We need someone else who can handle the ball and shoot and someone else who can defend and finish in the paint...... and go.....
Yeah, I failed at that New Year's resolution that I set every year and always break the day after. But, if you're ever on the north side of town I got you.
Just want to say here as I've said elsewhere, Ariza is going to catch fire the rest of the way. He is a totally different player when he's not tired, and that has been true for almost a decade. We have an overall talent problem. We should be looking to upgrade every position other than Harden. SF or C or SG or PF, doesn't matter, we need to consolidate our assets into better individual players. We have too many average to above average players, and no great ones except maybe Gordon. We can address this after the season, it's not a burning issue. Ariza will shoot better than 40% the rest of the way and he will not slip up on defense as much as he has been. Dekker seems to be regressing to old habits he had in college but I think MDA yells him out of it effectively lol.
I don't think SF is the problem. I think the SF on the Rockets is over-extended because there is not good interior defense with Ryan Anderson at the 4. While he might provide good spacing he really isn't a good defender. Ariza is a consistent player on this team but he is tired and over-extended while sliding to make up for Ryan's inability to defend.
There really aren't many players in the NBA that can competently defend the 2-3-4 and hit open threes. Ariza might be mediocre at both of those things, but he is STILL a premium player as a result. I really wish there were better options that didn't cost a fortune. It's the reason that guys like Demarre Carroll get serious cash. One guy that is sort of interesting in our system is Omri Casspi. He is making 3 million bucks this year on a 1 year deal. Wouldn't mind having him in the stockade with Mike D'Antoni. Each of the last 3 seasons he has shot over 40 percent from three.
We need this. We need that. You can't just pluck whatever you want off the magic talent tree. If you're talking about upgrading before the end of the season, then where are you willing to downgrade? Unless you think a player from China or wherever can make an impact.
Yes. I do. There are more capable back ups available than KJ, Ennis, Onuaku, Brown, etc. Even Brewer.
The only player mentioned there who is relevant is Brewer, because he is the only one currently getting minutes. Bring in whomever. Can't hurt. But I think it's difficult to imagine there are a lot of obvious players who would crack our rotation or NBA scouts are terrible. But we got Beverley of course. Just don't know that I would bet on any professionals outside the NBA moving the needle.
Were really good when Ariza scores 15+ ppg. We need that consistent production from him every game. When we get that we're very hard to beat. The sf in our system gets a lot of open corner and slot threes. He needs to be knocking them down at 40+%
You are absolutely right and I 100% agree with you but. Ariza and consistent do not go in the same sentence, and he's had one season in his entire career where he shot 40% from three (contract year). The unfortunate truth is we will not win a championship with Ariza as our starting SF. Offensively he is a dinosaur, almost every team in the entire league let alone contenders has a starting wing who can do something off the dribble our at least finish, we do not. This really hamstrings our offense and our ability to be dynamic and unpredictable. At least there are some posters who now acknowledge this but also state we can't get everything we need at once (which is a fair enough take), but the posters who think Ariza is fine and our SF situation is not a major concern are in denial. I'm happy with him remaining on the squad if we can get an upgrade without parting ways with him, but he needs to be coming off the bench or playing spot minutes as a small ball 4.
Would it be correct in saying we are only above average with one player in their role - Harden? Gordon is great for us, but he is really not an intimidating #2 option. When people say we need something, I guess I don't just want to hear the problem - I want to hear a solution. If you want Wilson Chandler, who are you going to give up? We don't have many players other teams would really want. Of those, there aren't any we can give up that won't totally screw something else up. You have to remember - other teams with better SF's don't have an otherworldly MVP candidate. All teams can't be Golden State with an advantage at every position. We have a huge advantage with Harden and disadvantages elsewhere. The Bulls won with BJ Armstrong and Paxson, etc.
