Sorry, you are just getting piled on by me because of all the stupid AB threads lately. The facts are what I stated above, it is not JUST AB, it is the entire team not being committed to moving off the ball. I played PG, I still coach basketball, I know exactly what AB is being tasked with doing, I can see what his teamates should be doing and they are not doing it. If AB was getting in the lane and jumping in the air and having no one to pass to, that would be a legitimate complaint. But he is dribbling into the lane, and through the lane. and all 5 lakers are watching him...... It is up to the Rockets players to move to an advantageous spot when this is happening so Brooks can pass them the ball for an easy opportunity. That is what is going on..... DD
See, right there by your comment it shows that you do not understand. It is not just about cutters, it is about moving to an open spot on the floor, be it at the elbow, the 3pt line, the FT line, cutting...all of that...each individual Rocket needs to move their bodies to a new spot as all the Lakers attention is on AB...give AB someone to pass the ball too.... It is basketball 101, but honestly, there are a lot of people who play the game, who aren't fundamentally sound too.... So, it does not surprise me that posters on a BBS are complaining about something that they really don't understand. It is par for the course. DD
everyone in the sports world has a bias (and that incl. the media), whether you admit it or not. "i love the rockets" should not mask that and doesn't change that fact. (for example, i've always been a rockets fan, but i hated sf3 almost from the get go. not him as a person or player, but his boneheaded plays.) as for last night, first ab didn't penetrate a lot. and as always, he didn't know what to do when he did get to the paint if a layup wasn't there. when i say ab is the weakest link, i don't mean anything personal. ab is ok, he has his own strength. he's just not a good starting pg, at least not on this team.
I guess it is like the QB in football that throws an interception because the receiver ran the wrong route. AB is getting blamed for team failure. Look, I will criticize ANY player, and last night...AB shot the ball like crap...... But his penetration was exactly what he was supposed to do......Yao, and the others did not make themselves an available target....that is the problem. DD
Especially Yao. Right on dude , Yao is like never expecting the ball when he does a pick and roll, until the defender collapse Brooks. This Rocket team needs to slash and cut and Scola does this the best.
Let me explain to you that having your pg running in a circle in the paint is bad offense, there's not a team in any professionally coached league that will do this. Fluid flowing offense requires minimal wasted movements, swift cuts and rotations, not dribbling into the paint and waiting until the shot clock runs down before you pass it to some guy on the perimeter... Also get off your high horse and stop acting like you know everything about basketball.
A lot of people were crap yesterday including fan favorites like my man Scola and Kyle Lowry. Don't see why Brooks deserves special recognition for being thrown under the bus.
He is the ONLY player that does it consistently, Yao doesn't, Battier doesn't, Ron doesn't..and when they do, the Rockets KILL teams. Game 6 against Portland, please watch how the team moved off the ball when Brooks penetrated, that is what needs to happen, every game. DD
Steve Nash does it, Tony Parker does it, Chris Paul does it, Jason Kidd does it, Devin Harris does it, Mike Bibby does it, Andre Miller does it..etc..etc..etc.......... My horse is high because you are riding a shetland pony my friend.... Max, I see why people complain about the GARM so much now.....UGH. DD
No point in arguing with you further like this, you just don't get it. Also if you think AB plays like those 3 real pgs you mentioned above, you've lost it.
I thought AB did ok last night. Of course, on the nights when the defense forgets he exists and he scores 20 off easy baskets I seem to be the lone guy who doesn't believe he is the second coming of Chris Paul. On the nights when the defense zeroes in him, he doesn't score a lot but takes care of the ball and does a good job of running the offenses I'm the only one who isn't screaming that he sucks. I'm starting to think 90% of the BBS is under 18 years of age and has never actually played the game on any level.
He is doing exactly that, he is getting by his man attacking the paint and forcing the D to rotate. You wanna know the difference? Nash has Shaq on the weakside for the alley oop dunk when the D collapses. CP3 has Chandler for the same and West moving to the elbow. They all have teamates that take advantage of the penetration. Now, I am not saying AB is as good a passer as them, but he is breaking down the D, and his teamates could do a much better job of helping him by moving their bodies....especially Yao. DD
no one is getting blamed for the team failure of last night. i don't see it in this thread. (and i forgot to say that they did not "lock down" ab, per se.) but your stand that ab has no one to pass to since his teammates didn't move is simply not true. that's where your bias comes in, i believe. since when has ab ever had a good penetrate-and-dish, high assist game? and he's been a starter for like 30 games now? i guess in all these 30 games, his teammates never made themselves available targets for ab to pass to, eh? admit it, ab is no starting material. not yet, to say the least.
what?? you're taking huge leaps here. there were a few possessions where AB got to the paint and it was absolutely crowded with guys standing there. there was nowhere to go. he beat his man...he got close to the basket...he did what he was supposed to do...and the trees were standing around there (most importantly, with their defenders in tow) and there was no movement. the bigger defenders put their arms up and AB had no where to go with it. you're either going to play this motion offense, or you're not. if you're not then great...AB's penetration becomes superflous if you're just gonna put Yao down on the block and throw him the ball....everyone else can stand out at the 3 point line and wait for the kick out.....but he was fronted some, so Yao couldn't do that. He couldn't be that...so he and other post men needed to be something different. This is why they were so effective last night with Landry in there...because he was active and cutting. You're wasting AB's strengths by camping out down there...particuarly since camping out wasn't working.
If the Lakers is actually doing something to prevent AB from scoring, isn't that a good sign? It shows that AB is a threat on the floor, and they wanted to neutralized him. Same like all teams will try to front Yao.
if the camping out were working, i might feel differently. but yao wasn't in the flow of the game and we've seen that happen too much to even complain about it anymore. so you have to find another way. standing around in the paint watching AB work his ass off to get to the rim isn't gonna work.
