I think Morey overpaid for Lowry and will overpay to keep Brooks. I hate to see Brooks get Scola-type money as an under-sized point guard.
It has. Concentration and desire are about 20% the rest goes down to physical attributes. IF you have roughly the same abilities then yes, it is all about mentality, toughness and determination. (In most team sports I guess) Now who has roughly the same physical abilities at the PG spot in the NBA? Brooks is about 6-0 and 161 lbs. An average NBA PG is about 6-1 and 180 lbs. OK, height doesn't matter but that's about 15-20 lbs in weight difference. ****, that's huge. In a boxing match it's the difference between a middleweight and a light heavyweight. I mean that's HUGE. A light heavyweight boxer has so much strength that it's unbelieveable. Now we have DWill over 200 lbs (a legit heavyweight boxer) vs Brooks. The difference is about 40 lbs. There are other freaks like Wall, Rose and LOWRY in this category (close or over 200 lbs). FTR in handball (I guess most of you are unfamiliar with this sport) most wingers (whose role are not familiar to the PG role, but the required physical abilities are) are around 6-1 and 180lbs, so I guess that is the 'pro' height-weight distribution. A stronger PG can easily force Brooks into bad or even unbalanced defensive positions where no determination can help him out. He is just getting outmuscled. It's OK, but we shouldn't be so happy about it. Some really bad matchups: D-Rose : Rose is maybe faster than Brooks, also taller and about 30 lbs heavier. Oh well, he plays for an eastern team, no worries. D-Will : Destroys AB. Paul : "Only" 15 lbs the difference. A. Miller : 6-2 and 30 lbs. 'Reke : 6-6 and 220 lbs - so much of a mismatch (it's OK) B. Davis: 6-3 and 215 lbs Westbrook : 190 and 6-3. Curry: 6-3 and 185 (although he seems skinny) I'm not saying Brooks is not better than Miller or Davis, I'm saying they are in another dimension physically. Him vs Tyreke is like David vs Goliath. No offense for Brooks, he can't do anything about it. He should need about 150% concentration all the time to be an OKish defender. Nash imho has the same problems, but Nash got a big contract because he is a 2xMVP, a true, charismatic leader (those don't grow on trees), one of the all time best shooters in the game, one of the best passers in the game (ever, I think). With him being one of the best offensive players of all time, one can accept that he plays zero to zero defense. Oh and when he runs a team, it's quite a spectacle. Brooks is nowhere near in any of those categories I mentioned (and even Nash has a stronger build). So: no, Brooks shouldn't get a 10+mil contract. That doesn't mean he won't get one, but Morey would be an utter fool to pay him that much. Oh and I didn't say Brooks couldn't get better on D. You certainly can learn some tricks, but you'll never be like MJ just based on determination. He was an athletic freak.
AB and up to 12mil a year? dont see it happening with a defense worst than the Texans. It's much easier for Lowry to improve his jump shot than AB trying to improve his court vision, passing, and defense which involves something called BBIQ. AB is much more a defensive liability than Lowry is an offensive liability who makes $6mil, I wouldn't pay AB more than $8mil max.
DD, you need to get off hanging from Brooks' nuts. He is good, but he is not that good, especially when he goes against the top pgs in the league. Last year, Brooks did have some good games against Deron Williams and even Billups, but I will submitt that those games were more anomalies than the norm. Dude hasn't learned much from his first year. He is still penetrating into the teeth of the defense and getting his shot blocked. He still doesn't create the tempo that is necessary to win in the 4th quarter. Just running around like a chicken without a head. Brooks, when he is shooting well, is something wondrous to watch. When the shot is not falling, you get the "wtf look" from many a fan, because he can't do anything else well. I am tired, and my level of energy is reflected in this post.
I find it hilarious that people think this team can't win with Brooks when he and Ron Ron took this team the farthest it has been in the past 15 years.
Aaron is still adjusting to the offense that is presented to him. Adelman is throwing out 40 different line-ups on to the court so of course it is going to be difficult for Brooks to manage. He needs to mature and get out of his comfort zone of always shooting the ball and run the team the same way regardless of who is playing
And there you go, RON RON...I'd never thought I would say this but I miss the guy. While Artest wasn't the defender he once was, he still did a nice defensive job and that helped out Aaron A LOT. Martin can score no doubt but can't really help out Aaron much defensively and thus AB needs to learn to score on a consistent basis to offset this.
Ron Artest gets far too much credit for that team, he was a role player, and he has been awful for LA this year..... Just not as good as folks think he is or was. DD
I actually agree with you but in the context of helping Aaron defensively, he was vital. It's when he started dribbling and dribbling AND DRIBBLING then taking 20 foot off balance jumpers that made me vomit.
Looks like you're basing your opinion on the entire 6 game series against the Blazers. If you look at only the 4 games we won, you'll see that if any 2 players "took this team" to the 2nd round, it was Yao and Scola.
Lowry has had over 2 years to develop his nonexistent jumper. I really don't think this will ever happen. Lowry will always be an overpaid backup. AB's lack of passing skills and D put him in the $5 mln range, slightly over Lowry. He's too easily taken out of the game by physical play, mistakes, and not hitting his shots early. He doesn't adjust when his jumper is not going and in and is reluctant to shoot the mid range.
Shooting is the easiest thing to improve. Tony Parker developed a consistent mid-range jumper. It took Kidd over 10 years, but he finally developed a consistent 3 point shot. Had the Rockets not matched Cleveland's offer sheet, Lowry would be starting for the Cavaliers right now.
Completely disagree. Ron was the heart of the team that year, he instilled a toughness and grit that this team had not seen in a long time. It seems to be finally wearing off.
