http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/rockets/2009-05-11-aaron-brooks_N.htm Houston's Brooks: Rock at the point By Jeff Zillgitt Franklin (Seattle) basketball coach Jason Kerr knew Houston Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks could score when Brooks got to his high school. But in high school and in college at Oregon, Brooks was surrounded by scorers. His job was to get others involved offensively. Same situation in his two years with the Rockets. But here and there, Brooks showed some impressive offensive skills. He scored 38 in the Washington State 4A title game in 2003, dropped in 34 his sophomore season at Oregon and had 30 this season against the Phoenix Suns. The Los Angeles Lakers saw Brooks' scoring prowess firsthand Sunday. With All-Star center Yao Ming out with a broken foot, Brooks scored a career-high 34 points in Houston's 99-87 win against the Los Angeles Lakers, tying the series at 2. Game 5 is today in Los Angeles. The Lakers looked to take control of the series without Yao, injured in Game 3. Scoring from inside and out, Brooks made sure that didn't happen. The performance did not surprise Kerr, who coached Brooks when his guard led Franklin to the state title in 2003. Franklin beat Mead (Spokane) despite 37 points from Adam Morrison, now with the Lakers. Brooks "was one of the talked-about young men coming out of the city. He just had uncanny speed and an ability to control the ball so well," Kerr said. That speed gave the Lakers problems in Game 4. Once Brooks beat his man off the dribble or on high screens, he had options: shoot, continue to the basket or pass to the open man. "Without Yao in there, the paint was going to open up a little bit more," Brooks said after the game. "We just wanted to get into the middle." Lakers star Kobe Bryant compared 6-0, 161-pound Brooks to the San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker. "He's that quick, he's that fast and crafty. And he can shoot the ball from distance," Bryant told news reporters. In the playoffs, Brooks is shooting 41% from three-point range, including 4-of-9 on Sunday. His most athletic play came on an inbounds alley-oop pass from Ron Artest at halfcourt on the final play of the third quarter. Brooks caught the ball, shot it off the glass and in — in under a second. Such games are why Houston targeted Brooks in the first round of the 2007 draft. It's also why the Rockets felt comfortable trading Rafer Alston to the Orlando Magic and making Brooks the starter in February. Since that deal, Houston is 28-12. Brooks averaged 10.3 points as Alston's backup but increased it to 12.9 once he became the starter. He has been even better in the playoffs: 16.5 points. Bearing a resemblance to comedian Chris Rock, Brooks can be a jokester, Kerr said. Brooks went to Sunday's postgame news conference wearing a bright red Rockets blazer and a big red bow tie. Asked if he had any idea he would be dressed like that on national TV, Brooks deadpanned, "I didn't know the playoffs were going to be on national television. I was surprised when I came in and saw all the cameras."
From the article: Hmm, I always thought Brooks' role in college was more of a scorer than a playmaker. Nevertheless, good to see him get more national media attention.
He led the pac-10 in scoring as a senior. Not sure if the writer did a whole lot of research save for some stats for this year.
he's gone to be on the rome's epic show tomorrow. All you gotta do to get media attention is wear a bright red blazer! oh, and score 34 pts.
gotta love brooks. he needs a nickname to describe his speed, tenacy, range and athleticism. and i think his attitute really changed after he was made the starter. before he would let yao and mac and artest call the plays and with rafer gone he really took that role of calling the plays and leading the team
Please AB, please, just do what you did in Games 1 and 4 every night. You don't have to shoot as high a percentage from 3's, that's unreasonable. Just be aggressive. That consistent aggressive action and a little more experience getting your teammates involved is the ONLY thing seperating you from Tony Parker, and he's know where near the shooter you are. Signed, A hopeful Rockets fan.
A high percentage from 3 point land is not unreasonable. In fact, that is about the only thing he has done consistently during these playoffs. His shot has always been there -- the problem is that some days he has looked very hesitant and unassertive.
When he came out of college, we were calling him an AI-lite, here on the board. He reminds me of AI, but he's quicker, so far he hasn't been hurt as much (knock on wood), I think he has better handles, and it;s arguable that he could be a better spot-shooter. I know I sound like a homer at saying this, but I think he has potential to be something more than an AI-lite. He has potential to be as good as AI, especially if he gets into the right schemes. Plus, he goes to practice..... I do agree that he looks like Chris ROck.
