http://espn.go.com/nba/notebook/_/page/Awards-100105/awards-watch Sixth Man of the Year Watch No.1 Carl Landry, Rockets: In a rare off night, foul trouble limited him to just 19 minutes in Saturday's loss to the Hornets. He still managed to make four of seven shots and score eight points, but he grabbed just one rebound. He has combined with Trevor Ariza and Aaron Brooks to give Houston its own version of the big three. (Last week: 2) Coach of the Year Watch NO.2 Rick Adelman, Rockets: As well as he has the Rockets balling right now, what would happen if they were able to find someone willing to send them another piece of the puzzle for the disgruntled T-Mac? (Last week: 2)
Adelman should still be ahead of Westpaul, he's doing it with a high #1 pick how many of those have we had in the past decade?
Let me rephrase that and make him look even more awesome. He is doing it with a ROOKIE at point guard. Bam. P-Wes is the man.
Any writer who credits Ariza with any of the rocket's success is automatically discredited in my book.
Well, that's silly. Yes, Ariza can be painful to watch when he tries to take on the scoring load - but he's been a huge contributor to this team. He leads the team in minutes. And aside from his shot selection, he's been solid in just about every area. Morey has stated he's worth his pay check just for his defense, but we get more than that out of him. Of course, all of that said, if I were to try to claim Houston had a big three (and I wouldn't, mind you), it would be Brooks, Landry and Scola.
I agree. Er, didn't the Bulls do something similar with Rose last year? Heck, they working with two first round draft picks if I remember right, Omri Casspi and the first pick of the second round as well. Either way, really the only competition that Adelman should have has to be McMillan. Even though the Rockets are working damn fine with no recognized superstars, you have to credit McMillan for having a team that has practically had 2/3s of its line up injured for the rest of the year and even getting injured himself at one point. If he manages to bring that team into the playoffs, it will be a tight race between him and Adelman and maybe only determined by who has the higher placed team.
While i see that quote time and time again, I think it is a little bit misinterpreted when used the way Ariza lovers use it. The way I see it is his paycheck is worth it ONLY for his defense. Defense is what the media portrayed him as being specialist in, even in just his defense he is not that great. He takes risks and looks out of position way more often than a true specialist (Battier/Prince/Bowen). And he doesn't just have bad shot selection, he turns the ball over, takes risk on defense, and stops offensive flow. I wouldn't rank ariza ahead of Battier, Hayes, or Lowry in terms of importance to the rockets success.
I think Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks both should be considered in the Most Improved awards too. Although their stats are boosted partly because Yao is out and they need to step up, they have successfully stepped up and should be recognized.
THIS! we dont have a big 3. we have a big 1 in Landry, followed by Brooks, Hayes and Battier, then Lowry, Budinger, and Andersen....then last and certainly least Ariza. :grin:
