I wasn't sure Artest vs Ariza would even be an issue when the little 'fa swap' happened. Now there's at least two active threads about it, both at the top of the front page. I still don't think it's even a question of who is better!
morons? why are you so angry? what is wrong with being excited about him playing well? I don't expect him to continue at this pace at all but that doesn't mean he wasn't worth the contract. I would love to know what you expect him to do for mid-level money? What does Ariza need to show you to justify the Rockets bringing him in, because just playing well obviously isn't doing it.
I don't expect Ariza to keep this pace but if the guy can give 18-5-5...I'd be thrilled and considering its his first season in this offense and already looking so darn comfortable which is incredibly promising. He will have his off nights just like this team will but this season is all about development so as along as Ariza continues to develope his game count me as a happy camper!
Artest was placed in that position, last season. During the playoffs, there was no Yao or T-mac and he averaged 9.5 pts in those games.
I was mainly mocking Gakatron and the guy that questioned whether or not I was a Rockets fan for calling the Rockets, minus Yao & T-Mac, a crappy team. I've made it very clear that I think we overrated Ariza by giving him 5 years (notice I am not focusing on the $/year). I've said many times I have followed Ariza from the beginning and have always liked his potential, BUT he has never been consistent. He's playing way above his head right now and while I it continues and I am proven wrong, I think we're in for a big let down. Again, I hope I am wrong and will gladly eat my crow. As for the Artest-Ariza comparisons that other people are making, it's comparing apples to oranges. It's comparing a 3rd/4th option to a guy that has been thrust into the #1 spot (because of our injuries). Not to mention the triangle offense is not an easy system to learn. I think coming to the Rockets will be great experience for Ariza, but comparing the two doesn't make sense.
Artest was our 2nd option last year after McGrady went down for the rest of the season. He should have been tearing it up the league with Yao Ming. He had 24-25 pts/game to make up with T-Mac on the bench. What happened there?
I rooted for artest last year because he was on the rockets and he didn't shine as we expected he would but thats done with it. He is history. Ariza is showing up and getting comfortable so lets root for him. Bash him when he gets on a different team.
i thought it was a bad move during the preseason watching ariza trying to be a playmaker. However he seems to be playing IN the offense unlike artest. Remember how we would have to give artest the ball every 4th posession to keep him happy. Rather instead of giving him the posession he just took it.
Here's my take on the whole von wafer vs. Ariza vs. Artest thing: Wafer: Atheltically the most gifted and most explosive player of the 3. However, poor BB IQ and ability to fit in within the offense made it difficult for him to be a consistent contributor. Artest: Excellent albeit declining Defense. Strong, dominant, passionate. Energizing presence. Offensively - a solid 3 point shooter prone to taking rush shots, has difficulting fitting into a team offense, and very inconsistent. Ariza: Not the best defensive or offensive playing of the 3. Tends to gamble and rely on athleticism on D, and isn't strong enough to harass guys. But nor is he a poor defender. He's still a better defender than 80% of the players in the league. Offensively, he is struggling - hard to tell if it's because of his new role or because he's just not suited for it. Not the best ball handler. Decent passer. Looks like he has worked on his 3 point shot over the past year and has become a 40% 3-point shoot which bodes very well. Has some explosiveness and has ability to finish. Overall, good at a lot of things, not the tops at anything. I think, I'm pretty happy with Ariza. I don't expect him to score 30 points every night, or even 20. If he averages 14-16 a game, we're getting our money's worth. I expect his scoring to drop when Yao returns and of course t-mac returns, but i think those two guys will also want him to be happy.
Ummm.....we got outta the first round and almost beat the NBA World Champs. Sorry to hear you missed it cuz it was awesome. I don't care what one player does. I care about how the team comes out as a whole. If we come out of the Ariza signing as a better team, I'm happy. What can I say? I liked our toughness and how competitive we were with Artest. I hope Ariza can bring us much of the same or more. I just have my doubts.
I've liked Ariza since his Orlando days. He was hurt a lot but the few times I saw him he showed the potential he showed in L.A. A few times last year during our regular season home games against L.A, I thought to myself how cool it would be to swap Artest for Ariza if it were possible. The thought crept back again watching him in the western conference finals and against Orlando. Needless to say I am happy he is here. We shouldn't expect superstar play from him. Just growth/improvement as a player and to learn from his mistakes.
Don't try to change the subject. I was talking about your original comments in your own post below. You said that Ariza is only a 3rd or 4th option thrust into the 1st option as the sole reason for scoring that many points. Artest was thrust into a major scoring role with Yao, after T-Mac went down also. Artest was our 3rd or 4th option thrust into major scoring role with Yao. He averaged only 16-18 pts.
watch the games so far closely. the first quarter last night, all of ariza's shots were WIDE OPEN. they still didn't respect him. he didn't draw any double teams last night despite scoring 33 points. for all his bad offense, artest did draw some double teams when yao went down, esp. in the post. ariza is not going to be a first or 2nd option. at best he's going to be a 3rd option. adelman rarely put the ball in ariza's hands in the 3 games so far and ask him to create. RARELY. and that's not going to change.
The Rockets need Ariza more than Artest. Dude, you think we were going to win it all this year with Artest as our 1st option? I'll smoke some of that good stuff too. Lakers with Ariza have proven to win. Rockets with Artest without Yao Ming has even less chance to win this year, if we met up with the Lakers and Ariza.
im an ariza supporter. i loved the ariza signing. so no, we weren't going to do jack with artest as our 1st/2nd option. what i simply said was (and fans need to chill with ariza being a great scorer sentiments) ariza is never going to be a 2nd option player. he still can't create his own shot off the dribble very well. you just can't improve that. he's going to fall back down to earth but will still produce at a 14-15 ppg clip, which is very good.
Artest can't create off the dribble consistently either and he is even a worse shooter and is loosing his elevation. He barely gets off the ground to even rebound. That's why his numbers are declining. He'll be on the wrong side of 30 in a few weeks.
