Its hard to say whether he's close to being complete. Its only his third year in the league. If he strengthen himself a bit more without adding a lot of muscle mass, he will still have his speed.
Aren't we past this in professional sports? How many times have we seen players try to "bulk up" only to hurt their game? Have players gotten stronger and better in the past? Of course, but when targeting the "undersized" almost there player who could really take that next step if they just "bulked-up" and added some muscle...it usually seems like failure. AB can and I think will improve again in the offseason. I'm not sure bulking up, other than the typical extra time devoted to weightlifting because it's the offseason, has anything to do with it, though. I would agree that he needs to continue to work on his handles/footing to address some of this very small stumbles we'll see occasionally, but I'd put his #1 priority as finding a couple of solid go-to drive moves. He seems to over-dribble occasionally, where he already has a man beat but will then try to cross him over a few more times for some reason, and it will end poorly with a long jumper. This is typically at the end of quarters/games and when the shot clock is running down. Those are the times of the games I'd like to see the most improvement, and I think that comes through a better understanding of his speed and how to use it to quickly get into a favored move. Not coincidentally, I think, Landry occasionally has a similar problem, where he'll overthink a move, or overfake a shot. Both players have such strong first moves / offensive games, I think they'd improve by focusing on a couple of go to plays with their skill set so they can just catch and go. Landry' seems to have improved more in this area, though, with his move as the quick step around the defender along the baseline, which he has added to with his subsequent spin to the middle (if the baseline is defended), which he has now added a pump fake to at the end.
Even this shouldn't be a surprise. I thought that everyone knew that he was a dynamite offensive player when he played in Oregon. What has been a bit of a surprise to me is how effective he is on defense with his speed.
Bulking up made sense for Mandry b/c of the position he plays at. It wouldn't make much sense for Brooks. I would prefer that he didn't....but if he must, then just a slight muscle increase will do.
I have to disagree with Shawn on this one. What makes Brooks special is his speed. That's what lets him do what he do on the court. Mike Bibby once tried to put on weight and he has never been the same since. I think big man, its ok for them to put on weight, but for speed guys like Aaron, its better for them to stay how they are to take advantage of their skill set.
he is under 6 feet and like 160 lbs...yah people will always be surprised with aaron what he can do it amazing
Cant use that speed if a bigger guy can just bump him off balance and its not a foul. So he does need to get a little stonger. Not Mark McGwire, David Boston, Jose Canseco big, just enough that he wont get bumped off course once he gets even with his defender. That's what he is talking about. Even T Parker's size would be fine for him. Gives him beter control on drives. NBA is a physical league. How many games have we seen this year where at the end of the game he tries to make a play by driving and ends up on the ground with a TO? Get him on some protein and creatine...
His body is very small even at the 1 position, but if he put in the hard work and gain some more muscles he can beat any PG in the league..
key words are bulk up a "little bit"....Respert knows what he's talking about, dont expect aaron to gain too much bulk.
yeah, he does come off wrong. i imagined a big, fat AB and cringed. most people want him get some muscles for a stronger finish. i just don't see it helping that much. i'd spend more time learning how to be a better PG, not a SG
Only thing I wish Aaron was better at is dribbling. His ballhandling for a small guard is actually not that good, and explains why he has trouble sometimes getting in between the defense. BUt then again, if he adds some more strength then he can potentially become more explosive on his drives and people will not be able to body him when he gets passed them.
