Weird, in spurstalk they have this guy: http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=11380 it's like wcw in the nwo days
I like both Brooks and Lowry, and the truth is we need both of them. In Brooks, I like having a PG that can drop 28 and 5 and 19 and 9 in wins against Deron Williams and the Jazz, or 30 and 9 in a win against Rondo and the Celtics. This is the kind of sh-t that just DID NOT HAPPEN when we had pass-first, run-the-offense, Rafer Alston in the starting PG spot. Remember those days, guys? Dark f-ing times. Man, how quickly some of you ungrateful bastards forget. AB does have issues on defense at times, due to his size. There are also times when he does an incredible job of staying in front of his man and fighting over PnRs to cut off driving lanes (moreso 08-09 when his offensive responsibilities were less). His court vision could use some improvement, but in an Adleman offense, 5 apg for a pg is good for about 7-8 elsewhere. He does what is epected of him, and he does it well. In Lowry, we have an awesome, change of pace guy. A guy that can come in, take the reigns when the offense is stagnant, push the pace, get in his man's face on D, and when called upon, drop 26, 10, and 5 steals against Dallas (playing the majority of that game with Brooks, no less), or put a 23, 6, and 9 hurting on the Spurs. Again, remember when our pg backups were Luther f-ing Head, and an old-as-hell Bobby Jackson? Count your blessings. Lowry can't shoot, doesn't have the best change of pace dribble, and too often looks for the refs to bail him out on insane drives. He still hasn't developed a consistent outside shot or mid-range game, which could prove to be a major liability in starters minutes. But, as it is, his defense, vision, and ability to push the ball completelly negates these shortcomings in limited minutes. He does what is expected of him, and he does it well. And we need both of them. Why? Sh-t, just look at the logistics. Why the hell would you have pass-first, fast break-pushing Kyle Lowry starting and playing the majority of his minutes alongside slow-ass Yao, Scola, and Battier? What a waste. Half the game would be him and Martin trying to run 2 on 5 fast breaks and failing miserably. And with KM preferring to work off the ball in the half-court, who is supposed to create shots for themselves in that lineup when the clock is running down? There's a reason AB was responsible for so many last minute heroics last season. We have no one else that can do it. No. The team is as it should be. AB with the starters, creating offense and taking advantage of the attention Yao, Scola, and Martin draw with his 40% outside shooting and lethal mid-range game. Lowry running the the young guns on the bench in Lee, Bud, Patterson, Hill, getting up and down the floor (Miller might pass out), creating opportunities for them, pusing tempo, and playing aggressive d. In the interests of helping their teammates, Lowry should be in a position where teams can't gameplan for his offensive shortcomings (off the bench), and Brooks should be in a position where teams have to gameplan for his offensive prowess (starting). And if either is having an off game, the other gets more minutes. Yes, more often that will be AB, for the simple fact that he can give you a bit more of what Lowry does than vice versa, but a lot of times they'll both be on, playing on the floor together, wrecking shop on teams like nobody's business. I love having both of them. (Sure, this all changes if we get Melo. But that's a big and unlikely if, and I prefer to talk in terms of what I already know.)
Great post AR.... And we need to watch the minutes carefully, Lowry got a lot of minutes because he could guard the bigger guards, so they played together. This year, Lee might be eating into those minutes, if Lowry's minutes begin to drop, I think he will be the one moved. DD
I'm not sure if this positions been stated as of yet, but I think the rockets would be more than willing to trade AB if the right offer comes around. I doubt they are actively shopping Brooks, but it doesnt seem efficient for the team to tie so much money into AB and Lowry. Lowry was given a pretty hefty contract and will demand more than 20 minutes a game to make that worthwhile. Also, Morey has spoken at length in the past about trying to get a superstar in here and I think that if the right opportunity presents itself, he wont hesitate in parting with AB.
