Not sure if this has been posted yet, but with Morey being a big stats guy: http://www.82games.com/nbadraft2006.htm That's right...82games has used a plethora of stats to basically tout Brewer as "most likely to succeed", or at least "most likely to be a solid player". That's not to say that he has the highest ceiling, but he is up there at least. Rudy Gay is also rated very high and probably has a higher ceiling than Brewer because of his insane length and athleticism. What's interesting about this analysis is some of the relative nobodys that are rated high. Morey might be able to find one of these diamonds in the rough with our second pick. All of this could be completely wrong, but it does seem like a decent way to compare apples to apples. Here is 82games' stab at international players: http://www.82games.com/euroleague.htm Bargnani looks quite impressive, especially after the euroleague was explained. I don't think he gets enough credit because not many have seen him play. These stats tell me that he would be a great fit for our current team, and could possibly have a huge impact just because of the spacing he would give us. My thoughts are that we have to get one of these 3 guys. They would all fit very well on the Rockets and could all turn into legit stars. Here are my picks: 1. Ronnie Brewer - TMac in Toronto: The great defense, ball handling skills, court vision, and leaping ability. It's too obvious to not see the similarities. I don't see his jumper ever coming close to TMac's, but he could take advantage of current NBA rules to penetrate and get to the line. Thus, he might prove to be more efficient than TMac in the end. That would be his ceiling though. 2. Rudy Gay - Ron Artest: I think someone will get defense into his head and he will develop into a stopper with respectable offense. He just doesn't have the ball handling or court vision of Brewer to take advantage of current NBA rules. 3. Andrea Bargnani - Dirk without the killer instinct: He will pan out as I think he is playing in an underrated league. I can see him as a slightly softer Dirk, but he could bulk up, get mean, and surprise us all. One of these guys will undoubtedly be there at #8.
check the official NBA draft athletism test on nbadraft: http://www.nbadraft.net/2006campmeasurements002.asp Brewer is listed overall 2nd and he keep his body fat at 5% http://www.nbadraft.net/2006campmeasurements001.asp It wont have another better player at 8th spot than Brewer. Please dont do anything stupid like before,Dawson.
Excuse me. Didn't we have James last summer and gave him up for Rafer. We drafted Head who was projected for some minor league stuff in Austin but he came in and made 2nd team all - rookie. Wow. My question is ..why do we have Rafer? Maybe we'll get real lucky in the draft and all three will be here this fall. I like Head's heads-up potential. I would welcome James back and hope Rafer stays healthy. Brewer at 8? I wouldn't plan on that. Best laid plans.
wouldn't brewer fit really well in a back court with Head? they could switch off on the defensive end.
I sense people are jumping off the bandwagon. JVG didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about Brewer today morning. Unfortunate.
Smokescreen. Seriously though, we are probably deconstructing JVG's comments waaaaaaay too much. Besides, he's already said that he's not making the pick. He has input but the final say is coming from the front office.
