Brooks wins most improved, plans to get even better

There's no reason to think Aaron Brooks will stop climbing now.

After being named the winner of the 2009-10 Most Improved Player Award presented by Kia Motors, Brooks said, only half-jokingly, that his new goal was to come back and win it again next year.

The Houston Rockets have learned not to underestimate the talent or the determination of their 6-foot point guard.

"What's the old saying?" asked Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. "Aaron is a 25-year overnight success.

"This year he gets the recognition. But what made us excited to draft him back in 2007 is that he's a guy that's been counted out -- too small, doesn't pass well enough, won't make it in the NBA. We felt he had the talent to do it and he's obviously shown that."

Brooks received 403 of a possible 615 points [official release, vote totals], including 62 first-place votes, from a panel of 123 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.

This season Brooks set career highs in points (19.6 points per game), assists (5.3 apg) and rebounds (2.6 rpg). His 8.4 ppg scoring increase from last season (11.2 ppg) was the highest in the league among minimum qualifiers. Brooks became only the sixth player in NBA history to make at least 200 3-pointers and dish out at least 400 assists in the same season. He set the Rockets' single-season record for 3-pointers made with 209, scored 20 or more points 39 times and at least 30 points on 10 occasions.

More than just put up glowing statistics, Brooks had to embrace the mantle of leadership on a Rockets team in transition that was forced to play without the injured Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.

"It's been a tough year," Brooks said. "We went through a lot of changes and we all stuck in there. We all hung in there and we all played our best.

"As everybody knows, without Yao a lot of people wrote us off to begin the season and we gave it a good run. Even though we didn't make the playoffs we got a lot of confidence. I didn't go into the season to win a big award like this. It's amazing."

It is the latest step in a career that saw Brooks start out at the University of Oregon averaging less than five points per game as a freshman. In his first NBA training camp, there were four other point guards ahead of him on the roster. Yet, when the season began, he was eventually the one handed the keys to the Rockets offense for the foreseeable future.

"I think the game slowed down for me a lot," Brooks said. "I increased my assists. I was making the right plays and making them when they needed to be made. I know I still have a lot of improvement to do and maybe I can win this award again next year. I know that would be the first time that happened, but that would be nice."

Brooks said the two games that stand out the most this season were the Jan. 13 triple-overtime win over the Timberwolves when he was on the floor for a marathon 59-minute stint and finished with 43 points (including 6-for-9 on 3-point shots) and the April 2 game at Boston, when the Rockets had just eight healthy players available, yet claimed a 119-114 road victory as Brooks scored 30 point and dealt nine assists.

Brooks said a return to the postseason is in the Rockets future next season.

"I think that big guy Yao will help us out some," he said. "But besides him, we have a great group of young guys. From the improvement that I made from my rookie to my sophomore year, if everybody improves like that -- Chase (Budinger), Jordan (Hill) -- we definitely have the pieces that we need to get into the playoffs."

Other first-place votes went to Kevin Durant (17), Marc Gasol (nine), George Hill (seven), Andrew Bogut (seven), Joakim Noah (seven), Russell Westbrook (five), Gerald Wallace (three) Rajon Rondo (two), Brook Lopez (one), Andrew Blatche (one), Channing Frye (one) and Dwight Howard (one).

Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

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