Okay, when 35% (Skip's 3 years combined 3-pt accuracy) = 39.8%, I smell some hate. And that's fine. It just doesn't seem that rational. Could we agree that there's no reason to ship AB before the trading deadline at least? What if he and Yao play really well together this year, despite the various and well-informed (but conjecture-laden) misgivings?
That would be a HORRIBLE deal. Brooks was the Most Improved Player, and you're advocating moving him for backup positions? Did I miss something? Brooks better be able to fetch us an upgrade amongst the starting 5, not filling out our backup positions. If Lowry can get 5-6M/year, then Brooks is easily worth 8-9M. You said that he would suffer with Yao out.. I just don't see it. Maybe he would suffer if you drafted him on your fantasy squad. With Yao, we need guards who are able to shoot when Yao gets double teamed.. Yao passing out to the open Lowry for three is pretty much what all other 29 NBA teams would prefer. Not to mention, Brooks is one of the few players on the team who can get off his own shot. Can Yao? Nope. Who are we going to go into in the final seconds? We had Martin for half a season, yet we went to Brooks when the game was on the line. We need to have that player that can get off his own shot when the game matters.. Lowry is not that type of player. I love Lowry and everything he brings to the table.. but if you're comparing him vs. Brooks, it's a no brainer -- you keep AB. If you're arguing that we should trade Brooks because of the contract he'll demand, that's a different argument. But thinking that Lowry could replace what Brooks gives us is just not based on any sound logic. Are you ignoring the fact that he was essentially our first option? How many threes did he have to take late in the shot clock? With Yao coming back, he should get a lot more open looks. Let's put this into perspective: the "missing" championship piece Danny Granger shot 36% from downtown last year. Hating on brooks for shooting 39% while also being the first option is ridiculous.
Not to go on about it, but AB was a top-20 3-pt shooter last year. When you shoot 35%, which may seem close to 39.8% to some, you would be ranked barely in the top 100 shooters. It's a big difference.
I'm not asking how Brooks got better from his 2nd year to his 3rd year. I'm asking how you feel he can improve from his 3rd year performance. If you feel he can get better, great. Explain how. Or better yet, explain why you feel my reasons are incorrect.
At this point, it isn't about improving stats -- those only matter for fantasy owners. It's a matter of improving efficiency and defense.
Let's just watch the season and see how he plays, if he struggles with Yao, then I could see the Rox moving him at the deadline, if he does great with Yao, I could see the Rox committing to him as their PG for years. Either way, this whole Brooks vs Lowry argument is just a waste of time. Let's cheer for them both and let the coaches decide who plays.... DD
this again is my opinion but i find the MIP Award to be one of the most deceiving awards in basketball and many times is a case of having the ball more often and in the end it screams "PAY ME!" I am not saying Brooks is devoid of talent of course he is one of the most talented players on the roster I feel that we have another capable starter in Lowry and Brooks becomes our most valuable asset to improve our weakest position C - a shotblocking C at that. Morey is already looking at 3rd string PGs of course. I doubt unless the proper trade comes along that a deal that would involve brooks happens early I figure if it does happen it will at the deadline. I assume you meant suffer with yao in..yeah it hurts fantasy teams i dont give a crap about fantasy leagues but it will hurt is overall value to other teams. Lets say with Yao back Brooks' scoring drops to 15 ppg (which is what he average in the 08-09 season when he started w/ Yao) will teams still be after him as much? Probably not as much they may be like "oh his stats just went back down" other teams will see that he is still valuable but has less opportunities and throw more money at him. My only worry is that because he received the MIP his agent is going to demand even more than the 8-9 million he is probably worth and use that as leverage -- regardless of how well he plays next season. thats my biggest worry that Brooks will ask for and some team will give him more money that the Rockets can afford/feel he is worth so IMO packaging him with a expiring deal of Jeffries or Battier may yield a far superior player in return or a players who can fill in the weaknesses of the team. I am not saying trade the guy just cuz he is going to walk, but his value wont get any higher than this offseason and the early part of next season IMO so if the Rockets who just invested in Lowry feel that he is a capable starter than you have to make a move. Personally I am hoping that Paul George explodes on the scene in Indiana so a Brooks/Ariza/Jeffries/ for a Granger/Hibbert deal could be swung...thats just me though A lot of this speculation of course could be just silly since we do not know how the new starting 5 would play compared to the one 2 seasons ago they all could play great
