they did make an offer, a really low one. it doesnt change the fact that if Wafer were even half as good as you guys seem to think he is, he would have commanded a decent offer at least. its not just that the rockets only offered him a minimal deal, its that NOBODY offered him anything significant. do you think he wanted to go overseas? do you think he would have gone if the money were equal or even close to equal? the answer is no. the truth of the matter is that even teams that could sorely use his offensive punch, athleticism, and intensity refused to offer him an even decent contract. the reason why is clear to me, and hopefully becoming clear to you too. bottom line, trevor is a great deal at the price he commanded, not just because of the skills he has now, but also because of his attitude, work ethic, physical tools, but also that he actually has potential to improve significantly here. wafer did not. he was a band-aid and nothing more.
While alot of people thinks driving is one of his strengths, i see it as a weakness.... He looks awkward going the basket and i don't think he has the physical agility to finish around players. in this league few always finsher over but ariza can at times... but i don't see much room for improvement.
2009-10 stats Ron Artest PPG10.0 RPG5.00 APG4.0 EFF+ 5.00 Trevor Ariza PPG18.5 RPG4.00 APG3.5 EFF+ 13.00 Lets see how the rest of the season plays out.
This is exactly how I feel watching him. He drains a three on offense and then gets burned and gives up an easy basket going for a steal on the other end. Then, on the next Rockets possession he drives into the lane and dribbles the ball off of his foot. It's like one step forward and two steps back with him. Right now he is a spot up shooter who is hitting 3s (nothing wrong with that) and a gambler on defense who, in my opinion, is far from elite and not particularly intelligent either. The best thing he can do is not dribble the ball on offense and beg Shane Battier for a tutorial on the fundamentals of defense.
I've already seen him make nice finishes several times. He made plays Artest or heck, even McGrady couldnt anymore. More importantly he will drive to the basket consistently (unlike McGrady) and he'll drive without dribbling the air out of the ball (unlike Artest). Give him some time, and remember, we got him at a decent price and he plays D too.
I don't think he jacks them up left and right. He sometimes kinda looks scared to shoot and just passes. Now if you want somebody jacking up left and right then you call Crazy Pills.
Remember that other guy who started his career as a defensive specialist, gradually expended his offensive skills, when through some growing pains and ended up a pretty solid offensive player despite his moves often being on the ugly side? I think Ariza may be on the path of Artest.
I have seen him pass very little. He has taken a ton of shots and is completely out of control when he drives to the basket where he seems to shy away from contact and has very little ability to finish.
He's pretty good defensively, despite the sometimes failed gambles (which Artest also tends to have-- anyone who gets his share of successful steals will have his share of failue, too). This team's defense is not quite there yet, but it will come around once guys get on the same page.
Defensively he has been bad, he can't stay in front of anyone....he gets steals but his D has been seriously dissappointing....Budinger has been better than Ariza on D. DD
And yet, even with Wafer jacking up all those crazy shots, and even with Ariza being spoon-fed nothing but open 3's and dunks, their shooting percentages were basically identical last season. Wafer had a .541 TS% and .510 eFG%; Ariza had a .544 TS% and .511 eFG%. Wafer also had a lower TOV% than Ariza (9.5 to 11.5), and their AST% were almost identical (10.3 to 10.4).
THIS I'm sure he is capable of playing some better D at some point, but he has been ATROCIOUS so far this season
Ariza's making $33 million over the next 5 years, and he's already got a ring on his finger. Lack of an incentive? It seems like the only thing left on his to-do list is making the All-Star team (Odom's quoted saying, "I'll see him at the All-Star game in the near future"), which would explain his over-anxiousness and tendency to chunk up shots on the offensive end in order to inflate his offensive numbers. He realizes that being an elite defender isn't enough to get you a ticket to the All-Star game (Battier, Raja Bell, Bruce Bowen), so he's trying to take this team by the reigns and score some buckets to attract media attention. But, he's clearly not playing with the same fire and intensity he displayed on the Lakers. It's a shame, because Morey inked the kid primarily based on his elite D, and the outside shooting was just supposed to be icing on the cake. Don't get me wrong, I want Ariza to mature and grow offensively just as much as the next guy, but he needs to drop the "I've already been paid" attitude on the defensive side of the floor. That's how he made his name. Budinger's a rook, and he's trying to prove himself and earn PT. He doesn't have the luxury of coasting.
Ariza is Ariza. He will never turn into a Tmac like some people think he would. But with the Rockets, he should improve his scoring averages a bit but if Tmac comes back strong, expect Ariza ppg average to go up even higher since Tmac is a good distributor. Tmac will always draw double teams and he can find Ariza much better than Lowry or Aaron Brooks can.
