so just because lakers are a better team on paper, all our player's mistakes are justified??? hmmm whats the point of even commenting on our players when they play a better team...I mean just because they have a better team we are allowed to make stupid turnovers....hmm...even if steve nash did it...yeah???
Just like Brooks is a bad matchup for Fisher, Farmar is bad matchup for Brooks. The advantage Brooks has over most guards is quickness. Not against Farmar though. Farmar is able to stay right there with Brooks. Farmar recovers well and this means Brooks is not creating the space using his quickness. No space means no good looks for his height and size. Derek Fisher getting kicked out was actually a blessing in disguise for the Lakers.
Brooks is a bad matchup for Fisher, really? After the Lakers made adjustment in 2nd game: Brooks was 5/15 13 pts, 2 rbd, 2 ast, 2 to, in 43 minutes. Fisher was 4/7 12 pts, 2 rbd, 2 ast, 1stl, 1 blk, 1 to, in 28 minutes. When the Lakers shut down the lane, WTF can Brooks do except dribble, dribble and dribble? Brooks can't guard Fisher at the defensive end too - unobstructed view to the basket. It doesn't even matter if Brooks tries to defend at all. When the Lakers set a screen, Brooks is gone, - tracing a few steps behind his man.
aaron brooks cannot penetrate, cannot finish, cannot fight through screens, cannot defend, cannot pass, what can he do? oh yeah...he knows exactly how to turn the ball over....... we need a point guard who can get the ball to yao and see the floor well. aaron brooks does not do this effectively. Can't we just give Brent Barry a few minutes at PG? I'm sure he won't be torched by Shannon Brown...and at 6'7 he can make any pass to Yao he wants to... wasnt brent the laker killer last season's playoffs???
The lakers are a better team on paper, in the standings, on the moon or whatever. They have the best player on the court all the time. The gap from kobe to yao is much bigger than from yao to gasol. Their talent is so much better than the rox that they don't need exceptional games from multiple players to beat the rox. The rox need 30 from yao, 20+ from ron and 15 or more from another source. There isn't 1 player the lakers can't neutralize. That tells me that they're just better.
Just out of curiosity, I took a look at the play-by-play for the third quarter of Game 3, right up until Brooks was subbed out by Lowry at 2:49. Basically, the game was lost by the starters during the third quarter, IMO. During that span, the score went from a 2 point difference (50-48) to a 10-point gap (66-56). The Rockets shot an abysmal 4-18, scoring just 8 points. Brooks went 1-2, while Artest, Scola and Yao each went 1-5. There were 3 turnovers and just 2 free throws (Scola missed both). But the thing that stood out for me was that the Rockets had 0 assists during that span. By contrast, the Lakers went 6-12, had 2 assists and shot 4-5 free throws during that time. In other words, we took more shots, but they shot more efficiently and went to the line more. Their starting PG Jordan Farmar took and made 1 shot (2 points), had 2 assists, 1 TO and 3 rebounds. Our PG Brooks shot 1-2 for 2 points, no assists, 1 TO and 1 rebound. He also gave up a shooting foul to Kobe Bryant. Anti-Brooks posters may take this as proof of Brooks’s ineptitude as starting PG, but I don’t see it like that. His teammates have to take their share of the blame for going 3-16. Plus, the fact that no Rocket player had a single assist shows how poor the ball movement was, but a lot of that probably was due to the Lakers’ defense.
It tells me what I have known for a long time. To blame ALL the Rockets problems on one player is ludicrous. And sadly, thats what a large majority of the Brooks bashing is doing. Which is why I don't understand it.
Brooks does not deserve all the blame, but he is a reason why the Rockets lost. The same goes for Artest and Wafer. Watching the game, whenever Brooks is on the court, we don't get into our sets until like ten seconds left in the shot clock, he dribbles, dribbles, and dribbles around and around, which forces the Rockets into a very precarious situation. Everytime Yao comes to set a pick, Brooks never goes strongside or when he does he pulls it back out and dribbles some more. Basic basketball is to always attack when someone sets a pick for you or else you'll just get trapped if the defender hedges. Brooks doesn't do any of that. He doesn't seem comfortable at all in a pick and roll situation and it seems that he's not confident at all in his midrange game. With his speed, he can drive hard, stop on a dime, and raise up to shoot. Average players like Delonte West make a living off of that, why can't Aaron Brooks? Aaron also needs to learn how to draw contact in the paint. Tony Parker is a magician at doing this. With Aaron's penetration ability he should be getting to the foul line much more often. With the way refs call it nowadays, all Aaron has to do is get in the paint and jump into the big man. He'll get the call. Aaron needs a couple more years under his belt to understand this and I really hope for the Rockets he does. He has a lot of untapped potential, and if ever maximizes that potential he can be an all star caliber player.
I agree with you to some degree: Nobody except Battier played well in 3rd quarter. Yao missed shots and got blocked near the rim. Artest again went into a 1 on 5 mode etc. They should all take the blame. But if a team can't have even one assist in such a critical stretch, offense was in such a chaos, PG should take more blame than others. Just like if Rockets can't grab a rebound in 5 minutes, Yao should take the most blame even though nobody else did good either. To me, AB is not selfish, he plays hard. But he simply is not good enough to be a championship level PG. You can't make Chuck Hayes a Tim Duncan, you can't make Aaron Brooks a Steve Nash. AB just doesn't have the tools to be a great PG, who can win games for you on a consistent base. Rockets don't have another PG who is head and shoulder above him at this moment. Lowry did very well in stretches, but he is also inconsistent, made quite a few mistakes and bad decisions too. That being said, I hope Lowry gets the develop time instead of AB next season if Morey can't get Rox a real good PG. I just don't see how AB can develop into anything more than an average PG.
however, i have some personal view over 'AB' problem. obviously,he's not a qualified PG, but he has his own characteristic to take advantage of. from my POV, It could be better to treat him as a SG and carry out certain strategy for him!!
Brooks was awful. He really needs to be a lot more purposeful with his drives. He ends up indecisively dribbling on the perimeter far too often. If he could quickly decided whether to attack the basket, shoot it, or pass it, we would be far better off. Too many times the team didn't even get into the offense until late in the shot clock, which often resulted in a turnover or bad shot. This is a big learning experience for Brooks. Next year he will be much better. But I'm not convinced he's a starter. He strikes me as a Leandro Barbosa or Bobby Jackson type of player.
Yes, he has the speed and shooting ability. But he needs to use those advantages. He's not using them! It frustrates me when he passes up an open shot or doesn't blow by a slower man when he has the chance.
Everytime Brooks makes mistakes you try to move the goalposts and/or divert the discussion. Stop playing favorites and be objective. Brooks has thrown up two sh-tty games in a row where he has not helped the team. That's a problem, at least it is for me.
Brooks is doing everything right. The rest of the Rockets are just standing around not knowing how to properly play basketball. The fault lies squarely on everyone not named Brooks. That's why Adelman put in Lowry for so many minutes. Lowry's cluelessness matches up well with the other Rockets. It results in overall better team chemistry.
This thread is sticky... Brooks is great without Yao And he has the skills to pass to a moving object aka Shane Battier!!!!!
He plays better without pressure, and obviously plays better without having to think about feeding inside balls. In this sense, Yao and Brooks shouldn't be on the court together.
