Aaron Brooks of the Rockets and Rudy Fernandez of the Blazers. Playing against each other in an awesome 2nd game of a doubleheader tonight on TNT.

Brooks is a lightning and I mean LIGHTNING quick PG for Houston that really has close to a complete package. Quickness & athleticism that serves him well on both sides of the ball, he can get anywhere he wants on the court whenever he wants against any guard in the league/gets to the tin at will, has a tremedous little shooting stroke from deep and he can really distribute the ball. Think a taller (by maybe 6") Nate Robinson on offense only a better floor general with some real good passing skills. The team's playing well to start of the season here, but if for some reason they stumble, I'd say there's a distinct possibility that he winds up taking over the starting PG duties from Rafer Alston by mid-season, maybe before...

Rudy Fernandez is a great overall package. Blazers got a steal when they acquired his rights from the Suns in the draft 2 summers ago. He's a little thin and might need to add a little more strength but honestly I can't think of anything I dislike about this guy's game. Extraordinary overall value for a guy that was selected in the latter half of the first round. Basketball IQ looks to be off the charts (really something watching basically a 1st-year NBA player tell other people where to go on the court and watching him move w/o the ball coming off screens - tonight in the first half he lost his man near the foul line, made a quick cut to the hoop down the middle of the block & hooked up with Sergio Rodriguez for an alley-oop layup that was really something), impressive handle, aggressive, very quick and agile (so much so that I'm not sure if extra weight would help him or hurt him), looks to have great hops (a betcha he's close to a 40" vertical), can slash to the rim, surprisingly very solid on defense (tonight's he's right up in McGrady's grill playing him real tough), makes his FTs and oh yeah, LIGHTS OUT SHOOTER with range and an ultra quick release. Looks like Isiah actually had Wilson Chandler pegged right (thank God) but honestly we would not have been in bad shape either if we would've taken this kid. Forgot to even mention the good run he had in the Olympics capped by the 20+ pt. effort against us. This kid's a keeper. Portland really got a good one here - I can see exactly why McMillan loves this kid.

Both guys on the court for their teams to finish out the game. If both guys stick with their current roles coming off the bench all season, I'd expect both of these guys to be right there for 6th man of the year...


[Edited by - finestrg on 11-07-2008 01:24 AM]