I gotta say I was surprised to see Trevor Ariza coming off the bench. If he is, then what was the point of leaving LA? Bench on a championship team>bench on rockets team. He would also have gotten the same amount of money....I wonder what Rick's thought process was for Battier over Ariza in starting. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6905634.html Ariza shows rust After a few rough early minutes, Trevor Ariza turning things around in his return from six games out with a severe hip pointer. He made just 1 of 7 shots in the first half, but 3 of 6 in the second, scoring 10 of his 13 points. "Early, I was a little shaky, little out of rhythm," said Ariza, who came off the bench for the first time with the Rockets. "Once one shot went in, I started to feel a little better." Asked if he would be all right if Rick Adelman continues to bring him off the bench, Ariza said, "If we’re winning, I don’t mind, but that’s not up to me. "It’s good to be at full strength," Ariza said. "Now we have to get in sync, get back to our roles and under-stand what we’re trying to do." For now, he said, he was just happy to be back. "It’s been a long time," Ariza said. "I’ve been very frustrated. Having injuries and being out is kind of frustrating, but there was nothing I could do about it. It was painful off the court, too. I couldn’t sneeze, cough, talk too loud, laugh, anything, without it hurting. Also I had to wait for the muscle off my hip to heal." It could have been worse. Ariza rarely talks too loudly. "I do (speak loudly) the rare times I try to tell Chuck (Hayes) I’m getting beat, I can’t talk loud and he can’t hear me," Ariza said.
He's probably not fully recovered yet, in the end, so he went off the bench. I'll bet he starts against the Nets. < Good. >
Ariza will start. He's coming off of an injury so Coach felt more comfortable bringing him in easy. Ariza runs so if we want that uptempo offense for the starters he's starting.
So does that mean when everyone eats their vitamins and is at full health, Battier is one that goes to the bench? Martin is too good to come off the bench.
I would imagine Trev will start and shane will come off the bench. Coach wanted to let him settle in off the bench his first game (maybe two) back most likely.
The guy is coming back from injury. I don't think anyone expected him to jump immediately into the starting lineup his first game back - not even him. They will eventually work him back into big minutes...maybe not starting, but playing big minutes for sure. ...personally I'm excited to see Ariza playing off a shot creator like Martin. It will free him up to move without the ball and get himself some easier shots and not have to create of the dribble which is not one of his strengths.
I like Ariza's defense and him driving to the basket over him shooting and let martin shoot, that IS if he starts which i'd prefer. Battier and Lowry's backcourt to midcourt D would great, plus battier is coming back from flu and it stays with you even when the nausea and headaches are gone.
He will start, he knows this season isn't going to matter in the long run, in respect to who starts, and Shane will probably be moved next season.
I would start him but who knows. Maybe this might be a tend and coach might keep him on the bench for that extra bit of scoring we're missing now that Landry isn't here.
The opinions expressed thus far are valid and reasonable. However, I think it likely that Battier will continue to start (for now) as he is the team captain.
not surprised...battier is the vet, a captain, and needs more scorers around him. He also may complement them better since he wont be taking shots away and is a better help defender, which is needed with martin and brooks out there.
Ariza will start again next to Battier. Martin comes off the bench to replace Landry's 6th man scoring. /kidding
The defense is really going to suffer when Shane goes to the bench. Without a shotblocker, Martin's and Ariza's gambling style really doesn't work that well. Aside from his more conservative defensive style, Shane really is the only shotblocker on this team. That's all the more reason to play Jordan Hill though, and that's all what we really care about at this moment. :grin:
Trevor SHOULD be coming off the bench. He has not proven himself to be a capable starter this season. He also fits better with Lowry than Shane does. Regardless, he will return to the starting lineup because there is no way his fragile ego will be able to handle a benching on a long term basis
... I don't think he's gonna start. If we can make a run now, Adelman won't change anything, and I think we are starting a good streak. Ariza off the bench with Lowry, Chase and Hill-Andersen sounds good.
