of reasons. But he was never supposed to be a passer. Particularly feeding Yao in the post. The whole "Rafer-Alston-is-a-better-post-passer" thing is pointless. Ideally, Alston got the ball across the time line, handed it to McGrady, and got out of the way, waiting for the jumpshot he was going to miss. What's funny is how often it seems that the Rockets' left hand doesn't know what it's right hand is doing. I thought this was supposed to be a better team than the ones in the recent past. Well, actually, it is...but not the was it's supposed to be. It is very encouraging for me to see so many Rockets taking so much individual responsibility to the team's success. We've had too many guys around here dog it or have a job to do that was too big for their britches for too long. I like that there are more than a few people on this team that WANT to win. Not just offer lip service because there are a couple of easy targets to blame for other guys not stepping up or not being good enough. Here's what the Rockets SHOULD do(and should have been doing all along). They should let Brooks bring the ball up as quickly as possible, and probe the defense and look for an easy score. If nothing's there, wait for Yao, give the ball to Battier or Artest, and get to the other side of the floor. The best way to counter fronting defenses from a passing standpoint is to have taller post entry passers who can feed Yao the ball HIGH, where he's supposed to ask for it and get it (and doesn't do enough of, in my opinion). Sooner or later, you're going to have to get Yao touches, whether Yao's hands are bad or you don't trust Yao to catch a pass or Yao's too slow or Yao's frustrated or whatever. Everybody seems to be a little bit out of sorts because some guys are trying to do things they really aren't good at. For all the good things that Ron Artest does (replacing McGrady being foremost on people's minds), he's not the best guy to play weak side in the halfcourt opposite Yao. Artest doesn't do an especially good job of taking advantage of a rotating defense, at least not the way that Von Wafer does. You'd probably prefer Artest feed Yao the ball and if his guy leaves him, then Artest could take a standstill shot. And figuring that Artest actually believes he's able to do something that McGrady hasn't done, he's not going to be disciplined enough to take good shots. Artest should play more with the second team. That way, he'd get a few more low post touches, where he could use that physical nature of his to get some easier baskets for himself. That was the plan originally anyway. With Wafer earning minutes, no reason why that can't be the case now. Anyway, the playoffs are about adjustments and mental toughness. The Rockets have been plenty tough. Physically, anyway. The smart thing to do is to stick with what works. The Rockets have shown that they can compete and stay close no matter how Yao is defensed. But they can't win if Yao doesn't touch the ball. They just can't.
This is the crux of the problem - a PG that isn't a good passer, when we need a good passer to get the ball to our best player! FYI, I think AB is still an excellent weapon that the Rockets can use. The problem is, AB isn't a good starting PG for our team and for Yao. AB's biggest strength is stretching the defense and his quickness, but not running the offense. Now I know why Adelman would play Rafer and AB at the same time before we traded Rafer - Rafer would run the offense, while AB was properly used for his strengths besides running the offense. If we can get a true PG that can run the offense (maybe Lowry in the long run?), AB would still be a great asset and weapon to use.
it is a bfd if our coach decided he is capable of being our starting pg. ab should let adelman know he can't handle being in an important game when it is on the line. let the coach know he would be more comfortable with a brian cook type of role, im sure he would be dominant and put up 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting when the rockets are up by 20 in the fourth.
You cant say Brooks compliments Yao if he avoids him. Considering Brooks has the ball in his hands the majority of time, I believe it is his responsibility to give it to Yao. Yao is supposed to set him up, not the other way around. If he does not give it to Yao directly, pass the ball to the player that will pass to Yao. Brooks does the opposite. When Yao is on the left block Brooks goes right. Yao goes right, Brooks goes left. So all that crap you said is just bull. Rafer tried to make sure the ball went to Yao. Brooks does have a better offense but he was not meant to be the number one option. He is supposed to be second to fifth. Yao may not have the best hands but when he has his hands sealed off, the Rockets should always go to him. always... Artest may be better with second team but he needs to play with first team. Aside from Battier Artest passes to Yao the most. Lowry cant shoot the three so he doesnt play with Yao as much. Wafer and Scola have tunnel vision and Brooks has his problems.
ab to yao is like sammy to akeem. i really feel it that way. yeah, yao is no akeem and ab is no sam, but you get the drift.
what 's even more pathetic than Brooks' game, are cluess AB defenders like you. wake up, for the love of GOD, AB is a short, dumb, streaky shooter, period. what you see now is what you going to get. a bad pass, a TO when pressured, is inexperience, is rookie's mistakes in PO, waving off Yao in that situation IS NOT. It is utterly stupid and selfish, it's insanity.
