I just called it like i see and hear it. Go all the way back and read like i do and the overral comment is the amount of times brooks did or didnt get elsie the ball. Whether we win or lose, its about how many shots yao gets and since brooks is so far inferior to yao, he shouldnt take any shots.
You're missing the point entirely... nobody is saying AB can't score the basketball. We all know he can put up the points. What people are saying is that he's neglected Yao when the Rockets have needed to go to him. In late game situations, he completely dominates the ball, makes terrible decisions, and ends up forcing the team to take bad shots. Plus... his defensive capabilities are below-average at best. Have you actually watched both of them play? Ish shows the same type of game as Rondo. Sure, he's not good at finishing, and doesn't have the same intensity on defense or the same ability to just flat-out beat his man off the dribble... but that's the entire point. "The next Rajon Rondo" doesn't mean people think he's as good as Rondo now, it means he shows that same type of game. And he does... I mean, it's not like Rajon Rondo was always the same exact Rondo as the one we've seen the past two seasons. He grew into that type of player, and I think Ish can do the same. He's played two games... and in those two games he was obviously bothered by injuries. Of course, that doesn't completely excuse his poor play, but it's not like the great PGs (*cough* Tony Parker *cough*) don't go through two tough games. I actually agree with you about Lowry. He should be the expendable one. AB is your prototypical sixth man type of scorer (think Jamal Crawford for the Hawks), so I think it would be more beneficial to bring him in off the bench to create mismatch problems and to try to help the team out of possible rough spells during games. The problem? Lowry just signed a new contract and AB has the expiring contract with the opportunity to use "bird rights" to go over the cap to re-sign him. So while Lowry would be the more "expendable" one, AB is definitely the more "trade-able" one.
Hollinger's INSIDER scouting analysis on Brook's passing. (registration required) http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=3192 + Penetrates easily, but has poor court vision and tends to overdribble Brooks is what scouts call a "pounder" -- he'll take ten dribbles looking for a shot before finally giving it up, and when he does it's not necessarily for a great look. His pure point rating was only 60th out of 71 point guards, his assist ratio 62nd. You could excuse it last season since he was one of the few Rockets who could create his own shot, but if he ignores that giant 7-6 guy in the middle, it's going to be a problem.
Again, Hollinger ignores the role Brooks is asked to do by the Rockets coaching staff. As do many of the fans on here. Brooks role is a scoring PG....SCORING PG. SCORING PG That means his first job is to score the ball if he has a good look. That is the problem with some of the people on here, they are mad because they do not understand the role that Brooks is playing and are whining about him not being a pass first PG. That is not his role.....NEVER WAS.....NEVER WILL BE !!! Indeed. DD
I keep seeing that Ish can't shoot... but that isn't a correct statement. I have seen him countless times make the open jumper, his problem is relying to much on the floater, kind of like Rafer. Every shot I have seen Ish take has been open, butter j's. And if he is creating space for open shooters that means eventually Ish will be open more than not and he will start nailing j's. I'm not saying Ish is our answer to our starting pg slot, but he is a better shooter than most are giving him credit for. he isn't good shooter when he is being contested and more than not he has only driven the ball and shot what, 3-4 jumpers. once he settles down and starts looking for his jumper, a lot peoples opinions will change on Ish Smith's shooting habits. He hasn't take one bad outside shot.
That hasn't stopped Adelman from often bringing up the point that Brooks needs to somehow learn to see/find the other players on the court better.
There is no doubt Brooks needs to improve there, but he was looking pretty good at it avg 7apg before the injury..... His Ast to turnover was great too...over 2.5 to 1...... People for some reason, are ignoring his improvement and focusing on the backup QB. Brooks has faults - DEFENSE being the biggest, but he takes way more abuse than he should. Most of it because people don't really understand what is going on out there....and what is being asked of our players..... DD
Isn't it pretty much a fact that in the spurs game he was looking REALLY, REALLY good before the injury? He hit almost all of his 3's, game some great dishes, and hitting his jump shot to keep us in it while nobody else helped. Ish looked great, but if he could have hit just 2 of his 7 or 8 misses, that game would have been won.
Unfortunately, Both AB's brain size and physical size are too small to be able to have that kind of court vision.
