Let Ariza be aggressive in the preseason. The results don't matter. He might fail, but at least we'll have given him a shot to prove what he can do. I don't see why anyone would knock him for trying to be better. My personal hope is for him to have a similar growth as Gerald Wallace. That guy was raw as hell offensively, and while still unrefined his scoring averages have expanded to the high teens. That's really impressive for a swingman with bad handles. If he can improve his midrange game and continue slashing, Ariza will score.
From the 3 games, I saw Ariza's defense was still at a high level. He was struggled at the offense end. He tried to do too much at the both ends. I think his pressure will be reduced when Battier is back. He will be fine.
And another right here! (hope we get to see a new wallpaper with all the new guys sometime, Rocketeer... you're the best! )
I think Ariza needs to focus more on playing within the offense instead of going one-on-one and trying to force it. Passing the ball around and having more body movement will open up easier opportunities for Ariza than trying to go iso like Tmac or Kobe.
c'mon durvasa, adelman is an elite nba coach. he's not that foolish. mcgrady is (or at least was) an elite scorer and playmaker and ariza isn't even average in this categories. it's pretty obvious what adelman and the rockets are thinking about ariza. they signed a player that still has some room to grow offensively but who's also limited talent wise in this area. it's preseason and they want to know exactly what kind of role ariza could handle. they put him in a situation where he can be a main guy on the team and see what happens. is there a better time to see if he can handle it than preseason? trust me, neither adelman nor morey are really counting on ariza to play t-mac's role. but they're probably trying to find out if ariza can be more than a shane battier on offense and if that would make battier expendable, especially for next season and beyond.
You've been on Clutchfans too long. There's always delusional expectations. I expected we got Trevor Ariza, not LeBron James.
it doesn't help that it comes from the team also. like cabb said, he's a great signing for that price and for what he does. the team has to let ariza be ariza, and not put too much pressure on the guy.
I couldn't agree more. There is NO comparison between McGrady and Ariza, other than than they're tall, athletic swingmen. That's where the buck stops. I stand by my thoughts that if Ariza is expected to be a primary souce of offensive firepower and playmaking, the Rockets are in for a huge disappointment.
