Adelman promised Ariza the Rockets would feature him offensively

Morey's conceded the Rockets lacked playmaking with McGrady out. Ron wasn't great but had some point-forward abilities. Rockets aren't getting any of that with Ariza. With all the pre-draft rumors about the Rockets thinking they could find a replacement for Brooks in the draft. I wouldn't be surprised to see them move Brooks for a PG with better playmaking skills.

 

I extrapolated out his desire to start and be featured.......

DD

 

Everyone is "featured" in Adelman's offense. I don't know why people are worried that Ariza would be featured.

 

You extrapolate a lot. So now at the end of the season, what? You say "I told you so" when he doesn't do what no one's said he'd do?

I've seen the ones that state Ariza came here because his role was to be expanded and he could grow as a player, but haven't seen all the ones that state he was to be a focal point or "the man".

Until I see some evidence of what was stated, I don't think that at the end of the year, Ariza should be judged by whether or not he scored 17 ppg or got 6 assists per game, etc. He's not a superstar, and probably wasn't brought here to be one. I'm tired of people bashing this kid because he's not going to be the next 20 ppg scorer when nobody's said he would be.

Now if he turns out to be one, I'll definitely be digging up old threads and have a damn field day doing it... lol.

 

See my signature below.

Ariza is the No Stats All Star with Stats.

 

Giving someone that has done absolutely nothing in this league, without the help of Kobe, the chance to develop his game is what the Grizzlies, Bobcats and Thunder of the league do. Not regular playoff contenders like the Houston Rockets, especially for 5 years.

The only thing I can think he is insurance for Battier, Landry and Hayes over the next couple of years.

 

This is another thing I was going to type. On his successful Kings teams, there was a good point distribution among his players and playing time given to bench players in the rotation. I'm sure Ariza will get more time and a more active role in the offense, especially if he starts improving as a player. Let's see what his role ends up being before we crucify the kid without him having even shot a damn shot for us.

 

I would be happy if you did.



I guess Ariza is the new Doug Christie.....the problem is we have 2 of them, we need our young Peja.

DD

 

I actually think jakedasnake may have found the perfect comparison to Ariza in Gerald Wallace.

Wallace gets drafted out of high school and is nothing special for the Kings except as a slashing wing. Then, he gets exposed to and selected in the expansion draft by the Bobcats, who offer him a "featured role" in their offense. He responds by putting up a respective 11.1 ppg his first year in Charlotte. Then, by the age of 23 or so, Gerald Wallace's game TAKES OFF. The past few seasons, Wallace has been a star player stuck on a bad team.

Ariza's story is fairly similar. Trevor was drafted after only his freshman year at UCLA. He was an effective slasher and defender for the Knicks (and even then was perhaps their only quality player that year). Then he gets a nice deal with the Magic, who use him as a slasher and defender. Inexpicably (but presumably to make room for Hedo and Rashard), Ariza is traded to the Lakers at the age of 22. His first and only full season with the Lakers, Trevor puts together a quality season en route to a championship, putting up ~9 ppg while being the fifth option on the floor. Now that Ariza has JUST turned 24, he's ready to take off.

If the Rockets are getting themselves a Gerald Wallace-caliber player (or perhaps better) for the next 5 years using only the MLE, I'll take that in a heartbeat.

 

Touche..... t_mac1. Not quite 10 years ago nobody thought Mcgrady was ever going to be an all-star. He didn't have the ballhandling or the playmaking capabilities to be featured in an offense. They (Raptors) thought he was the PERFECT complimentary player. He (Mcgrady) wanted to go somewhere that presented a greater opportunity.

I'm not saying Ariza will turn out like Mcgrady as it's highly unlikely but it's not entirely impossible. With that said; his size, raw talent, physical attributes, willingness to improve and most importantly age are all in his favor.

One of the biggest challenges for a young player with a miniscule role that has to constantly deffer while possessing all the tools I mentioned above is finding that perfect OPPORTUNITY to develop your game and have a chance to become a go-to-guy or star.

To back my argument aside from Tmac... I'll give you 3 different players that play 3 different positions that all possessed the potential and showed flashes until becoming a star.

Jermaine O'neal from Blazers to Pacers. He was young, talented and buried behind a bunch of talented guys. He wouldn't have turned into what he was for the Pacers (20/10/2blks) guy without an opportunity.

Gerald Wallace from Kings to Bobcats. Another young, talented guy who showed small flashes but was buried behind a bunch of talented veterans. He wouldn't have turned into the number 1 option and further developed his game without an opportunity.

Devin Harris from Mavs to Nets. Yet another young, talented guy who looked like he was going to be a solid pro in the NBA. He luckily got traded somewhere that presented a greater opportunity for him to play a larger role and develop his game further. He went from GOOD to GREAT as he ceased his opportunity.

