I totally agree. Ariza has played excellent defense all season, but has been hot and cold on offense. In the end, he is definitely a huge part of the Rockets success. When Dwight comes back, the Rox will be the best defensive team in the NBA and on track for a long playoff run!
this isn't the 2000's where teams could add mle after mle after mle with bi annuals and s&ts mixed in, this cba basically sticks you in purgatory once you hit the tax. If you're not a contender, you won't ever become one.
Defense wins championships, mega stars win rings with individual brilliance. We have both these things. I believe in james
We will get that once Dwight, Jones, Cannan and Papa return to the team. Hopefully, less than 2 months from now.
Ariza hit some big shots this game and guarded Gay (who was just chucking any ways) down the stretch.
The consistent narrative on Ariza this season is bad offense, great defense. But is his defense that great? According to NBA.com, Ariza is allowing players he defends to shoot 5 percentage points higher than their FG% on the year (http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/2772/tracking/defense/). He may be guarding the opposing team's best player, but is he guarding them well?
Considering we have one of the best defenses in the league despite our injuries, especially Dwight, yes his defense has been great over all.
Get off Ariza ass. With all the injuries he has to shoot the ball more. Once he goes back to his regular role he will be fine on the offensive end.
lol Does the stats figure in that Ariza is playing with a depleted roster? Ariza no play we would be .500 right now.
You saw him when the team was healthy. Ariza should never be counted on for scoring. His job should always be to defend and hit open shots. He thrives when he is the 4th or 5th best offensive player on the court and teams are leaving him open.
Anybody that doesn't believe Ariza is earning his contract and puts Rockets in a better position to win each and every game.... smdh i can't read anymore of this nonsense. i came. i saw. i left (and never returned)
True, but he was checking Gay all night. I'd give him credit for never letting Gay get into his groove. I do know Gay was doubled for most of the game, but that's Ariza. He's a great team defender whose rotations are sound and decisions he makes on the fly are pretty amazing sometimes. This is why just showing OPP FG% isn't a good way to judge a defender.
Boozer used to play with one of the best defenses in Chicago - does that mean he's a great defender too?
That's interesting and more on point. I still found that stat I gave surprising, but maybe you're right.
What he means is that not having dwight, t jones and beverley(until recently) puts more of an emphasis on Ariza to shut his guy down with no help. At the beginning of the season, Ariza was free to really crowd guys because he had an elite rim protector behind him.
