That's why I say you keep overatin him. He had a great passing ame against Lakers, after that he returns to his normal self. His assists were 5.4, not 7. He had 2 assists and 3 TOs before he got injured. If you double his asstis and Tos in 2nd half of that game, it wont' reach 6 in assits and his Ast/To ratio would be worse. To me, AB is a similar player as 2nd half last season who finishes under the basket a little better. His assist numer is a little higher because now he has Martin to passs to and Martin is shooting lights out. Overall, he didn't make much progress over the 2nd half of last stason. No bias from me. I'm fine with his offensive game even though his decision making skill is still left to be desired. My main problem is defense. Put AB/Martin/Scola on the court together simply won't cut it. All three can score with one ball going around, all three are bad defenders. The offensive gain isn't going to cover the defensive loss, the team is not balanced at all. Since we need scoring threat in both backcourt and front court, the logical choice is move one of Ab/Martin to bench. Since Martin is playing better D than AB and scoring a lot more efficient, I prefer AB going to the bench to provide 2nd unit scoring, especially when CBud is missing his shots. And I have no problem if Ab finishes the game when scoring is needed.
And I believe fans who think AB is doing great no matter how his defense is hurting the team are the real ones who is biased.
He had 6 double digit assist games in an 82 game season and was a ball dominating "point guard" in a fast paced offense. I'm not really sure what your point was, but you're wrong.
Haven't you learned by now? In DD's world, whatever DD says is only valid when it supports HIS arguments, otherwise everyone else is lying. I've given up on trying to have unbiased discussions with him, because in his deluded world, AB is a good passer and All-Star talent, never mind that his lack of D hurts the team more than his ball dominating offense.
There is a vast difference between stating FACTS, and making excuses. Or are you saying that those teams we have beaten were good? Still I give you kudos for a nice play....... How are those passes from Ish looking these days? Well, he is an adquate passer, not as bad as folks make him out to be and a near all star talent, for sure. DD
You used his high this season as an anomaly. I pointed out to you that it wasn't since he has had games last year with more assists. It's not something he has never done before, which you implied by stating it was the anomaly. I can understand a career high as an anomaly, but not a season high with a sample size of 4 and a half games.
And in about 1 or 2 out of 10 Brooks bashing threads this would basically end the argument. The only defense DD has used in defense of Brooks' defense is that he believes it may be a scheme decision to go under the picks as the other two have been doing that as well. Does anyone here believe Brooks' defense does not pose a problem. I certainly haven't seen it. Bottom line there are WAAAAYYYY too many variables going on in the first 9 games to draw any kind of conclusion regarding Brooks and his contributions. *I'll grant you the defense part since as they say your shot may not be falling but your defense should always be there.
I am not going to try to defend AB's defense, it has NOT been good.... He lost Blake in the Lakers game, and has generally not played good D this year. He has in the past, so it leads me to believe that he can play better D, not Lowry D, but good enough to where his offense is still effective and his defense is at least average. DD
I agree, his defense this year seemed a bit sub par, even for him. Lets see how he does after the injury to see if he can get back to simply average.(Rafer was above average and Lowry between good and elite)
Not well said, too many assumptions based upon opinion. One could assume that AB would have had 6 assists in the 2nd half of the Spurs game too. The point is that people here are touting Kyle as some sort of mini-Rondo who plays good D and gets tons of assists. Man, wouldn't that be great if true, but he isn't...Kyle gets an inordinant amount of his assists on the fast break against other team's 2nd units. Every time he has been asked to start for a while his numbers did not go up proportionally, and he struggled as teams figured out that he has no shot. So, while I agree with the premise that AB is not the BEST PG in the league. He is the BEST option on the Rockets, and it is not even close. DD
I don't know if that will happen as long as AB and Martin play together. Rockets team defense can cover one of them, like AB before Martin's arriaval or Martin after AB's injury, but not both. Throwing the fact Scola/Yao are playing worse D than they used to, I don't see how it's gonna benifit the team in a long run.
