You and I have both said this since the day Ariza was signed. Ariza is god-awful when he puts the ball on the floor. Between him trying to split double teams and his off-balance-leaning jump shot I want to pull my hair out. At least Battier stays within what he can do but the bottom line is these two cannot play big minutes together unless two other players on the court are lighting it up (Brooks and Landry come to mind).
I don't think this is solved at the perimeter, to truly make batriza effective, you need yao ming back.
Haha he's basically asking for it. SG/SF who can create off the dribble, draw attention, and has the ability to beat a double team. As much as I hate his antics, McGrady would further improve our offense provided he doesn't go back to Me-Mac and plays within the system, which is a legitimate question.
A PG more than any other position on the floor has his success predicated on whom they are playing with..... CP3 would be better, because he is better, but Battriza would still be an offenively liability ... DD
Well we know Yao is not walking thru that door, or any door for that matter they would probably wheel him in. The problem was we got nothing in the post from Scola. Dampier shut him down. I tought Landry was way more effective. He just didn't get the touches for some reason.
Shane Battier clearly isn't 100% from what I am seeing. Trevor Ariza is still in his awkward growing phase. That said, neither of these guys are ever going to be playmakers. Playmakers aren't created in the NBA - they are created before guys get there. The level of skill and ability is simply too high to learn once you are in your 20's and at this level. Can't be done. Ariza will never be a guy who can split a double team. Even Brooks - with his quickness, struggles with it at time. I think Lowry is the only other guy who can do it. Chase is just not ready. He may not be ready for a year or two...and I don't see him as a playmaker - he's going to be a finisher - a very good one too. Brooks / Lowry combo works well - and I think it was somewhat effective tonight against Dallas - but by the time Adelman went with it, the team had lost confidence and was reeling. We've seen this happen before - when Defenses put a lot of pressure on these guys around the perimeter, they tend to struggle mightily on offense. There's no one to draw double teams inside or out, and when brooks get's doubled, he's not tall enough to make the pass to the weak side. That's what I observed. Rick tried some spacing with limited success, but it's clear he had already given up on the game to some degree and was more interested in giving guys like DA a chance to have some touches. This is going to be a problem...when teams tighten on the perimeter to take away the penetration - if forces the ball to go around the 3pt line instead of coming inside and then being thrown out. This takes away open looks. It also takes away the mid-range jump Scola loves - he took a lot of them in traffic today - usually he makes more, but there were tougher shots than he was used to. Guys like Hayes/Landry/Scola tried to post up but they simply aren't going to be effective against taller players who can block their shot and thus force them to take hook shots which is not their strength. This is why Adelman was dumping the ball so much to David Andersen, not so much for this game, but for the future - can he get some confidence in this guy to be a legit post threat and draw some double teams. Adelman still has faith in this guy. I am still unimpressed. Chase is great, but he's still a rookie learning the NBA game. He makes a lot of mistakes too, and his rookie-ness definitely showed tonight. What I'd like to see more from Brooks / Lowry is penetration followed by kick outs and then swing it around the perimeter - I saw very little of that in the 2nd half and was thinking, with Dallas playing help defense, something should open up on the drive.
I remember Tmac was always doubled before, but he still could pass the ball to Battier, and Battier made 3s. AB is a little slow to make a decision. We all know that he dribbles the ball too much because he is not able to make a decision quickly.
I've been clamoring for this too. Unfortunately, Blake Griffin hasn't been healthy so unless Thornton can handle being backup PF, it becomes tough for them to make the trade. Honestly though, I can see Shane turning the Clippers into contenders. I would love to screw the Lakers over that way. Kaman/Jordan Griffin/Thornton Battier/Rasual Butler Gordon/Rasual Butler Baron/Telfair Great team. Battier is exactly the GLUE/veteran/defensive, consistent presence they need.
Not true, late in 4th quarters of playoff games teams would double Tmac and leave Rafer wide open......at least Rafer could dribble....but he was always getting the ball so late that he had to shoot and well, the Clank sound has permanently been renamed the "Rafer".... I don't mind Brooks/Lowry combo....but we really need two creating penetrating players out there.... Budinger for all his struggles tonight in shooting still had 3 dimes zero turnovers and 9 boards. I think he deserves to play a lot more and Battriza needs to grab some pine. DD
that one made laugh. great idea, though. but isn't camby a bit too "glassy" as well? is that a concern?
His size makes it much harder for him to pass on the weak side. The only way is if he knows where players are moving so he can bounce pass to cutters - our offense isn't that advanced....yet...
Not true. In many situations, Tmac directly passed the ball to Battier. In fact, not just for Battier. I believe we all remember how Tmac passed the ball to Novak to make a 3 during 22 winning streak.
The real answer to this particular problem is sitting on the bench, hoping to come back and play in late November. Hope we still have a decent record by then.