I don't know if we'll be taking him or not, but the more I read/hear about Brewer the more I like him. Here's a story I don't think has been posted yet. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...draft1806jun18,0,7567964.story?coll=orl-magic Brewer has shot but can't match father's style Ronnie Brewer's hitch comes from a waterslide accident that broke his right arm as a child. Tim Povtak | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted June 18, 2006 Ronnie Brewer will never have that natural sweet-looking shot that made his father so attractive to the NBA when he left the University of Arkansas almost 30 years ago. He is just a better athlete. Brewer, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound shooting guard, wore the same No. 10 at Arkansas that his father did before him, but rarely have they been compared. Their shots are so radically different. The elder Ron Brewer, who was the No. 7 pick of the 1978 NBA draft, had a purity and a beauty to his stroke. He played eight seasons in the NBA, bouncing across seven different teams. The younger Ron Brewer, who is expected to be drafted a few spots later next week, has an awkward-looking hitch to his form that probably never will change. Yet he may play for more years than his father did, unlikely to be traded so many times. "It's kind of funny that people always bring up my shot, and the way it looks,'' young Ron said earlier this month at the NBA's Pre-Draft Camp at Disney. "It might be a little unusual, but don't judge me on how it looks or where it starts. Does it go in the hole? That's what matters.'' His unorthodox shot stems from a freak childhood accident on a waterslide when he broke the upper half of his right arm. The break never healed properly, leaving his arm with a different bend, preventing him from developing the perfect form and follow-through that his father always had. Brewer, who is one of the players being considered by the Orlando Magic with the No. 11 pick, averaged 18.4 points last season at Arkansas, shooting 44 percent from the field and 34 percent from the 3-point line. His overall field goal percentage dipped in each of his three seasons, but mostly because he was taking more shots from long range, taking a bigger role in the offense. His strength, though, is his versatility, able to play shooting guard, small forward or point guard, bringing a strong defensive presence to any of three positions. "There's a lot of my father in me. Even though he could score, he's an old-school guy who taught me there's more to the game than just being an offensive player,'' Brewer said. "He taught me that if you want to last, you better learn all aspects of the game. He's molded me into the player I'm becoming.'' The elder Ron Brewer teamed with Sidney Moncrief and Marvin Delph to lead the Razorbacks to the NCAA Final Four in 1978. He shot 56 percent from the field in his three-year career. He was drafted with considerable fanfare by Portland, but he also played in San Antonio, Cleveland, Golden State, New Jersey, Chicago and Cleveland. He averaged a career high of 18.8 points in his fourth season, finishing with a career average of 11.9. He coached his son's AAU team for several years when he moved back to Fayetteville, Ark., first trying to change his shot, then accepting it. "People were constantly telling me, 'You're shooting the wrong way. You'll never be able to have a good shot,' '' Brewer said. "Even my dad had doubts at times. But in my eyes, that just made me work harder.'' Brewer shot surprisingly well during his Magic workout, proving that looks can be deceiving. Yet he'll never be mistaken for Duke's J.J. Redick, a sweet-shooting guard whom the Magic also are considering. Brewer also has been known as a tireless worker, able to overcome anything he might lack, eliminating most of his weaknesses. He was part of a major rebuilding project at Arkansas, rising to the top of the program. "My father rode me hard at times, especially once he knew I was serious about wanting to play this game, wanting to become really good,'' he said. "I've become a guy who looks at his game in the mirror. And if I see something that isn't right, I'll work at it until it is right. My shot isn't going to cause any problems.''
It didn't sound like JVG really tipped his hand too much. The only thing that was said that made me think JVG might be leaning towards Redick was his coment about drafting offense and teaching defense. If that is truley his beliefe then of course Redick makes sense to him. Personally I would not mind Redick because I think his outside shot would be deadly on this team. Actually I would be pretty excited about having that kind of outside shooting on our team. Having said that I still think Brewer brings more to the table and I think we could accomplish more by drafting Brewer and signing James. Of course we could get really cocky and make some draft day moves that would allow us to draft both Redick and Brewer.
I would really like to see them grab Redick and either Carney or Brewer. I don't know if they have the pieces to get it done though.
I don't think he tipped his hand either. Another thing JVG has said he values is versatility, and Brewer could play multiple positions in a big or small lineup. Both have qualities that could fit with the team though.
Why in the world do you want two rookies with guaranteed contracts on your next year Rockets team? Better to keep the #32 and its nonguaranteed contract and hope for a diamond in the rough.
Considering that we've found room on our roster for the likes of Brunson, Bowen, Ward, Baker, Moochie etc. the last few years, a couple of late lottery/mid first rounders doesn't sound like such a bad idea. All this does is prevent us from shuffling in and out 10 day contract players off the street. No big loss.
I'm a big stat guy but even I realize sometimes you have to use your eyes, too. Here's what they say about Morrison: Morrison’s type has not done well historically, so it may be an explanation as to why his success rate is low. He grades out as strictly a catch-and-shoot scorer who does not look to pass or put the ball on the floor. This tendency may hurt him in the NBA, because he’s not very athletic and can’t create his own shot. Defensively, he has long way to go to say the least. His stats are poor with exception to rebounds. Then from watching him, he seems to really struggle to stay in front of his man. His success really depends on the team that drafts him and the system they play. What Did these guys even watch college basketball this year? Morrison strictly catch and shoot? Can't create his own shot? Ok...
