Quote:
Originally Posted by malcolmk14
Why can't Aaron Brooks be effective in this series? He's shown possession after possession that he can be a weapon. The Lakers don't have anyone to defend his speed, so he can be really effective when he attacks the lane. Help defense coming over isn't as readily available either, with Yao in the post (who has a mismatch on everyone).
If the Lakers want to win this series they're going to have to neutralize Brooks' speed on the point. Or hope Houston doesn't figure out how effective he is.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moon
Playing against Fisher, Brown and Farmar you or I could get 19 a night, not sure why a guy like Brooks won't be able to perform like that all series long.
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Possession after possession, Aaron Brooks has shown me that he is a shoot first, shoot second point guard on a team with Yao and Ron Artest. In spite of his speed, the Lakers don't need "help defense" on a guy like him - What for? Last night showed that when the Lakers are playing well and when Kobe is playing well, a team like Houston cannot play at that level. Brooks played almost the entire game and his speed racked up; 5-for-15 shooting, taking ill-advised long jumpers, an effective 2 assists and 13 points. Last nights game shows me that possession after possession, Aaron Brooks is not going to be Rick Adelman's answer to beating the Lakers. I actually like Houston. I like Yao. I like Tracy (Even thought he's not playing) and I respect Battier and Artest. I'm not really interested in being against a team I like, but I know that realistically, the Rockets are not on the same level as the Lakers.
The physical game is how Houston will beat LA. Just like how they did in Game 1 and exactly what Boston did last season in the NBA Final. The only problem is, LA fought back last night and Houston got flustered. Battier got schooled all game and unfortunately for Artest, he was ejected.
Yao is going to be the consistent factor for Houston, after that it's a crapshoot for offensive contribution. The Lakers however, understand that while Kobe will get his shots and usually will be on fire, Pau, Lamar and Ariza need to get involved. Who is going to stop all of them on Houston? I also see that the half-court game is what has worked for Houston against LA and they've done a good job in scoring that way. The run-and-gun that the Lakers like to play is not going to fair well for the Rockets.