Subject: Aaron Brooks

• We Just Might Have Ourselves a Basketball Dynasty

  July 19, 2007

• Want an NBA Title? Head East, Young Man

  January 28, 2008

• Rockets-Warriors: Hope at Last?

  January 30, 2008

• Q&A with Daryl Morey: Talking Trades in the No Balls Association

  February 8, 2008

• Rockets-Heat: A Pair of Pleasant Surprises

  February 22, 2008

• Q&A with Daryl Morey: Playoff Preview Edition

  April 17, 2008

• Q&A with Daryl Morey: What’s Next?

  May 8, 2008

• Whole Offense, Hole Defense: The Houston Rockets Preview

  October 29, 2008

• Rockets-Mavs: Brooks Delivers Opening Statement

  Aaron Brooks knows what many of you think. You fear the Rockets' new starting point guard is too small to defend big guards, like Dallas' 6-foot-4, future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd on Friday night. You expect him to be worked over in the post. You wonder if he's too young to lead a veteran playoff team, and doubt if his aggressive style can fit with a first unit full of other scorers. At least for one night, none of those fears was realized. Not even a little bit. In his debut as Houston's re

  February 21, 2009

• Rockets-Bobcats: Yao-Artest Form Improved Dynamic Duo

  At some point during the will he, won't he saga of Tracy McGrady's ongoing knee problems, the heart and identity of the Rockets shifted from a Yao Ming and McGrady-led team to one led by Yao and Ron Artest. So far, the Rockets seem all the better for it. Artest scored 26 points on five three-pointers while Yao added 19 points and seven rebounds, leading to a 99-78 win over Charlotte on Sunday evening at Toyota Center. It's the Rockets' (35-21) fourth consecutive victory, three of which have co

  February 23, 2009

• Rockets-Suns: Brooks, Lowry Bring Small Ball to Houston

  If the Rockets needed any additional evidence to the potential success of a two point-guard system, they only needed to look on the other end of the court on Friday night at Toyota Center. The Phoenix Suns (34-28) have been the model of up-tempo basketball in recent years, routinely playing small guards Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa together to wreak havoc on opposing defenses with electrifying speed and dribble penetration ability. But three times in the past five games, the Rockets (40-23)

  March 7, 2009

• Rockets-Pistons: Can Yao Be the Closer?

  Photo by Wootang01 Remember the notion from earlier this week that the Rockets' late-game offense might be better off without Yao Ming? That didn't last long. With the Rockets trailing by four late and in the midst of yet another fourth-quarter funk, Yao snapped the Rockets out of it in a major way. Houston's star big man scored 15 points in the final five minutes of regulation and in the two overtime periods, leading the Rockets to a 106-101 double-overtime victory over the Pistons on Wednesd

  March 19, 2009

• Rockets-Pistons: Can Yao Be the Closer?

  Photo by Wootang01 Remember the notion from earlier this week that the Rockets' late-game offense might be better off without Yao Ming? That didn't last long. With the Rockets trailing by four late and in the midst of yet another fourth-quarter funk, Yao snapped the Rockets out of it in a major way. Houston's star big man scored 15 points in the final five minutes of regulation and in the two overtime periods, leading the Rockets to a 106-101 double-overtime victory over the Pistons on Wednesd

  March 19, 2009

• Rockets-Suns: Brooks, Lowry Bring Small Ball to Houston

  If the Rockets needed any additional evidence to the potential success of a two point-guard system, they only needed to look on the other end of the court on Friday night at Toyota Center. The Phoenix Suns (34-28) have been the model of up-tempo basketball in recent years, routinely playing small guards Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa together to wreak havoc on opposing defenses with electrifying speed and dribble penetration ability. But three times in the past five games, the Rockets (40-23)

