<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Rockets rookie point guard Aaron Brooks will be assigned to the team's NBA Development League affiliate today in an effort to get him playing time he has not received so far with the Rockets.</p> Brooks has played four minutes, getting into two of the season's first 19 games.</p> "We strongly believe players improve by playing," general manager Daryl Morey said. "The stretch here has four games in seven days and with all our guards healthy, it's unlikely that Aaron would have been active. We feel the D-league is best for him.</p> "With both Steve (Novak) and Aaron, we're going to re-evaluate in mid-December. There's a break in the D-League schedule (Dec. 23-27), when they have a bunch of days without a game. We told both players we'll evaluate where the NBA club is playing-wise and health-wise and have constant evaluation with both players."</p> Novak has averaged 17 points on 40 percent shooting and a team-high 6.2 rebounds with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Like Novak, Brooks said he was eager to get a chance to play.</p> "It will be good to get out and play some games," Brooks said. "With the season we've got going, you don't really get a chance to get out and play. It's more of practice and walk-through.</div></p> Source: Houston Chronicle</p>
Better to have him playing than sitting on the bench, right?</p> I'd have liked to see him get some minutes though. He looked good in garbage time against Phoenix but I guess with Steve Francis' emergence all possibility of Brooks stealing a rotation spot in the near future has gone out the window.</p> Btw, Novak is tearing it up down there.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>PHARR — Aaron Brooks is looking at being assigned to the NBA Development League as a positive. After all, the Houston Rockets’ rookie point guard had played only four minutes in two games with the Rockets. He’ll have that much run in the first four minutes of his first game with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Rockets’ No. 1 draft pick learned just before Houston’s game against Memphis on Wednesday night that he was being assigned to the Vipers. As such, less than one day after slapping high fives with Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming at the Toyota Center during the Rockets’ 105-92 victory over the Grizzlies, Brooks was practicing with his new D-League team at the Summit Sports Club, trying to learn Coach Bob Hoffman’s system in preparation for Sunday’s game against Tulsa at Dodge Arena. “It’s a great opportunity for me,” Brooks said. “Sitting up there watching the big guys do it, I was getting kind of restless so it’s great to get out here and play and finally get out there and run a little bit. “In the NBA, you have to make adjustments like that. You can get traded any day. I guess it’s an opportunity to adapt to a new environment.” Brooks looked like he was still feeling his way through during the latter stages of Thursday’s practice, but then he flashed his NBA skills on one memorable occasion. Playing the point against Craig Winder (who on the previous play ripped the newest Viper for a steal), Brooks shook Winder with a lightning-quick crossover before rising up for a 23-footer that splashed through the net. The Rockets’ brass is hoping to see Brooks do that in game action, something that wasn’t going to happen as long as he was sitting behind veteran point guards Rafer Alston, Mike James and Steve Francis. He’ll have ample opportunity to showcase his skills with the Vipers. “We really, really think that players need to play. I know it sounds simple, but I think that it’s real hard to advance if you’re just watching,” said Houston General Manager Daryl Morey, who earlier this year sent forward Steve Novak to the Vipers. Morey added that he wants Brooks (6-foot, 161 pounds) to add some muscle while in the Valley as well as work on perfecting the nuances of the pick and roll both on offense and as a defender. There’s no timetable for Brooks’ return to the Rockets, but it appears as though he’ll be with the Vipers for a stretch. “Our expectations are to have him improve his body and improve his skill set,” Morey said. “It’s unlikely he’ll see minutes given our roster, but over time we expect him to be a real contributor.” With Brooks joining the Vipers (5-1), it’s now up to Hoffman to fit the 26th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft into his team’s rotation and redistribute the minutes. Hoffman said finding a spot for Brooks will be easy as he’ll start, meaning it’s likely guard Kenny Taylor will move into a bench role. How that affects the rest of the players’ minutes will play out beginning with Sunday’s game. “I think it’s going to be a thing where everybody has to sacrifice,” said Taylor, who is averaging 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds in 31.3 minutes per game. “We all can play but there’s some situations where you have to pass the torch sometimes. “The guy’s in the league so you have to respect that. I have to keep working hard every day and when my name is called just play as hard as I can.” Point guard C.J. Watson, who is averaging 25,7 points per game and is one of the D-League’s brightest stars to start the season, will now share the backcourt with Brooks, who has a similar game. Both players say they’ll be fine making the adjustment. Novak, who played with Brooks in Houston’s training camp and then with Watson over the last month, sees plenty of potential in a Watson-Brooks backcourt pairing. “They can definitely play together as talented as they both are,” Novak said. “They can play both the one and two positions. With that being said, they can always be on the court together. With their quickness they’re almost impossible to guard. I think it’s a huge advantage for us to have both of them out there.”</div></p> Source: Sports Extra Bite</p> Glad to see Brooks views this as a positive decision by the Rockets organization.</p> “It’s a great opportunity for me,” Brooks said. “Sitting up there watching the big guys do it, I was getting kind of restless so it’s great to get out here and play and finally get out there and run a little bit.</p>
