and Brooks is averaging 16.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 3.5 APG on 46% 2pt and 41% 3pt. So basically AB is one of the top 3-4 PG's in the playoffs, clearly behind Rondo and Billups, but right there with Williams and Bibby.
I'm wondering about this as well, but I'm not sure if this is necessarily either/or. For example, in both Game 1 against Portland and against LA, Brooks and Yao played extremely well both together and individually. OTOH I do agree that Brooks is still learning how to play in the half-court offensive set and how to play the inside-out game with a dominating low post presence like Yao. That doesn't mean he can't do it, but he has to learn it, and that's what we've been seeing this playoffs. Obviously, Brooks excels when the game speeds up and he is given the space to maneuver, but hasn't learned how to be as effective when things slow down. Also, he gets flustered when teams pack the paint and take away driving lanes. When that happens, Lowry is a good option to have off the bench, because his penetrations are more about getting into cramped spaces, making contact with defenders and forcing fouls. Like I said, Brooks is learning, and I think this playoffs has been an excellent experience for him, but not only because of games like the last one. He'll deservedly get more media attention for scoring 30+, but I'm more interested in how he fares when things get ugly, as it did in Games 3 and 4 in the Portland series. How he adjusts when defenses take away his strengths will decide how far he'll develop as a player. Those games may not be as pretty to watch, but they're necessary investments into the future of our young PG. And IMO, he's done a lot better in those games than a lot of posters here give him credit for. Lastly, you mentioned the run-and-gun Phoenix Suns, but don't forget what happened to them when defenses took over in the playoffs.
Once Brooks adjusts to playing with Yao imo they'll feed off of each other, I expect next year for this team to completely establish an identity. I don't see why Brooks and Yao can't both have great games at the same time....remember early in the season there were people saying that Ron and Yao weren't capable of having good games together? But as the season went on, they learned to feed off of each others style of play. I wouldn't want to change our current starting five, Yao, Scola, Artest, Battier and Brooks is a very potent combination. I'll put our healthy starting 5 up against any starting 5 in the league.
I think those two games were an exception due to the fronting, or lack thereof. Brooks plays well with Yao only if Yao is not fronted. This way Yao is able to catch the ball in the low block and open up the inside-out game for us. And for the latter, can't argue with that.
I'm sorry, but you are doing exactly that - on auto-pilot. You keep throwing names out there as if it has anything to do with AB's inconsistent decision making issues. What RA run with the first unit is different from what RA run with the Kings. If "The offense is the pg" is all there to it, you wouldn't see high correlation between how AB performs and how our offense performs. In fact, RA recognize the problem. He has tried reducing AB's minutes, tried Playing Lowry more in the fourth, tried playing Lowry along with AB. Rick was cited saying he wasn't all that happy when he found out his starting PG was traded. But of course, you would turn an blind eye.
As many of the people that are WRONG have pointed out, you mean. He is a SCORING....point guard. The problem is that apparently some people don't know what that is....or don't like it. Thank God that Adelman and Morey are on DD and Leeb's side.....you know...the side that KNOWS the game of basketball. DD
I chuckled first time I saw the thread title. The reason we won game 1 was Brooks asserted himself without breaking the flow of the game. The dozen or so times this has happened in the regular season, other teams just lose sync defensively. A small lightning quick guard who can really stroke it, and he's not even the first or second option. You hesitate to double team him, for just the slightest moment, and he blows by you. You crowd him in the paint, and Artest/Scola make you look foolish. Trust me, Zen is panicking right now. This could be Mavs vs. GSW part 2.
I've said throughout this thread that his number one problem is decisionmaking and hesitation - when you remove the options that he has and make his choices simpler - he is much more effective.
No one is arguing that Sam, you are right...he does struggle with decision making, particularly when to pass the ball to Yao, which is a risky pass to begin with. For a 7'6" guy, he has an incredibly small window of being able to catch the ball, Hakeem was much easier because he could go get a pass, Yao's pass has to be RIGHT on time and in the right spot, it is not nearly as easy as most people. Yao is not an easy target to get the ball to, he is just to slow to react, and the ball has to be "Right there".... I hope that Yao practices his high post game this offseason so he can take less punishment in the paint and we can have an effective strategy when he is fronted, put him at the top and attack the basket with our smalls. DD
whatever AB proved himself from this game his speed helps Rockets speed up.we should not deny his effect.
I think most people know what a scoring point guard is, it's just that AB is not a consistent one. My biggest problem with the guy is that he does nothing consistently except be inconsistent. A scoring PG can't shoot 40% from the field and be effective. One guy on here is bringing up Porter and Paxson and I think that comparison is ridiculous. Those guys shot 45-50%. Bibby in his prime with Kings was shooting 45% and was shooting no less than 43% before that. Fisher was the starter on only one of those Lakers teams and he shot 43% that year. So until Brooks starts scoring at a higher percentage, I don't want him to me my starting shooting point guard. I know the guy is young but this team isn't so if he plans on improving I hope he does it real soon. I think this team needs some consistency from the pg position. Hell of game yesterday by AB though.
You are bringing up his regular season numbers in an argument about how he is performing in the play-offs?? If Yao had rasied his FG% by 6% in the play-offs he would be praised. If Ron Artest's FG% had gone up by 6% in the play-offs fans would be all over that. Brooks play-off numbers: 16.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 3.5 APG on 46% 2pt and 41% 3pt
Rockets' number one problem before Yao's injury is that Yao can not get the ball and take 15 to 20 shots constantly for each game. Incapable of passing the ball to Yao effectively is AB's number 1 problem, but he should not be held accountable for it. There are other 3 guys on the court. They should come to help to resolve the fronting problem. From my perspective, only TM is able to pass the ball to Yao effectively if he is willing to. If Rocket is going to lose TM, then Rocket should trade Yao as well.
His overall numbers in the playoffs are good but he hasn't consistently played well in the playoffs. He has had some really good games and some really bad games. Game 1 - 50% Game 2 - 33.3% Game 3 - 37.5 % Game 4 - 60%. I'd rather not have really hot AB one game and then cold AB the next. We already have Artest and Yao who might not show up on any given night, so I'd rather have somebody who is going to consistently played well at the pg position. Basing what I think of AB off of 10 playoff games of up and down play doesn't make as much since to me as basing if off of the other 100 plus games I've seen him play. So like I said before he might become a pg that consistently plays well but it better happen fast because this team isn't getting any younger.
