and what happened to all the inside information that said there was "something going on" and that there was probably a trade in the works?
I bet Morey's deals really did fall through and this was a pick to appease Adelman. He undoubtedly viewed a lot of Oregon basketball and Brooks is a poor mans Bibby.
if you say so... and if I can ask (if it won't interrupt your Morey butt sniffing), it seems you are quite pleased then with the way the draft went? Spending our first round pick on just what we needed - a turnover prone, undersized combo guard with no defense. Woohoo! go Morey! and I am supposed to somehow bow to your superior basketball intellect? Don't you have some gym shorts to wash or something?
im still stunned by the brooks pick. landry was a nice, solid pickup. no problems with him there, but im curious why fazekas wasnt taken since it appeared that the rockets liked him. the ausie guy...i understand the future prospect but i think the made a mistake by not choosing herbert hill. he is more insurance at the PF position and imo, he will be the millsaps of this draft. dont 6'6 slow, white shooters grow on trees?
Did you guys ever consider that this was a Plan "C"? It's not exactly what they wanted but it's "best available player" on their board. Besides, who says lightning cannot strike twice? Wasn't there a point guard on the Cavs who was a low pick and was money in the playoffs? How did everyone miss him? I forgot his name but people please realize it's a 26th pick. If A Brooks turns out to be in the rotation next year we did good. Did anyone here actually think the 26th pick was going to be a starter for the Rockets next year? McRoberts, G Davis, etc, starter for the Rockets? We are doomed if that happened. Brooks is not a starter but a real good change of pace. M James may be the starter with Alston trades. That is a distinct possibility now.
I don't think anyone was expecting a starter - but I think you will be one of the few that thinks this was the best prospect left at 26.
You're talking about Daniel Gibson. I think Gibson was a special case. The word is that he engineered his pre-draft activities(working out for few teams, keeping a low profile) to be drafted by the Cavs in the second round. He wanted to be a point guard for Lebron James' team and he wanted to be drafted in the second round so he could renegotiate his contract earlier. From TrueHoop "If he had been willing to work out for more teams, he likely would have been a much higher pick, but Gibson and his dad strategized that being the only young point guard on a team with LeBron James was a good career move, and discouraged other teams, figuring it was a better career move to end up on the right team. Also, if you're good, it's much better to be a second-round pick, because you get to the lucrative second contract much earlier in your career."
Aaron Brooks 6'0, 160 Senior Year: 17.7 PPG, 4.3 APG John Lucas III 5'11", 165 Senior Year: 17.7 PPG, 4.1 APG Similar strengths and weaknesses. I LOVE THIS PICK!!!!!
Aaron Brooks is 5'10 1/2 without shoes. The Rockets should arrange a 100M race to show us Brooks is really faster than Lucas. The Rockets keep the one who wins the race.
Oh, even better! What I find most disturbing is what if our approach to this draft really was to take the BPA? I have serious doubts about Moneyball's ability to judge basketball talent if he really feels Brooks was the BPA left in this draft.
I was angry and confused last night, but the vitriol on the BBS today has left me circumspect and mildly amused at the picks. I would rather a GM draft who he believes is best vs. who the media says is best. If Morey is checking ESPN or nbadraft.net to see who the best available player is, we are well and truly screwed. Furthermore, we have absolutely no draft track record for Morey. Until there are empirical results (on the court) which show that Morey drafts worse than other GM’s I will remain perplexed and woried but hopeful and open to the idea that he might actually know something that I don’t. They said all along that they planned to get their PF through trade or MLE. They always said they would most likely stay with pick 26. They said all along that there would be no players at 26 that could be expected to play right away. They said all along that they would take who they thought was the best player available. They did exactly what they said they would. I guess people didn't want to believe them? People are obsessing over Tiago Splitter simply because they've seen his name for so many years. How many people have seen him play? Of those how many have seen him more than once? Who thought he was going to come right in and be the starter at PF and play 30 minutes a night. Its clear that the Rick Adeleman Rockets place a strong emphasis on offensive skill. That would seem to be the one defining factor of the picks last night. Does that at all describe Tiago Splitter? Welcome to your Rick Adeleman Houston Rockets.
There wasn't a player available at #26 who was a sure bet to help us next year. That's why 25 other players were picked first. The best we could have hoped for is a player who could crack the rotation. I think Brooks can do that, which is pretty good for a late-round pick. This pick is actually exciting. It means our starting power forward won't be some overwhelmed third-tier rookie who gets Yao into even more foul trouble. It'll probably be a less sexy, but more reliable veteran. Trades are coming, rest assured. And let's put the Bush/Young/Williams comparison to rest. Morey didn't pass on Kevin Durant. He passed on Josh McRoberts.
Splitter, as far as I know, is a PJ Brwon/Jeff Foster type defensive big man. As for how good he is.. people keep on saying he has top 10 talent if not for contract issue, but we know for a fact that PHX could have selected him, kept him in Europe for a year (and off their payroll, which they desperately want to slash) and pay him a cheap 24th pick salary beginning next season... but what did they do? Sold the pick for cash to Portland... that's what. So, I'm guessing the Rockets are not the only team who didn't agree with teh "top 10 talent" assessment... they might be wrong, but they are not alone.
Ok, let's make it simple guys.... 1st round success means Morey's the right guy. Anything less is why we're all so pissed off about last night. And, for the millionth time..... ONE OF THE DEEPEST DRAFTS IN NBA HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And despite that fact, we add to the worst stable of Point Guards anywhere in basketball. Stop defending Morey. This is like JVG all over again!!!
