Brooks

[Pantherfan04]

I want to preface this by saying I really like Brooks and he is a great guy, but where has he gone on the court? It seems to me that he is gotten worse as a player since then. I know we don't need him to score a ton of points, but 3 total points in the last 3 games is not very good. We really need him to step up in the MVC or we need to start letting Little play more. Again, Brooks is a great guy and I want him to suceed, but right now he is not doing much for the team. He seems to shy away from the ball when a quicker player comes near him and he's not that special on the defensive end either.

[Panthers to the Bone]

Correction: Brooks has 9 points in the last 3 games.

Brooks is just fine. I have seen the last three games in person. He has made very few mistakes on the court. If he is open, he will take the shot, if not, he is looking to find the open man. He runs the offense, and knows it better than any other player on the floor (he has to know where each position is at in 100+ set plays...try that sometime! ). Mac's system seems to not give PG's the larger share of assists for some reason. I have noticed that Benny and E tend to have the majority, and I think that is just b/c of how the sets/plays develop.

3 games ago, Brooks had 1 shot (missed it), 1 assist, and 1 TO in 14 minutes (the main stat?---UNI wins by 34)
2 games ago, Brooks had 2 shots (made both), 6 points, 1 assist, 4 rebounds, and 1 TO in 26 minutes (UNI wins by 7).
Last game, Brooks had 4 shots (made 1), 3 assists, 3 points, 6 rebounds, 3 TO in 39 minutes.

That's 42% shooting, 1:1 A/TO ratio, and 3 RPG over the last 3 games.

If Brooks was shooting it a ton, and causing UNI to lose, that is one thing. But, Brooks is taking what he gets (trust me, Brooks has not turned down an open shot in the past 3 games that I remember...so that means guys are defending him outside, which means they aren't doubling down inside). Brooks was diving all over the floor, taking charges (he has to lead the team in this category), and playing smart. Yes, he had a TO towards the end of the Bradley game, but Brooks hasn't made the glaring mistakes that alot of PG's make. He is sound, smart, and works hard. He's not the energy guy like John Little that provides the spark off the bench. Brooks is steady from the get-go. Playing 39 minutes against Bradley's "in your shorts" defense and only having 3 TO's, as the primary ballhandler shows how good Brooks is.

[B.True]

## Player GP-GS Min--Avg FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg
12 Jacobson, Ben...... 12-12 394 32.8 62-141 .440 24-61 .393 28-42 .667 6 42 48 4.0 18 0 38 30 1 23 176 14.7
02 Coleman, Eric...... 12-12 342 28.5 58-102 .569 0-0 .000 26-51 .510 35 55 90 7.5 24 0 28 20 10 4 142 11.8
32 Stout, Grant....... 12-12 350 29.2 51-93 .548 4-20 .200 22-31 .710 25 73 98 8.2 31 1 9 14 33 13 128 10.7
05 Crawford, Erik..... 12-12 373 31.1 38-97 .392 13-42 .310 32-41 .780 16 35 51 4.3 19 0 36 24 3 4 121 10.1
23 McKowen, Brooks.... 12-12 307 25.6 14-44 .318 8-29 .276 3-7 .429 3 27 30 2.5 31 0 34 22 0 11 39 3.3

alright, the stat lines don't add up too well, but here is my thought on it....with the kind of game that UNI is trying to play, isn't 4 starters in double figures and a point guard that keeps the team in the offense and has a decent A/TO ratio (34-22) exactly what has won 10 of 12 games - I REPEAT, UNI IS 10-2......IE-the formula seems to be working and Little is getting 22 minutes a game, while Brooks is getting 25 and i'd say that is a great mix to have.....

[CF Panther]

I don't think it's fair to call out McKowen for poor play. He's doing what he can. The fact of the matter is, he's the best point guard we have on the roster. Is he as good of a starter as the other 4? Nope. But you go with what you have. Sure it'd be nice to have a true point guard, but again, you go with what you got. Do I think that McKowen is playing up to his potential? Not even close; but who else do you put at the point? I wish that McKowen was scoring more, but who should have less shots so that Brooks gets his? Jacobson? Crawford? Coleman? Stout? Surely none of those 4 should get less shots/game. I think the biggest thing for McKowen is limiting the number of times he turns the ball over. While his assist to turnover ratio is ok, as a point guard that does not score, he needs more assists than he has this late in the season. Clearly McKowen is not as talented as our other 4 starters, but you play the people you have.

[oldcat]

Since when is Brooks not talented as the other four...............I think it's impressive that a scorer in high school comes in and does what he is asked to do for the "team"! Some other player may have ego issues when put in that situation. I agree with PTTB............he is doing just fine!!

[UNIAlum95]

He might not look as talented as the others, but consider that he is really a shooting guard playing the point and he looks pretty good. I wonder if he isn't in Benny's spot more often next year. Just a thought...

[Rick Roberts]

Support 'Fan '04'

You got ganged up on! I agree with you. Teams that go places have a top point guard--one who scores and pulls the defense out/or, penetrates and kicks out to the open man. Brooks does not do that. If you watch him play, he just does not want to even shoot the ball. For a kid who did so well in HS, this puzzles me. I would start Little and bring Brooks off the bench--or, find someone to score more. To have your point guard only score three points, or so, a game, is giving your opposition a free one. Next year, for sure, he sits on the bench or decides to start scoring this year. He is a pretty 'expensive' floor general. Come on Brooks, either shoot more and score more, or give up your starting job.

