This is what I was afraid Lowry would develop into. He was effective as a backup PG because he played to his strengths and generally did not do things that were beyond his capabilities. This was the downfall of Rafer as he always attempted things like outside shots and the dreaded floater that he simply could not do. He got himself shipped out of town for that. Lowry needs to go back to what he does best and STOP SHOOTING
I'm glad you brought this up. Brooks' biggest strength, ability, is making shots. That is NOT what playing the game is ALL about. Making shots as a TEAM and stopping shots as a TEAM is what it is all about. While Lowry certainly can't make shots for himself as well as Brooks can, the TEAM makes shots easier with Lowry in the lineup, and they certainly stop shots easier with Lowry in. That is what it is all about. This is not to say Brooks' ability is useless, far from it. There will be times when the offense breaks down and you need a guy to just take over. While I am not entirely comfortable relying on a player of AB's caliber for that, currently he has the best skill set for it on our team.
If you can't score the ball, you can't win, a team full of Chuck Hayes's would get creamed. Sure you can't be all offense. But give me a good offensive player who is ok on defense over a good defensive player who is ok on offense. It is far easier for an offensive guy to learn to play D than it is the other way around. DD
I agree with what you are saying. The problem is Brooks is not okay at defense. He is flat out terrible. He is non-existent in pick and roll defense and NBA teams run pick and roll.....70-80% of the time. The other problem with Brooks' offense is no matter how good a shooter he is, he doesn't get to the FT line enough to complement his shooting. If he had just a tad of Martin's or Lowry's ability to draw fouls and get on the stripe, his value would go to a whole different level. But he doesn't. At least up until now. He doesn't go in and get the contact enough to get the foul. Without getting to the FT line, his shooting becomes blurred out in the team's offensive production. Our opponents are more than happy to give him 30 points in the game, as long as he is taking close to 30 shots to get there. Because when that happens, he is taking away shots and free throws from other guys that will turn those shots into more than one point. Martin, by total contrast, goes to the line over 3 times as often as Brooks does in equivalent minutes. Yet, Brooks undoubtedly has his mitts on the ball for at least twice as long as Martin does during those minutes. That's crazy. Now compare Scola to Brooks. I don't want Brooks taking 20+ shots. I want Martin and Scola and Yao getting those shots before Brooks. Brooks should be shooting the leftovers after that. Yeah, so you need one basket to win the game in the final 6 seconds. So, he has value in that scenario. How many times per season do games play out like that? Not many, and there will be quite a few less if the appropriate players with the more efficient offensive shooting/scoring are getting the basketball more often. Now, compare Lowry's offensive efficiency. No, he can't shoot. No, you probably don't want him isolated one on one in a tie game with 6 seconds left. You probably want somebody else with the basketball. Who do you take? If Brooks is not around?????? I'll take Martin and Scola running the PnR every time over Brooks. Sorry.
Nobody is talking about a team full of Chuck Hayes's. It isn't even about an offensive player's defense or a defensive player's offense. Lowry is NOT bad on offense. Stop telling that fairy tale. In fact, he RUNS the offense. He may not score very well himself, but he gets guys like Kevin Martin, Scola, Miller, Yao more and BETTER shots. Guys who are more offensively efficient than Brooks. While Brooks may score very well for himself, he gets those same guys less and WORSE shots. It is not about individuals making shots. It is about a team scoring together, and stopping the other team. And that's not even getting into the defensive side of the ball.
Bingo. Lowry gets the more efficient offensive players, players that make more out of those shots than Brooks does, more shots. Lowry takes those shots from Brooks and gives them to the more efficient offensive options and does it at an alarmingly high rate.
But they are much, much better playmakers.. and it's in very few cases where your sole playmaking and driving ability is elite enough to make up for your poor shooting (especially for a point guard), and still be a superstar. These are one of these rare cases.
So is Lowry....if you notice, the Rocks have all their PG's going under the screen.....for some reason, I think this is their preferred scheme. Everyone here hammers on Brooks about it, but Lowry is doing the exact same thing. He does not get to the line much, but makes up for that by making a good percentage on his 3s.....pretty much the same true shooting %, just a different way of getting there. Brooks has not been taking 20 shots, not sure where you are getting your thoughts from....I don't want him doing that either. It is late in the shot clock in every quarter, and in close games...not with 6 seconds left but with 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, where fouls are not going to be called as often, especially for players like Lowry and Martin who flop a lot in hopes of drawing a foul....refs are way more stingy late in games to those kinds of clear tricks. There is no one else on the team to give the ball to with 6 seconds to go.....it is AB or bust unfortunatly. Martin can not run the PnR, he can't dribble his handles are adequate at best. DD
Morey said he thinks it's a stat which "tells a story" about the game but that it's not a stat with much predictive value. The flaws in +/- are obvious: They don't account for matchups. At all. Is it easier to be in the positive in +/- against LeBron James in the fourth quarter, or is it easier to be in the positive against LeBron James' backup in the third? So, like Morey said, it's good for saying "this is what happened in the game", but it's not very useful for saying "this is what will happen in the future". I don't like it when used to attack Brooks (it is frequently) and I don't like it when used to attack Lowry either, even though I think Brooks is the better player. It's just not a good stat for determining a player's true talent level.
Then it's obvious we need to make a trade if you think AB is the guy we have to go to at the end. If you don't think teams can gameplan to stop him in those situations, you are going to see this season if he gets healthy what happens in those scenarios. They are going to double and triple and force him either into a bad shot or to give the ball up. He won't be able to fulfill that role in the vision that you have of him getting off that 15 footer to win a game like he did last year......once. I don't know what games we've been watching but I've seen Lowry go over the screen many times in his short minutes this season. Don't understand why you can't see the colossal difference between Lowry and Brooks on the defensive end.
You can't do that, if you notice the Rockets go 4 flat with AB at the top of every quarter and end of game, he doesn't want or need a pick because it brings an extra defender that can blitz the ball. It is quite effective. Sorry, in almost all the games all Rocks PGs are going under the screens....we have been talking about it in chat...as to whether it is intended or voluntary. Let's watch tonight and see. And Lowry and AB have played nearly the same amount of minutes on the season....and don't you find it baffling that the alleged better passer in Lowry has 1 less assist per game in the same amount of time? Or that whenver Lowry's minutes have increased in his spot starts throughout his career his statistics do not show a proportional increase. Lowry is a great off the bench guy and a career backup....for a reason. DD
One would think he would have more assists per 36 minutes and a better assist to turnover ratio than Brooks then. Except... he doesn't. Brooks is better in both categories. The myth of Lowry being better at running the offense is just that, a myth. He's better at running the fast break and he's better at drawing fouls. They are roughly equivalent in skill at passing and running a half court set, except Brooks can shoot and Lowry cannot.
I still don't get why folks are arguing against Brooks with Lowry by saying the offense is BETTER. In his short time this season, Brooks shot 3rd most on the team behind that Martin guy and Scola fellow. Isn't that what folks want? Martin and Scola being higher up on the food chain? I certainly would prefer those guys taking more shots. He isn't taking shots from those guys. He is shooting less than them. The offense against tougher competition fared as good as or better than it has since Brooks injury.