He neglects Yao? And even if he does, so what? People act like Yao Ming is Tim Duncan, or Shaqille O'Neal, or Hakeem Olajuwon. Lets face reality, Yao Ming is at best a 2nd or 3rd option on a championship team. He is Pau Gasol, no wait, hes a level BELOW Pau Gasol. Hell he isn't even the best post player on this team anymore. His lack of athleticism and softness kills the Rockets and has killed the Rockets ever since he was drafted. Why to people put the blame on others (like Tracy back then, and I mean before the whole injury plagued season occured). Now Brooks is the scapegoat? Doesn't make any sense. When people understand that Yao Ming is no longer a go-to player they will realize that Brooks ignoring Yao (which is debatable at best considering Yao isn't even a mainstay in the rotation yet) is an asinine reason to trade him and start Ish Smith/Kyle Lowry. Yes I have, have you? You don't think calling Ish Smith the next Rajon Rondo isn't silly? Ish isn't half the defender Rondo is, is no where NEAR as strong or physical as Rondo is, and is nowhere near the scorer Rondo is. Is Chase the next Larry Bird? Is Kyle Lowry the next Steve Nash? I mean hell it would almost be a discussion if Ish Smith had been playing lights out the past two games (which he has not, lets be honest). Ish is a gifted passer and I give him credit for that, but beyond that lets stop the BS Rondo comparison when it holds absolutely no water. OK, lets look at last year then, where he played 60+ games. Here are is stats in comparison to Brooks, who everybody claims he is CLEARLY better than. LOWRY 9 PPG, 4.5 APG, 1.7 TO, 3.6 RBS, 3 FTs made PG (82%), 24 MPG. BROOKS 19.6 PPG, 5.3 APG, 2.8 TO, 2.2 RBS, 3 FTs mage PG (82%), 35 MPG Lets just drop the scoring for this purpose (even thought I don't agree it should be discounted because its Lowry's most gigantic and glaring weakness). Lowry supporters claim he gets the line more and for that reason he is more valuable. That is completely and utterly false, as both get to the line at the same clip last season. Even if you up Lowry's minutes to 10 more per game, he at best shoots maybe 1 or 2 more than AB, which hardly means Lowry "gets to the line far more" than AB. You cite Lowry as a better playmaker (which I will admit he is, but BARELY), yet the AST/TO ratio is not far off (1.9 to 2.64 in favor of Lowry). And lets not even discuss how inept the Rockets starting 5 was at scoring (Shane and Trevor, with Chuck Hayes at center). Kyle Lowry is a PG that excels in the open courts and is terrible in a half court offense, yet you want to put him with Yao Ming (who is clearly a half court player)? Once he dumps the ball down to Yao Lowry's man will instantly leave him and force Yao to dump it back out for the open 3 (and considering how horrid of a shooter Lowry is, do you really want that to happen?). There is no case to start Lowry over Brooks because his skills are better suited for the bench (who has tons of open court threats, Chase, Courtney Lee, Jordan Hill, etc). Hell there is a better argument for Ish to start over Brooks because at least he has great court vision even in the half court sets. Again, putting brooks on the bench does not solve Lowry's lack of a jumpshot. We saw this SAME story with Rafer Alston years ago, the only difference then was that Rafer was actually better at scoring the KL is (which speaks to how HORRID he is at scoring). People cite TMac as the reason we lost playoff series, but the honest to god reason we lost them was because of Rafer's inept shooting. There was a reason he was wide open all the time, and I shudder to think of Kyle Lowry jacking up open threes and harpooning our chances to win ballgames.
I think we can all agree that brooks is a great scorer, but we have too much talent on this team for point guards to be hoggin the ball, brooks is the perfect bail out shooter because of his range he should look to set up players more and be more, I personally think that both brooks and lowry need to work more on their assits, yes even lowry i've noticed that lowry and lee drive to the basket the same way IMO lowry should tone down driving to the basket a little bit and look to set up other players they need to start getting people in the groove of games thats what point guards are supposed to do IMO thats what separates brooks from being an all-star.
When a veteran coach like Rick Adelman is saying we have to get the ball to Yao more in the low post, I think it's become a problem. I will agree that Yao isn't even close to the level of someone like Shaq or Hakeem, but simply giving Yao the ball could open up shots for other people. And Aaron Brooks has failed to do that in the 4th quarter, when this team needs it the most. First off, you're obviously not grasping the concept of "the next Rajon Rondo." Obviously, Ish Smith isn't as good as Rondo right now. He can't score as easily as Rondo, and he doesn't have the same defensive ability as Rondo... but those are things he can develop. Rondo was terrible at putting the ball in the hole when he came into the league. He was a pretty good passer, but he didn't command the offense as well as he did now. He's always had the same defensive intensity, that's true. But the point is, Rondo grew into the player he is now, and I think Ish can do the same. He won't be the same exact player, and probably won't quite make it to the same level, but he'll still be a pretty damn good PG to have. People want to put Lowry in the starting lineup because he's a better defensive player. Brooks can score points, but with Scola, Martin, and Yao, you don't really necessarily need that type of PG out there. Lowry would improve the defense, and that's the TEAM'S most glaring weakness. And as far as your point about how "as soon as Lowry drops the ball into Yao, his man will double"... it's simple, don't dump it down to Yao with Lowry, that's all you need. And if his man still comes down to double off of him, fine, kick it out, swing it around, and let Lowry attack the basket or hit the mid-range jumper. Kyle Lowry understands that he isn't a great shooter. There's your major difference between Rafer and Lowry, and it's really the only one you need. While Rafer would have taken that low percentage shot, Lowry would either drive to the basket to put pressure on the defense or move closer to make it an easier shot. But all of that is beside the point, because the one main reason people want to start Lowry is because he is a better defensive player, which is this team's major weakness.
Yes, it speaks volumes. Never mind that teams take Yao away late in games, and Yao is not really ready to be "THE GUY" yet.... And his window to receive the pass is tiny because he can't hold his position well or get low enough/wide enough to give a bigger window. It can't possibly be Yao's fault, right? Except it is ! DD
The offense is most effective when it's run through Yao. Given this fact, intentionally ignoring Yao shows either a poor basketball IQ or a poor attitude, neither of which should have a place on this team.
How are they taking away Yao? Double teaming? Awesome, that means someone else is open. Going away from Yao when he's double teamed vs going away from him against single coverage are two entirely different things. Battier hasn't seemed to have problems getting Yao the ball. Neither has Budinger. Or Martin. Or even Scola. And Brooks has even done it successfully a few times when he feels like sharing the ball.