[GonzoCat]

I don't have the basketball knowledge to be able to evaluate players that some of you do, so I tend to look at the bigger picture.

I know this much, UNI has made 2 of the 3 NCAA tourney appearences in our history with BM as the point guard. In a few months it will be 3 of 4. So he must be doing something right.

[43's pop]

If practice were open to the public many of you would find out that the "true" point gaurds on the roster are standing around and not doing enough to improve their game to warrant a starting position. I know someone very well who has practiced with the team during the past week and I'm prone to take his wrod for it. Mac has a criteria for all positions and all one has to do is look at the won/lost record to understand that he and the coaches are using the players to the best of their abilities. It's a cheap shot to single out one player.

[CF Panther]

Realistically, it has been the point guard position that has held us back the past 2 seasons from upsetting G. Tech and Wisconsin. It isn't just McKowen's fault, but that really has been the case. Crawford and Jacobson match up well with pretty much any wing combo, and our posts have held their own as well the last two seasons. If there's one position we need help at now and in the future, it would most certainly be the PG position! Next year's recruit from Minnesota might just be what the doctor ordered; a scoring point guard with pretty good size.

[blien]

Coach Mac has Mckowen running the offense- but when the defense puts pressure on, i.e. a full court press like Iowa State, or the Bradley pressure, he tends to become predictable or easy to anticipate with his ball movements.
He pulls up too soon with the ball to pass deep and never looks to penetrate, either to open up the passing lanes, or create a shot opportunity. Josten dribbles in circles too much, Williams is looking better, especially tonight. Maybe the freshmen needs in some more too. i'd like to see John Little run the point too.
My 2 cents-go panthers!
B

[CR Panther]

I read this one before going to tonight's game in an effort to see for myself. Yes, we're 11-2 and the formula has worked well. Doesn't mean you can't tinker with things to see if something can work better. These last two games where our shooting has been flat at one point or another is frightening. PantherFan04 may have been ahead of his time. Brooks didn't start the second half in favor of Little. I watched him not even look up on open shots. And when he did pull on a couple, you could tell his confidence is off.

He did impress me with his boxing out/rebounds and he does have the system mastered. I want him to succeed. But, we can't keep playing 4 vs 5 when we're on offense. If all positions are threats then it really opens things up for us. I know he has the skills.

[Matt Trump]

Teams that go places have a top point guard--one who scores and pulls the defense out/or, penetrates and kicks out to the open man. Brooks does not do that. If you watch him play, he just does not want to even shoot the ball. For a kid who did so well in HS, this puzzles me.

Its not really fair to compare that penetrating and dishing out style you see from other teams, when we don't run that system. If you have watched UNI basketball since coach Mac has been here you see very little penetration and dishing out to the open man. My basketball knowledge is not as much as many on here, but at least I can see that we don't run that kind of offense For example, Stinson and Blaylock at ISU do that all the time because that is the system Wayne Morgan has in place for them. Jameer Nelson did very similar things for St. Joseph's a few years ago when they made their Elite 8 run. Greg Macdermott does not run that kind of offense.

As far as your second point goes with Brooks in high school. That was also a totally different situation. If you ever saw him play at that level (and I did a few times) Brooks was his entire team. He would dribble the ball up the court and do whatever he wanted with it. He did that because there was rarely someone on the floor for the opposition that could stop him. He rarely played against the talent he sees night in and night out at the DI level.

[CF Panther]

As far as your second point goes with Brooks in high school. That was also a totally different situation. If you ever saw him play at that level (and I did a few times) Brooks was his entire team. He would dribble the ball up the court and do whatever he wanted with it. He did that because there was rarely someone on the floor for the opposition that could stop him. He rarely played against the talent he sees night in and night out at the DI level.

You're correct here on McKowen regarding his high school days. He was the entire Wapsie Valley basketball team for nearly 4 years. The last 3 it was McKowen on 5...and most of the time he won! However, he seemed to play extremely well against the top teams that WV played. While the teams were not full of D1 level players, he lit up the Jesup's, NU High's, and Dike N-H's just as effectively as the lower-tier teams during his high school days. It's great that McD wanted to convert him to a pass-first, score-second player to run the point. We haven't really had a point for years at UNI. However, I have a feeling that next year McKowen could be the go-to guard when it comes to scoring. I only hope that McD hasn't neutered his scoring abilities too much. The only thing that McKowen needed to adjust to play at the D1 level offensively was where his shot started from. He has changed that. Now let's hope that next season his 40 foot range (not really exagerating here either...) and ability to create shots in the lane return to him... If he can somehow revert back to the WV McKowen, he could be a 10-15 ppg. scorer in 06-07.

[Lone Star Panther]

My two cents:
Does Brooks have room to improve certain areas of his game? Of course. I think the team as a whole has room to improve. Don't get me wrong... it's a great start (11-2), but honestly, I don't think we've come close to playing our best game yet--particularly from the shooting aspect. With regards to Brooks: He isn't going to be asked to carry this team from a scoring standpoint. He is going to be asked to direct the offense, limit turnovers, dish it out, and work his tail off on defense. I'd rather see him focus on those things for now... If it were a priority for him to score right now, Coach Mac would have plays designed for him to be shooting more. His role is not to be a primary scorer at this point.