[DIMEmag] Trevor Ariza will either be Tracy McGrady or Darius Miles

he's been in the league for 6 years. forget comparisons and potential. he is who he is. a defensive wing with a nice spot up 3 point shot.

shane battier, bruce bowen, james posey, mickael pietrus, and raja bell were all MLE guys from the same mold. considering that ariza is more athletic than that bunch and that he's just entering his prime, i'd say that the salary and duration of the contract is good value.

 

Pippen was way better than t-mac. He was a winner. Even that year when Jordan was out, he took the Bulls pretty far with a bunch of scrubs. T-mac never did it. Pippen was one of the best defensive players ever. T-mac is largely one sided.

That said, Ariza seems like a great pick-up with his defensive skills, improving offense and general athleticism, but no way he'll be nearly as good as either Pip or Mac. I wish, but it ain't gonna happen.

 

Pippen was definitely better than Tmac. But as far as him being a winner, wasn't he like the biggest locker room cancer ever in that season he played for the Rockets? He was certainly a bigger cancer than Tmac has ever been (and he didn't get us past the first round, either).

 

Ariza won a championship and played a significant role for L.A.

 

DIME Magazine is garbage. This article is just another example of why.

There is little logic or common sense being applied here. McGrady's talent, ability to handle the ball and upside all spoke for themselves at the time of his signing in Orlando. There is a HUGE difference between signing Ariza for MLE money and signing McGrady for near max-salary. People knew McGrady was something special and the expectations came accordingly. Are there any sane Rockets fans that think Ariza is an All-Star caliber player and deserves the type of lofty expectations that the writer is implying?

Nothing against Ariza, but he is not that type of player. Sure, he has some upside and will fit nicely on this team but I think people need their heads examined if they really expect him to come here and transform himself into a superstar.

 

This post ignores all of McGrady's good qualities and focuses on only Pippen's good qualities. Well done.

I honestly don't believe it was TMac's fault that we lost game 7 to the Mavs. I don't believe it is his fault that we lost to the Jazz the second time around. The only series I'd pin on him is the first recent Jazz series. As far as Pippen, his play here in Houston speaks volumes about how he wasn't a true leader. Neither are. In terms of pure talent, they're probably close.

Finally, I can't believe this thread got hijacked with a Pippen vs. McGrady argument. Two of the most questionable, controversial Rockets ever... worthless conversation.

 

T-Mac has spent the bulk of the minutes of his career as his team's first option, and the focus of the opposition's defense, Pippen spent the bulk of his minutes getting Jordan the ball where he wanted it and trying to get into position to make plays off what was created. You can't really compare the two because of that. You can say that one year Jordan wasn't there, but I seem to recall Phil Jackson preferring to go with Toni Kukoc when it really mattered. Something like that anyway.


As far as Ariza goes, this year I expect him to hang around the perimeter and make some plays in the space created by penetration, set some picks and cut to the basket to make the defense move, anything more than that is really gravy. What else can you really expect? I don't see the Rockets starting too many plays with the ball in his hands or him breaking down guys off the dribble. There seemed to be a lot of plays last year (before and after Yao) where the ball swung to Battier with the defense caught in transition and Shane mostly ate it, I think Trevor can make somethings happen in that position. Hopefully on defense he can hang around Shane and pick up a few things. He'll likely never defend the way Shane does, he's a different player with more athleticism and length, but that doesn't mean he can't learn a few things about what makes a shot tough and how to make it even tougher.

And the player that Ariza sorta of reminds me of is Horry in '96. A mostly defensive player who was a good piece to a championship team is asked to do more. Apparently Trevor is being compared a bit to McGrady, I remember after a particularly stellar game against the Bucks a friend telling me Horry was the next James Worthy. We all know how Horry finished the year and what happened afterwards, the trade to Phoenix and never really showing that type of potential again. Interesting to see what happens with Trevor in the next two years.

 

Well, you know, okierock....

..what makes this whole line of thinking fall apart is trying to compare Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.

Even I have to admit that, as far as team cores go (and as much love as I have for both Yao and McGrady), Duncan and Parker are much better players, and have the rings to prove it.

It's hard to indict either Yao or McGrady for being hurt as often as they are, but durability does matter when you're talking about winning. As dark horse a team as the Rockets have been since Yao and McGrady have been paired, neither one of them have been able to take that individual step that would elevate their teams at least to a series win in the playoffs.

Duncan and Parker have both done that. So it's much easier to find pieces to plug in around them, because you know you can count on them.

That theory could and should apply to Yao and McGrady as well. Your best players make it easy to tell you what players you need to make it a championship caliber team.

And Daryl Morey would be the first to tell you, okierock, that the Spurs model isn't a bad example to follow at all.

Morey DID manage to get the Spurs to trade Luis Scola to a division rival for pennies (or Vassilis Spanoulis, whichever was worth more)....

The hope has to be, in my opinion (and with both Yao and McGrady out of the picture), that Trevor Ariza can become something of a consistent scorer from the wing...perhaps as high, eventually, as a team's third offensive option.

Hey...we can dream around here, can't we?

 

Garbage. offers no in between. No insight just labels. They are trying to set up LA for a win and Rockets for failure through the press again. He doesnt have to do anything but be good and not Tmac. He makes slightly more than Battier and so it is still rediculous to label him as any kind of gamble except a long term signed guy who can give us positive minutes in the prime of his career at a cheap price if he does happen to become a Tmac. Its moronic how some of the press out of Houston is trying to set him up other wise while making Artest into a saint thats surely without fail for the Lakers. LOL! They will be disapointed because you cant make a story out of one that isnt there. Its a good signing so just deal it with it Lakers fans and biased LA media. The only thing that could go wrong is in LA. He won a Championship in LA. If La does anything besides win a Championship then Ron Artest is a failure on all accounts and proves Ariza was a wrong move in them not keeping him in that way too. He can win by just being good here or By them losing at any time any the playoffs. Only the Lakers can come out losers in this.

 

Lol, can Ariza just be Ariza?

Anyways any news/pics about Ariza in Houston working out?