aaron brooks is in the lead for most improved player

Who cares if hes freaking 7-7 from behind the arc....he's not a typical PG!

 

AB deserves the respect. Hopefully he gets the award at the end of the year.

 

Looking at Brooks in the preseason, he definitely looked like he was ready to take that next step...and I was one of those who picked him then to possibly average 20+ points on the season. Took him a while to find his stride, but now with Martin by his side he just looks flat out unguardable every single night.

I was skeptical at first about how potent this team could be next season, but if Brooks, Martin and Scola can carry this into next season, we very well may have real contenders on our hands here.

 

Aaron has scored in double figures in like 30 somthing stright games. And he's been in double figures all but 6 games this season. Plus, he is getting his 5.2 assists too. His 3 point shooting is also very very good at 38%.

But, geesh, Luis is averaging 25 + points per game and 12 + reb. during the last 6 games.

The big three Brooks, Luis, and Martin

 

I'm a big Lowry fan, but I think that Brooks is the better point guard. Lowry is better in a lot of areas, but Brooks is really special in his quickness and offensive capability. He puts tremendous pressure on defenses because he can drive and shoot with range. While he will always be somewhat of a defensive liability, he at least he tries to keep his men in front of him (guarding Brooks tires players too, which also counts as defense). I think it's been fairly clear that Brooks has the MUCH higher value around the league -- not only in trade talk, but in comments from opposing players and from comments made by Feigen (I know this is not dispositive, but it still is a good indicator of value). Yes, Brooks could be very special off the bench. However, I find two things very promising about his upside and his role as a starter: (1) his tremendous growth as a starter in what is essentially his first year whole year as a point guard (once he really masters that pull up mid-range jumper that he is starting to like, he'll be really deadly and will have better luck with layups) and (2) assuming Yao comes back healthy (I know, big if but I hold out hope), Brooks + Martin on the outside (both of whom can slash and shoot) will REALLY be hard to guard against. Think how well we did with Rafer(!) and TMAC on the outside with Yao and consider swapping their shooting for Brooks and Martin. Those two guys are already killing it from outside, with no big to draw in the defense or demand double teams. I bet they're salivating at the prospect of the open looks they'll be getting. And besides, while Lowry is an excellent passer, Scola, Yao, Martin and Brooks are all decent passers so not having him in the starting line up won't hurt so much. And with Yao back on defense, against most teams Brooks' defensive shortcomings will be mitigated.

 

I agree, but I tell you this, Aaron Brooks would be a nightmare at times to have on his own, without Lowry, and with Yao. A NIGHTMARE...


I can just imagine it, "STOP SHOOTING MOTHEREFFING 3's AND GET YAO THE DAMN BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

We will see. A lot of mouths to feed for Aaron with Scola, Martin and Yao, not to mention himself... Exactly why we need Kyle. An elite player in this league at getting to the line, while Yao is the most dominant player in the league when we are in the bonus...

Thank God TJ Ford is not torching us anymore with Lowry back...

 

Only those most hideous haters will say or imagine that.

God, why would you make such a hater out of China?

also, Yao has never been a dominant player.

 

Yao on the low block is completely dominant, and is a far better scoring option than AB, Kevin Martin and Scola. He is the best player in the entire league when the other team is in the penalty...


Yall must have forgot...

 

Yao dominant? best player in the entire league? which league? CBA?

 

He is a great player at scoring the ball on the low block, however that is what causes his feet to explode.

He is not reliable enough as a player to build around. This is a new day, he will be ONE of the boys, but he will not be...THE MAN.

DD

 

IMO having Yao as just one of the guys will only help him. It relieves the pressure, it makes the defense more honest, and should allow him to play less minutes being just as efficient.

 

Seriously, once Yao get's the ball there is no one in the league that can guard Yao 1 on 1. He'll pretty much win that battle 99% of the time. He's just too big even for the best post defender's in the NBA. The challenge is getting him the ball which the league finally figured out the last couple years. If Yao got the ball 20+ times a game like Kobe does, we'd have a similar record to the Laker's. The problem is that Yao usually only gets between 8-12 touches and he's extremely efficient when he does get a touch. This is assuming of course the refs officiate him correctly (which we all know is an impossibility as Yao would win games at the line).

 

Having Yao on the floor and not having him as the number 1 option is a waste... Might as well grab Camby. Yao is a decent defender, but his value is in his offense.

 

if Okur never occurred.

 

Um, unlike Kobe, Yao can't just get the ball on the wing or top of the key. The team has to be able to get him the ball, and if the defense decides that is just NOT going to happen, there really isn't anything you can do about it. You just have to take advantage of it in other areas such as Brooks, Martin, or Scola. Heck, the Blazers were determined to make someone not named Yao beat them in the postseason. 4-2 Rockets and Luis Scola was the main benefactor of the attention paid to Yao.

 

The biggest impact Yao will make on this team is, in fact, his defense. Have you seen the kind of scoring we've been doing? Yao will certainly contribute on the offensive end, and it'll be nice to have that extra option, but he'll probably never be a 20ppg scorer again and nor should he be, now that we have so many options.

 

What's amazing is that Aaron Brooks is mirroring Derrick Rose production. Amazing, Rose was drafted #1 overall. Except for Rose hitting 48% of field goals to Brooks hitting 44%; and Brooks hitting 39% of 3 pt. to Rose's 22%.

Rose 20.4 pts. 5.7 Asst. and 3.6 reb. 36 min/gm
Brooks 20.1 pts. 5.2 Asst. and 2.6 reb. 36 min/gm
Billups 19.9 pts. 5.8 Asst. and 3.0 reb. 33 min/gm

 

Brooks numbers since Martin got here are even better. I think next year we'll see Brooks undisputedly pass Rose.

 

lol i dont think brooks ceiling will ever be as high as Rose... Rose's numbers are only that low because he was playing hurt earlier in the year.

that said, brooks is great, and i think its funny just a few weeks ago lots of people on this board were calling for him to be traded or made lowry's backup... LOL get real.. nice to see so many back on the bandwagon i guess

 

That and Rose can't shoot (3s). That will limit Rose's ceiling more than Brooks in my opinion. Brooks's speed/shooting are more important than Rose's advantages in terms of future.