Not me. We won't see Ronnie Brewer's true value and/or overall importance until we're going against a team such as Miami come postseason play. Brewer himself has neutralized (or contained) Wade better and/or more efficiently than any defensive player in the game today. He also doesn't foul sending these guys to the free throw line for easy buckets either. Makes elite offensive threats work harder than a dog for each and every shot attempt.
I can't find the link online, but heading into the season there was an outstanding article pointing out (with actual statistics) how Brewer has had more success when guarding Wade than any defender in the game today. Wish I could find it, because it's an amazing read into Brewer's defensive ability.
As Jason Kidd stated, this is only rress rehearsal (in regards to the regular season). We'll begin to see Brewer's true value once we're able to throw J.R Smith, Iman Shumpert and Ronnie Brewer on Wade for 4 quarters strong come playoff basketball along with being able to throw Brewer on LeBron while keeping Melo fresh on the offensive end and/or out of foul trouble on the defensive end. All I know is, Wade will have to work like a dog just to get off shot attempts against the likes of perimeter defenders such as Shumpert, Brewer and J.R Smith.
In closing, Brewer was a move not to become our starting 2G during the offseason, but in order to close the gap on Miami. There is no question about it, his perimeter defense will become very intensifying come postseason play.
12/20/2012 9:16 AM