Now I know why Adelman would play Rafer and AB at the same time before we traded Rafer - Rafer would run the offense, while AB was properly used for his strengths besides running the offense. If we can get a true PG that can run the offense (maybe Lowry in the long run?), AB would still be a great asset and weapon to use.[/QUOTE] This makes sense, but it's not taking into account one thing. In the half court, Yao Ming IS the offense. The way the Trail Blazers have defended Yao for most of this series speaks to that, my friend. Sometimes, running the offense gets misread, especially considering how particular teams are put together. Rule-of-thumb is this: whenever Yao is on the floor, HE'S the best offensive weapon the Rockets have. You make sure he touches the basketball. WHO gets Yao the ball isn't anywhere NEAR as important as his getting the ball. The Rockets aren't anywhere near as good with Brooks or Kyle Lowry running the offense if that means keeping the ball away from Yao. We already got half the Pacific Northwest doing that. Again, they ways Brooks can make the biggest offensive impact, in this order, are: 1) in transition (there are some Rockets who will run if Brooks runs) 2) half-court jumpshooter off Yao's double-teams 3) pick-and-roll basketball (if Brooks can understand that his best asset in the halfcourt is his JUMPSHOT, not his ability to get to the basket. Brooks' size works against him too often in those get-to-the-basket situations). The thing that a TRUE POINT GUARD does is make sure that his team stays in character. Recognizing who's on the floor and making sure those teammates get the shots they need in the spots where they like them. Scoring yourself as a point guard is supposed to be a luxury, especially with finishers on the court with you. Brooks has the luxury of already being a good jumpshooter, something a lot of point guards don't do very well. It's why Boroks tends to start and play with Yao more often than Lowry does. Yao creates the offense. He's the guy who the Blazers are about to throw all common sense out the window in order to stop. Yao gets everybody easy opportunities to score. What everybody has to do is stay with that. Brooks wants to score anyway. He's much better when he's thinking score, not playmaking. Let that scoring come to him in the halfcourt through how the defense plays Yao. It's something the Rockets couldn't figure out or take advantage of, playing with McGrady doing exactly the same thing Yao's doing now. Brooks is fine. He's going to be up and down. That's what Lowry's for. That's why you need teammates. To balance out weaknesses in one another. The Rockets remember to COMMIT to play though Yao in the halfcourt, they'll be fine.
i know, that is what i am thinking. but i simply cannot even see barry sitting on the bench. why doesn adelman use him?
Hey, my friend. I see your point. I do. Really. But you adjust to the way Yao's being defended. Not with who's playing what position, or what you're supposed to do traditionally playing that position. A lot of the way Brooks plays is not going to work playing with Yao. I agree. But you don't take away what a guy does best in your halfcourt because his position says so. Rafer Alston was the "point guard" here, like I said, but he hardly ever made plays for anybody. Yao and McGrady did that. Alston's job in the halfcourt was to be a jumpshooter. Alston didn't do that anywhere near effectively enough to make that work, no matter how well he passed the ball to Yao. What Yao did for the offense was more important than where Alston played. Rondo does what the Boston Celtics need him to do, especially with them missing Kevin Garnett. Brooks, thankfully, doesn't have that burden. It's the finish to the play, my friend. Not the start or the middle. You give Yao the ball in good low post position, he'll score, get fouled, get people in foul trouble, get your team shooting free throws, et cetera and so on. That's why you play through Yao. Everything anybody else does comes from that. Just like with McGrady, but with less talent. Nobody the Rockets have can change the way defense play the entire team the way Yao can. McGrady does the same thing. The Rockets are making the same mistake you are, friend. Stop thinking "start the play" and start thinking "finish the play".
