Well I was responding to a comment that McGrady could shoot better. Simply correcting an incorrect statement with some facts. Way too many statements with no basis in fact these days.
I think Ariza is seriously struggling and would really like to see more of Mike Harris while CBud heals. I think his offensive struggles are beginning to effect his defense as well. Maybe he snaps out of it tonight.....but hey at the end of the day, he is still shooting better than T-bench. DD
We didn't get him to be a star player, we got him to do the same thing he was doing in LA once we get Yao back, that is hit the open 3 and play D. This is an off year for us. If he sucks after next year, then bash away, but until then relax. Hopefully in either the offseason or via trade we can get a 2nd option, and Yao will be number 1 option. Then, you have Ariza, Scola, Landry, and Brooks all at our 3rd option. Just right now, we have no 1 or 2.
As many others have said on this board before, I think that Ariza is fine. He needs to take less shots and work on his ball-handling. If he is never a good ball-handler, he should just play to his strengths, which are being a spot-up shooter, a very good defender, and a finisher. There's nothing wrong with Brooks creating for him. The redundancy between him and Battier however, is certainly a huge problem. I realize what the team's record is, for all those that always feel they need to point it out, but this team could be even better with some tweaks.
Well he puts up Tracy like shooting, while playing a similar role for a fraction of the money. But, at least Trevor is a team player.
I certainly haven't conceded this season and I see no reason to do so otherwise. we lost T-Mac, Yao, and Artest and picked up Ariza to be our 1st/2nd/3rd option THIS YEAR.
I didnt say I conceded this season, but when you make acquisitions like this, you do it for future returns, not immediate. Obviously, we would like Ariza to turn into a T-Mac with the ability to create his own shot, but that hasnt happened yet. You can't go from being a role players to a number 1 option on a playoff team in a quarter of a season without going through some bad dry spells. It will take years for him to develop those abilities. But come on, do you really think that the organization was hoping Ariza would lead a Yaoless, Tracyless team deep into the playoffs, or do you think the organization picked up Ariza to hopefully develop this season and make a good run next season when we have an actual star player?
playing ariza nearly 40 min a game while he's in a deep slump has cost us a few games already. He's playing like a 30 yr old tmac who just came back from a major surgery. It amazes me the rockets management treat ariza like some kinda franchise player just cause of his age and "athleticism", but kick old dog mcgrady to the curb cause he barked to the media bout being ready to take on more minutes.
francis 4 ever thinks: He should drive less. He can't dribble to save his life. He needs to go back to his role as a defensive shortstop/post up shooter like he was for the lakers. and thus concludes francis 4 ever's thoughts.
Rafer Alston? There are different levels of hate just like different levels of love. For example, on one extreme is the natural hate towards someone that has committed a crime against you or your loved ones. Then, there is hate towards terrorists. On the lower end, there is the hate for certain players or teams. I think that when people say that they hate Trevor, they are just really very angry and frustrated at his inconsistency and inefficiency. Also, people would not care so much if the team was not doing so well. Fans believe his consistent lack of intelligent shot selections are causing us to lose games. Trevor is NOT a rookie; he used his ring to leverage this No. 1 option role. Now that the smoke has cleared, the fans are starting to see him for what he is—a good ROLE player. Nothing more, nothing less. Now the fans (and I believe the coaching staff) are just waiting for Trevor to realize this. It just a matter of time before the coaching staff starts nudging him off the stage and back into the choir.
Why does age or money matter? All we should be concerned with is their production on the court. Rafer made less than Ariza and was demonized. Luther Head was young and made 800k, but people hated him too. No one gave Luther a pass for his poor handles and turnovers, and he only turned the ball over about once per game. Ariza's shooting worse than either of those guys. Why give him a pass? Developmental year, my ass. Ariza's a bigger MLE bust than Stromile Swift so far.
I think Ariza is doing way too much. Ariza is the type of player that does a little bit of everything from defense to shooting the spot up three. He will thrive more if we gave him a perfect role as in playing defense, spot up shooting, and driving the lane then he's perfect. The only thing Ariza needs is a all star caliber player at his side creating his shots for him. His problem is, he tries to create his own shot which isn't his strength, which is why he is putting up bad FG percentage and causing turnovers. His ball-handling skills are pretty low. If he keeps this up, it will hurt us in the long run. This will only get worst. I think that maybe during the offseason, he can work hard on his ball handling skills and learning to create his shot off the dribble. He just needs to learn how to secure the ball better and learn how to create space. Maybe work on his low post moves also since he got the length and size. But he's still young so the sky is the limit right now. It all depends on what he works on and how hard he works.
Perhaps some time working on finishing around the basket like Alston did from 06-07 to 07-08. Take away Ariza's fast break clear path dunks and he is probably worse than Chuck Hayes. Ariza misses Budinger too ya know. When he is in there with Bud he can play the spot up guy and let Bud do the create/screen thingie. Best of both worlds.
If he were to go on the next 4 games and come out with a 46% FG% then what will we be saying? Basketball is about troughs and peaks. Maybe he's just in a trough right now. Or maybe he just isn't that good. Or maybe he's just not having a good year. Who knows. As long as we are winning and competing, I don't care for his FG%, nor anyone elses. But I do agree with you, that FG% in the past 4 is atrocious, lol.
People may demonize Ariza, but they also need to realize that as a Rocket he is a better player than he was as a Laker last year. I'll throw his scoring average out the window because he is taking more shots and shooting a lower percentage, but he has upped his rebounding, assist, blocks, and steal averages. His offense has been terrible, but he has contributed across the board. Ariza is gonna be slow to develop, but in a couple years he can be an efficient 15-7-5 guy with 2 steals and a block. Thats NOT bad for the MLE. Once people realize he won't be the superstar they thought he'd be, the better off they will be.
Considering his salary, he is playing just fine. You cannot expect every MLE player plays like an all-star
