Martin glad to share Rockets backcourt with Brooks

I've always wondered How Kevin would play with a traditional point, thats why i hope he gets some decent playing time with ish/lowry this year.

 

:grin:

 

Gee, who gave this thread one star? What, people are unhappy that Martin likes playing with Brooks?

 

There are a bunch of people that don't understand the game of basketball, or roles that are asked of players etc, that severely undervalue what Aaron Brooks does and is to the team.

DD

 

:grin:

 

Agreed.

But he is a mixed bag. Dada, you know enough about bball to understand he is NOT in the upper echelon of points because he cannot distribute effectively and he does not draw enough fouls to make his scoring game efficient.......and his defense lacks. I watched him the other night run a PnR with Yao. He missed Yao for the wide open easy look, and finally got the ball to Yao for the much more difficult contested layup after the D had a chance to recover somewhat. Yao still scored but the play underscored Brooks lack of passing sense.

I like Aaron Brooks. Make no mistake about it. And I totally understand his shooting spreads the floor and makes everyone else's job easier. However, if I could get a big time scorer at small forward to play alongside Martin, Yao, and Scola, then I think a distributing, driving, and finishing type point guard (Lowry) fits far better on this team. As we are currently structured, Brooks is a necessity. But he is our least efficient starter outside of Battier (if Battier does indeed start). If he could simply add Lowry's foul-drawing ability to his game, his offensive efficiency would take a step forward. But I don't know if he will even do that. I don't think he'll ever be an efficient or creative passer. He is maybe the best distance shooter we have, but at the same time he does stop the ball, as mentioned in another thread, and he does hinder ball movement significantly in the half-court game.

 

AB does have his moments passing, however. His problem, at least as I see it, is that he's wildly inconsistent at it. When he makes a great pass, I'm surprised. Perhaps that's a lack of experience, but maybe he'll never really add that to his game. Hey, I'm a big fan as well, but AB has some limitations and still has a lot of work to do to improve his game. Guess we'll have to see if he can do that this season.

 

This.

 

I could be wrong, but I think we'll see a different Brooks this season. He's been running the offense very successfully in the preseason, with very very few dead possessions while he is on the court. He still isn't the most effective PnR guard, but I think that will come in time.

Didn't really see enough of Lowry because of the injury, but when Ish was on the court the offense sometimes became stagnant, It's very hard to get a lot of assist in a triangle offense, especially if you don't have a shot.

He's had a higher assist-point scored ratio, and not because he's scoring less, but because he's looking to pass more.

All speculation of course, but I think Brooks will take another leap forward, but not in the scoring department, and maybe not even in a box score sense because of the system he's in.

 

I disagree vehemetly with those that say it is an inconsitent thing, AB has shown marked improvement in his passing.

He makes some outstanding passes in the set offense, the only place I see AB struggling in passing is on the break, he could really push it up some and get some early offense, but in the set offense, I think his passing is on par with Lowry (in the set offense) and below that of Ish Smith.

Which, is good enough....is he Chris Paul, no...but he is not far off in production, and that is excellent for this team.

DD

 

Get some glasses, DD. Brooks is inconsistent at being a really good passer. He's improved, and I certainly hopes he continues to improve, and he just might, but I disagree vehemently with your comment.

 

Well, you are wrong, and need to look more closely at what is happening on the court.

:grin:

DD

 

I do pay attention! I know an excellent eye surgeon. Want his number? :grin:

 

brooks passing has definitely gotten better..and his assists are going up...but its no where near some of the leagues best....although i think his shooting over shadows that. Also, i do see him improving over the year on his passes. No need to worry..the rockets shall prevail!

 

Don't need eye surgeons, you need to talk to a basketball coach, want MY number?

:grin:

DD

 

My brain would explode!! :grin:

 

I agree it's you the one needing to get some glassess DD....

Trying to gnore AB lack of Basketball IQ? it's not possible unfortunatedly for you, no matter how you want to mask it...

AB can have a lot of good features, but Basketball IQ and court vision are not among them.

 

You know, I have a feeling that if Lowry was our starter and AB was our 6th man spark plug, most of you people clamoring for Lowry to start would be doing the same for AB. It seems that no matter how well someone produces, there's people out there who still want him to lose his job if his backup is even slightly decent. (See: Battier vs. Bud; Scola vs. Landry; Hayes vs. Hill; Yao vs. any center we could trade for)

Fact is, we have 2 solid points. IMO, Brooks is the better player, and in the coach's opinion, he's a better fit in the starting lineup. Both Brooks and Lowry have been thriving in their roles, so why would they change it? Sure, Brooks has his flaws, but its not like Lowry is a world-beater himself. Starting puts players under a microscope. Trust me, if Lowry was starting there would be a whole lot of threads on this board complaining about his inability to hit a jumper or stay healthy and clamoring for AB to start.

 

I think some of you guys are trying to compare Brooks to Deron Williams and Chris Paul as if we need that caliber of point guard to succeed. For that crowd I would point out that Brooks' numbers last year are comparable to someone like Tony Parker in the championship runs with SA (even down to assist-to-turnover ration). Like Parker, Aarons job is not to distribute the ball so much as it is to penetrate the defense and keep pressure on it at all times. The point of the Princeton offense is that the assist can come from anywhere so it does not require a pass first point guard.