Perimeter D is vastly overated, the key is the defense at the rim, with the new rules it is virtually impossible to stay in front of your man on the perimeter. They are allowed to carry the ball, take 3 steps, and you can't touch them.....the best you can do is shuffle your feet and TRY to stay in front. The key to good D, is stoping the layup drill in the paint......you do that, force contested jumpers and you are doing about the best you can. Lowry has been average at contesting jumpers this year, AB has been poor, and Ish has been pretty good at it. All of them can improve...... I agree about Scola and Yao, but you are placing the blame on AB and Martin, when it is really on Scola and Yao....... DD
I don't agree with that. I tend to agree AB is a better player than Lowry individually, he is not the better fit for starting unit with Yao/Scola/Martin. There is only one ball going around and 3 defensive liability on the court, you know. Last year I believed AB should start, this year things has changed. We needed AB's offense more last season, we need Lowry's defense more this season.
Again, it is not AB, it is Yao and Scola....to me the obvious answer is to fix the D at the rim, and everyone else falls into place. Look at Manu and Parker, they are both not that great on D, Manu reaches and goes for steals leaving the D hanging all the time and Parker is like AB, not really good at it at all. But, they have Duncan at the rim......makes it all better....... DD
I really look forward to seeing what the team looks like with a healthy and unrestricted(or lesser restricted) Yao, Brooks, and Martin out there. There were some good things seen from the trio in limited minutes, but they didn't have a chance to really get going before the injury bug bit hard. Depending on how this trio operates at full force, will tell if Brooks is better to run with Bud, Lee, and Hill off the bench. I think both Lowry and Brooks can operate with the 2nd unit.
Man, Peremeter defense is not overrated at all as you can see in the past 4 games. It starts from peremeter. Stop wide opn 3s are just as important as stop layups, if not more. Look how many wide open 3s opponents got in ast 5 games vs the last 4 games. AB in particular gave up more open 3s than any other Rockets players so far this season.
It is not the few games he has played so far, but rather an accumulation of his entire career thus far. There are simply too many factors against him. I will list them again, but at this point in time, it is pretty much beating a dead horse. - Does not fit in RA's read and react motion offense, which places an emphasis on team passing and moving into gaps of the D when you don't have the ball. This is a direct contradiction to AB's need to always have the ball in his hands and his tendency to over dribble and waste the clock. - Brooks is not a decent passer. He is a mediocre passer at best. The passes that you see him make this year are passes even a third rate PG needs to be able to make. There is not a PG in the NBA that I have seen who is unable make that wrap around pass that AB has only recently started to show he has, something Lowry and Ish both did/do very early on. When he is finally able to "see" or at least predict where his teammates are on the perimeter, will he become a good passer. - His complete lack of decent D this season has always been an underlying issue for AB. I can understand not being able to guard bigger PG's in the post, but the consistency of opposing guards who have been able to beat AB off the screen is embarrassing. With his speed, it is inexcusable for him not to fight pass the screen and stay in front of his man. Last season, it was bearable due to the double defensive combo of both Battier and Ariza. This year with fellow defensive sieve partner Martin, our backcourt will be easily burned for as much as they score. - AB still has no grasp on the concept of offensive tempo. While he has made huge strides in the area of individual offensive tempo, upgrading from a one trick pony to include an arsenal of hesitation dribble and step back jumpers. When the ball is in his hands, the team offense still only operates on one gear. If you watch Ish or any of the elite PG's play, you can see how they are able to control the pace of the GAME and not only THEIR game. - While he is typically fairly consistent shooting, there is still the huge issue of what happens when he is not putting the ball in the hoop from downtown. With his lack of credible D, poor passing, and what has to be below average BB IQ, the opposing D has no need to worry about him. While his speed allows for easy penetration, his lack of ability to finish strong makes him a non-issue for interior defenders. Don't tell me this is because of his slight frame as Martin is able to take hits and still finish around the rim. Now don't get me wrong. I love his offense and how can he can drain the long ball with ease. I don't want him traded, though if the Rockets ever want to trade for a star, either him or Martin will have to go. Between him and Martin, I would vote AB off the island 10 out of 10, because Martin is a much better complementary scorer (able to play with or without the ball) and way more efficient. I am perfectly happy even if we don't trade him, but I would rather see him come off the bench as our spark, because I sincerely believe that will prove to be better for the team.
Both of them can run with 2nd unit because both of them are good players. The thing is with the current make of the linup, Lowry should fit the 1st unit better, providing he's not playing hurt like some of the games.
