The LA's defense is different than Portland because they are using a smaller but quicker player to defend Yao. Pau has the ability to transition from fronting to playing behind him seamlessly. A lot of the times, Pau baits the Rockets to pass it to Yao just to tip the pass on the entry. When Yao has good position, he'll just front him until he gives up his position. I think this is causing all the TOs and chaotic offense.
Turnovers has not been a problem for Brooks in the regular season nor in the Portland series, but it has increased in the LA series so far. Plus, his assist numbers are also down, so a much poorer assist-to-turnover ratio. But I agree that he's done pretty well overall in these playoffs and is showing that he can learn. I also wish more posters would give him a chance instead of blaming him for all our woes.
Can't blame Yao, he's Yao. Can't blame Scola, he is just a power forward and was the most consistent player in the Blazer series. Can't blame Shane, he is our defensive stalwart who also had some big moments against the Blazers. Can't blame RonRon, he's the heart and soul of the team. Always giving his all. Can't blame the bench, they always bring heart and hustle when they come in and do their thing. That leaves Brooks. Who has had some ups and downs during the play-offs. Not really sure why anyone would be surprised at WHO the scapegoat is. I am a bit surprised at the animosity turned towards that scapegoat though.
Do you guys ever see Aaron Brooks shooting 3?? He hardly does that anymore....he's getting dumb and dumber.
No, Many TOs are UN-forced. AB/Ron just are not very good at passing and specially Ron likely lost concentrations some time. That's why he's not a better defender than SHane. During 2dn quarter, Rockets totally shot down LA offense, but careless TOs gave lakers many opportunities to keep in the game. If Rockets had Rafer here, they would definitely win this series. LA is still the fakers. they will not win WC this year.
TO is always a problem for AB even though the stats sheet didn't show it. He often made TOs in clutch time. he made unforced and careless TOs. He held Ball too long for Rockets to make decent shots. He made bad passing decision lead teammates TOs. Ron sometimes did the same thing as AB did.
It's not whole team's problem but ball handler's problem. It's AB's problem. Basically it's owner/manager's decision. They traded Rafer. They go for future. they gave up this year.
The talk from some one of the posters that the ROckets are a better team without Yao is crazy talk, but I'll say this. They will be less turnover prone. Their turnovers have consistently gone down when they adjust to Yao's absence.
Trick is, what adjustments will the Lakers make. Will they go to that trapping offense consistently in game 5?
And they're back at it again. 17 TO's yesterday. If we're somehow going to pull off a miracle and win this series these must come down. This just kills any oppurtunity to gain some offensive momentum. Also Artests' passing has got to be the worst on the team. He throws some passes that sometimes make you wonder if he even knows what team he's playing for.
