Ariza is playing very good in Orlando at this moment and he reminds me of T-Mac, when he was his age. I also know T-Mac was a better player in his 3th season, but Ariza is making progress. Can he become the next T-Mac or not?
When healthy McGrady is the best primeter player in the game. so Ariza has got a long, long, long way to go. however, i can forget that dunk ariza did on ben wallace last season. that was nasty!!
I don't think this thread should be in GARM, but hey, let me just throw in my 2 cents. First of all, no, I don't think Ariza can become as good as Tmac. I haven't seen much of his games since he went to Orlando, but I caught a few games where he played when he was with the Knicks. Basically, he isn't as good as Tmac. At that age, Tmac was averaging 1.9 blocks a game from the SF spot. That's nearly TWO blocks a game for someone playing on the perimeter. That's mighty impressive. Ariza, for his career, has never even averaged 0.5 bpg. Defensively, he's full of energy and he has hops, but he doesn't really utilise them like Mac did. Offensively, he's a far cry from Tmac. While Tmac in Toronto, and even his early days in Orlando, had a shaky jumpshot, it's nowhere near as shaky as Ariza's. If memory serves, Mac still shot a respectable number of 3s in Toronto, and made his fair share of them. Ariza is a dud from beyond 18 feet. Whether he's improved since he went to Orlando, I don't know though. And lastly, both attack the rim about the same. But at that age, Tmac was perhaps better at inventing AND finishing ridiculous shots than Ariza. But Ariza might just be more explosive. It's basically even. Now, whether or not Ariza can be Tmac...I don't know. I don't think so. Part of what made Tracy great is his basketball IQ and ability to read defenses and react accordingly. There's a reason why he was a semi-point-forward in Toronto. Ariza, so far, hasn't blown us away with his playmaking. His jumpshot will get better, and he will put up decent numbers at his peak. But to say whether he'll be in the same echelon of swingmen as a healthy Tmac...I doubt so.
That makes it 4 cents now. This has nothing to do with Rockets. The guy just played well for 5-6 games.
wrong for, and not even close. ariza is a much different type of player. I don't think he'll ever develop the point-forward-like ability. Nor will he be able to dominate a game offsenively/create plays for others. I've always thought he'd be a solid player, and he may well exceed those expectations.. but not to the tune of TMac level.
I haven't read any of the posts. I live in Orlando and have watched both of them play. Trevor lacks a little something called being able to handle the ball. Last time I checked that's pretty important in basketball. Imagine Steve Nash not being able to dribble. How good would he be? Trevor is a good player, but this is blasphemy. There are a bunch of more athletic swingmen in the league than Kobe abd Tmac, but they don't have any of the other tools: Gerald Wallace, Travis Outlaw, Ariza, Desmond Mason, Mickael Pietrus etc The best Ariza can hope for is to be similar to Jason Richardson
But oh my gosh, Gerald Wallace has the tools to be a freakin GOD in the AK47 department. Except he's just like AK himself. Cant get on the freakin court enough to play. What a beast though.
Trevor can't even come close to the Tmac we have now with the back problems. I don't think Trevor makes his teammates better like Tmac does to his. And in terms of IQ, Tmac will always be superior in this department.
