Hollinger Statistical Analysis Applied to Aaron Brooks

Well..i will take my chances on Brooks. I think he is going be good..

 

I think we didn't want another Luther Head who just stands behind the 3 point line waiting for a wide open shot. The Rockets probably wanted a PG who can actually get past his man and take it the hole to draw contact when our shots aren't sinking. That could be the difference between only 4 players scoring in a playoff game and 5 people scoring.

 

I think 26 and 31 will both be good. Number 54 not so much.

 

Some of those "rumors" came from the Rockets' front office, so I'd lend them some credence. Since when does the Rockets front office need to make up rumors in order to avoid the wrath of its fans? They didn't do that in 1992 when they passed up Harold Minor for Robert Horry. They didn't do that when they traded Rudy Gay's rights for Shane Battier. I just can't believe that they'd do it now. If you really think they'd do that, then I really feel bad for you.

It doesn't matter what "everyone" seemed to think about Brooks lasting into the mid-second round. It only matters what other GMs in the same draft area were thinking.

Again, I am not crazy about the pick. I, like most people, were praying for McRoberts or Splitter. But the Rockets' front office knows better than we do about how certain players are valued around the league. It seemed to be the consensus that Brooks was valued in the #26-29 range by some very competent GMs.

Unless you're calling Daryl Morey, Dean Cooper and Joe Ash (who isn't even with the Rockets anymore) all liars, then I will choose to believe what they say when they refer to Aaron Brooks as a guy that was a late first round talent coveted by several teams at the end of the first round.

This doesn't even factor in the fact that the Rockets got their top-rated PF in Carl Landry (I guess only behind Al Horford, Yi Jianlian, Brandan Wright, Joakim Noah, Sean Williams and Jason Smith, if not higher) by trading some cash and what will probably end up being a pick in the 50s in a couple of years.

 

I have video of one guy spreading the "rumors"

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How would the Rockets have some special knowledge of who the Spurs, Suns, Sixers, Pistons, or anyone else is targeting? Do you think they have a guy on the inside with all of those teams? I am not saying that they are lying, I am saying they are making that determination off of rumors. Now, maybe those rumors have credence, and maybe they don't. The rumor around the league was that the Rockets were going to pick Rashard Lewis, but that didn't stop them from passing him over for Dickerson, Drew, and Turckan. The best they could hope for is word directly from those teams, but what team is going to tell the person ahead of them who they are planning to pick? So, like I said, it is possible that had the Rockets passed on him he could have gone to Detroit at 27, but it is also possible he would have lasted to 42 like Byers. We will never know, but most people had him forecast to go in the early to mid second round.

 

See video above from suns.com. Brooks said after a workout with the Suns on June 26, 2007 that shortly before the draft, both Spurs and Suns brought Brooks back for a second workout.


According to Eddie Johnson, who works for PHX Suns, in a workout he saw Brooks in last week, Brooks badly burned the other draftees at the workout.

The other two draftees at the Suns workout were Alando Tucker and Petteri Koponen.

Brooks was off the board at 26.

Phoenix Suns picked Alando Tucker at 29.

(Koponen, BTW, was drafted at 30th by Philadelphia.)

So... let's put the pieces together, shall we?

 

so far with the addition of mike james and now brooks? i like it!

both of these guys can get to the rim and ATTACK. hell, brooks may not be able to score but he just needs to draw the defense like he can and kick it out. and his speed is bound to get his defenders to pick up a few fouls a game...

the ability to eek by the defender means drawing some easy fouls. and it means open guys on the perimeter... namely luther or tmac. and maybe even yao for a few dunks.

we have enough perimeter shooting. we just a few guys who can create other than tmac. bravo on the pick.

now if we could just get a PF...

 

Damn Carl,

your kickin @ss and takin names tonight.

 

Asking how Aaron Brooks will do against Steve Nash and Deron Williams. Is like the Jazz board asking how Morris Almond is going to guard McGrady and Herbert Hill is going to guard Duncan, KG, and Dirk?

It's like the Dallas fans are wondering how Renaldas Seibutis, the PG they drafted, is going to guard Mike James.