  March 7, 2009

• Rockets-Cavaliers: Yao's Revenge

  Photo by Wootang01 LeBron James has a lengthy history of poster-quality slam dunks. But on Thursday night, Yao Ming emphatically turned the tables on the Cleveland superstar. Yao overwhelmed James on two game-defining plays, sparking the Rockets to a 93-74 home victory over a Cleveland (44-12) team that entered Thursday with the NBA's second-best record. It was by far the most impressive of Rockets' (37-21) six consecutive wins, all of which have come without Tracy McGrady. "It's awesome to s

  February 27, 2009

• Rockets-Bobcats: Yao-Artest Form Improved Dynamic Duo

  At some point during the will he, won't he saga of Tracy McGrady's ongoing knee problems, the heart and identity of the Rockets shifted from a Yao Ming and McGrady-led team to one led by Yao and Ron Artest. So far, the Rockets seem all the better for it. Artest scored 26 points on five three-pointers while Yao added 19 points and seven rebounds, leading to a 99-78 win over Charlotte on Sunday evening at Toyota Center. It's the Rockets' (35-21) fourth consecutive victory, three of which have co

  February 23, 2009

• Rockets-Hornets: Point Guards Finally Get Defensive

  Photo by Aaron Sprecher(Note: This is written by Ben DuBose. We're working on that byline  glitch, honest.) At least for one night, the Rockets answered their only remaining defensive questions in a resounding way. Since dealing incumbent point guard Rafer Alston at the February trade deadline, skeptics have wondered if the Rockets could defend at the point with diminutive 6-footers Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry. On Monday night at Toyota Center, New Orleans (49-32) offered quite a challenge

  April 14, 2009

• Rockets Left To Wonder What Could Have Been

  Photo by Keith Allison(Note: This was written by Ben DuBose.)The next time someone tells you that early-season games in sports like basketball and baseball don't matter, refer them to the case of the 2008-09 Houston Rockets.The No. 5-seeded Rockets were one game from having a dream path to the Western Conference Finals, at a minimum. They were one game from a No. 2 seed, home-court advantage in the first and second rounds, a Southwest Division title, and most importantly, avoiding any possibilit

  April 16, 2009

• Rockets Playoff Preview: Yao, Rockets May Have Finally Landed Favorable First-Round Matchup

  At least for now, the Rockets' stunning collapse might not be all bad.The negatives to the Rockets blowing a 14-point, second-half lead at Dallas on Wednesday night, coupled with New Orleans' meltdown in San Antonio, are of course falling from the No. 2 seed, losing home court advantage in the first and second rounds of the playoffs and likely having to meet the Lakers in the second round (if they get there).The lone positive could be drawing Portland as a first-round opponent, who they'll face

  April 17, 2009

• Do You Believe In Miracles? Rockets Advance

  May 17, 1997.Aaron Brooks and Von Wafer were in sixth grade. The Oilers were only a year removed from their Houston existence. The Texans were still more than five years from their birth. The Astros had yet to make the playoffs in the Biggio-Bagwell era. Then-President Bill Clinton was still eight months from being outed for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Oh, and that's also the last day the Rockets had won a postseason series.But it all changed Thursday night, as a long chapter of mediocrity

  May 1, 2009

• Second Round Preview: Lakers Defense May Pose Biggest Threat To Rockets

  The Rockets finally got the first-round monkey off their backs  last week, so what did the NBA give them as a reward? Only a second-round date with the prohibitive title favorite Lakers, beginning tonight at 9:30 in Los Angeles. It's a terrifying matchup by nearly every quantifiable method. The Rockets lost all four games to the Lakers in the regular season. Ron Artest made headlines with his constant trash talk with Kobe Bryant, but the talking was the only true competition. Bryant t

  May 4, 2009

• The Rockets Get Into The Ticket-Scalping Business

  Photo by sillygwailoLooking for Rockets tickets as the hoopsters return to the Toyota Center after their split with the Lakers? Unlike, say, two months ago, you're now at the mercy of the scalpers. But the precise identity of the scalpers may surprise you."Basically the Rockets have created their own StubHub called FlashSeats.com," says local independent ticket broker Patrick Ryan, of SecureSeats.com. "They're taking inventory that isn't available to the public and only making it available at se

