Could be, but a lot of that could also be that he wanted to contribute and be on the floor. I like competitive guys......he had the best stats of any of our starting Wings....as a starter. I think the Rockets played their best ball with him and Battier starting because of their contrast in style. Letting him go is a mistake, IMO...even Artest said he would average 20ppg in the league soon. I just wish it were going to be in Houston. DD
I know what you're saying. It's hard not to trust him after what he's done so far, but I am concerned with the way things are headed. I agree that we paid to much for Ariza. The market is looking more and more like we could have had Von on the cheap, maybe 1-2 million for a few years. We could keep Shane, since we know what kind of player and presence he is from his time in Memphis. Now we are overpaying for a guy that we don't know how he will react to a losing situation. Which is what we're looking at if something major doesn't happen.
I would guess that what we saw (really only him getting sent to the showers early in that one playoff game) was a microcosm of what went on behind the scenes. That is the only reason i can rationalize that they have had absolutely no interest in him this offseason. I can't think of another situation where we've ever let a significant cog in the wheel walk without even making an offer.
That is bad management then..... You don't hold that against him....Melo refused to enter the game this year, Pippen did too....and we are going to hold Von accountable for what? Not wanting to come out? Come on that is uber petty and I can't believe Morey and Adelman are that petty or weak of a manager. DD
Now that Ron is gone I"m all for bringing Von back. I'm starting to think that Ron was rubbing off on certain players and this might be what happened with Von. Von was great for us when he was our starter, I think Morey is making a mistake by not keeping him but again we don't know everything going on behind the scenes and in the locker room. All we can do is trust the front office to make the right decisions at this point.
Role players arguing with the coach about playing time in the middle of one of the most important games of the season is a problem. We don't know what exactly was said in that situation, nor what might have happened other times. Showing no interest in him this offseason though has to be for a reason. There have always been questions about him as a good locker room guy. If you can give me another reason the Rockets are dragging their feet in giving him an offer, I'm more than willing to listen. I think Nolocke's comments about Ron's influence are quite possibly valid however.
its probably because we still want to keep him. but WE WANTED ARIZA MORE. I don't think Morey would blink in bringing him back for the minimum.
I am not in the "WE" category.....I don't think Ariza is worth more than 3 million a year. And apparently....neither do the WORLD CHAMPION, Lakers. DD
If people liked Wafer so much, not many are showing. He is only valuable on our team because we don't have somebody like Von. The worst case scenerio we have more talent for trading. Plenty of other teams require an Ariza type of player. Many other teams already have a Von type of player.
What are you talking about DD... Ariza wanted around 8-9 MIL from LA.. he turned down the MLE from LA
Not to rain on your parade DD - BUT we were 6-5 in the games Wafer started last season. Now maybe you liked the 'style' of basketball we played, but we weren't dominant or anything. Von shot 51% from the field in those 11 games for his 16.4ppg - now I'm not a Von hater or anything, but if he shoots 50% from the field this season, then I will sew some pants, eat them, make a video and post it on Youtube for all to see. No doubt Von is a scorer, but he's had a brief flash of spark in an otherwise lifeless career to date. Combine that with his non-existant defence and I'm remaining unconvinced that he's going to be a big time scorer. I guess we'll see.
Von doubled nearly all of his stats as a starter. Here are his stats And they are significantly higher than Ariza, yet we are going to overpay for a player who can't create or get by his man. Which is exactly what this team needs. I am sure Morey's metrics have said Ariza is undervalued, well, at the MLE..not anymore...he is overvalued. DD
DD, refer to my statistical breakdown of Ariza. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=171379 The only metric Wafer shows up better than Ariza is the usage rate and turnover rate. This does indicate Wafer is more capable of creating his own shot (marginally) but both are just as efficient in the big picture, Wafer just does more of it. I do think Ariza is just as capable of creating his own shot if he had the chance the Wafer had to have the greenlight to shoot as indicated by his assisted to % on non-jump shots. Also, Ariza is about 472 times better on defense. Yes, that's an estimate.
The Lakers are Champs because they have the best player on the planet and because Jerry West made one of the most lopsided deals in NBA history for his ex-team... Although I agree that currently Ariza is being overpaid at $6 million a year, that doesn't take into account that Morey is actually counting on him getting better and better to the point where he might be considered underpaid one day! He'll be 29 when his current deal is up, and that's still pretty young. Also, consider the fact that he turned down a $9 million a year offer to sign with us and Turkoglu is now making over $11 million a year. Based on the current wave of signings thus far, I'd say we're about par for the course...
Doubling his stats doesn't mean he made us better when he started, it just means he played harder as a starter and took more shots. I don't disagree that we perhaps overpaid Ariza, but saying that Von is the better option between the two isn't necessarily true either.
von had 1 whole year to learn the plays and the defensive schemes and he still screwed up when teams were fronting yao and on defense. I love his offense, but his defense just doesn't merit anything close to starter material.