 

He also said the Kings had him in for a second workout. So I guess we just got lucky that they didn't take him at the #10 spot. It turns out that teams work out a lot of players, that doesn't necessarily mean they are planning on taking them. As I said before, maybe they would have taken him, maybe they wouldn't. We'll never know for sure. In the meantime, I do know that the Spurs took Splitter, so we did miss out on him by taking Brooks (that was before the Suns pick, BTW). It will take years before we can say for certain who the best players in our range were (if we can ever really know, since they would have been in different situations under different coaches on different teams), but I would have gone in another direction.

 

1. Suns didn't just work Brooks out for no reason. They worked him out for the 2nd time specifically against other guys they seemed to be planning on taking with their 29th pick. Alando Tucker was their actual pick. Koponen went right afterwards, it's fair to say that those three guys were in the Suns mind.

Also, Brooks' first workout was against DJ Salisbery (sp?), Russell Carter, and Bobby Brown, much less heralded palyers on June 12th. It seems very likely that the Suns were working out massive number of people before, but wanted to see a better comparison of their actual targets on Jund 26th.

And unless Eddie Johnson is lying after the draft, Brooks "dominated" the other two, so there is a pretty good likelyhood that PHX was interested in Brooks.


If you are going to keep on denying the evidence, fine.

2. The Kings can be interested in a guy without drafting him with 10th. There is such a thing call "trading for a pick," which GMs do now and then.

Kings could have easily traded for a pick. The Rockets got the 31st pretty cheaply from Seattle. The Kings could have acquired a late first or a second rounder to get Brooks.

In fact, it's amazing what you can find by googling:

http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=2151

How about that?

3. Do you know what Splitter does as a basketball player?

How is his mobility?

How well does he rebound?

What's his offensive game like?

Does he shoot free throw well?

Does he play good positional defense?

Does he block shots?

What kind of numbers did he put up in the ACB and in Euroleague this season?

Tell me what Splitter does and how he compares against Carl Landry (or Glen Davis, for that matter).

Please explain why Splitter is better next to Yao than Landry. Provide as much detail as you can.

Thanks.

 

I can imagine the Rockets would have some indicator of the Spurs because Dennis Lindsey is now there and maybe Brooks was a guy he really liked.

DD

 

It's excellent, that is his best attribute, great speed for his size.

Good rebounder, though he needs to work on fundamentals of rebounding instead of just outquicking guys to the ball (the NBA is a different game).

Sushi-esque. Could use significant work, especially in the area of his jumper.

Nope, about 60%.

Not especially.

About one a game.

2006 Tau Vitoria
Games: 29
Starts: 0
Minutes: 23.6
FG%: 61.4%
3pt%: 0%
FT%: 61.2%
Steals: 1.2
Blocks: 0.7
Points: 11.3

He is taller, extremely quick, and is only 22 years old. Landry is 24, coming off an ACL tear. He is under 6'8". Landry is a better outside shooter. They both rebound at about the same rate. If we assumed that both are at equal stages of their development, then Splitter is not an upgrade over Landry. The question is, will Splitter in 2 years be better than Landry is now?

 

A pretty good summary, but I do wonder whichone is quuicker if you put them side by side... few people at the combine, especially big people tested as well as Landry (even with his ACL tear in the Jr. year).

I'd be happy to have Splitter, but Morey said he preferred Landry to Splitter at the press conference for the rookies (he said Landry was their top big man even at 26).

You can certainly make a good argument for Splitter, but picking Landry over him is not crazy. We have two pretty quick big guys who rebound decently (though not at an elite level) in their current stop, and between them we are picking between offensive skills and height.

 

Good post- good analysis-thank you Mr. Hererra. I did not like the pick- but now can see the thinking behind it. It looks good - we could not have gotten a starting 4 in the draft- at best someone to play behind Hayes if we re-sign him. We will do better in a trade or free agency for a starting 4.

I am beginning to see this administration will want a mobile 4- not a banger like I wanted.

 

5-11 with shoes; 165 lbs; drives and slashes; great shooter; plays with pure guts and won't back away from bigger opponents; former MVP

if you guys have seen this youtube video of Brooks, who does he look like?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzsl5Yd6hqs


who did i just name? I'll take 5 guesses

 

If we draft Splitter, he doesn't play next year. Is that really better?

 

Is Brooks going to be a major contributor next season? I don't think so. Is Landry? The chances are better (since we only have 1 PF right now, but 943 PGs), but not great. Splitter would be a pick for the future, which is something we would need, because a lot of our team is getting older.

 

Is Landry going to get on the court with just socks?