  May 7, 2009

• Game 3 Preview: Rockets Need More From Wafer, On And Off Court

  Photo by Jeff BalkeThe Rowdies get rowdy for the playoffsVon Wafer was a hero in the first round, scoring 21 points in 27 minutes in Game 2 and sparking the Rockets with an emotional return in the series-clinching Game 6 just two days after suffering a bulging disc in his lower back. He was supposed to be a hero in the second round, too. It was the ultimate underdog story -- Wafer against the team that drafted him and gave up on him. That's how it played out in the regular season, when Wafer t

  May 8, 2009

• Game 3: Early Missed Opportunities Haunt Rockets

  The box score to Game 3 shows the second period as the only frame in which the Rockets weren't outscored on Friday night at Toyota Center. But in reality, it proved pivotal in Houston's 108-94 loss, which allowed Los Angeles to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The normally dynamic Lakers missed eight consecutive shots over a three-plus minute stretch. For the half, Rockets outshot the Lakers from the field, 49 percent to 46 percent, and from behind the arc, 57 percent to 40 perce

  May 9, 2009

• No Yao, No T-Mac, No Problem: Hayes Sets Tone As Rockets Tie Series

  Photo byJeff BalkeThe opening to the Rockets' player introductions sounded as unlikely and frightening as the task of defeating the vaunted Lakers without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Somehow, "a 6-foot-6 center out of Kentucky" didn't deliver the same punch and energy as the booming "7-foot-6 center from China" usually does at the intro's finish.But Chuck Hayes has never worried about outside expectations. He's always been told he's too short and too physically limited to be a regular NBA

  May 10, 2009

• No Matter Game 7 Outcome, These Rockets Have Heart Of Champions

  Photo: Jeff BalkeScrapper Chuck HayesThirty-seven million of the Rockets' approximately $70 million payroll sits on the bench in luxury suits instead of basketball uniforms. With Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady sidelined, the Rockets counter the Lakers' top scoring option -- only one of the best players ever, Kobe Bryant -- with the erratic Ron Artest and Aaron Brooks. When the Lakers walk supremely-talented seven-footers Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum to mid-court, the Rockets match up with Chuck Hayes

  May 15, 2009

• Despite Loss, These Aren't Same Old Rockets

  Photo by Katharine ShilcuttThe ending was all too familiar, but the ride was so, so different. Sure, history will show another Rockets season concluded without a title, this time on an 89-70 second-round, Game 7 loss to the Lakers on Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. And like so many seasons before, the 2008-09 campaign really ended when an X-ray displayed a fracture in a bone on Yao Ming's left foot.  "In games like this, it would have been nice to have a low

  May 18, 2009

• Game Time: Woke Up This Morning, Got Myself LeBron

  ​Those of you who listen to my show know that I am fond of placing the "occasional" friendly wager. While handicapping the day-to-day and week-to-week ebb and flow of a football, basketball, or (if you're really sick) baseball season can be enjoyable and, at times, lucrative (especially when betting against the bottom ten QB's in the NFL has turned into an ATM), where I have had the most success the last few years has been placing futures wagers on the over/under for total wins in a season. An

  October 27, 2009

• In Make-Or-Break Year, Rockets' Landry Looks To Fill Low-Post Void

  Photo by Jeff Balke​There's a popular belief in NBA circles that the third year is when a player makes the transition to stardom, if he's going to make it. Among point guards, that worked for Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and much has been said about Aaron Brooks making a similar - though smaller - leap. Through five games, Brooks seems on the right track, averaging 20 points and eight assists while directing the Rockets to a surprising 3-2 record. But slightly under the radar is Carl La

  November 5, 2009