<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>http://www.nba.com/summerleague2007...oks_071147.htmlRockets Hit It Big With BrooksBy Maurice BrooksPosted Jul 14 2007 10:44PMLAS VEGAS, July 14, 2007 -- At the 2007 NBA Draft, the Rockets weren't one of the teams with a lottery pick. Still, after drafting Aaron Brooks with the 26th overall selection, Houston feels as if it has the winning ticket.Coming into the NBA Summer League, Brooks? name was not mentioned amongst the headliners. It should have been. Brooks has been the most consistently dominating player through the first eight days.As a defender, there is no correct way to successfully stop him. Give him room and he will splash a jumper in your face. Push up on him and he will use his blinding first step to skate past you.?This league fits my game well,? Brooks said. ?Speed wise, it is perfect. I love the open floor and getting out in space.?In some cases, numbers lie. Brooks? 24 points, 6.3 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game, however, speak the truth.He has been spectacular.?This has been a lot of fun,? Brooks said. ?It is a lot of work, but it has been interesting.?After having nine turnovers against Dallas two nights ago, Brooks came back and had none the next day. It is that kind of improvement that has people in Houston realizing they have a special player on their hands.?That was way too many turnovers so I knew I had to play better,? said Brooks, who led the Pac-10 in scoring (17.7 points per game) and was fifth in assists (4.3) while at Oregon last season. ?I was too eager. I know now to slow things down. I have to play under control, pick my spots and try to keep improving.Brooks didn't have a huge game, as far as stats are concerned, tonight against the Kings, but he did just enough to help the Rockets get the victory. He scored 17, grabbed five rebounds and gave out three assists.Brooks has notched eight assists in one game and seven in another this week. After coming close to getting 10 helpers twice, Brooks said he has a couple of simple goals he would like to accomplish before leaving Las Vegas.?First of all, I want us to win our games,? Brooks said. ?Secondly, I want to go out and get a double-double.?At this point, nobody who has seen him play would bet against him.# Here is the updated Race to the MVP Top 20 through games played on July 13.1. Louis Williams, Sixers2. Aaron Brooks, Rockets3. Rodney Stuckey, Pistons4. Marco Belinelli, Warriors5. Nate Robinson, Knicks6. J.J. Barea, Mavericks7. Craig Smith, Wolves8. Jason Maxiell, Pistons9. Alando Tucker, Suns10. Al Thornton, Clippers11. Rudy Gay, Grizzlies12. LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers13. Jelani McCoy, Nuggets14. Leon Powe, Celtics15. Kelenna Azubuike, Warriors16. Shannon Brown, Cavaliers17. Pierre Pierce, Warriors18. Javaris Crittenton, Lakers19. Rodney Carney, Sixers20. Kyle Lowry, Grizzlies# Dropped out: Wang Zhizhi, Team China, Marcus Banks, Suns, Francisco Garcia, Kings.</div>I really hope he does well this upcoming season. AARON BROOKS FOR ROY!Invalid Video LinkAIR BROOKS! :dribble:
Wow he is really trying to prove that the Rockets made a good pick by selecting him. I really respect him as a player and liked him a lot at Oregon but I still thought he was picked to early but I have the feeling he is gonna start proving me wrong come November.Brooks for Rookie Of The Year over Oden and Durant!!
I knew this was a good draft pick for the Rockets, I don't care if Aaron Brooks is a combo guard and is under 6'0, he brings scoring at those positions and that's what the Rockets needed. Besides, Rafer Alston and John Lucas III won't be on the team much longer, opening up PT for Brooks.
This is part of why I basically quit BBB.net for good...some idiots on there thought Aaron Brooks was the worst point guard in this draft and wouldn't get selected in the first round. :no3:Anybody agree with me that he was more NBA-ready than Conley in terms of experience? They didn't...
