he obvioulsy got the better player, he's 24, better shooter already and getting better. if he plays his *** off every night, i'd think it was one of those morey signings where we are all happy after some time (a la scola trade, battier trade).
hes playin out of position but the most disapointing thing to me is how hes playin defensively hes to talented to not be putting a better effort on that end he has all the tools defensively but hes just been average so far hes just out their puttin up #s there are some people who actually think this man is better than battier battier is a top 5 defender and makes his man shoot contested jumpers he also can also prevent fast breaks when hes the only man back. wake up people battier is better than ariza and its not even close.
I couldn`t watch a lot of games lately, but overall I don`t understand the negativity. I didn`t expect very much from Ariza. I though offensively he was only a little bit better than Battier, defensively a little worse. Ariza seems to be our first option here (I thought Scola, Brooks and Landry would come before Ariza). He is a better slasher than I anticipated, he has more poise and even can create his shot... sure not as good as the elite guys in the league, but sure as hell better than any other 2/3 guard we have on the team (I don`t count T-Mac here). His shooting percentages are not where they should be, and his shot selection has to improve. But seriously what do you expect from a player that "only" gets the MLE and has never been a first option in his career? At the same time his defense is good, as is his rebounding, baskebtall IQ and intangibles. He is well worth the MLE and can develope into a player that gets close to 10 million a year... sure he is not there yet, but he is a very promising player. Put Yao in there with him and he will be a better player in a heartbeat (better shots, less shots he has to take).
come on give the guy some time, he's doing what he's been told to do which is shoot, his shot will come around eventually
I hope so, but it has been a decade and Rafer's shot never came around. Shooting seems to be something that some people have and others don't. DD
No way I can win? Util Trevor Ariza learns to dribble or shoot I have already won. Those are not things that you can simply work on at the nba level. He simply does not have the body control/coordination to become a good dribbler or driver to the basket. That will never be his game. He needs to play within his capabilities (taking open 3s, cutting to the basket, stay in front of his man on defense, etc.) By doing that he will be a much more effective player.
you''re missing my point too. It's not an exaggeration when he does it at least 3-4 times a game, when it's unnecessary. And i'm not saying he can't blossom, i just think that he should take a step back and evaluate his plays. It's ok to try to drive, slash, post up, etc, but it's not ok at any level to dribble through a wall like that when you're not great at dribbling. All i'm saying is he's go to cut out those 4-5 plays a game that are completely ridiculous, that's not going to keep him from testing himself or from blossoming. and my definition of a bad shot from ariza is shooting too early in the clock with a man in his face. That's a bad shot regardless of whethr you're ariza or kobe bryant. Difference is the best of the best can make those, but let's face it, ariza isn't that and won't become that. If he wants to drive and stop and pop and he misses, fine, just don't suck the efficiency from the team, that's not fair to the team as a whole when they work hard all game. On top of that, he said in the interview last night he was hoping the team would be further along, or i guess with a ebtter record, so that tells me he wants to win more, or at least as much as he wants to "blossom", so if that's true he needs to realize he can help them win more by cutting out those plays so our main guys can get a few more touches. Landry needs to test his limits too, and right now his seems higher than ariza's, give him more shots and he could be averaging 25 a game due to his high efficiency.
Correct, there is no way you can win. Because he is only 24 and offensively raw, he has the potential to get better. You cannot argue this. You can talk about learning to dribble or shoot, but then you're talking about him realizing his potential. He may be making some bad decisions now, but it's all part of the learning curve. Eventually, he'll find his niche. Its only been 14 games, and we're not contending this year. I'd rather him make his mistakes now than later. People can't learn to shoot better? Are you serious? Tony Parker? Jason Kidd? Even Karl Malone improved his free throw shooting over the years.
In order to develop, he needs to be given the freedom to make mistakes (which he is doing). It's only been a handful of games yet you're criticizing him as if he's been in this role for years. And in regards to Landry, there's a difference between "testing limits" and getting more touches. I personally think he's reached his potential, and he's been a beast so far.
Love him one day, hate him the next. The fans on this board have the worst short-term memory I've ever seen.
Wekko's talking about the fact that you referred to Ariza as a 6 year vet when he's only 24 years old, but you call Scola a vet as well despite it only being his 3rd year in the league. As you can see with Scola, its all about real age and not the number of years you have played in the league. Although he's been in the NBA for 6 years already, Ariza didn't go to college as well, so most of his years in the NBA were probably spent learning the stuff he learned in college (except he didn't get much PT, his practice partners were way better and he got paid for it). Dude is younger than Dorsey, give him time to work on his game some more.
Younger than Brooks and Landry too. Only Lowry and our two rookies are younger (Lowry only played a year at Nova). Unfortunately, I suspect that what we've seen from Ariza in terms of his new percentages is what he'll likely end up with over the entire course of the season--a FG% hovering near 40-41% and 3PT around 38%. Of course, 38 would be better than anything he has shot in his career at the 3pt line, and better than any season McGrady has given us so far (it's not that I'm going so much out of my way to bash T-Mac as is the fact that we are essentially asking Ariza to fill a lot of the roles T-Mac once had on this team), so I wouldn't be one to complain about that. The real reason you have to grade Ariza the new player as an Incomplete, though, is because we acquired him not to be the "man" per se, a go-to slasher role that has been thrust upon him out of need this year, but rather to be another piece that complements the kind of team we will be when Yao returns. In that regard, I still believe most of his assets, fantastic man defense with great length, athleticism, and the ability to hit the open jumper, will be all the more vital to our team when we do get our Big Guy back. And most of his deficiencies, particularly his decision making with the ball in his hands, will have been minimized by the nature of our different style of play. The ideal I think is for our team with Yao next year to be just as fast as this one at getting out on the breaks, yet lethal in the half court game as well should we need to be. The paint defense will return to its prior greatness, and having Ariza and Lowry (and Battier I hope) to anchor the perimeter D will make us one of the best defenses in the league. And on offense, really, more so than at any other time in Yao's career, we will have the weapons we need at the 3pt line and on the weak side low blocks to punish teams for choosing to double Yao. THAT'S the kind of team Ariza was hired to be a contributor to.
I actually would love to see Ariza play with t-mac and see what type of effect that would have on his %. T-mac is a much more willing passer then Kobe and much more willing to set up a athletic wing like Ariza. I don't quite think his ever had that luxury to be honest. On the break, in sets. I forsee some sick alley oops if it ever happens
