Three time Brooks has faced All-star caliber PGs as a starter for the Rockets: 11/15: Chris Paul, 2-10 from the field, 12 points 12/16: Chauncey Billups, 3-10 from the field, 8 points 12/22: Devin Harris, 2-8 from the field, 10 points I'll admit that I expected Brooks to get torched in each game, but to my surprise he held up just fine. What is he doing, or the Rockets as a team doing, to keep these star PGs in check?
it's more cuz of team-defense, help arrive on time and other big men (except yao) coming out to trap the guards so we can keep them out of the paint.
This is what a lot of us have been saying, there are VERY few PGs that post up in the NBA, Baron Davis....Deron Williams...and who? And Brooks can force them to chase him around and wear them out on the other end.... He is big enough, people tend to look too much at one thing and not at the whole picture. DD
aaron has been playing great on the ball defense tonight there were a couple where he stood strong against harris harris had bumped him off but because aaron stood tough the bump messed up harris' shot
PG's don't need as good of defense as wings or bigs. Therefor that's what stops the Point guards. The Credit does not all go to Aaron Brooks for that. Sure he does deserve some credit for being able to do that on the perimeter, but for the paint shots it's because of the entire team like Yao.
I know Billups posted up a ton in Detroit. I didn't catch the Denver game; for those who are familiar with the Nuggets since their trade -- does he not post up anymore?
He posted up once against Brooks and Brooks got a foul called, but for the most part he runs the show from the 3pt line. DD
I admitted I was wrong about it. His quickness and accuracy really surprised me alil bit.He's a blur,dribbling around and wearing other guards down on the offensive end. Damn,his defense has been up,my guess is Shane might have taught alot to our young fella.
I see at least two factors: 1. People underestimate the impact of the opposing PG actually having to play defense. 2. Brooks' speed helps him stick to his man and he is getting better and better at reading picks and rotating on defense as he gets more playing time. This is one of the reasons I kept saying people were overrating Alston, defensively. A lot of it is just a matter of getting your feet wet and getting familiar with NBA-level team defense.
Team defense to key in on these guys. This is best exemplified by the fact that George Hill seemed to be having his way against Aaron in his other start. Not a problem at all though, because it doesn't matter if it's individual defense or team defense that's responsible - the point is that he isn't getting killed as expected, which was a strong case for not starting him. I never understood the argument about bigger guys posting him up. What point guard actually posts up anymore? Did Penny Hardaway come out of retirement and I haven't heard about it? If a 6'4 point guard is posting up Aaron Brooks because he deems it a mismatch, I'll take my chances with the opposing team trying to run their offense through something as unfamiliar to their system as that.
to me part of the reason is that AB is making the other PG work on defense which makes them more tired on the other end of the court.
he's fast enough to stay in front of anybody. Adelman also said he's handling screens better and making the right over or under decisions when they get set. His offense is so much better than Rafer's that he should be starting or at least getting the bulk of the PG minutes but he won't because Rafer is the vet and he's the "rookie".
not just foot speed, but quickness in his mental intuition. its as if because that guy plays the game so fast, he is used to the game looking slow to him. he just does things with his releases, with his cuts, and now im starting to see with his defense that makes me think that guy just operates at a speed of his own. 1 second of NBA time for most is like 7 seconds for brooks. its like his mind, along with his feet operate at more frames per second. its really starting to show with how he can stay in front of extremely fast guards.
Good thread durvasa ... I agree. I think it's somewhere inbetween -- I think Brooks may be better defensively than I thought he'd be and I think Rafer has been given too much credit for the team's defensive success. That's not to say Rafer hasn't been adequate defensively (I still think he's probably a better option there than Brooks), but the Rockets (especially under JVG) have been centered around a team defense concept. Does anyone disagree with this statement? When Brooks holds those three star points to those numbers, we are all scratching our heads how ... yet if it was Rafer doing it, we'd have numerous people crediting him for it and saying how irreplaceable he is to the defense. To me that says good team defense (rather than lockdown, one-on-one defense), and the early results are saying Brooks may be just fine playing it.
I think this is another one of those things that might be overlooked here about how Brooks is helping the team concept. Think about when Yao's man comes out to screen the pick and roll and Yao stays back. Brooks is actually quick enough to move under the pick and it allows Yao to keep the lane clogged. The guard coming off the pick and roll is met more quickly than Alston ever could so there isn't an open shot. I don't know if you guys remember but we use to get killed game in and game out on the pick and roll. Aaron's speed is eliminating this achilles heel from the Rocket's defense. I honestly don't see how you pull Brooks out as the starter with the chemistry he has now with the starters. His lightning speed actually gives the Rockets a transition game, better 3 point shooting, better containment on the pick and roll and contrary to Alston, Brooks actually makes his runners in traffic.
In contrast to Rafer, AB's offense makes the other team account for him and the opposing PG must expend energy defending him. This helps AB on the other end. The Rockets team defense when AB gets posted up also factors in huge. Another thing is AB hasn't played enough for NBA teams to write a "book" about how to exploit him on defense and guard him on offense. The final verdict on AB won't be in until we see how he reacts and adjusts. When he goes against the Pauls and Billups' the 2nd and 3rd time and succeeds, then we'll know. Think of AB as a rookie hitter who goes on a hot streak his first 20-25 games before teams figure out how to pitch him.