Aaron Brooks being selected in the late first round wasnt so bad but the Rockets a team filled with PG's thats stupid, hes doing good in the summer league which means nothing in the season he'll d NOTHING maybe something in the NBDL
DAMN Aaron Brooks has got super ups. I really hope this guy can crack into rotation. I didn't really feel we were getting much in the draft with him two weeks ago but he is showing some real skill, even though it IS just the summer league. Rockets need to trade JL3 and maybe Rafer if they can, too many 'average-solid' pgs.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (YarnIdge @ Jul 16 2007, 01:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>DAMN Aaron Brooks has got super ups. I really hope this guy can crack into rotation. I didn't really feel we were getting much in the draft with him two weeks ago but he is showing some real skill, even though it IS just the summer league. Rockets need to trade JL3 and maybe Rafer if they can, too many 'average-solid' pgs.</div>Yeah the Rockets have to try to trade Rafer Alston for a decent Power Forward.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're going to trade John Lucas now because of him not participating in the Summer League and because of this<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>July 11, 2007, 1:53AMSummer league is not for LucasRockets also may not be part of guard's plansSummer league has been good to John Lucas III.For a week last summer, he was a star. He had the ball in his hands, all the shots he could want, and soon, a three-year contract with the Rockets, the team for which his father had starred and he had been a ball boy.The Rockets wanted him to reprise last summer's performance, particularly with a new coaching staff and offense to learn. Lucas, however, preferring to stick to his training routine, decided to go another way. And with the Rockets seemingly overloaded at his position, he sounds ready to keep going.Looking elsewhere"I want to go somewhere I'll have the opportunity and a shot to play," Lucas said. "We have a lot of point guards: Mike James, Rafer Alston, myself and Aaron (Brooks). That's a lot of competition. I don't mind competition. I'm looking forward to next year. I'm looking forward to playing. If they move me, I'll go to another team and contribute any way I can."We're talking to try to see what's best for me. It is a business. I want to play. Last year, I was miserable. It's a situation I had never been in. I never stayed on the bench before. I don't want to go through anything like last year. I'm waiting for my chance. I just want to play. That's my whole thing."Asked if he had requested a trade or to be waived (which, unless he were picked up, would require the Rockets to pay him the $770,610 guaranteed on his contract), Lucas said: "I just want to play."I don't know what's going on. Right now, I'm a Houston Rocket. They deal with my agent. I have to take care of what I have to do on the court. I have not taken a day off since the season ended. When we lost Game 7 (to the Utah Jazz), I went to work the next day and have been in the gym every day since."Because he has lived in the gym so long, Lucas chose not to leave it to start over in another gym. The Rockets, however, wanted to have him work with their coaches, and when they announced their summer league team, he was on it."The communication wasn't very good," general manager Daryl Morey said. "David (Falk, Lucas' agent) probably thinks I dropped the ball. We spoke about him spending a week in summer league."He said he thought it wasn't a good idea. I said I thought it was. We got up to that point (the team was announced). We can't reach John. David calls the day before (summer practices began) and said, 'He's out.'"I guess when he said he didn't think it was a good idea, that meant he wasn't coming."Lucas, as a third-year player, had the option to play or not play in summer league. The Rockets could have demanded that Vassilis Spanoulis, a rookie last season, play, but chose not to take that step. But because two of their young point guards are not participating, they added one Tuesday.With Spanoulis out, the Rockets brought in Luis Flores, the player they drafted to trade for Spanoulis during the second round of 2004.Improving at homeLucas hoped by sitting out the summer league, he would improve as much as when he played in it."You usually only play two years of summer league," Lucas said. "You play if you're not on a team or trying to make another team. I'm under contract for two years, a year guaranteed. I feel, individually, I need to get stronger and get better."I can fit in any system. I'm a quick learner. I can fit in in a day."Playing every day against NBA players like T.J. Ford, Earl Watson, Steve Francis and Damon Stoudamire, working with Sam Cassell, to me I feel will make me better."Whether that will be with the Rockets remains to be seen.jonathan.feigen@chron.com[url="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl...kn/4958536.html"]http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl...kn/4958536.html[/url]</div>BTW, I really think Aaron Brooks will crack the rotation for us based on what Adelman wanted. He wanted speed, and thats the reason we got Aaron Brooks in the draft. Adelman is impressed on what Brooks can do. He can score, pass, create shots for himself and his teammates. I believe he can be a really solid PG one day.Oh and btw, We might be done with the PF position. Chuck Hayes and Luis Scola are already with the Rockets, and we have Mike Harris to a non-guaranteed deal and based on this article(http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4970129.html) we're liking him in terms of what he brings. But that 17 roster spot is a problem if Harris wants to make it. I just hope we deal Rafer and JL3.