Here is another article I saw a couple of weeks ago that impressed me. Not Just winging it BY SCOTT CAIN Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2006 Email this story | Printer-friendly version FAYETTEVILLE — Ronnie Brewer was 10 years old then, but he remembers vividly that summer day at Beaver Lake when one of his arm bones snapped. Brewer remembers being carried to a picnic table and he remembers the pain. He can still see the faces of several University of Arkansas basketball players, including Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman. These were guys he’d idolized, and now he was literally looking up to them as he lay flat and a crowd gathered out of concern. One thought overrode the others flashing through Brewer’s head. “I was just laying there and I could see Corliss and Scotty and all those other players and I was like, ‘Man, I can’t cry,’” Brewer said. “So I’m in there trying to be tough and they’re like, ‘He’s tough, he’s tough. He didn’t even cry.’” The break to the upper half of Brewer’s right arm, the humerus bone, healed but the arm didn’t move quite the same. It forced Brewer to change his shot to an unconventional form where his right elbow flares out before the release and the ball spins slightly sideways. His shooting form has been called ugly and might be the biggest question NBA scouts have as they monitor Brewer for the 2006 or 2007 draft. But just like that day at the lake, he hasn’t shed any tears over the shot, either. It works for him. “Even though I don’t have a shot that looks good to everybody, to me it feels right,” Brewer said. ESPN basketball analyst Jimmy Dykes, a Northwest Arkansas resident who has watched Brewer for more than 10 years, said if he were an NBA general manager the shot “wouldn’t keep me from drafting him some day.” Brewer, the SEC preseason Player of the Year, scores in a variety of ways and doesn’t rely on his outside shot, but it is a weapon at times. His three-point accuracy barely topped 25 percent as a freshman and jumped to a whisker under 40 percent last season. A slump in late December and early January this season has curbed Brewer’s three-point percentage (. 333 ). He’s made 10 of 23 (. 435 ) since finding his rhythm again five games ago and said he never doubted his shot. Comments about the shot “bothered me a lot” growing up, Brewer said. “People were constantly telling me, ‘You’re shooting it the wrong way. You’ll never be able to have a good shot,’” Brewer said. “Even my dad had doubts at times. But in my eyes that just made me work harder.” There’s the irony. Brewer’s dad, Ron Brewer, possessed one of the purest shooting strokes to ever come through the Razorbacks program. Ron Brewer played three seasons and left Arkansas in 1978 with a. 566 career shooting percentage and 1, 440 points, which ranks 14 th on the school scoring list. The Portland Trail Blazers drafted him seventh overall and he went on to average 11. 9 points — a high of 18. 8 in 1982 — on. 459 shooting in eight NBA seasons. Ronnie Brewer has a career. 463 shooting percentage but has done it in a different era as the centerpiece to a major rebuilding effort. He’s been relied upon to do everything but sweep the court. His father also contributed in many areas but had help from a starry cast, including Sidney Moncrief and Marvin Delph. The Brewers settled in Fayetteville after Ron Brewer’s NBA career, and the family was attending a large Razorbacks basketball outing the day Ronnie Brewer broke his arm. All the kids had been zooming down a soaped-up slide into the lake. Ronnie Brewer’s sense of adventure led him to the top of the slide before apprehension intervened. Too late. A shove came from behind and little Ronnie was on his way. Ronnie Brewer tried to slow himself by grabbing the sides of slide, but he was moving too fast. His arm smacked into a pole at the end of the slide and he suffered a compound fracture. The metal pole helped hold the slide in place and stuck out of the water and above the slide. When the arm healed, he said his dad expected him to shoot the same as always. Only, the arm wouldn’t cooperate. The elbow stuck out instead of in toward the basket. “He was like, ‘Why are you shooting like that ?’” Ronnie Brewer said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know. This is how I shoot.’ He was like, ‘No, that’s not how you were shooting before. Shoot like you were shooting before.’ I’d try and try and it was never like it was before, so my dad and I got into it for a day or two because he thought I was trying to be funny or disobedient. “ I told my mom, ‘They told me my arm wouldn’t grow back like it was supposed to. It’s never going to be the same so my shot may not be the same.’ She told me to keep doing the things I was doing and everything would be all right. So I tried to do that. My dad was like, ‘Maybe you can shoot like that.’” Ron Brewer said he was unsure how the shot would hold up when his son grew older and competition increased. The shot started out low and strong defenders would be able to slap the ball, so father taught son to shoot higher. He said his son was concerned for a time because he knew there was a right way and wrong way to shoot. “It’s not that start that concerned me though, it was the finish,” Ron Brewer said. “It was an ugly shot. I’ve heard people say he should rebreak his arm because the shot is ugly. But he’s come a long way. Over the course of the years, he’s refined it to where he’s become a competitive shooter. He can take pressure and physical play.” One of the first people to endorse the shot was North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, Ronnie Brewer said. Brewer was attending Williams’ summer camp when Williams coached at Kansas and he told the young player that as long as the shot finished properly, no change needed to be made. Brewer’s father and several others in basketball agreed. Ronnie Brewer said he can bring his elbow in but that he cannot keep it in on the followthrough. Physically, the arm won’t allow it and it’s uncomfortable to try, he said. All shots start with balance and Ronnie Brewer gets his legs under the shot fine, several coaches said. His hand finishes on target, creating plenty of arc on the ball flight. Ron Brewer said he wishes anyone who questions his son’s shot could see a newspaper photograph last month in which Ronnie Brewer’s finish “is picture perfect.” “People need to look at that and stop questioning his shot,” Ron Brewer said. Several NBA scouts have told Dykes they don’t like Ronnie Brewer’s shooting form, Dykes said. “But I tell them I’ve watched him since first and second grade when he was playing against sixth-graders and I think you’ve got to look at the numbers and percentages,” Dykes said. “I think you’ve got to live with the ugly form because he does so many other things. “ It’s like a golf swing. I don’t think John Daly’s golf swing would be PGA-approved, but he’s done it so much that he has success.” Shawn Respert, the 1995 Big Ten Player of the Year at Michigan State and a former firstround NBA draft pick, watched Brewer on tape and saw him play against Rice last month. Respert is Rice’s director of operations and is considered one college basketball’s great shooters. Respert said he believes Brewer compensates for the displaced elbow with keen hand-eye coordination and athleticism. “He’ll have a very good opportunity in the pros,” Respert said. Several people asked Arkansas Coach Stan Heath if he planned to tinker with the shot when he was recruiting Brewer. “I thought about it maybe two seconds,” Heath said. “The bottom line for me was how effective is the shot ? Can he make the shot ? And the answer’s yes.” Heath often compares Brewer’s situation to that of former UCLA and NBA great Jamaal Wilkes, perhaps the most recognizable unorthodox shooter in the game’s modern era. Wilkes’ shot started with the ball behind his head, but legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden left the mechanics untouched. Wilkes suggests the same for Brewer. “If it works for him and if his coach has critiqued it and come to the conclusion that he has, unless Ronnie finds some other reason for changing, I would just stick with it,” Wilkes said. When people made disparaging remarks about his shot, Wilkes said it made him practice shooting even more. Brewer said he’s reacted the same way to doubts about his shot. He worked harder than ever last summer, staying in the gym each day until he’d made 500 baskets. That meant attempting 1, 000 some days. “You can hear people on TV, different basketball coaches, scouts, even when I was in high school, I was averaging almost 30 points a game, coaches still were saying, ‘ Maybe you need to change this. Maybe you need to change that, ’” Brewer said. “After a while, people saw how hard I worked to make my shot like it is and they didn’t have too much to say because I was getting the job done.”
I like Brewer more than Reddick, but I sense the Rockets are in "win now" mode and will take Reddick over Brewer if they get stuck with the 8th pick. Reddick won't be near as effective in the pro's, but he can shoot and that is a key need for the Rockets. The thing is VG will only use him when we absolutely must shoot three's to get back into a game so he will be somewhat of a specialized player. Brewer is a far better long term prospect but I don't know if he has as much of an impact on this season if we take him. Unless Houston has some strategy or targets for trades/FA later on in the offseason, I can't see him really stepping into fill a hole in the roster immediately....but rather eventually being a solid player.
