I am not saying Ariza is no longer needed. The addition of Luc Mbah Moute and his impact on both ends of the floor made the absence of Ariza in the past couple of weeks did not impact our team much. If this would have been last year's team, we would have noticed his absence. But in a match up against a team like Golden State, we need every wing defenders we can get. Ariza, Tucker, Mbah Moute are great defenders that can switch to guard from 1 thru 4 on the court. Ariza is a free agent and I think Rockets are going after the big fish and he may not be back with us next year.
Luc Mbah a Moute is legtimately the best perimeter defender in the entire league going by Impact stats and the eye test now that Roberson is out. Houston is only dominant with Luc. Never without him. This video highlights why I am absolutely not an Ariza fan at all. Like, nothing personal of course, he seems like a true locker room guy and is a hard worker. But his mileage is clear. It's all on dispay here. Slow feet, weak contests on and off the ball, no ability to box out, and the second most glaring(after foot speed) is the inability to fight through contact on screens. Kawhi Leonard is an elite NBA scorer, but you expect your "lead defender" to do much better than this. Ariza is so slow at his age and it is exposed here. I personally saw this every single game from late November on this season, but people don't typically look for these easy-to-overlook, things. You want your perimeter defender to do three things on the ball: 1. Stop penetration(By way of anticipation, sheer strength, and quickness). Players use some combination of this to acheive the goal. 2. Fight through screens(Strength, speed, being forceful and relentless) 3. Contest strong(This is only possible if you are balanced and not on your heels because you can do 1. and 2.) Ariza is physically incapable of doing these things against premier NBA talent and many times lower level talent. Luc excels at these things. Tucker is not quick, but he is much stronger, and he anticipates much better than Ariza. More than that, his box-out game and team defensive awareness tops Ariza's so he's a clear positive instead of being a negative like Ariza. Even watching Luc, it's clear he's a much better pure athlete than Trevor. Much quicker laterally and downhill, stronger, and more explosive as a leaper. Ariza is more skilled and adept at making shots off the dribble and off the catch. But that just doesn't make up the unreal defensive gap. It's a shame D'antoni will ride Ariza to the end because he just doesn't see the game as well as me, a fan who loves the game as a hobby, or any competent two-way coach. Or even any other fan. There's also this indirect effect offensively. Mbah A Moute + starters has managed to be better offensively than Ariza + starters, on top of being significantly better on defense. I believe this is because when Ariza is in the lineup, the Rockets(Harden/Paul) tend to feed him garbage corner 3s he is(relatively) good at making, but just not good offense. Basically the horrible 3pt overshooting ensues more when Ariza is out there, versus with Mbah a Moute, they tend to try and get high quality shots at the rim instead of corner bailouts. So, not only does Mbah a Moute impact the game at a much higher level, he fits better as a byproduct of his only weakness. I not only want Mbah a Moute to destroy the oppositions starting lineup instead of bench, I'd like to see him do it in a high minutes role come playoff time. Shame.
Luc is way better than Ariza. Both ends of the floor. If they have to decide on who plays more. Please be Luc. Same when free agency comes, sign Luc.
Ariza can't drive to the basket at all, he doesn't know how to dribble, easily get the ball stolen by the defender, he's a spot up shooter only, his body type is thin, the offensive player usually bullies Ariza to the basket for a layup, he is slow laterally, he is late for a rotation defensively and gives up a layup. Where was Ariza during the Spurs collapse last year guarding Johnathan Simmons and Kawhi Leonard, Dejonte Murray destroyed the Rockets defensively Ariza is terrible to watch. Luc Mbah Moute on the other hand is so fun to watch defensively, always deflecting passes defensively, can switch anybody on any position, very strong upper body, he never gets bullied defensively, can drive to the basket with either hand. Luc should be starting. Luc deserves a bigger contract next year, Ariza a lesser contract.
Honestly, I would have a really hard time changing the current starting lineup. Mbah and Tuck bring us the nasty. Let EGod/Trev/Ryno run and gun off the bench.
Struggled with not enough play-makers, Ariza was forced into horrible shots. Tonight I had flashbacks to 2010 when we asked Ariza to be 'the man' and he would drive into the lane with this awkward dribble which be bounced off his foot half the time and would throw up a Hail Mary off-balance floater.
