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^^ Just what we needed... another Texan copycat team...
A little look into how Pop thinks, and the development of Parker. (I thought this was the best place for it, please move if it belongs somewhere else).
Getting the point: Rockets', Brooks' night against Parker
Jonathan Feigen
Go back to the day of the trade.
Out went Rafer Alston, in came Kyle Lowry and up moved Aaron Brooks to the starting job, a gamble the Rockets made on his scoring ability and potential to grow.
They looked ahead. Others looked back, back to when Gregg Popovich made second-year project guard Tony Parker the point guard for a championship-caliber team.
"My first thought after the trade is it reminded me of a situation a few years back," Shane Battier said the day after the trade. "There was an uproar. "Oh, we're handing the keys to the offense to an undersized point guard who is really quick ... but he can't play defense. He can't run a team." I think you'll be hard-pressed to find many people in San Antonio who will question Gregg Popovich's thinking now."
For the first time since then, the Rockets pitted Brooks against Parker and the Rockets came up short. The Spurs ran things down the stretch like a team whose stars have won three championships together and had been toughened through so many tests together.
It's the toughest job in the NBA, Popovich said, without adding that playing point guard is made that much tougher for a young guard that is not and never will be a traditional, instinctive, Chris Paul of a point.
That is not the test, however. The Rockets do not expect that any more than Popovich expected it of Parker.
"It's as you watch a player react to those situations," Popovich said. "Does he make the same mistake over and over again? If that player stops making certain mistakes and starts making the correct choices in those situations, then you know you got something.
"Before that, you have to make sure the guy can handle it, that he is a compe or, that he can handle the situation, that he can gain the respect of his teammates, that he feels that he in the position he should be in, would he take a big shot if he needed to, can he get the ball where he needs to get it. Those things almost come first. Obviously, Rick (Adelman) has decided this kid is compe ive and wants to take on that task, because it is the toughest job in the NBA. He obviously decided he can handle that. That's the first step, seeing that in somebody."
The Rockets did not suddenly learn that Brooks is a scoring-lead guard, rather than a traditional, old-school point. He was a scorer when he played at Oregon, when they drafted him and ever since. He was that when they promoted him, and with Tracy McGrady out, that was a large part of the reason he was promoted.
Some will always prefer point guards to be playmakers first (and second and third), but it is it is wrong to believe one way is completely right and the other completely wrong.
Parker became the star he is when Popovich chose to accept and embrace his style, rather than to try to make him something he was not.
The question is not really about Brooks' style at the point but whether he can play his way well enough, and when.
That is the problem with the Tony Parker comparison.
Parker is great.
It's too much - and way, way too soon - to ask that of Brooks. That might never be a fair comparison. Besides being about five inches taller, Parker's ability to finish is off the charts.
But can Tony Parker Light be enough?
Sam Cassell was enough. He was not as small as Brooks, but he also was never was anywhere near that kind of athlete.
The thing they had in common is that if there is a shot that had to be made, they wanted it and would often make it.
It is not insignificant that this guy relishes the big shot and has already hit some.
Just as the execution down the stretch is vital, so is the ability to make those shots. Brooks must improve as the guy running the show in the final minutes. He has to do it fast, too. But you can't teach a guy to be the sort that rises to the occasion.
Brooks is not stubborn. He will run what he is told. He has been told to be aggressive, to look for his shots. The Rockets will find the balance between Brooks scoring and running the offense.
Lately, his job has been to get the ball to the guys who get the ball to Yao. There are some times he is to look for Yao, too, but the Rockets have tweaked things so that Ron Artest and Shane Battier deliver the ball to the post.
Brooks does have to run things. He did not get an assist on Saturday, but has averaged 4.6 since becoming the starter. He does not, however, have the luxury of simply scoring or only running the offense. He must hit the right balance.
"People are always different, but it's in one way walking the line between letting a young kid have his head and show you his talents, and at the same time trying to make sure the young kid understands who he is playing with in the system and grow with that," Popovich said. "Sometimes, it's difficult to have them coexist.
"In Aaron's case, he can shoot the ball, he's quick going to the hole, and a confident young guy who can get out there and do things. There are going to be other times Rick (Adelman) is going to want him (to know) the ball is going to Yao (Ming), or we're running this play, or the situation on the court. That's the teaching process there, to make sure the young kid understands game situations have a lot to do with winning and losing, and making the right choices based on what's going on on the court.
"That process takes awhile, whether it is Aaron or Tony."
The Rockets don't have a lot of time to wait for that process to play out. The Spurs won the championship in Parker's second season, with Speedy Claxton often stepping in as Lowry often will down the stretch this season and in the post-season.
So far, however, the Rockets are 16-5 in Brooks' starts this season. They have beaten the Cavaliers, Mavericks, Blazers, Suns, Nuggets (twice) and Hornets in those games, but that is not really the point, either.
Those wins, like Saturday's loss, are part of the process.
"He is a wonderful young player," Popovich said. "He will have a great career in Houston."
The Rockets, however, have spent their patience in the previous, unsatisfying years. When Parker got the gig, the Spurs' first championship was still pretty fresh and the wait for the next one brief. The Rockets, or at least their fans, want it all to happen now.
Saturday might have indicated how far there is to go. But another game with Brooks going against Parker is part of the process to get there.
^^ Just what we needed... another Texan copycat team...
If you haven't learned by now...the Rockets are your evil twin brother lol.
i was gonna say sucky team brother but....
Nice to see the game thoughts again. Finely has had quite a few good games lately.
Not like the game would have played out ANY differently if the Spurs had 3 fewer points right?
You'll be seeing them with Manu in the PO. Who's the X-factor making an appearance for you guys? T-Mac?
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