Brooks has been consistantly good this season, and in his 3 games as the starter, our offense has been performing about as well as I've seen in a long time. Brooks' speed, quickness, shooting, and overall scoring ability are qualities that really mesh well with our starting lineup. When everyone is healthy, and the offense is running through Mcgrady and Yao, Brooks gets alot of easy looks from 3 that he has been knocking down pretty consistantly. He also has alot of space to use his quickness to create off the dribble and FINISH inside. To sum it up, AB gives us another legit scoring threat to go along with Mcgrady, and that is something we have lacked for a long time. The areas where Rafer is a little stronger than Brooks(post passing, defense), are things that Brooks is improving on, and things he will learn with more playing time. There is definantly a case for Alston as the starter well. The statistics show that the team plays very well when Rafer is the starter, but I just feel like his shooting is so inconsistant, and when he is chucking 3s and missing, it can bring our offense to a screeching hault. With Brooks out there, our offense has run smoother, and it is more consistant. Our team defense hasn't suffered significantly. Rafer coming off the bench with the second unit would help guys like Artest, Landry, Barry, Head, and Wafer to do what they do best: Score. Every team in the league would love having a veteran PG like Alston come off their bench to run the second unit. If anything, I think this is worth experimenting with for a while, because there is huge potential there with Brooks. He is blossoming into a really good player for us. What do you guys think?
Well,as we see that he plays extremely well as starter when Rafer is out,but he's a liability for our defense when he's undersized as opposed to the opposing PG,that would be a big problem. I still put skip 2 my lou as starter and he just comes off the bench to contribute to the team.On the second unit along with Ron will do him good and he can still be productive and efficient.
If I didn't worry about Brooks' size on defense it would be an absolute no-brainer for me that Brooks should start. People say Brooks, as a scorer, is better suited as the "spark off the bench", and that may be true, but in my opinion Rafer would be a better fit next to Artest and Brooks next to McGrady. For now I'm sticking with Rafer should start and see less time in favor of Brooks. It's getting kind of hard to stay that way though.
His size is definantly as issue, but you know if Rafer were 6'3 200, then maybe it might be an easier decision, but he's not. Brooks has shown that he can play team defense and use his quickness to his advantage. He is also chasing down alot of lose balls. 10 boards tonight! I think you're right. With Artest coming off the bench now, it makes even more sense to us Alston with the second unit....I trust that Adelman will make the right decision.
Lets see how Brooks will fare against the juggernaut - D. Harris, M. Williams, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Alston is coming off the IL next game but it would be interesting if Adelman keep Brooks in the starting lineup. Alston leading the second unit may be beneficial for the team as a whole.
HELL NO. If you watch the game, u can tell he's terrible at passing. With yao in the lineup, u need to be at least adequate at post entry passing and he is not.
Normally I would have picked Rafer Alston but I have also had the same thoughts as Clutch of Rafer being a better fit with Artest with the second unit. So I'm voting Brooks.
If memory serves me correctly, Alston gets destroyed by the guys you just mentioned. I could be wrong though.
Rox will never be a competitor in playoff with Rafer to start. He is just too unreliable and not a good shooter. If we win all the games with Brooks to start prior to Rafer's return, oh, yeah, Brooks is the one to start.
I think this is his biggest issue. That said, he gets to the rim alot easier than alston, and that creates easy putback opportunities for Yao. Furthermore, Shane and Mac are excellent post entry passers, so its not like we're lacking in that area.
Rafer is a proven failure. I'd do anything possible for a change to save Yao-TMAC's last chance. Yeah, Start Brooks and let him play 35 minutes a night. If it does not work out, we still have Rafer.
Not to diss Brooks play of late, but his starting has coincided with the big 3 and Battier playing together for the first time all year. Our success has a lot to do with that I think. If you put Rafer with Artest, who does the scoring? I'm not sure I want Artest to be the sole provider of scoring when the starting unit is out or mostly out. And Alston is not a playmaker. He's not a Chris Paul that makes scoring easier for everyone else. He just manages the game, something that fits beautifully with the starters. I like having Brooks and his scoring punch in there so that the opposing defence has to worry about two guys in Artest and Brooks who can go off along with Landry, Barry, and whoever else. Bravo though to Brooks the last 3 games. He's a PROBLEM
