He did.....but give Brooks time..... He won the battle with CP3, Chauncey and Devin Harris and arguably tonight agaisnt DWill...... So, I would take my chances with him. DD
I like how people are saying Rafer plays bad defense this game when Williams was held to 7-18 for the game, and during overtime he was like 1-fer or 2-fer. ZERO freethrows for Williams. He scored 14 points on 18 shots... yea, thats bad defense. I mean, I agree with you in general on Rafer, but stick to the classics. Bad FG%, etc. Don't spew hate where there is none.
I honestly feel that Brooks is an underrated defender. Deron can overwhelm most anyone. Rafer didn't give up against him,but he can't slow Deron down. Neither can Brooks but together they can give a good effort. D.Williams has great size and stamina, but Brooks can come back at him with his speed which Rafer can't do.
He missed so much earlier that the law of averages just managed to catch up - at the most opportune time, as well. If I was his teammate I wouldn't even have high-fived him. That shot wasn't clutch, hell, I doubt it was even skill.
Sorry Brooksball, didn't read your post before mine. But in that one play, it wasn't an outright pick but Williams swung around the Jazz power forward (guarded by Landry) to lose Alston. That's what I saw.
Then why do so many people argue that we need Rafer to defend the elite PGs or the bigger PGs? If Williams is unguardable and Rafer isn't a defensive advantage over Brooks, why should Rafer start against the bigger and better PGs? Is it is his great shooting? Oh yea, that's right... it's his intangibles (game management, floor general, etc...).
I disagreed until the last three games. Rafer showed up in Cleveland because he knew his ass was on the line, but the result was the same (big fat L). Since then, he's been given free reign of the offense once again, and that means it's time to go a combined 4-23 from the field while announcers and fans alike play the role of apologists for his anchor-to-an-aircraft-carrier level of play. Start Brooks!
yeah, yeah, yeah rafer sucks... all old news. tell me something i dont know like are we going to get a FN backup center already?
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DNeGZ_MaGeg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DNeGZ_MaGeg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Skip to 1:30. Nuff said.
I just replayed it 5 times and neither Artest nor Landry can be blamed on that play. Rafer completely misplayed Williams on the out of bounds play. It was worthy of a rookie. I don't know what he was thinking. It was like he wasn't prepared for the play to begin.
I imagine Russell Westbrook would dominate Alston then, too. What does that leave us with? Offense. Overall, Brooks is the superior offensive player. Perimeter defense is overrated with no hand-checking. Good PGs can get by the first line of defense almost at will. Team defense is what matters. That can be learned. Good shooting technique can not be learned when you are at the end of your career.
I'm all for Brooks replacing Rafer (although brooks has shown a tendency to not get the offense back on track when they lose a lead), but i don't think Deron blowing by Rafer is the best reason to use. Deron was not very aggressive the majority in the game, it was towards the end when he started trying to attack more often and Rafer happened to be in the game at that point. Plus, he's less likely to actually try to blow by Brooks, since he can put a good fake on him and shoot over him, while Rafer is taller and it makes more sense to take him off the dribble...
Deron Williams hurt his leg earlier in the game which is why he didn't dominate late like he normally does. It wasn't Rafer's defense.
I said he's blown by everybody, not that he blows by everybody every single time he tries to, THAT is unguardable. Obviously he'd be less succesful against a bigger guard, but he'd still get his most of the time.
I was screaming for Brooks to be put in the game and everyone around me thought I was crazy. I'm pretty sure there's a 2 year lag between what Clutchfans realizes and what the average fan thinks.
He was being passive from the beginning, and if i remember correctly he didn't really injure it or he would have been injured at the end as well, he just had some discomfort that lasted a few plays.
Reminded me of George Hill blowing past Aaron. But Aaron should of played more down the stretch. He can create for himself easily.
