I thought Brooks played pretty well in the first half of this game. Wasn't the Lowry and Brooks backcourt a big part of our coming back in the second quarter? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong. I didn't get to see all of the third quarter, but I thought the starters just didn't do a good enough job in both first and third quarters. Gasol outplayed Yao, they packed the paint in defense, and Brooks had nowhere to go with the ball. Similar to what Portland did, I thought, but even better D. I'll have to watch it again to see how our overall ball movement was, but it didn't look pretty.
Then it further supports the argument that Brooks should play with the second unit. Really an easy solution.
How do you figure? I think it just shows we can be pretty good when we have two quick ballhandlers in the backcourt. Then again, that same backcourt were responsible for some ugly turnovers in the second half. So..
You probably need to rewatch the games where opposing teams front Yao. More often than not, Brooks would become very indecisive as he seems not to know what to do. Playing with the second unit, Brooks can just do his freelance dribbling with much less consequence.
I know Brooks can be indecisive and has a hard time with the entry pass to Yao, but usually when that happens, I don't see anyone else being that successful either. Also, my feeling is that the Lakers defense is taking away the usual passing lanes, and the Rockets are not doing a good job adjusting and getting open. Brooks being indecisive is definitely a factor but not the only one. Plus, as it's been repeated many times, we need Brooks's offense in the starting lineup. And if you watch, Brooks just doesn't dribble around and put up shots when he's playing in the second unit with Lowry. That is not why he's effective when we go small. Rather, it's because we have two quick guys who pass well and can break down the opposing defense, and other players who can complement that advantage. (Not sure why it wasn't as effective in the second half, though.) Lastly, Brooks played 43 minutes last night but I'm not sure how much of that was by design and how much of it was Adelman's dissatisfaction with Wafer. If that was the case, I'm surprised Barry didn't any minutes.
Ab looked very timid last night. If he steps it up and starts being decisive and confident, we'll win this series...If not we are doomed! He will do it!
AB's teamates have to move off the ball when he penetrates and make themselves an available target. Standing around watching as the defense rotates to stop AB is not going to get it done. It is a TEAM problem, not an AB problem.....he is doing Exactly what the coaches are telling him to do....break the defense down..his teamates are not moving when that happens, and thus he has nobody to pass it to because they are standing around. Watch Scola, he moves to an open area, that is how everyone needs to play...when AB penetrates. AB breaks em down, the lakers CONVERGE in the paint, sealing off AB's shot, and his teamates are standing around......that is the problem.....in game 6, Portland did the same thing but his teamates moved off the ball.....we need that, and all this AB nonsense by people who have no clue will go away. If that was the standard you would never be allowed to talk about basketball again. DD
Broken record. Right, every time AB doesn't have a good game, it's all of his teammates' fault, they collectively failed him. Lets break it down play by play should we? BTW, I didn't think he played a very bad game by his standard. But by this rate, I can expect you come in post the same stuff every game, then post like a school girl every 4 games. Because that's who AB is right now. Long live the thread. LOL I can kinda see why someone would be irritated by you like someone who challenged you to a ball game. Too bad you chickened out. (I was on your side). Oh BBS highness, have you found a sig you can stick to yet?
Not a bad game? This is what you wrote yesterday: That repost position was painful to watch, not to mention pick and roll with Yao has lost dribble, turnover. He's good at shooting 3s, can't be trusted at creating, and downright terrible at decision making. Now the spacing is all bunched up because Artest has to handle more ball. Don't let me start at defense. So...what exactly did you think made it "not a very bad game" for Brooks?
Is any of the above not true? Does that repost position and pickandroll not happen? Yup, I don't think it's the worst by his standard. The horror movie was in game5. Do you understand the "by his standard part"? Indecisive is routine for Aaron Brooks.
Yes, I understand the "by his standard" part. So then, how was his game last night better than in Game 5 of the Portland series? Because your post makes it sound like he had a very crappy game with no redeeming qualities. If it wasn't that bad, then I'm curious to know what you think was good.
His overall aggressiveness was still there, although decision making wasn't helping. He didn't do a lot of mindless dribbling on the top, passing the ball quicker when not penetrating. He was more assure of himself when playing with the second unit and didn't need to trying to figure out Lakers defense.
So he made some bad decisions, but he was aggressive, didn't dribble too much, and passed quicker, and played well when he was with the second unit. Doesn't sound like a bad game at all.
You can spin it anyway you want, but in reality AB has a lot to do with that. Two instances: In first quarter, AB got the ball, Yao falshed from one side to another, sealed Gasol behind him in low post, and AB had perfect angle to pass to Yao. Instead of passing the ball to Yao, AB dribbled to the middle, throw up a off balance shot which got blocked by Odom, and a Lakers fastbreak. In 4th quarter, AB got the angle and passed the ball to Yao, which is good. AB's man closed in on Yao and left AB open, Yao passed the ball back, AB had a good look, but somehow he hesitated. So his man moved back to him. Yao reposted, and this time didn't pass back to Yao, nor did he do anything but hold the ball for something like 5 seconds before he passed to another guy, shot clock was very low and Rockets didn't get a good shot. You can't judt call those kind of plays a TEAM problem, it's simply AB's bad decision making.
Thank God Morey and Adelman and pretty much everyone else that knows basketball agrees with me. No doubt he is still learning, but he gives the team the best chance of winning, and is the best with the first unit. And of course I can call it a team problem, part AB, part rest of the players...it is a team problem... DD
I set my standards on what I see and last I checked Im not blind. You have many good points. But visually they seem to be incorrect. It seems your statement or reply is based more upon an emotion rather than the truth. If you couldnt see that his team was active. Then you my friend should never be allowed to talk about basketball again. Ever.
