The Rockets need the FIBA version of Dillon Brooks

This is not drama, the admin of this forum had him on his first page as the 3rd issue of last year.

Just as you painted Brooks as the victim, look, I do not like Brooks but if you are talking about fall guys.

Senguen and Brooks are in the same boat and possibly a couple of other players.

The reason is that he is not a traditional rim protector and the Rockets do not have exceptional young defenders to make it work when Sengün is 26, and likely they would not build around him.

I might be wrong, that is true, but time would tell.

The Rockets have not openly declared Alperen as untouchable......and Jabari has jawed at Senguen more than once on the court

No, my apologies, but that cannot be spared.

 

Chances are nobody is the Fall guy in year 1 and it will be moved to Year 2 under Ime Udoka.

Stone is getting more pressure if the team stays under 30 Wins or just at 30 Wins.

 

Yet you know if he sucked during FIBA it would used as reasoning for why he was a bad signing. But if he does good then let's dismiss it.

 

...hate to break it to you, but soccer is the most popular sport in the world and flopping is very common there so what were you saying about flopping hurting the popularity of the sport again?

 

Yeah, I agree with that - the fall guy schtick was less that I think he will ACTUALLY be the fall guy - more so that fans will blame him like they blamed KPJ for much of the last few years way more than Silas or Stone was ever blamed. I suspect this year Brooks becomes Clutchfans new favorite target.

...and I do agree that Stone is likely to feel the fire if this team doesn't see some measured improvement this year. I don't know if it will ALL translate into wins, but there should be some graphs showing significant improvement by the year's end or Stone is really in trouble after 4 years of tanking, two coaches, and a solid but late attempt at trying to put development infrastructure in. Something has to move the needle in a significant way - whether that's Udoka, Amen, one of the previous draft picks, or the bets on vet leadership this offseason because so far all Stone has managed to show is he is a good loser(which helped us), but can he do what it takes to help us improve?

 

If you've got a bad reputation, you don't get the benefit of the doubt. You are stuck in your narrative until you can prove without a doubt that they are wrong about you. Right now, a handful of FIBA games does not have enough saving grace for redemption, yet. The most it can do is give us fans some hope.

 

Yet you know if he sucked during FIBA it would used as reasoning for why he was a bad signing. But if he does good then let's dismiss it.

I don't disagree with that pov and I am not saying forget the past bc of 5 games. I am just point out the hypocrisy in only using the games if it benefits a particular narrative
Honestly I was hoping they did not sign him but now that he is a rocket, I did personally understand the criticism before he has even played a single game as a rocket. He is playing with a new team in a new role with a new coach. On top of that he has everything I would hope he would do since the signing so I am giving him a fresh start

 

Never said the sport wasn't popular. I said it was already popular. You're just wanting to argue with yourself.
Even in futbol, the dives are getting penalized.

 

Canada just lost against Serbia and honestly Brooks looked a lot more like his normal NBA self. Went 5 for 12 from the field with 1 assist to 2 turnovers. Canada was 8 points worse with him on the court. He needs to figure out that it's okay to just make the next pass, but at this stage in his career I'm not convinced that type of evolution is possible. We'll see how he responds to Ime Udoka's coaching.

 

Serbia played smart, had Shai and Brooks and then Olynyk with 3 Fouls early in the 2nd Quarter/3rd Q.

Led by 10+ points mostly this night. Canada could only get within 7-8 points at the closest.

Bogdanovic great shooter.

• They let RJ Barrett get his. Milutinov is a beast down low, a plethora of bigs.
• Just a mixture of great running in transition, timely 3s, great ball pressure D, great spacing, Spanish PnR, great swinging from side to side, smart getting fouled by Canadians.
• So many layups given up by Canada to the Serbs.
• Most importantly Shai did not get going, got locked down a tad and in early foul trouble.
• Avramovic is just the discovery of this World Cup, Patrick Beverley of Serbia. Flat out pesky.
• Dillon Brooks hero ball but decent Defense.

 

SGA showed he has Harden clutch level.

 

16 points on 12 shots is actually really good still. 12 shots in 26 min is more than I would like, and more than he has averaged overall in fiba, but on a night where sga got locked down and scored less than Brooks, others had to step up so it was probably necessary. Not sure why -8 would be called out when sga and Barrett were -5, NAW’s -22 in 24 min is what stood out.

 

Did you watch the game? He didn’t really start shooting until the 4th when they were down by 17, putting up 7 of his 12 shots.

Stats during mad comeback attempts aren’t really typical. Coaches are telling the team to put up 3s.

 

He did not because he was not playing that much the first 2-3 quarters.

Jordi the Canadian coach was risking him with 4 fouls and probably calculated his 5th foul already.

You do not want him to hero ball in the 4th on any team, the Grizzlies or the Rockets.

So that one should be on the coach.

They did not have elite shooters but Nickeil Alexander Walker was hotter.

 

It's silly nick-picking an attempt to comeback from 17 points in 9 minutes. Just a sign of how bored we are in the summer.

Fact remains, Brooks showed a lot of promise throughout this tournament.

If your take-away is what happened in a wild 4th Q comeback attempt, that's reaching.

 

Yeah, but the sentiment from the OP was not all negative. It was focused on the Serbian matchup alone and not the whole tournament.

He just said Brooks might have gone back to chucking, and I did not even say it is his fault.

The coach was overwhelmed by the Serbian way of high ball pressure and execution.

There is not much blame to pass around.

Again people on here are too focused on Brooks, it should be about the Rockets young bucks.

That is why we endured 3 years of sucking in the first place! Eyes on the prize.

 

Brooks went off, holy crap. Guess I reverse-jinxed him. 39 points on 12 for 18 shooting with 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Monster performance on both ends to beat USA.

 

That is precisely what made him so dangerous IMO.

You cannot control his urges to score or hero ball. Nobody can, Udoka cannot.

Him heckling Lebron is one part of the story, but him only scoring 9 or 11 points when it mattered the most, is why he got the flak that he got.

 

Its the problem with bev type players. Sure they are good for the morale, can become a fan favorite and they plays with heart, but their performance aren't consistent enough. They also get sucked into the moment and the end results varies. We could b getting Canada v USA brooks one game and lebron vs brooks the next.

Overpaying for a pat bev player is what triggered most folks.

 

It was only against USA. Difficult to say he could do the same against an actual basketball team.