Kyle Lowry should start over AB because he can keep opposing scrub guards from looking like all stars against us. AB is more suitable as a spark off the bench like Jason Terry. Defense wins championships, not offense!
As long as KMart starts and averages 20+, Brooks will continue to have lapses of stupidity with turnovers and bad shots because he wants to prove he can hang... He did it while competing with Alston and he'll continue. He wants desperately to be the big points (and big $$$) guard on the team.
The weak link I see in that lineup is Scola. Since you only got great defensive production from McGrady every blue moon(or was it every other blue moon) it's essentially Yao = Yao, Ariza = Battier, Martin = McGrady, Brooks > Alston, Scola >>>> Hayes. I think you take 2 steps forward on offense and 1 step back on defense. I think with Lowry in it you take 1 step forward on offense and no steps backwards on defense. Which in and of itself seems like not much difference. But when you have that situation where the defenses crack down on the Rockets offense, you need that extra scoring punch that Brooks over Lowry provides the starting unit. But I guess I'm greedy, I want them both and you can alternate more minutes depending on the situation.
I agree with Choujie on this one, with 4 Brooks the strength issue will be more apparent. One Brooks can be masked, maybe even two.
Start with conclusion, then look for evidence that might support it. Or you could do like most people do and simply take raw data and make conclusions based on that. Nothing in the raw data showed that Brooks had the mindset that you describe.
That previous team was mediocre offensively and a lockdown defensive team. Using Lowry in the starting lineup makes us drastically worse offensively and marginally better defensively. It doesnt work. Lowry is in the right spot, as an untemp guy off the bench.
It's true Tmac doesn't put effort in D, but when he was healthy his D was still leaps and bounds better than Martins. Alston's defense is better than AB's, Battier's defense was better at that age than current Ariza, Hayes of course is much better defensively than Scola. Tha means you take 4 step back on defense instead of 1.
wat are u ranting about, u have no direction in ur opinion, Lowry is a beast at drawing fouls pushing the tempo and he PASSES the dam ball.. Brooks is a beast at gettin his OWN shot, thats better suited for a role off the bench.. J Kidd has no jumper but hes not a liability on O and whoever debates otherwise is a a fool.. (J Kidd back to back NBA finals appearances) im NOT sayin Kyle is as good as Kidd but hes great at the things similar to Kidd, he should at least be given a shot in the SL
I agree the Yao/Hayes/Battier/Tmac/Alson starting lineup is mediocre on offense at best, but Yao/Scola/Ariza/Martin/Lowry isn't going to be. They 'll be much better offensively. No, put Lowry in the starting lineup isn't going to be "drastically worse offensively and marginally better defensively" next year. Think it this way: for a game, possesions are pretty much in the same range. This year's lineup, if AB takes 18 shots, Martin 15, Scola 13, Battier 5, Hayes 3 , that is fine. And AB makes a big impact offensively because of those shots. But next year once Yao comes back, you can't just give Yao 3 shots per game like Hayes. He'll take some shots away from AB/Martin/Scola, and Ariza will be more open to take some shots as well. There simply isn't that many shots for AB to play as big an offensive role as this year. Put Lowry in, he doesn't need that much shots, and he gives teammates better shots, it would be marginally worse on offense but much better on everything else.
It has nothing to do with the amount of shots and who gets them. The whole point of an offense is to put a guy in a position he is comfortable with to score. Its about making the defenders scamble around to plug any holes a dynamic offense creates. Lowry/Martin/Ariza/Scola/Yao would be flat out terrible. There is zero synergy, zero complimentary styles, and zero chance at winning with that lineup. Boston, LA, or any other competent defensive squad would eat them up. As I stated before stick one defender on Martin and pack four bodies in the paint stationary with thier arms straight up and the opposing team has completely cut off 95% of thats lineups offensive capability. Brooks/Martin/Battier/Scola/Yao in a starting half court lineup with Lowry/Brooks/Ariza/Hayes/Hill off the bench running is 100x better.
I can't agree with that. Why is Lowry/Martin/Ariza/Scola/Yao flat out terrible? Yao/Scola/Ariza/Martin/Lowry starting lineup would be good both offensively and defensively. You don't need a 3 point shooting PG to win Championship, it has been proven again and again. See last several years, Boston, Spurs and last playoff's Lakers. On the other hand, Yao/Scola with Martin/Brooks would be eaten alive on defensive end. They can't defend pick'n roll with Yao's slow feet and Martin/AB's inability to fight through screens. Defense wins you championships. Which team could win Championship with 3 weak defenders in the starting lineup? Scola/Ariza/Marin/Lowry can run and run better than Scola/Ariza/Marin/AB before settling for half court. And there is still enough offensive power in Yao/Scola/Martin when the game becomes half court. Both Yao/Martin are more efficient than AB anyway. Again, offense doesn't win championship, Suns had the best offense for several years but they couldn't reach conference final. Balance wins. Lowry in the lineup simply makes the team more balanced. If Lowry/Martin/Ariza/Scola/Yao has no chance, AB/Martin/Ariza/Scola/Yao would only do worse.
Excellent post, Lowry can create a lot more for the guys coming off the bench. With Martin and Yao on the court a lack of a passing point can be overlooked. Although I would replace Battier with Ariza to give us more athleticism in the frontcourt.
The problem is Yao can be rendered useless with a double team/fronting, thus one more 3 point threat is essential to spread the floor. Another problem is that Yao tends to clog up the lane when he's in the game, so Lowry's offensive efficiency would take a hit because it will be a lot harder for him to attack the basket.
If Yao is fronted, then Lowry (assuming he's the one making the entry pass) should take that opportunity to bulldoze his way towards an unprotected basket.
Zero synergy? How about offering an explanation as to why you believe this? Zero complementary styles? Surrounding Yao with a mobile PF, a few 3 point shooters, and a pg that attacks the basket (and rebounds well) seems like a lineup that should play well together. Defensive three seconds? Sounds like Brooks will be logging a lot of minutes...
There are some problems I see with that assumption. The basket would be in no way unprotected, because when teams front Yao there is always a person in front and another behind ready to come over to prevent a high pass over the first guy and one of those guys could easily switch over to stop Lowry.
Yao's problem is not with double team anymore. Fronting Yao opens up the lane from the other angle and middle. Ariza and Martin are better than Battir/Artest at getting to the rim. Scola can shoot from middle too. RA said if we had Tmac last year, the fronting wouldn't have worked. Now Martin/Ariza would solve that problem. As I said, there might be a little loss on offense, but the gain on defense and other part of the game would be bigger.
