If Mark Cuban wants to throw a bunch of money at Ariza in 4 years when the dude's 33, more power to him.
He's great when he doesn't have to create his own shot. Don't ever ask him to shoot off the dribble because he is as bad you remember.
If you average out his 3pt % from his first 8 seasons in the league, you get 27%. Only in his last couple of seasons with the Wizards has he shot over 33% in his whole career.
Fun fact, in Ariza's first 4 years in the league he had only made 9 three point shots in total. Damn.
It's like night and day. I'm sure I'll probably say something stupid later on during the season about him but damn I love this guy.
he cant keep this up can he? my goodness gracious! I really thought this heat game, after going scoreless in the 1st half, was going to be the game where he comes back down to earth... nope.
Dude has come from a bricklayer to Steve Novak with athleticism in a few years. Respect. So underrated now.
I don't think he can keep it up either, but Ariza is the first dead-eye shooter the Rockets have had since they've gotten Harden. Parsons, Lin, Garcia, Delfino, none of these guys were 3pt specialists. They could shoot 3s but they were not great shooters. So Ariza's actual level may be higher than most people think because he's in a system where he'll get plenty of good looks.
He's gonna regress, can't keep this up, but it's still extremely impressive. Given the fact that 75% of his shots are wide open, I could easily see him shooting 42-43% this year. And he plays D, he's perfect for Harden and Howard. Loving him right now, I've even moved past my PTSD flashbacks of old Ariza. New Ariza can shoot :grin:
Reminded me of the Harden interception leading to a 3 against Indy in Houston last year. Toyota Center would've blown up if the game was in Houston.
