Has Ariza improved his game since he became a rocket?

Yes, in that he has finally learned to play within Adelman's system. He began the system focused on being aggressive on the offensive end, but struggled with making quick decisions in the half-court. As the season progressed, Brooks matured as an offensive weapon and Martin came in to provide even more firepower. Ariza remained aggressive, but he had also learned how to express that aggression more efficiently.

Since his injury, he has emerged as a nice complement to the main guns--Brooks, Martin, and Scola--in the offence. His defense also seems more disciplined than at the beginning of the season; he still gambles, but he recovers from failed attempts much better.

 

It's hard to gauge if he has improved or not, because this year he's been playing in a completely different role then he has in the past. His shot selection is still facepalm-inducing, and his, um, opportunistic defense, results in layups/dunks when he doesn't get the interceptions.

He's still a young player, and I'd like to see him play along side Yao before I make any definitive judgment on him. But if i had to pick an answer right now, it would be a "No".

 

nope. to many missed shot.

 

He has improved his game but you will not notice bc he is not playing on a championship team. He has more responsibility here and with that flaws in his game become more evident. He clearly struggled trying to create his own shot but he got much better with his foot work. The guy was a sf playing the 2guard and was out of place. Adding Kevin Martin allowed him to go back to his natural position and stop trying to shoot as much. Defensively he still lacks a legit big to funnel players into. Shane and Ariza will both benefit greatly when Yao returns.

 

Did his level of play go up, or just his minutes?


I'm not entirely sure.

 

I believe he adjusted to the Adelman's system to the level where he is no longer a dead weight to the team. I mean he wasn't a dead weight in the beginning but i remember many people were getting frustrated by this guy's unpolished offense.


But overall, i don't think he improved at an individual level, enough to meet our initial expectations. I was personally expecting him to be a key piece for the team but...

well tell me if i am wrong

 

No.

God, He is so much overrated! Offensive game and defensive game...

 

Early on it was more about volume, but after Kev came on board then we saw a substantial improvement over earlier in the year. I think Trev is what he is...a real nice role player but nothing more.

 

He has all around game, he can score but inconsistent, but he can rebound, and set up other players, his vision for SF is very good, but overall yes he improved his game alot.

 

None of his stats show improvement, they all declined.

So, no.....

DD

 

I don't think he really improved his game any, but that is probably because we may have been expecting too much out of him to begin with. Considering he was only a role player on the Lakers, it would wiser to wait until Yao returns to make a judgement about whether or not he actually improved. Right now I am leaning more towards no.

 

He is getting better. He has made some great passes to Scola in the pick and roll... Get another allstar and Trevor will be back to doing his job on defense and being a versatile option for us to go to...

 

wheres the option for 'HELL NO'?

this guy went from jack everything possible up to reverting back to his LA role, that isnt wat u call progress, thats called standing pat

remember he had like a 32% 3pt shooting average for a long time this season i dont think thats conclusive to improvement

all u who voted yes have no clue

 

Thats a no.

 

Minor improvement with his ball handling. Shooting and defense is about the same as when he started.
Gotta long way to go.

 

Come on guys, think about it.

The coaches gave Ariza the green light to be a playmaker and scorer this season, pre-trade. His numbers clearly went down from that experiment, but we needed a third person in our starting lineup to be that guy for the new/changed style of play to be successful (includes pick-6s and jacking 3s).

Post-trade, his role is smaller and sweeter and we could all see that he was much more comfortable ... did you notice the decrease in knee-jerk Ariza sucks thread in the second half of the season? (I certainly did).

He was NOT brought in to be a primary/secondary option. Read that previous sentence again, and pinch yourself if you still think otherwise.

Would the coaches really not have reined him in while he was indeed going crazy as a ballhog and playmaker purely of his own will?

Come on!

Do I think Ariza improved?
Of course! After handling the ball as much as he did pre-trade, he has definitely improved on those skills.

 

He still looks the same. He's like a chaos factor. He doesn't play in the offense, move the ball, nor direct the guy he's defending to other defenders. He does his own thing although his athleticism gets mediocre results.