Trevor Ariza may not pop off right away and have a dramatic statistical makeover in his first year althought it's certainly possible. But if he's given 38-40 minutes a night (the opportunity) and is "featured" (Adelman runs some plays for him) I can see him averaging roughly anywhere from 15-18 PPG/ 6 rebounds/ 3 assists a game. In addition to the great transition defense he plays.

I'm stoked... To say the least.

 

I have a strong feeling that this grapevine comment has more to do with the Rockets taking over complete control of basketball operations for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this year than it has to do with Taylor or Budinger in particular.

The Rockets are going to be closely observing ALL of the players playing in the summer leagues this summer, trying to find those who would work best in the Adelman system. With the Rockets controlling the Vipers' operations, the Vipers will most likely be running that system all season. The benefits of this are tremendous. Not only with guys like Dorsey, Taylor and Budinger be able to get significant playing time IN THE ADELMAN SYSTEM next year during any D-League stints, but so will all the other players on the Vipers' roster. If the Rockets are hand-picking the entire Vipers roster, there is a much bigger field of players that they can pick from in the event that they need to sign someone to a 10-day contract. Rather than just conjecture, Morey and Adelman will KNOW if a guy can fit into their system at the time they bring him in.

I've said it before, but this new deal with the Vipers is HUGE for the Rockets. Especially if they are re-building and want to maximize their young talent.

 

Did Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, or Doug Christie create their own shots in Sacramento?

have some faith that the system will provide the shot opportunities.

 

He'll probably be "featured" a la Jason Christie, who RA coached in Sac. Basically be a defensive specialist with a few offensive plays called for him --that would be a few more plays called his way compared to playing alongside Kobe. Whatever get's him to sign the dotted lines .

 

Doug Christie, sorry

 

I mean of course we will feature him in the offense, we signed him right? That doesn't mean he will become the number 1 option.

 

Good point.

Yeah it was more of the Princenton offense which created opportunities for 2 of those guys, Peja and Christie, who scored from spot-up shooting and backdoor layups. Lot's of fluid motion, backdoor cuts and screens and not a whole lot of traditional Isos = touches for everyone (especially w/o Artest holding on to the ball). Webber could create his own shots in any system. He had decent handles for his size and was a nice low post presence, which is why teams conceded the mid-range jumpers to him.

 

Not to take anything away from "the grapevine", but considering that we're likely going to be without Yao and Tracy until after the New Year at least and that the free-agent market at the 5 is very thin, I'd say this is a given.

 

phil jackson would LOVE to have kobe just finish instead of making plays. that's why you see odom handle the ball at times (but b/c his head is never in the game, it's risky to put the ball in his hands all the time to make plays). i think phil watches ariza in practices and knows his strengths and weaknesses. i'm sure if ariza had some playmaking abilities, phil would let him do some of that. it's always good to take pressure away from your best player.

but you're right, we will know soon enough. i wish i was wrong and ariza is going to develop into an all-star, which will mean we got a steal.

i have had league pass for the past few years so i've watched a lot of laker games b/c i do like to watch kobe (the player) plays. from what i have seen, ariza is a PERFECT role player. he's what shane battier should be on offense and more. he can shoot the 3, can take it to the rack off double teams, go hard at the basket, athletic...

once we get that superstar, ariza is going to shine even more in adelman's offense.

 

i love this discussion so far. but i have to disagree

1) toronto thought tracy would be an all-star. that's why they (along with chicago and orlando) offered him the max. he didn't get the MLE like ariza. and tracy got that contract at the age of 21. he had star potential written ALL OVER him. in his last year in toronto, he was their PG, handling most of the ball instead of their actual PG, alvin williams. vince was the finisher. what teams didn't know is tracy's ridiculous ability to score. everyone knew he could have been a scottie pippen type of player. so i don't think anybody thought tracy was simply going to be a complimentary player.

2) jermaine o'neal just came on a team STACKED with PFs/Cs (wallace/sabonis). and he was drafted at 17 years old. High schoolers outside of lebron took YEARS (3-4) to develop. jermaine was freakin' skinny as hell when portland drafted him.

3) gerald wallace is a great example of what ariza could be in terms of being role players to "star role players." and like i said, i hope i'm wrong. but if anything, he'll be more of gerald. wallace IS a role player, but a "star" role player ala shawn marion. gerald doesn't create his own shots or make plays for his teammates. he hustles, rebounds, get the dirty finishes around the rim, and get plays drawn for him here or there. if ariza turns out to be like him and be that 3rd/4th option, i'm ecstatic.

devin harris HAD potential. i knew that. cuban was just too impatient to wait for his growth. he had ballhandling, speed, quickness... ariza has little of those.

 

As a potential "star role player", at least Ariza's shot is nowhere near as ugly as Wallace and Marion's shots