[numberfire] How Rockets Improved Roster with Ariza

Interesting in terms of the John wall impact on his production... My first instinct upon reading about wall's ability to create is to tour hardens ability to create. I know they're not an apples to apples comparison though tbh. I wanted us to re sign Parsons initially and for us to be extremely deep on the wing with both Parsons and Ariza... But ultimately I think Morey was right to not match. Even if Arizas shooting percentages decline slightly, I still think it will most a wash given his ability defending on the perimeter.

 

Good article. The rockets defense will be dramatically better especially with a good defensive coach. Wouldn't surprise me to see them top 5 in the league defensively.

 

Nice find. Thanks for sharing!

 

I would love for this to be true - but the Rockets lost a starter and two rotation players who played heavy minutes in Lin and Asik. I have a very difficult time believing Joey Dorsey can adequately fill Asik's shoes. And I have seen no evidence that either Canaan or Johnson are ready to be the back up point.

All of that being said, it still isn't impossible the Rockets won't improve. But I believe that in order for them to do so, at least one or two of their bargain basement pickups (or Kostas) are going to have to pan out and we are going to have to see guys like Jones, Motiejunas, Daniels and Canaan take big leaps forward.

That sure feels like a lot of 'if's to me.

 

I wouldn't call it an upgrade at all. I think it was making the absolute best of a bad situation though. Trevor will give you 90% of what Parsons did at half the cost.

 

Like Morey said they are a better team in the playoffs. During the season they are about the same or slightly less. Playoffs you need toughness and more defense. We did get tougher and we have better players for defensive purposes. We are still athletic but with more physical strength inside. Dorsey and Adrien are athletic and strong. Jones with more touches scores more points. Ariza should match Parsons points our offense is uptempo and Ariza will score a good amount of fast break points. The rockets system benefits players more offensively the defensively. Offense will have no issue we gotta play D.

 

Exactly. We had a lot of trouble getting stops last year. That wont be as much of a issue this year with the 1st and 2nd groups. I think this team will come together nicely by mid year once roles are defined. Having your role players give hustle play D is a big help to a team.

I think we will be a better 3 pt shooting team this year with Ariza, Daniels, Caanan, and this K Pap kid coming over. N Johnson will make a lot of plays with his athleticism. Adrien will be the garbage man cleaning up in the paint.

I think the biggest difference will be T Jones. I believe he will come back next year better and more consistent with his play (on both ends). We saw flashes of his potential last year, but I think this year he will be more comfortable in the system and be given room to play his game and attack other PFs off the dribble.

 

John Wall is really good at placing shooters in great position. Pat Beverly puts up 2.7 assists per game (a lot of his certainly go to James Harden) but Beverly isn't exactly known for putting teammates into a good position. He will have to learn that next season with Ariza. Ariza's numbers last season were the best of his career interesting so many people ready to pick that year over any of the previous 9 for an analysis.

 

Offensively yes. Defensively he gives you so much more.

 

Better playoff team? I think you're being overly optimistic. There is absolutely no evidence that suggest Joey Dorsey will help us in the playoffs. If we end up with any of the elite teams (including Portland) the question is where is the scoring gonna come from off the bench. To be a better playoff team, you need better playoff performers. Daryl Morey did not factor that in his offseason d-league/Euro bench push. Nobody on our bench has enough playoff experience to suggest we're a better playoff team

 

Parsons is better, he's the next Larry Bird according to Mavs fans...

 

You think Morey didn't think of this genius statement? OK man

 

In all fairness Canaan or Johnson don't need to immediately fill the loss of Lin. If Moneyball has taught us anything is that we can make it up in the aggregate. If we can spread Lin's pts/asts/stls across multiple players without impacting the minutes of better players then we break even.

Same goes with Asik. Yes we will miss his impact when his head was in the game. NO, we do not need Dorsey to replace Asik. We need Dorsey/Motiejunas to add up to Asik's loss. If i you look at it that way, we didn't lose anything because we freed up minutes for multiple players to add up to what we had in each player we lost.

I agree. The whole point of getting all-star players is that you have the biggest bang/minute in a game. The minutes will be there for Jones, Dorsey, Motiejunas, Daniels and Canaan. I think the extra year of experience will at lease make up the loss.

If we come out of this AHEAD, that's just BADA$$!

 

Harden is an elite passer, he's going ot be setting up Ariza, not Beverley.

 

And you are being overly pessimistic.

Players with little playoff experience have never played well? Harden won't play better?

Portland elite?

Your posts always have points that are unknown at the current time, but you act as if you already know the outcome. Not to mention you seem to think you live in Moreys brain and know what he's thinking or not thinking.

 

If Ariza could dribble the basketball, I'd feel better. Who can create their own shot besides Harden and Howard? Every good team has a 3rd option or at least a 6th man that can create their own shot.

 

Bingo! I suspect Morey is trying to acquire Dragic for this reason. Right now, the only player apart from Harden, and to a certain extent in Howard is Nick Johnson( and he has a long way to go).

 

Then what is Beverly going to do on offense as the rockets "point guard"?

 

Limit turnovers, shoot spot up 3s and rebound.

3 things he's pretty good at offensively.