Ariza has a fatal flaw over Battier though. Away from Kobe's shadow, Ariza believes he is a 2nd offensive option. He ends up taking the 2nd or 3rd most field goal attempts on his team. Many times, he shoots his team out of the game. The misses turn into fast break points for the opposing team. That's bad defense. Battier knows to give up the ball to the other 4 players on the court. He knows he is the last option.
I am not sure why, but I haven't been so happy to see a player leave (Ariza) since Rafer was shipped out. I guess I hate to see poor shooters who are shot happy. Although, Lee is no sharpshooter. I just didn't like Ariza, at all. I actually liked Rafer personally, but he was just a horrible shooter.
Seriously, Trevor Ariza is vastly overated, just because he played with Kobe... All he can do is play the passing lanes and slash a little, rebound a little and occasionally hit a stand up jumpshot. The dude is just NOT that great....thank GOD Morey jettisons his mistakes after only one year. DD
Um, no. The only reason Ariza had that much confidence was because the ORGANIZATION gave him the green light. This is the aspect nobody in this thread has even touched on. Perphaps with a healthy Yao Ming Ariza's game would've looked alot more polished being he's a legit 3rd option. With that said, I'm going to say Lee's gonna be a better fit. The guy is just a all around better player for this system. His quickness and ability to get to the rim will be a serious problem for other teams
It's really not fair to compare the two. As much as we bash Ariza, the team had him trying to be something he wasn't in a season where our studs were down. Lee walks into a situation where Yao is here and Martin, whom Ariza played well with last season. So Lee should look better than Ariza did last season. My $$ is on Ariza looking damn good next to CP3 this season. He had a nice statline from his first preseason game, and seemed to hold Gay in check (I'm just looking at the boxscore). Notice only 1 turnover: http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=301009003 He seemed to play like garbage today: http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=301010019
You have got to be kidding me. Shane plays within himself, and makes very few mistakes. There's no use having someone with a higher 3pt% if they're going to waste double your team's possessions taking them when not necessary. All the stupid things Ariza does far outweigh any inherent athletic or skill advantages he might have. I can't believe people are still riding this guy's dick. <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/n0H4pWawKgk?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n0H4pWawKgk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> http://www.youtube.com/v/n0H4pWawKgk
Battier is more efficient,Ariza is more talented than Shane. Trevor needs to learn how to utilize his ability.
I also agree with everyone that Battier is the better player. But um, he's gonna have to be replaced in the next year or 2.
Trevor Ariza isn't "talented" at anything. He can't dribble, he can't shoot, he can't pass. He just isn't a good basketball player. He is athletic and long, which occassionally enables him to grab a bunch of rebounds, get a couple steals, or block a couple shots. His thunderous athletic dunks mesmorize people into believing he has potential or he is something other than a below average NBA player. Trevor Ariza sucks.
Um yeah.. Ariza is tried to be the number 1 option tonight. He took 12 shots compared to 7 shots for CP3. Ariza is another shot happy brick layer like Rafer, except he is a SF.
I'd bet there is no one on the Rockets who has any objection to being on the court with Courtney Lee. Quick. Ups. Defense. Intelligence. Hustle. Good acquisition.
Bottom line, Lee = less money, younger, more energy off the bench, and probably the same level defense.
Not only did it drop Trevor's salary, we got the better deal talent wise and it fit the team better. A win, win situation for the team. Morey is a genius!!
