[CHRONIC] Of Brooks, Bosh and (again) the Rockets season that was

http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2010/04/of_brooks_bosh_and_again_the_r.html

It's been often said of others, but in Aaron Brooks' case it was literally true.

He lived in the gym.

In the summer of 2008, he was unusually determined to improve his game, spending much of that off-season at Toyota Center becoming the player that would take over as the Rockets starting point guard the next season and would earn the NBA Most Improved Award this season.

When Hurricane Ike hit, he moved in, riding out the storm in Toyota Center to take the living in the gym line a step further, and all the way to literally (if briefly) true.

There is a determination that is required of those who spend their careers exceeding expectations and has keyed Brooks' rise. For the Rockets, however, the most significant development on Thursday was not that they have something new to sell or a bright spot in a post-season that does not include them, but that he said he is as determined as ever to continue to improve.

"There's a lot of stuff you kick yourself about that you know you could do better throughout the year," Brooks said. "Maybe it's not in the numbers. Maybe it's in the quality, the field goal percentage, stuff like that. I just want to improve defensively, offensively to score a little bit more points, get a little more fouls, shoot a little better percentage and lead the team to the playoffs and win championships. That's improvement right there.

"I'm definitely going to get better. I'm still young (25). There's a lot of stuff I can work on and learn from. I don't think I'm done improving. I might not be the most improved, but I'm definitely going to improve next year."

• • •

As much as Chris Bosh seemed to be the obvious target for the Rockets, there was a sense that they would be trying to hit on a long shot with so many teams having the cap room the Rockets do not.

That no longer seems likely to be too much of a hurdle. It might be simply about winning the recruiting battle. That is challenge enough, but it does seem the Raptors have accepted that Bosh will be leaving, and that he will go in a sign-and-trade deal.

In quotes in Doug Smith's blog this week, Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo sounded as if he was getting ready to negotiate with Bosh's next team, rather than with Bosh.

"The other thing that you should know is that there is a whole other universe of teams out there ... teams that are over the cap, and would be interested in Chris Bosh and may have assets that we may have interest in," Colangelo said.

"Assuming that Chris would rather play somewhere else and he gives us a list of teams with which he would be agreeable to go play then we can delve further into the topic of, okay, what would we want to get back from that team.

"I just have to tell you that that's being evaluated, it has been evaluated, it will continue to be evaluated and we will try to maximize our opportunity in the event that that's the course of action."

In other words, Bosh is out of here. Get your offers ready.

Good thing the Rockets have a draft to deal with first. Otherwise, waiting for July 1 and the start of free agency would be torture.

• • •

On the subject of the draft and Brooks' award, for all the work that goes into it, and all the experts who render their instant evaluations, the truth is that no one knows how it will turn out.

There are tons of can't miss guys that miss completely. But in looking just at the draft that brought the Rockets Brooks and Carl Landry, the Rockets were ripped that night.

""I looked and I saw the draft grade we got in '07 when we drafted Carl and we drafted me," Brooks said. "They gave us a C-minus when everybody else had B-plus, A. Now they look like idiots. Oh well."

The Rockets, however, cannot claim any infallible foresight. They took Brooks and were thrilled with the pick. They had tracked him through the season and were sold in the pre-draft camp on Orlando. But they tried repeatedly to move up to take Rudy Fernandez. That sort of thing happens all the time. Years ago, the Celtics desperately tried to get Robert Swift, couldn't, and took Al Jefferson instead.

Fernandez has demonstrated why the Rockets and others liked him so much and why he was taken before Brooks. But Brooks is unquestionably a better player the Rockets are fortunate to have instead of the player they tried to get.

All the work can reduce the dependence on luck. In fact, it is all about improving the odds. Morey said on Thursday it is probably 50/50 that the Rockets will pick 14th this season rather than move up or back. But Brooks' award on Thursday did remind that success on draft still needs plenty of good fortune, too.

• • •

Given our previous conversation about how to measure the Rockets season, I invited another interested party weigh in. He probably could contribute to the blog directly next time, but Rockets owner Leslie Alexander described the season pretty much as good, not great.

"For a season we didn't have our top players and developed so much new talent at one time," he said, "it was good enough."