Morey let Ariza and Luc walk over money, then he let Chinanu go for Cash Consjderations....... ....does Morey have financial problems?
Ariza was a low maintenance role player that was VERY dependable. Those are the guys you want on your team. The Rockets will miss Ariza. But the hope is that Ennis and "whoever Ryan Anderson gets traded for" will be able to fill the void to some capacity.
My guess is that needed to bring in someone to make sure that locker room didn't fall apart. Last year things were getting a little tense at times.
Trevor's inability to dribble and drive held us back I'm excited to see what Ennis can do. He's younger and I think will make Ariza obsolete. I believe a versatile SF. Yeah 3 & D is great but If KD is dropping 30 a game on you and you're bricking shots left and right why are you on the court. I think when playing GS you need some defense but when KD is castrating your whole team, you need guys who can just hoop when it comes down to it.
Ariza has a long wingspan and he's a great defender. Light years above Melo. While he may not be the offensive weapon that he used to be he can still give you buckets during crunch time and draw fouls. His defensive smarts is what we will miss the most. That's' something money can't buy.
I agree. But to be more to the point, what we will miss is Luc's healthy shoulder. The Clippers have Luc, but do they have a healthy shoulder?
Random comment ... but is there anywhere to find stats for a players shooting % by defender guarding him? I definitely value Ariza's defense... But I can't see through the noise of the switching. I can visually recall as many KD shots over the likes of CP3, Clint (who switched onto him a bit), Harden. I felt like during the series, more than anything, the defense was effective in that in its switching, it limited the GSW offensive machine that usually resulted in just more open shots and easy points. Instead, KD was shooting a lot of midrange jumpers. GSW became somewhat of an OKC offense... and we know that KD can have inefficient playoff nights in that type of offense. In any case, I wonder what his shooting % was by defender?? And that said, they were only able to play such great switching defense because of the personnel, of which Ariza was part of.
If we trade Ryno for an Ariza replacement, we might miss his shooting during the regular season. Ive been watching highlights of Rockets and noticed Ryno has always killed it for us in the regular season hitting clutch shots or big ones to put us over the top. Like he was great in that Suns game where we dropped 90.
Ariza will be back here either in a deadline trade or a buyout/ pro-rate league minimum salary deal at the roster deadline.
I like both what Deuce and PatBev said above. Ariza was a gamer and his intensity helped set a tone with our team. If we didn't have CP3, I'd worry about that type of intangible, but Paul is the ultimate gamer and adds the leadership we've needed on the players' side. I like how the team is taking shape and I'm also excited to see Ennis play. If we trade Ryno and have the chance, I'd love to get MDA another chess piece. James Johnson would be ideal because he gives us another thumper, but adds more size than PJ. I'm not worried about his 3pt shooting, because I think we have enough weapons to cover him up. Neither Ariza, nor Luc were great offensive threats--Ariza was streaky and Luc was only pleasantly passable. Johnson would add some versatility with his ball handling and ability to finish inside on the offensive side, and more size to push and punish (KD and others) on the defensive front. If we can't make that work, then guys like Bazemore and Batum offer MDA some other skills that would be complimentary to the current roster. I would just like to add a Punisher to the roster.
I know this is only observational, but I've re-watched the series, including many parts in slow-motion just to see who is microseconds late on rotations. Everyone was very good for the most part, other than Harden, Nene and Ryno. Harden has some great helps and good post defenses, but too many lapses off-ball, and couldn't laterally hang iso'd on-ball. Nene and Ryno can't handle on-ball isos. The defensive lineup of CP3, EG, GG, Tucker, and Capela was superb, with only a barely late matchup in transition by GG and a communication mix up by EG and CP3 coming to memory. I really really like Gerald Green's defensive improvement at the end of last season and in the playoffs. I'm hoping he earns big minutes this year.
