Brooks hoping to resurrect career with Bulls
By this point, it's probably reasonable to think Tom Thibodeau can revive the career of any backup point guard.
C.J. Watson, Nate Robinson and D.J. Augustin all had success, and now Aaron Brooks is the fourth person to hold down that spot in four seasons.
“You don't want to go to a place that's not used to guys like myself,” Brooks said Thursday at the Advocate Center. “I'm different from the guys who have been here. I can't put myself into the role of those other guys. But they've had some success, so I'll do whatever they ask me to do.”
The 6-foot Brooks, 29, matches the storyline of all three of his predecessors: He's played for a number of teams and had an uneven experience in the NBA.
Brooks won the Most Improved Player Award in 2009-10 when he averaged 19.6 points and 5.3 points for Houston. The next year, though, he suffered an ankle injury early in the season and things have never been the same. He went to Phoenix, Sacramento, back to Houston and then Denver last season without coming close to replicating his 2009-10 numbers.
During the lockout season of 2011-12, Brooks went to China and played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers. His team made it to the Chinese league finals, so he wasn't able to return to the NBA that season and felt the overseas experience threw him off a bit.
“I got fat. I wasn't eating right over there,” Brooks said. “I didn't know what to eat over there, so I was eating hot dogs and McDonald's. Just not adjusting, not being in the right situation. I don't want to talk about that, but I probably just went to the wrong situation. Just trying to get back on track. This will be a better situation.”
Thibodeau has already singled out Brooks for playing well during the first four days of training camp. The coach suggested we might see Brooks and Kirk Hinrich playing together on the second unit.
The Bulls are starting the season with more point guard depth. A year ago, after not re-signing Robinson, Hinrich was slated to back up Derrick Rose. When another knee injury sidelined Rose 10 games into the season, Hinrich became the starter and Augustin was added in December after getting released by Toronto.
This summer, the Bulls re-signed Hinrich, while Augustin went to Detroit as a free agent. When asked about the summer events, Thibodeau said it wasn't a matter of the Bulls choosing Hinrich over Augustin.
“We were hopeful we were going to keep both. D.J. was terrific for us,” Thibodeau said. “Unfortunately, we weren't able to, but we loved both guys. The thing that we loved about them was how well they played together, so that was a big hit for us.
“We were fortunate, I think to get a guy like Aaron to replace D.J. I would say that I thought they were equally important. Both had slightly different roles for us, but they were a big part on why the team was able to succeed.”
All of the Bulls' recent point guards have been somewhat unique. Speed has been one of Brooks' most important skills. He's faster than Augustin, but doesn't shoot as well. He's a scorer, but not as offensive-minded as Robinson.
“(Brooks) is a terrific pick-and-roll player,” Thibodeau said. “He'll make you pay for any mistakes you make defensively. If you try and go under on him or open up your stance the wrong way, he's going to make you pay for every positional mistake. He can shoot the ball, get it off quick. His speed and quickness are great assets.”
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