If Kevin Pritchard were on crack, he might make that trade. I don't think AB is cut out to be a rotation player in the NBA. He cannot finish in traffic to save his life, he exercises poor judgment too often to run an offense and he is a huge liability of defense. His place is as a 3rd string PG.
I don't think size is Brooks' main problem, offensively. He has more than enough speed and ballhandling skills to compensate for that. The issue is decision-making. He has to start recognizing when he is going to get rejected. I'm not saying he shouldn't penetrate. He just has to know when to penetrate. On one play, there was an open court and the big men weren't set so he drove through 3 guys and got an open layup. Good play. On several other occasions, he tried to force contested layups with the big men already in front of him. Bad plays. He simply has to avoid those situations. He also needs to avoid getting caught in the air with nowhere to go. He was doing that a lot last season and in Summer League games. He seemed to avoid that for the most part the last two games. His turnovers weren't happening on those types of plays. He did get up in the air a few times but managed to get the ball to the open guy (Harris, Barry, etc...). I'm not worried about the turnovers where he got stripped. He was just trying to do a little too much at times, dribbling into traffic. He'll work through that. I'm not worried about the missed open shots, either. He's a good shooter, already better than Rafer in that part of his game. He also needs to show he can find open space after getting around defenders and hit the mid-range jumper. He hasn't shown that part of his game yet. That also has to do with how we run our offense when he's in the game. The way Parker was using screens and getting open jumpers in the 1st quarter is exactly what we should do with Brooks, assuming he can shoot off the dribble.
Martell Webster their starting SF had surgery on his ankle to repair a stress fracture today. Channing Frye will be out for 2 months.
Things Chris Paul is a master at........that guy NEVER picks up his dribble. When watching PGs like Pual and Nash......Brooks is able to penetrate just as good as they are, but unlike Brooks, Paul and Nash are able to get out of trouble without picking up their dribble, thus keeping plays alive and allowing them to create. With Brooks it's like dive bomb into the defense and either hail marry that pass out or throw up a reverse contested layup/shot that probably won't go in. He needs to learn how (and this is the major thing hurting his game) to break people off the damn dribble.....first if you can beat people to the basket and get a layup, then do it......if you can't, hit the breaks and pop shot for a open jumper. Seriously the guy pushes people towards the basket fast enough that if he was able to slam on the breaks, he'd have a open shot. Or option C.....keep your dribble alive when you drive towards the basket, that way you can always dribble out and you'd be gauranteed to find a open shooter almost every single time. These are the things that Brooks is going to have to learn fast, these are the things that seperate the top tier better PGs in this league from the crappy ones. Brooks has the physical tools, and year is his shot, if the light doesn't come on I don't see him on the team past this year.
How about Earl Boykins, he is much smaller than AB, and he is not a superstar, but he has played in 10 seasons already. I think Aaron Brooks is going to be better than Boykins, so I think he is going to be a PG backup, and in a bad team or in a team when the starter PG gets hurt, he could be a starter, and AB would do a nice job, not excellent, but good.
We can argue all we want, he is only in his second year but one thing is sure is that he has to improve his passing and his ability to create shots for himself and teammates. This year will be a defining year for Brooks in that his future in the NBA may depend on what he does on the court this year.
I know. But they will not give up Rudy Fernandez for anybody on our roster and I don't blame them. They also will not trade LaFrenz's expiring contract for a pile of worthless junk. If I were Pritchard, trading Outlaw for Battier might make a lot of sense but I wouldn't do it if I were Morey. Outlaw is talented but very overrated by some. He is also one of the dumbest individuals in the entire NBA. The wattage inside his head is low.
I still think Aaron has the skillset to be a decent PG in this league, but right now he's just chaos....he needs to learn how to be controlled chaos (maintain his dribble and move people around with his speed), right now he's just out of control. Teams watch tape in this league and I'm not a expert NBA guy, but I already know how to defend him........if he starts driving to the basket, he's either going to go to the basket or try to fling back a pass towards the top of the key.......not that hard to defend.
first off, he's still into his 2nd season...give him a break. he's got shooting, passing, and dribbling skills, not to mention he'e one of the quickest guards in the league. he's got game but hasnt developed mentally yet. size doesnt matter as much if you know how to play hard defensive and know how to run the plays... many of you critics will respect his game as he matures and learns the nba game better....
im a little worried for brooks. he didnt look too great tonight. i know its his 2nd season but i thought he would've improved a bit more. he still seems hesitant with the ball and his handles are a bit shaky. im starting to question his bball iq. he looks lost a lot offensively and defensively.
I don't know what sport you think this is, size does matter in Basketball you don't see many guys under 6' in this league
Agree that some of his decision making is bad.. But from the 2 pre-season games, there is some glimpse of his ability where he drives inside and kickout to a shooter where there is a shooter like Barry to nail the 3. Hve the confidence in him!
you've underestimated that guy anyway. He will be even beyond what you can imagine, man. Brooks is no Luther Head who is almost a piece of jank for the rockets team. Brooks is just a seacond season younster and most of his potential has not been exploited yet. You know, brooks was the champion of the NCAA 3 pointer competition and he hadn't got enough game time last season to prove himself. But it will be different in the upcoming season becasue we have said goodbye to james and bjax who had taken the fist backup PG job. And francis hasn't appeared, even appeared in the two preseason games. If francis is still unactive in the season games that are right around the corner, then it's expectable that brooks will get more time at PG and he'll be gonna improve his skills with other veterans' help. Who knew whom rajon rondo was in the season06-07, but I bet no one doesn't know about him this season. Rondo kept silent in his rookie season but explosed last season with the help from the green big three. then why can't aron do a similar job with our big three?
Give Brooks some time, he will develop. He can make quite a few pass out plays if he wants to. Remember the one where he gave Mike Harris a wide open tomahawk dunk? His dribble penetration is terrific, he faked out 2 spurs players (leaving them both in mid air) and made a perfect pass out to Harris. If Brooks can do this more often, then he can get that Backup spot easily. His dribble penetration alone is enough to draw at least 2 players around him, not because he is good, but because he is damn fast, the defense reacts to him by nature. Like what someone said, Brooks needs to learn to keep his dribble alive, and always keep a plan B in his pocket. He needs some tuition from a good veteran PG. Brooks can shoot the ball, and he is clutch (as seen from his college days and the grizzlies game), if he can include all of these things during a game, and be able to pick his poison. No doubt he'll be starter material. Not to mention, Brooks is actually very athletic, if I remember, he caught an alley-oop dunk in summer league.
How about the size between Brooks and CP3? Now, CP3 is one of the best PG in the league. I don't think Brooks will be the super star in the future, but he can make a job in NBA. From the past 2 games, we can see the improvement than last season---more penetration. He has a big heart on the court. Most of the options may be come true, except the last one--Out of this league in 2-3 years
