he'll have tracy and aaron brooks next year. and it's a matter of time before morey pulls a star here to houston. btw, you make it seem SO EASY to hit wide open shots. how come derek fisher, vujacic, farmar, or the other lakers couldn't make those same shots that kobe/gasol/odom provided them? i mean, even ariza could hit them right? so lemme repeat myself: IF ariza gets those same shots (i'm simply claiming he's a great wide open spot up shooter), he'll knock them down. he'll struggle playing without a star/scorer who will get him those shots. why? b/c he's not a scorer/star player and i never claim him to be so. BUT if mcgrady returns healthy and aaron brooks elevate his game, those 2 guys can get our perimeter guys open shots. he's going to make the MLE. he's a good pickup and a great asset to have. and he's young/athletic. and he showed improvement last year. don't group those who think he's the savior with those who think he'll be a great role player. BIG DIFFERENCE.
Some of youmisunderstand everyones optimism on Ariza. We never say he is gonna be a star player signed at mid level money. Even his contract isnt a star players contract like the dumb media keep tryin it out of proportion because they are on LA's jock strap to punish him for leaving them. Its just Mid level money. Less a year than Scola makes. Less than Battier makes. Tmac, Yao, Cook, and even Kelvin Cato made or Maurice Taylor. it really isnt star money and nevr was expected of him. What is the media overhuping this for and some people? He was brought in to be a good contributer to the team and make us younger and that is exactly what he is already and doesnt even have to live up to much to reach that level. They are trying to set him up by setting the bar real high and saying he is a bust to mess him up if he doesnt become allstar level. What if he is just real good and we win though? Fine not gonna get open shots without Kobe. Same thing could be said for Fisher when he left yet performed better with Utah without Kobe. Maybe Ariza just developed because he is 24 years old around the time he was on Kobes team? That happens around that age. What if he just gives you 10 points 2 steals and 4 rebounds? Thats pretty good with his defense. Thats mid level money production. I suppose Kobe fed him all those steals and break away fast break dunks and layups? What about the plays that Kobe didnt pass to him for a three pointer? LOL!
Ariza and Battier are redundant......they are the same type of player. One is more athletic and a better slasher, the other is a better set shooter and team defender. It is why I wanted Von, we need contrast.....I love Battier but I think it is time to package him for something better. DD
I would really hope that he'll come back and make the team better, but chances are it probably won't happen...
why's everybody want batman to be traded he's a good shooter,he's a team work player with a heart of a champion,and he can lock down any player. i would pick him over von anyday (i like von though)
I've been saying this since for awhile despite what is said in the press. Adelamn has been looking for a way to decrease shane's role or get rid of him since he got here. Just as he phased out hayes and was starting to go with brooks, adelman isnt a the type of coach that likes specialist. I'm willing to bet he actively recruited Ariza big time. He sees Ariza as a better version of Kersey who played well under adelman. A guy who can transition on rebounds,steals,and blocks, defend,slash,and rub within the offense. His jumper has gotten better and he doesn't need as long a windup to get it off. Shane wont make it till the end of the season.
Exactly. I'm assuming Ariza is here to stay so until Battier is moved for (or as part of a package) an impact player the Ariza signing was a bad idea. Unless there is an imminent deal that we just don't know about I don't get the logic behind signing redundant role players BEFORE you get your superstar they are supposed to compliment.
Ariza's deal is for far more than what Scola makes. Not to mention more than Cook makes and just a little less than Battier makes.
Doeant mean a 24 year old Battier isnt worth MID LEVEL money. Not top level or star level or even really great 6th man level but MID LEVEL MARCIN GORTAT type money. LOL!
By 24 year old Battier I mean Ariza. The guy who makes as much as Marcin Gortat. Less than Eddie Curry.
You don't get a star player to fit in with your role players. You get your role players to fit in with your star players. What if Morey pulls of a deal for a star SG/SF? It isn't so easy but it isn't worth paying a guy what Ariza is making when we don't even have a star for him to get open shots off of. He won't get those shots. McGrady isn't Kobe. Aaron Brooks isn't Kobe. Not even close. I think for the money he wouldn't be a bad deal for a team that was maybe just a piece or two from contending with one of those missing pieces being a defensive minded SF who shoots jumpers. The Rockets already have a role player who is basically an older but smarter version of Ariza who happens to be a much better shooter over the course of his career than Ariza is. You can't just forget about the first 4 1/2 years of Ariza's career because he shot well for half a season and shot threes great in the playoffs.
you don't know what moves morey has in mind. it could very well be battier is a trade bait. regardless, i find ariza a good signing. he's 24 and showed improvement. hopefully, he'll continue to show improvement. i know chauncey billups isn't a fair comparison to ariza, but i'll bring it up to your last point. he had a regrettable first 5 years in the NBA before he found his "niche." it takes time for certain players to "get it." it took an injury for ariza to understand he needed to develop a jumpshot for him to find a role in this league, and not just depend on his athleticism. and if he continues to improve, even a little bit, he'll be BETTER than what battier has been for us in the long run. and you make it seem like only kobe and the lakers get those guys great shots i don't remember any laker shooting the ball as well as ariza did for the longest time since shaq left and kobe was the man. there was a reason kobe wanted ariza to stay so much. trevor played his role to a T in LA. and hopefully, he'll do whatever adelman asked of him and thrive in this offense. we all known battier is NOT meant for adelman's offense since all he does is camp in the corner.
