i completely disagree. pippen is one of the best perimeter defenders... ever. ariza's not there yet, pippen was long and athletic, great one on one defender, great team defender, at least when he played with michael.
Seriously I just hope he doesn't get the Rocket's "I was great on another team now I'm a rocket and a shadow of my former self." syndrome...
i dont think brooks has a better shot than him, remember He's got lowry backing him up, who's supposedly improved his J and lost weight...i dont see brooks getting enough minutes to boost up his numbers enough...pts for example, he avg 11 and will probably jump up to about 14.. Ariza on the other hand, will be able to play the 2 and 3 spots which are our 2 weakest spots (center is weak, but the starting spot is really yao's)....so ariza will have the opportunity to play more minutes and a chance to prove himself.. and he only scored like 8 pts a game last season, so he's got more room available to improve.. He only played 24 mins and still managed 1.7 stls a game, i hope he can continue at that rate when playing 30+ mins..
Ya, he's not there yet...Pippen had the length and athleticism when he came in, but he didn't have the smarts, technique, and strength. He learned from Jordan and got much stronger after his first couple of seasons. Remember, Jordan was DPOY in 1988, Pippen's rookie season...he definitely had a great teacher to learn from. Battier is nowhere near the defender Jordan was athletically, but he makes up for it in his discipline and knowledge of every player he faces on defense. Ariza has the athleticism, the length, and is already 24, so he should be stronger by now. He's a proven defender in the passing lanes and weakside help defender. If Battier can teach him how to use his length to contest a shot, and also teach him to take charges and use his positioning instead of his athleticism, he Ariza will become a complete defensive player. Right now, Ariza is similar to Clyde Drexler on D...not great one on one, but due to his tremendous athleticism, can pick off a pass with the best of them, and get a few blocks here and there. Ariza has all the tools to be a great defensive player...now he just needs to learn from Battier the way Pippen learned from Jordan and he'll be a top defensive player in this league.