Do you want me to explain how improving your efficiency works? I thought that was pretty self-explanatory? I guess not. Brooks' defense could certainly improve -- that's one area that you could get better at almost every year until your athleticism starts to decline. Brooks is no where close to 'losing a step'. Certainly his height will always be a factor, but with working out in the off-season he's only getting stronger and (hopefully) smarter about ways to defend the bigger guards. Add to that a 7'6" clog in the middle and I doubt Brooks defense will be much of an issue. His FG% should also improve with some of the pressure alleviated from his shoulders. It's a lot easier to shoot a higher percentage when the defense isn't focused on stopping you every night -- which, with Yao, they wouldn't be. Yao is a legitimate post presence that teams will be conscious of double teaming, so AB should have a lot more open looks from downtown than he did in this years past. You didn't give any reasons on why he wouldn't improve for me to refute -- all you did was ask questions. In fact, your argument for his court vision not improving was "doubtful". Very enlightening. Why couldn't his court vision improve? Would it be substantial? No, of course not. But he's been the full-time PG for what, 1.5 years? He got better every year he was at Oregon, yet you think after playing full-time for 1.5 years he's done improving? I don't think Brooks will ever be confused with a pass-first PG, but neither is Mo Williams -- both can still have a substantial impact on games without dropping 10 assist a night. He has a tendency to avoid contact? I don't think the man's Allen Iverson, but I also don't think he shies away from the fouls either. His high FT% will be another weapon to utilize when we have Martin & Yao getting us into the penalty.
LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh's stats are all about to take a hit -- I don't think any GM would think less of them for it. I would hope that NBA teams are smarter than the casual fan. I do understand your point about Brooks -- he's up for a big payday and would be more valuable on a cheap contract. On the same token, most teams also know this so essentially they would be trading for a half-season rental of the cheap contract. I think we can agree that, in a vacuum, Brooks is the superior player to Lowry. One thing to consider: the Rockets offense changed when Yao went out for the year. We became the mini-Suns, dedicated to getting up and down the floor as quickly as possible. I think the biggest benefactor of this was Lowry.. it suited his game perfectly. Add to that he had Budinger/Landry/Hill running with him on the wings, it was a deadly combination. Fast forward to today: Yao is back. How does our offense change? We can't have the same run-n-gun offense with the Big Fella back in the middle. I think this will be a delicate balancing act for Adelman, though I have no idea how he's going to handle it. We heard all before last training camp about how our style was going to change because Yao was out.. well now Yao is here. Now what do we do? Do we go back to the low-post inside-to-outside offense we had before? We've had success with it (beat Portland, would've gave LAL run for their money with Yao) -- but we've also had "success" without it (42-40 without an all-star). Either way, it'll be interesting to see which direction Adelman takes the offense.
there has to be a trade involving brooks in the near future. you dont pay a backup point guard 6 mil a year. maybe battier, brooks, and budinger to the pacers for danny granger.
Seriously?! Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, and Ray Allen all have lower career 3 point percentages. Shooting that many times and still keeping a 40% avg. makes you an elite shooter. Another thing you have to keep in mind is a lot of those attempts were contested due to Yao's absence. Scola and Landry's inability to pass out of a double team didn't help either.
You mean like, oh say: Shane Battier Trevor Ariza Jared Jeffries All SF's making more than $6 million this year? I think you have to match Lowry, you keep him this year, and at some point, you move either Brooks or Lowry depending upon the deal and the makeup of the team going forward. Signing Lowry means nothing more than the Rockets are not willing to give up an asset for free...... Smart move, IMO. DD
Goodbye Brooks. You did exactly what we wanted you to do, improved on your game just enough so we could sell you high for another player in a couple of more months. Cya.