Anytime you can upgrade the team and get younger, you do it. If you keep going back to over the course of their career, then Barry shouldve played more than wafer, but wafer is the better player that why he played. Ariza is a better player than shane. Shane is a good player trending downward and Ariza is a younger player trending upward. So what if there is a deal for a sg/sf? If thats the deal, more than likely battier is on his way out the door. Trevor is going to score multiple ways and defend also. He's not going to be just a spot up corner guy. He will get in transition via rebounds,steals,blks, or missed shots. To say that a team cant create wide open shots without a double team situation is also wrong. Drive and kick or pnr are also good ways to get open shots. Every team defends the paint 1st and penetration and kick always yield good looks. Also, Adelamns offense with the screens and rubs are going to also.
The fact that Kobe loved him (I'm taking your word on that) and that he played his role perfectly yet LA let him walk tells me how much they thought they needed him. Smart teams don't let such valuable pieces walk for nothing. Regarding Battier, if the Rockets use him as part of a package to bring in a legit All Star or deal him straight up for proven starter at Center then I'll re-evaluate how I feel about the Ariza signing.
You can talk up pick and roll, drive and kick, fast breaks, Adelman's offense etc. but the fact remains that Ariza's shots came directly from the fact he played with the MVP, an All Star PF and a near All Star PF/SF who handles the ball like a SG. Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola are not going to create 1/10 the open looks Ariza had in LA. Even the mythical healthy McGrady isn't going to get Ariza the amount of wide open looks he needs to be effective offensively like he was in the playoffs. I also think the demise of Battier is grossly overstated. The guy is 30 and does not rely on his athleticism at all to be effective. He's basically a larger Bruce Bowen and Bowen stayed very effective until his mid 30s. He played injured much of last year and looked much better as he got healthy. I've restated my opinion too many times already (this is a long summer). I'm done with Ariza talk until the season starts. I hope I'm wrong about the guy but I see disappointment on the horizon for Rockets fans.
Maybe they already knew that they were getting Ron-Ron (Judging from Ron-Ron's frequent LA-homerism in his tweets n al.. ) and if that is the case.. I tell you what.. Ron Ron makes much more sense than Ariza Ron is extremely effective against the physical SGs/ SFs (Lebron james?--potential NBA finalist?) .. unlike Ariza.. and Kobe can handle the quicker guards on defense.. now .. don't you think things fall into place? and Ron Ron is more effective than Ariza in offense.. he can also make open shots.. shoot that corner 3 ball ..
Ron Artest is a good player, but he's a headcase at the same time. He has talent, but he used to get by on physical talent...he never really had good bball IQ. Even on defense, he always gambled too much. People will say Phil Jackson was able to coach Dennis Rodman, who was maybe the biggest headcase the NBA has ever witnessed. However there is a HUGE difference between Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest...bball IQ. For all the antics Rodman did while he was playing, the man knew his role and did it better than anybody else in the league. The 2 DPOY and 7 consecutive rebounding titles back that up. He NEVER thought he was bigger than the team on the court...off the court, he felt he was the man, but he never let that get between him and winning. Whether it was with Isaiah, Joe D, Vinny Johnson, Mahorn and Lambier, David Robinson and Sean Elliot, or Jordan and Pippen, he never got in their way of helping the team have the best opportunity to score on offense. He simply cleaned up anything they missed, and played great defense vs. shooting guards and small forwards in Detroit to players like Dream and Shaq in San Antonio and Chicago. Ron Artest on the other hand, was dumb enough not to get Yao Ming the ball...one of the most efficient and double-teamed players in the league. He felt it was better to dribble around the 3 point line aimlessly and jack up a 3 at the last second, or he would try to be a playmaker like Tmac and create for others...the other team that is with his turnovers. Thats what he did with a "player's coach" in RA...Phil Jackson, especially at his age, will not be any more strict than Adelman was. LA's best hope is that Kobe will babysit Ron...something Jordan was not willing to do with Rodman. Ron Artest honestly believes that he is the most offensively and defensively talented player to ever play the game and he lets that spill over to the court. I wonder how much fun Kobe will have trying to convince Ron otherwise... I think Ron is more talented than Ariza, but on the Lakers, Ariza was much more effective. They lose their best athlete, and another long player. Artest at this stage of his career is no where near the defender that he once was. His physical play is against the rules in today's NBA, and he simply hasn't had the foot speed or lateral quickness ever since he came back from his 73 game suspension to be an elite defender. On top of that, he isn't a smart defender like Battier and Bowen. LA has Kobe, Gasol, Odom, and Bynum to create shots for themselves or others. They don't need a much less efficient and stupid shot creator...in my opinion Artest makes the Lakers worse with his distractions on the court more than anything.
Excellent post, Black Knight. Ron's poor shot selection and tendency to be a ball hog are going to cause fits for the Lakers next season. He'll probably start the season trying to out-Kobe Kobe in some games, which will likely lead to some interesting smackdowns from Kobe. The man does not like his mantle threatened, even by a poseur like Ron Ron. Other than Artest's good stretch in March and April, he flat-out cost us several games with his tunnel vision ball handling and desire to score. I was at the Pacer game in November when he brought the ball down the court for our last five possessions, never once passed, and missed five consecutive shots. The Pacers scored on their last possession and won by 1 pt. It was disgraceful. My (usually drunk) friend started a chant called "Bench Ar-test!" It drew us some dirty looks, but it never caught on. Maybe it should have.
