Do Martin & Brooks have an "Anything you can do I can do better" friendship?

Martin being an off-the-ball player is a myth just as big as Alston being a pass-first pg. If Martin really was an off the ball player then he would have had no problem playing with Tyreke Evans. Instead, IMHO his game is extremely similar to Manu Ginobili-you give him the ball, get out of his way and let him create the offense. Of course AB being an extremely similar player to Martin helps them both, defenses can't collapse on either of them because their shooting ability spreads the floor really well.

 

I wonder if Brooks can get any better than he is now. He's getting into the paint and making the defense commit to him. I like the way he's creating openings like that. Martin always attacks the defense really well as it recovers, which fits Brooks' style perfectly.

They can be pretty exciting if they can keep it up.

 

He is an off the ball player, which is why he wasn't too thrilled with the direction Sacramento was taking. Tyreke Evans does not like to give the rock up. Ever. He gets his assists by pounding the ball the whole possession and only when there are no openings for him will he pass the ball.

 

He can play with the rock in his hands AND off the ball, which si what makes his such a great off the ball player.

He curls, he cuts, he actually runs around screens to get himself open for a jumper, what more can you ask for?

 

Evans is a huge ball hog. Just look at Landry's numbers. Even though Landry's minutes increased almost 40%, he takes only 1 extra field goal attempt.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4309

 

brooks wouldn't be hesitant getting his shots even if kobe and lebron were on the team. he's been an aggressive scoring PG his entire career.

 

I don't think they like each other much. If you closely watch the games, Brooks NEVER passes to Martin, he only does so only if there is little time left on the clock.

 

Absolute rubbish, Brooks is a willing passer to open cutters and shooters.

 

So much fail here.

Let's look at the numbers since Martin was a starter.
TWolves:
Brooks - 25
Martin - 30

Kings:
Brooks - 22
Martin - 14

Raptors:
Brooks - 28
Martin - 28

j*zz:
Brooks - 19
Martin - 32

Spurms:
Brooks - 31
Martin - 33

Magic:
Brooks - 24
Martin - 19

Scored more:
Brooks - 2
Martin - 3
Tie - 1

Average:
Brooks - 24.8
Martin - 26

So yeah, about those things you said...Looks like Martin IS outscoring Brooks. Huh, how about that. And they're still trying to figure out how best to play together too. Brooks (and Hayes and others) were directing Martin where to go a few times last night so he'd get the pass where it would be best. Do you actually watch the games?

 

I don't see anything that makes it seem like they don't like each other. Hell at the end of the game last night they were on the bench talking and laughing with each other.

 

Right. Let's see, we'll use last night's game - look at the 2:24 long highlights (half of which were TWolves scoring) and count 3 passes from Brooks to Martin, including 2 as assists and one as a hockey assist that led to Scola scoring. Yeah, he NEVER passes to Martin.

 

Hogwash. Brooks set up Martin several times. He had 9 assists, which is pretty good for a "selfish" "shoot first" point guard. As far as not liking each other, I call bs on that as well. Just the other day, Martin was talking about how Brooks could be the greatest under-6-foot player ever.

 

Forgot the sarcasm smiley??

Where do they get this from?? Brooks' assist numbers are UP since the trade. I find that not much coincidence since we've got a 2 guard that can put the ball in the hole now.

 

Martin is not that good of a dribbler, he is a guy that moves better off a pass where he can redirect himself with the dribble.

He is not a break you down guy like Brooks.

They compliment each other very well.

DD

 

They are putting up comparable numbers since Martin joined the team. They may be the highest scoring back court in the league next year.

player         GP    mpg     ppg    rpg     apg    spg    tpg   TS%     GmScr
Aaron Brooks   8     38.5    23.8   3.0     6.1    0.6    2.8   56.3%   15.8
Kevin Martin   8     36.3    22.9   4.1     3.3    1.3    2.8   57.2%   15.6

 

I think this will depend on:

-- How we use Yao next year
-- What we end up doing with the team in the offseason (Bosh?)
-- Whether or not Golden State gives up the Ellis/Curry experiment.

 

I think it has been well established that Brooks doesn't have the court vision or natural point guard instincts of a say, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul or Deron Williams or even T-Mac.

At least to me it's then completely logical to assume that finding your new teammates' favourite spots and tendencies is going to take time. Brooks just doesn't see the plays developing as early or as well than some other guys and probably never will. Some of that is because of his size, his margin of error is smaller.

The thing is, his combined ability to shoot efficiently AND break down defenses at will MORE than compensates for his negatives (at least on offense). So what if he sometimes doesn't see the correct pass, he at least has learnt to break the play and start over instead of frequently jumping up in the air or picking his dribble up.

This doesn't like, doesn't pass talk is just nonsense.

 

Nah, Brooks is doing what he has been doing since Yao went out, looking to pass but scoring when given open opportunities because the team needs it. Brooks only competition on the team is Lowry and both know that Brooks is in the lead right now.