Don't know if this has been discussed, but I think he's on pace for MIP this year. I know its only 6 games in and its inevitable that his 3PT% will decrease (or WILL IT?!), but I think he'll only get better as the season goes on. What do you guys think? sorry if its been posted.
The funny thing is his PER hasn't changed at all. He's playing more minutes, and he's gotten the freedom to take more shots (with the expected results of his efficiency going down, turnovers going up). I'm not sure he's a better player this year. But, yeah, by a superficial accounting of the stats MIP voters may see it that way.
As if right now because its only been 6 games, his stats are a little inflated from that POR game... I would love for him to average 20-4-4 like he is now, but his FG % and selection needs to improve, hopefully over time.
Just another inflated statistic. He's not efficient at all. He's costing up about half as many points as he's creating.
True statement, durvasa. I think his votes depends on the Rox making the playoffs. Starting to think Aaron Brooks has a fair shot as well.
He still needs more discipline on the offensive end to get the FG% up and the TO's down. Hopefully the offense and RA can put him in better positions to score on the same # of shots. I really like his game in the open court but in the half court it's still suspect unless it's a spot up shot.
i really think this is a realistic idea. Rox's winning is the key thow Let us support our Rox players
Winning games is not the key to taking home the MIP award. Granger won it last year and his team was 10 games under .500. Bobby Simmons won in 2005 and his team was 8 games under. Arenas in 2003 at 6 games under. Would it help if the Rockets had team success? Possibly, but that might also mean the Brooks is vastly improved as well and they end up splitting votes. To pull a number out of my ass, I'd say it's 90% about Ariza's individual statistics.
He hasn't improved enough as a basketball player to win the award. His new stats are just a result of a new situation.
durvasa, have you watched Ariza throughout his career? His shot is MUCH improved, one of the most improved shooting strokes I've ever seen. There aren't many players that go from not being able to score unless their hands are in the immediate vicinity of the rim to actually being a good shooter as long as their feet are set. He's even shooting a respectable free throw percentage. And, his shooting percentages would be much higher if he wasn't being asked to take so many shots a game. Basically, you take him off the ball and you would eliminate all the turnovers and off balance jumpers. This kid was already a steal for the MLE, and I didn't think he would get much better. If he hasn't improved then I don't know what improvement is.
While PER is a good stat, MPG is a very overlooked stat. He is out there regardless of whether he has a good matchup and he is still putting up good stats. He also doesn't have Kobe drawing as much attention. I can't wait to see what Ariza would do for the Rockets if a healthy McGrady comes back. Ariza has been hitting 3pts at a .378 clip since the start of last season with 7 straight months of shooting over .340 behind the arc starting with January of last year. I think the lack of playmakers on the Rockets has made it harder for him to make 2 pt baskets. He is generally well over 50% the last couple of seasons here and is less than 40% for the Rockets. So while I expect Ariza's 3 pt percentage will drop to around 40%, I do expect his 2 pt percentage to rise to about 50%.
Is he playing better with us than he did in the playoffs last year? He is expanding his game, but I don't know if he's really helping our team more than he helped the Lakers by trying to be a 20 ppg scorer. His role has changed, and consequentially his numbers look better. To me, that doesn't necessarily mean he's a better player. I hope to be convinced otherwise over the coming months.
Really? Is that your measuring stick, then I'm sorry, he won't impress you. I strongly suggest you compare him to what he's done in the past couple full seasons as opposed to a single hot streak in the playoffs. Even if you compare him to that he hasn't had half as many of the wide open looks he was seeing in LA, so it is still amazing he's shooting so well. And, i'm not talking about numbers. If anything, his numbers look a little worse (lower TS%, higher turnovers) as you previously noted. You seem to think he's trying to be a 20 ppg scorer. I highly doubt that, that's not the type of player he is. It's really the unfortunate role he's been placed in. There are far too many times he's the second best ball handler on the court and is forced to create offense. That's not his game. I'm not sure everyone understands the difference between the wide open shots he took last year and early on in his career and the much tougher shots he's taking now. He's basically doing what some hoped Shane Battier would do when he came over, maintain his production with added attention to a much larger role in the offense. IMO, that is a huge accomplishment. That itself deserves MIP consideration.
Agree with this part, i think MIP means mostly the improvement of the score part. The so-called experts do not look at the details that how one achieves, but the result
My point was that in the playoffs last year he averaged 11.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 2.3 apg. I guarantee you that if he was playing that way for us this year, with that type of statistical production, he would not be in the conversation for MIP. And yet, I don't think he's playing any better now than he did then.
