Brooks might be the answer it is all up to him. He has the tools, does he have the mentality and the will to work to make himself into the starting PG? It is all about him and his work ethic. DD
You're right they have similar stats. All the way until you compare their assists. When you actually get down to it, Ford is a pass first guard while Brooks is not. Ford averages 6.1 APG in about 22 MPG while Brooks averages 1.7 min in about 11 MPG. If you cut Fords min in half to compare him head to head on assists you get about 3.0 Assists to Brooks 1.7. Ford is a smart player.
One PG that is dedicated to pushing the ball gets everyone else moving, even if you don't get the initial fast break you can still get a wide open early offense shot before the defense gets set. I hope Brooks has it in him. DD
Brooks is an undersized guard, don't have too many expectations, he is going to be a good piece in a combo trade
Undersized PG? So are Chris Paul, Allen Iverson, TJ Ford, Steve Nash...etc..etc..etc... Size is not as important as skill at the PG spot, and Brooks has enough skills to thrive in the NBA. DD
Not as much as skills and confidence..... I think if you have the speed that AB has it can make up for a lot of size difference. You can mask a smaller player on defense with today's rules that allow zones. 2 things you can not teach. Speed and height...... Every single night they hit the floor Aaron is the fastest player on the court, and once he learns to harness that speed to be an efficient player, he will make a major contribution. DD
Under the old rules of the nba when big physical guards like derek harper, alvin robertson and dennis johnson could guide and hand check players, I would be concerned, but with the new rules, I don't see it as a problem. I keep trying to point out is u can name all of the post up pgs on 1 hand so that shouldn't be reason enough not to start him. Rafer gets posted up by those same 4 or 5 guys. Guys like Dooling, Arroyo, or Jack can had cheaply as backups. I think they should trade rafer and start brooks. Let him grow, plus tracy handles the ball a lot anyway. His ability to get inside the defense more than make up for other things. He needs to get strong like avery johnson, but teams would defend the rox differently with a guy like brooks.
Tell that to Calvin Murphy or Tiny Archibald, or Isaih Thomas....speed kills...always has always will. I agree it is time to get off the Rafer wagon and put in Brooks...sink or swim baby ! DD
Kenny Smith was fast, but Harper was so strong with that hand check, kenny struggled. I just think Brooks size isn't as big of a issue as it was a few yrs ago. DD- What do u think about Al Harrington @ 3 and put shane on the bench?
Kenny Smith was NOT fast, and he was cowardly as for driving to the hole. He was fierce until his Freshman year in college at UNT he got a hard foul and it flipped him over and broke his wrist, he never drove to the hole with wreckless abandon again. Link to story about the injury... AB is so fast WITH the ball, I don't think I have seen a faster player, maybe ever....if he can learn to harness his speed and use it as a weapon, he can SURELY be the starter at PG for the Rockets. Al Harrington.....the guy is softer than Jon Koncak's right butt cheek... PASS. DD
Brooks has 2 qualities that could make him a great PG: 1) superhuman speed on the court, and 2) magnificent shooting stroke. In his rookie season, he did not display the shooting touch i was hoping for. I think this has to do with not being comfortable in the pace of an NBA game, which is understandable for the rookie. He needs to settle down a bit, but i dont think anyone doubts that the kid can shoot better than he showed thus far. His height is not a concern to me because in addition to being extremely fast, Brooks can get to the rim. Yes, I think Brooks is the future.
This is just plain silly. Have you even bothered to look at what is working in the NBA Finals? Because if you did, you'd see that it doesn't include a 5'9" PG. He has speed to burn that is true but he's overwhelmed on defense because of his small stature and that is something that's not going to change no matter how much you try to hide him on defense. The very fact that you have to hide your starting PG on one end of the floor should give you the answer to the question that started this thread. Also to mention him in the same breath as Chris Paul is worse than silly - it borders on self-delusion. He should be a very good rotation player but his lack of size dooms him as far as his being the main guy to go up against the likes of Paul, Parker, Nash and even the old man himself, Kidd.
Why do u say he's soft? I've watched him at every stop and has always seen him as a good player. Before going to gsw, his game was more complete. I think on the rox he can give this team a big versitile combo forward. I know gsw is trying to trade him. 2 yrs @ 10 per also comes off the books the same time rafer,tracy come off. Just in time for lbj.
*sigh* (cold water) aaron brooks' ceiling is earl boykins. great speed, above average shot, slight build, below avg playmaker, bad defender (worse than boykins). at BEST he's a change of pace pg guard off the bench. at worst, he's JLIII. if he had the court vision of CP3 or instincts of AI, it'd be different, but he does not! he's a below average finisher with quicks and a hairtrigger release. trade him in pkg for a major piece along with scola, battier, picks, etc. (/cold water)
the Brooks/Paul comparison is sized based, not based on skills or ability. Clearly Paul is a cut above Brooks, in fact he is a cut above every PG in the league. However, they are roughly the same height. CP3 is one inch taller than Brooks.
Maybe so, but to continue to use Brooks' name in conjunction with Paul's is to create a false impression that just because both are short in stature, you can expect to get the same type of player in AB that the Hornets have with CP3. There's no way that AB should be even mentioned in the same breath as Paul right now because to date he's shown nothing near Paul's level of skill and ability. Right now he's just very fast and very small. I'd hold off on the CP3 comparisons until we can get a good look at what AB brings to the table in the next season. If he can somehow overcome the limitations of his size, then Morey just may have found a hidden gem. But it's important to remember that when Brooks was drafted, Morey himself said not to expect AB to contribute much this year but hope and unbridled optimism have fueled what I consider to be unrealistic expectations for this kid. And woe be unto him if he should somehow fail to live up to other folks' expectations around here.
Agreed, we have so long been without a really good pt guard. At least since the Calvin Murphy days that any "rookie" guard or for that matter any guard that shows an inkling of talent is hailed as the next savior. My take is to be guarded and take a wait and see approach.
DD, those guys are listed at 6' and are probably 5'11". Brooks is around 5'9"-5'10" at most i met him at Panda express in february, real quiet guy.
