At the end of the 08 season, I was one of the few that said brooks has special qualities and all he needed was seasoning. I suggested they trade rafer and give it to brooks last summer. It took then and many of u to see the light. Even after a really good playoffs, some or a lot was clamoring for lowry. As we can clearly see, lowry can carry brooks shoes. On to ariza, he is a example of what happens when a big ball of clay puts in work. He can make plays physically that some guys can't make. He showed me a lot last yr in the finals when kept La close until they woke up and decided to play. To me, that told me he didn't want to just do intangible type of stuff. The chance to step up and make plays presented itself and he stepped up. Sure he's been strking pretty good, but he got some easy baskets in transition and got to the free throw line a few times. The best part is we didn't have to give up a lotto pick . I'm playing, but good game by the rockets. On a side note, nate's job will be in jeopardy if this team doesn't pick it up.They have too much talent and they don't play as hard or defend as good as they should.
relax. a HEALTHY tracy mcgrady will help this team. if you're expecting AB to be unconscious every game, then you're in trouble. as you saw near the last few minutes when portland tried to go HARD at AB with double teams, he struggled. however, AB will continue to have the ball in his hands even when tracy returns. he knows he's one of the stars of this team now. PS - AB didn't defer to ron artest when yao went down in the playoffs. that was his epiphany. aaron was extremely inconsistent before the playoffs last year. he wasn't as close to being as good as he is now. the playoffs woke him up, and he's carried that level of play over to this year. he's not going to defer to anybody, yao or tracy, now.
I believe that Ariza said himself that he was yelled at in L.A. for taking shots away from Kobe sometimes
I think AB has gained so much confidence since the LA play off series that he wont defer, feel insuperior to T-Mac or anyone else. Sure he'll pass more than he is now but basically I think he has the balls to be a legit and confident pg for this team. I will add that I love Lowrys toughness and passing but those who think he should start ahead of AB need to look at the needs of the team and that is scoring and AB brings that in spades compared to Kyle.
As Coach Adelman said, you can't be too high or too low with your emotions in this league or you'll go crazy. I will take his advice but every win this season is something to savor until the next game. Great game Rockets.
My eyes are deceiving me, Brooks generating assists this year and scoring at the same time. Ariza plainly beasting, 29 ppg within last two games.
Battier's three ball was a little flat tonight. I'd like to see Adelman give two or three of Battier's minutes to Bud. Maybe the rest would do Battier's legs, and the lift on his shot, some good.
DA is pretty good on offense and ok on defense....Dorsey is horrible on offense and ok on defense...i dont think it would help, especially since dorsey lacks height and won't really contest much more than Hayes.
We will see, it's still early in the season and Tmac isn't back. We just don't know what will happen.
Brooks played 38 minutes and Lowry played 32. Love it. Let Lowry handle the PG duties so Brooks can become a true SG. We obviously need Brooks' scoring, so let him take the shots! Why force him to manage the team when Lowry can do it just as well if not better?
AB has had 3 fairly consistent games to start the year, and he's been our primary ballhandler. last year, he didn't have the starting job until midseason, and he still was figuring things out. he still was highly inconsistent until the playoffs rolled around. that's why you saw him defer to a guy like artest who sucked in a ton of games offensively. right now, brooks is confident in his play and himself. the playoffs woke him up. when tracy returns, he's going to get his share of touches as he should. a healthy mcgrady is a very good player. but trust me, AB is now our PG. he's going to have the ball in his hands a ton. adelman has given him the key. like i said, with brooks' emerging play, tracy now can focus on just one thing throughout a game: scoring. that will make mcgrady's life easier.
The big question for me after the last few games is if Morey decides to trade McGrady so we have some of that $23 million sitting on the bench going to some use, who would he go for? I think the most obvious answer is a big man. Though Stoudemire is not much of a defensive presence I would take him over having McGrady sitting around. I think with the following line-up we could blow the league right out of the water: P.G. - Aaron Brooks S.G. - Trevor Ariza S.F. - Shane Battier P.F. - Luis Scola ..C. - Amare Stoudemire The depth behind Stoudemire and Scola would be Landry, Hayes, Mensah-Bonsu and Dorsey, then Yao when he gets back. Actually we would have to probably trade Landry with McGrady just to get Stoudemire out of there since they would not have a big man really after that. The problem is Stoudemire alone would not be enough to make a deal work for Tracy alone. It just seems like the only available big man right now is Stoudemire. I can't see any other teams willing to part with their bigs right now. What do ya'll think?
Ok, then how about running the floor in transition or slashing to the basket? Maybe that's too much like being a basketball player.
Just came back from the game and all I got to say is OMG!!! Rockets are amazing they show so much heart and overall rentless aggression. Ariza is improving by the minute, can't wait to see the finished product. Brooks is simply amazing right now...can't complain WE NEED A BIG MAN...I think thats the missing piece obivously, Morey get it done!!!! Love this game and this team!
If Battier was on Roy this game would not have been as close.....Ariza was nails on offense but his defense has been dissappointing so far. DD
I completely disagree. I think Brookes being the playmaker for the mnajority of the game is better. He can keep defenses honest and can finish just as well as Lowry. Lowry only has slightly better defense. Brooks would not be as good if he did not have the ball in his hands as much
I think the Lowry should start contingent are starting to realize why he is the backup. He will still play a lot but he is not as good as AB.... DD
Very good analysis except two points: You are too hush toward Budinger. He has been good enough for the first three games to take the 8-9th man's position. He is a rookie after all, why are you so surprised that he missed clutch free throws? We won only because Blazers played a poor game as a whole? Comeon! You know better from last years playoff that Houston just can not stop Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge, when they won, they limited the other players. It's the winning formula! Plus Brandon Roy almost could not miss and played one of his best games yet Blazers still lost. Why don't you give some credit due to our players?
If not Amare...I say Camby, Clippers are going nowhere and he should be avilable. Camby for Shane/Dorsey Why would the Clips do it? Who knows but they are the Clips lol
