Ariza wasn't that bad during most stretches in the game. He struggled in the closing minutes but that is to be expected. Besides that he's playing at the 2 spot. He is NOT a 2. I'm not for trading away Battier because he'd be great as a defensive stopper for games like last night's. We still need him to eventually be elite. The problem is when you have to play him against a team he isn't effective in. I can live with his limited scoring but what I can't stand is his bad decisions with the ball. He didn't do this before because we had other, better options. He needs to know his limits. Lowry was pretty terrible. Too many unforced turnovers. Also Richardson killed him but that's Adelman's fault. Wish Tmac could have kept his big mouth shut and come off the bench. We could have really used the minutes this month. Oh well, at least that killer schedule is over with.
Since we let one slip at NO, I think we got what we deserved..... Hope they can have a 3+ winning streak to even that out By the way, I hate Ariza, simply hate him!
I wouldnt say that our schedule just got a whole lot lighter. Both the knicks are bobcats have been playing well last few games.. Knicks have won 3 of their last 4 (beat Atlanta), and Bobcats 4 of 5 (beat the Cavs)
The issues right now is our terrible wing play. I don't know what the Rockets promised Ariza, but he should be benched more in favor of a productive player. Battier is not the defender he once was and he is becoming non-existent on the offensive end. T-Mac could of given us a more consistent scorer, but we don't have any minutes for him. Hopefully, we can get some help by trading McGrady.
Out of Ariza's 14 shots tonight, 11 were 3 pointers. Weird game overall for Ariza. Also from the 3-point line, Budinger goes 1-6 and Battier goes 0-3. Thank god Brooks was hot tonight.
We need to get Iggy and Dalembert for T-Mac and Scola. And start: PG - Brooks SG - Iggy SF - Battier PF - Hayes C- Dalembert Keep Landry coming off the bench, he's our best offensive threat but with Scola gone we can increase Landry's minutes. Let Ariza come off the bench.
The Knicks will be on the second night of a back to back though, so hopefully we can pounce on them early.
Next game is on Saturday... no back to back. We play Charlotte on Tuesday and then Minnesota on Weds. Next 3 are winnable but all 3 are beginning to play fairly well. Wolves will present a tough matchup as well..AL Jefferson is beginning to play well and Kevin Love's been a beast so far..
We didn't guard their 3 point shooters, especially Frye, you figure if he does it 5 times already he is going to shoot again? Battriza was TERRIBLE tonight.
This lineup sucks. The 3, 4, 5 spot produce no offense what so ever. Hayes is a black hole and can't defend the quick PF.
15 points (on 7-14 shooting) is a good game. Tonight, the Rockets only shot 15 FT's (23 for the Suns). Ariza needs to drive it in more.
We really miss our Stars- both of them! We can't have two starters scoring only 2 points between them!
I agree, you can not play Battier and Hayes at the same time. Offensively, the bench looked great tonight. But do not despair, look at the schedule, the Rox should at least 10 or 11 of their next 14 games.
Someone may have already mentioned this, but can someone explain the disparity between the +/- of the starting lineup and the bench? David Andersen was a plus 20 while most of the starters were a -20. Usually I don't read much into it, but it looks like our starting unit got creamed and we relied on the bench to keep us afloat! (Missed the game doing some basketball playing of my own).
Andersen did a better defensive job on Frye, and the best was Battier on Frye. His line may not show it, but Scola struggled tonight. He was hustling at half speed most of the night.
