Regarding the 3-pointer, Lowry is hitting like 24% for the season. I'm sure it was in the Rockets scouting report that they didn't have to close out hard on his 3-point shots. I don't consider him giving up a 3 to Lowry a huge mistake. Rafer was inviting Lowry to shoot on one play (literally, he was saying, "shoot that ball").
How many times have you see Rafer Alston box out on the defensive boards? Sure, he should have done it, but that could have happened to any of our PGs.
True, but I haven't seen anyone really try to go at Brooks yet and take advantage of potential size mismatches. I've liked the job Brooks and Head have done off the bench. However, I keep thinking back to last year, when Alson and Head backcourt did not seem so bad during the regular season. But come playoffs, it turned out to be a major disadvantage that the Jazz repeatedly exposed.
I don't think Rafer fares much better against big PGs. I just think people are overstating this idea that Brooks is a big defensive liability compared to Rafer (and I've defended Rafer's defense, for the most part). He plays energetically; it's not like he's sleepwalking out there. He even drew a couple charges this game. To me, that shows the kid's got some toughness. Can anyone recall the last time Rafer drew a charge?
the only time brooks has been an obvious defensive liability is when keyon dooling decided to go at him every play. teams with 6'4 pg's are gonna go at brooks and thats where he'll be a liability. hes pretty good at staying in front of his man though so hopefully he improves on that.
I think he should be brought along slowly and be given more responsibilities as time goes on, and have him come on like a Daniel Gibson towards the end of the season and in the playoffs. If he can creep up on teams like that we'd have a much better chance of going far. Here's to hoping though that Adelman won't yank Brooks from the rotation when he hits the inevitable rookie wall, but let him play through it.
He did OK but consider who he was guarding. AB always goes under picks and loses his man way too often. He is also very easy to shoot over and post up. Tonight was the exception. But his defense now looks just like it did in summer league. I don't mean to slam the guy. 7 assists vs 1 TO is always good. He sees the floor pretty well and has the knack of getting the ball to people in scoring position. I want to see what happens when he tries to finish more drives instead of passing. At this rate, teams will soon start playing the passing lanes and force him to prove himself. If he can consistently finish in traffic or at least draw fouls, we got ourselves a playa.
He seems to have a pretty good knack for finishing those lay-ups. He has hit some tough ones that I thought he would probably miss. He made a good one tonight where he knifed thru the defense.
At the beginning of the season, I thought Brooks had no chance of playing major minutes, as that would require 3 of our 4 PG before him, among Alston/Francis/James/Head, to falter(remember, Head was getting rave reviews during camp). It's really a testament of our season that he was even given this chance. But at least Brooks is truly producing given this chance.
I am very proud of how he is taking advantage of the minutes given to him. He is so quick to the hole and makes great passes and can hit from the outside too.
Alston is far from perfect, but I feel he's been the most capable in defending against the top PGs of the league out of our roster of PGs. Unfortunately, that's not saying much given the job James and Francis have done so far. I agree Brooks has done a great job, but will he do a good enough defensive job against the likes of Deron Williams, Nash and Billups? For that matter, will the rotation of Alston, Brooks, and Head be enough when teams start going at them in the playoffs?
If we went with the philsophy: start the five who give us the best chance of winning, then of course AB should start. These are the Rockets, however ....
Aaron isn't ready to start yet... he still needs to work on some fundamental things like putting a body on his man on the glass and obviously learning how to defend against bigger guards who will try to post him up. The good news is... defense can be taught, quickness cannot... he will learn ways to become a better defender through experience, but his ability to score and distribute is already starting to show up early in his career. Keep in mind Allen Iverson learned to use his quickness as an advantage on the defensive end. Keep him coming off the bench for the time being, because for whatever reason having a good backup PG seems to light a fire under Rafer's ass. Slowly build up that confidence and I think we're looking at a PG here. Agent Zero... Rockets style. I'm on board.
A scout's analysis of Brooks on 1/31/2007: Oregon’s Aaron Brooks has improved his draft stock just as much, if not more than any 2007 draft prospect so far. The diminutive point guard has gone from an underachieving McDonald’s All American to a potential candidate for College Player of the Year, all in the span of one exhilarating half-season at Oregon. After leading his team to a 13-0 start and beating then #1 UCLA on a dramatic game-winning shot, that was probably the point where we should have started talking about Brooks in hindsight. The energetic Brooks has proven this year that despite having a reputation as a selfish player, one can turn it around if placed in the right situation. The numbers back this claim up as well, as he has averaged 19.1 points, 4.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.7 steals while shooting nearly 49% from the field, 86% from the line, and 41% from three point territory. It has truly been a dream year for a player who prematurely ended his season last year by despicably elbowing Washington’s Ryan Appleby in the face during the PAC-10 Tournament. Brooks has established himself as the creator in a perimeter oriented Ducks lineup that consists of guards Bryce Taylor, Tajuan Porter, Malik Hairston, and forward Marty Leunen. He is easily one of the five quickest players on the college level, allowing him to penetrate against just about any guard he is matched up with. He combines his incredible quickness with shooting range that extends well beyond the NBA three point line, and he shows no hesitance whatsoever to pull the trigger if he feels disrespected by the daylight he is seeing. A lightning bug guard who can shoot the hell out of the ball is always going to be a tough player to defend, to say the least.
Brooks isn't ready to play starter minutes. The guy is good but it's still best to ease a guy into it especially since he was only recently recalled up. You want to make sure he feels like he had to earn it...not just for himself, but for everyone on the team...they have to get use to the guy and learn to trust him and the change that comes with it. If you too quickly make changes, then the guys who are the starters stop playing loose and tighten up because they're afraid one bad strecth and they'll be bumped out by the guy underneath them. You don't want that. You want competition, but not in a way that makes every small thing a pressure decision. One thing about sports or anything, if you start overthinking it, you play worse. Can't play to avoid losing a spot. That's what was happening earlier - everyone playing nervous and worried - and look how much the hesitation and poor shooting led to loses. So I say, increase brooks minutes slowly but steadily, and start him when not only he's ready, but the team is ready. There's no rush to replace rafer. And you don't want Rafer to sulk either.
