Since all we can do is speculate, here's my speculation: Some people don't have good social/people skills. They don't really like crowds or spotlights. And yet some of these people want the spotlight without having to be in it, if that makes sense. (He never seems like he wants to be interviewed after games; doesn't smile much and when he does it seems a bit forced.) I suspect he's not as social in the locker room or in practice as other players. So he hasn't been absorbed into the "team". He was given a long-term contract without having demonstrated "goods" in starter type minutes in LA. Naturally, this may also work against being embraced by teammates -- they wait and watch to see who you really are, rather than who team management says or you say who you are -- or will be. Expectations were raised by management and the coaching staff of how he had so much more ability than was being utilized in LA. Ariza obviously thought so, too. This coupled with a championship ring can easily lead to a sense of entitlement and assumed "leadership" that is an unspoken part of the hype surrounding his coming here. All of the players make mistakes. We've all watched and cringed at some of the bad, lazy passes that Ariza, Battier, Budinger, Brooks, Lowry, Hayes... oh, well, more than few players have made. Not to mention bad shots they've all taken at one time or another. In short, Ariza has looked just as lost and dumb as any other Rocket player whose made mistakes. And he has not demonstrated any superior ability or reason to get into other players faces about theirs. And even if he had there are better ways to get a teammate to respond and respect you than to get angry AT them. Frustration can be conveyed without it feeling personal. This is just another skill that he needs to develop in addition to the potential physical skills he and mangement thinks he has and can develop. First things first, though. Until you really can demonstrate the skills you think you have on a regular basis, it's better to work on and correct your own mistakes before helping others with theirs.
you know... Will Smith played him in that movie with a Ariza lookin Drunk superman http://www.firstshowing.net/img/hancock-posterbig-trl.jpg Here is the link.
I've noticed he's done the same to Battier... and I'm beginning to hate his attitude.. especially after he tried to 'bow old boy in the back of the head
TL;DR but probably already mentioned...I'm guessing Ariza adopted this attitude from Kobe. Ariza thought he was brought here to be the main star as well as the leader. I also find it very lame and detrimental to the team. Especially when it's your first year and these other guys have been together longer.
I didn't mean for this to become that big of a deal, but it is something that apparently many of us have noticed. I watched the HD broadcast, but recorded the standard one. That cuts off the widescreen, so Ariza falls out of the screen much sooner than he did in the HD broadcast. So some of what we saw on the first play is not there, which is unfortunate -- he seemed pretty upset with Brooks. So anyway, I decided to instead do more of a joke video showing all the times Ariza wanted the ball and didn't get it. In crunch time, he begged for it, got it and missed that key three. I watched the game again this morning, and he's just very demonstrative when things aren't going right. If a player isn't where he's supposed to be, he'll let them know it. Or he will raise his hands up in the air if it looks like the play is different than what he expected. I also think he's hanging around the three-point line way too many times. I can't tell if this is by design or not, but there are times when four players are moving around while Ariza is strictly looking for an open three. For a guy who is a career 31% 3P shooter, that's not good (by the way, for all those begging for Andre Iguodala, can you imagine a 2-3 combo of Iguodala-Ariza hanging out beyond the arc centered around a post presence like Yao Ming? That's scary ugly.) <object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hu7LxM22Mgo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hu7LxM22Mgo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>
^ That play at 1:18 is just infuriating. Brooks passes to Ariza, and directs him to swing the ball to Battier so Landry can get the ball in the post. Ariza instead takes a contested 3-point shot which has maybe a 30% chance of going in. I just don't think that's smart.
Wow, that video is ugly. To me the the thing that upsets me the most is Ariza's body language when he "doesn't" get the pass. It's like he just stands there, or just gives up on the play. Where instead he should be moving, cutting, or following a shot for a rebound. Personally, I think Ariza will look better in a Yao-centric offense where he can play off him. I think his numbers will improve. But that aside, I don't like the body language. Is Ariza getting more leash because he is Morey's top FA acquisition over the summer?
And you can see AB was clearly upset after the play. On the surface, he showed it to the referee. But I think it is at least partially a reflection of his anger/frustration towards Ariza as well.
Damn that's funny stuff. Looks like the team is teaching him a lesson for ball hogging almost. Go AB!
According to the video, everytime Ariza wants the ball and doesn't get it, we can't score anyway. I'm sure he's thinking he could brick the ball way better than those other guys.
Seriously, how can anyone NOT notice this....if Rick and Morey are as good at people management as I hope they need to show this to Trevor. This is REALLY damning....he is killing the team out there.....and they are freezing him out to some degree......SMARTLY I might add. And I said it earlier, Brooks is passive aggressive, he is just not going to listen and do it his way....love it. DD
i like the two hands in the air bunny hop... then how they come crashing down to his side and he stands in cement when he doesn't get the ball... the one play he keeps faking the back door cut over and over and keeps extending further out... lastly... maybe its not his fault.. he is wearing me-mac's (she-mac, mclady, etc) jersey...
That play at :35 shows a lot. Even when not having the ball, Ariza stalls the offense on that play for a good 5 seconds. Everyone else was piled up on the other side of the court, expecting Ariza to come out for the pass from Landry. He doesn't jump out strong enough for Landry to pass him the ball. And when Dudley was overplaying that pass, Ariza doesn't fully commit to the cut to the basket. He stays in the same general location for the entire play, which contradicts Adelman's system for quick decision-making and ball/player movement for all five guys. I'm not even concerned with Ariza's shooting as much as his indecisiveness and hesitation. Some other habits that I've noticed from Ariza: -When receiving the ball from a player, he'll dribble several walking steps around the perimeter and then pass the ball back to the same player. -He'll drive to the basket halfway, and either pull it back out again, or pick up his dribble with no one to pass to and having no intent to shoot. Doing these things, he takes time off the shot clock, and sets up a tough shot for himself or someone else on the team.