There are many things to like about Brooks, starting with his elite scoring talent and steady skill improvement each season. He has also become a more clutch player now, as opposed to the time when it was a given he would brick his FT's at the end of games. But he still makes too many mental mistakes and his defense leaves A LOT to be desired. And it's not just his size, he really plays lackadaisical defense for long stretches - as witnessed by the numerous times he got lit up by opposing PG's last year. Hopefully with a lesser scoring burden on his shoulders going forward he will be able to improve on this. But as it stands i cannot consider him as a starter on a contender when i think of all the nights he is gonna get lit up in the playoffs.
i don't understand how folks think kyle is better than AB. kyle is a great back-up, maybe the best in the league, but AB is quick as lightning, broke the 3pt record, excellent shooter overall and is just going into his 2nd year as our starting point guard. i really don't see the point in this argument until MAYBE the trade deadline
mental mistakes happen when you are starting for your first year... give him a chance this year. many teams would be happy to have AB
A lot of you guys are being blinded by AB's gaudy stat line and fail to consider other performance indicators. Please step back and take a look at the bigger picture: - Yes he delivered a 20 point 5 assist season, but at what cost? Last season AB took 39.4% of his shots from downtown and had an Assist/TO rate of 1.87 (it was even worse, but became better as Martin relieved some offensive pressure). - His size and poor defense allows PG's to back him down and bully him. There is a reason why good point guards look like all-stars and scrubby PG's look decent against Houston when AB is guarding them. When even the likes of Conely can score double digits against AB, you know the D is not there. - His court vision sucks. AB seems to have a severe case of tunnel vision and almost never "sees" the people behind and often cannot make passes inside without penetration due to opposing guards towering over him. - 5 assists are fine in motion offense, but the Rockets are still not playing motion offense. Take a look at the old Kings for what motion offense resembles. It is not AB dribbling the ball around trying to penetrate. Also, while your assists fall in MO, so do your turnovers. AB is just a bad passer and certainly not someone whom I feel comfortable guiding the offense. It is not that AB is a bad player, just that a lot of posters severely overrate him, while the rest of us that are actually grounded in reality are able to see him for what he is. AB is an undersized shooting guard with bad court vision and would be best utilized as an offensive spark off the bench on a true contending team.
Flip that, Brooks needs to average 20ppg with nice efficiency because scoring is his major strength. In fact it is his only strength. Lowry doesn't need to do that to be an effective player. Kind of like how teams play Rondo? Which is an important point. Rondo is a spectacular player to begin with, and I believe Lowry is a very good player too in the same mold. Boston is able to hide Rondo's weaknesses by surrounding him with elite scoring/shooting, while with our current roster, we are not able to do the same with Lowry. This is why Brooks is the starter- fit, not necessarily because one is better/worse than the other. I believe it is much easier to package Brooks with other assets to acquire elite scoring(Carmelo?) than to package Lowry and upgrade the team in any way. This is because Brooks' scoring, or just scoring in general, is overrate in the league. And Lowry is fairly valued, or even overvalued in some team's minds, so it would be very hard to get someone back that actually upgrades our team. With elite scoring/shooting surrounding Lowry, he is more than capable of starting at a championship level. However I'm not sure what we would need next to Brooks to make that lineup championship caliber. Certainly not what we would get back from trading Lowry. Of course if you believe our roster is championship caliber as is, which you have indicated in numerous occasions, we will just have to agree to disagree.
While I like both players, the only facet of the PG position in which Brooks is "miles" better than Lowry is scoring. Defensively? No. Court awareness? No. Running the offense? No. Passing? No. BB IQ? No. Morey knows...
I have to give the Lowry group credit, they are a vocal minority for sure. Glad that Adelman knows what is best and keeps starting the better player. DD
RA is starting AB because we had no scorer. Any team that relies on AB as its primary option will NOT go anywhere. If we get a star player, I have no doubt in my mind that Morey will be willing to drop AB in a heartbeat since we would no longer need his services. Apart from chucking and scoring, he offers nothing else for the table.
I have always maintained that if Yao can start, I would rather AB start since Yao would benefit more from AB's shot. Yao is too slow and clumsy already and Lowry clogging the lane up further does not help.
So you cite one example and I can cite hundreds.......where the starter is better than the sub. Nice try....but you fail. DD
