Sticking up for your UCLA guy, eh? I don't think Ariza has the skills necessary to thrive as a starter in the NBA, he lacks basic fundamental basketball ability like dribbling and shooting. As for waiting for Yao, if he can't shoot the 3 any better than he has throughout his whole career (.299) ...then he will not fit in with Yao either. I understand giving him some time, and we may have to....but I think he is just not as advertised.....because of his lack of fundamentals. DD
by now I am unwilling to admit that ariza is overrated during off-season,we are too much struck at his performance during the playoff in LA. he is just an average level role player,we can't ask for too much from this guy.just keep calm folks.
in order to sign a big name FA , you must build up slowly the cap space,may take years for some teams, 3 mil here, 7 mil there ,adds up......so while ariza may seem like a bargain,ariza +anderson+battier+dorsey adds up to a superstar salary. id rather wait a couple years,sign a superstar instead of every year add 7million or so to the cap for a "need".
Thank you. This is so true. I've been saying this for months, It's really astonishing the way people are treating Ariza. We are half way through, he has done some good and some bad, lets just see how he plays the ENTIRE year, who knows we might even make the playoffs and Ariza will be a key when we do make them (that is if we trade t-mac finally)
while i am biased in that I did go to school with Trevor some things still remain the same Everyone has been crying about how the Rockets need to get younger, more athletic and quick at the wings. They've been crying about this over and over, part of the reason why everyone was so pissed at the Rockets trading "rudy gay" (not the 8th pick) thats exactly what trevor is--a young athletic guy he was a starter on a team that won an NBA championship, sure he may have been one of the smaller reasons but he did play his role last year. not every nba player, or starter has perfect fundamentals, heck hayes cant shoot or dribble either, but that is not his role. If Hayes was ask to score 10 points a game off of post ups what do you think the reaction here would be? Ariza is trying to do a lot, clearly at times too much but if the coaching staff doesnt pull him there is a reason for that they are trying to help him grow so that he improves on what he was in LA... when you say "as advertised" i dont know where you get that assumption from really they were your own unrealistic expectations. People saying ariza was going to average 18ppg this season were thinking crazy, I believe that if he jumped his average to 14-15 ppg it would be a huge success. is his fg% atrocious? of course it is but he isnt getting the same types of shots he used to get last year, he will see some of those back when Yao and whoever the other wing is returns. Also realize Trevor is somewhat playing out of position, he was and always has been primarily a SF but now is playing at SG. He is shooting terrible now because his shots are contested and he is taking bad shots at times...the bad shots are part of the learning process, just like how it takes times for PGs to learn when to pass and when not to (AB is learning this too) Yao attracts so much of the defense he will get those open looks again....I dont think its fair at all to judge Ariza saying if he cant shoot now how can he shoot with Yao there when having Yao alone will significantly increase the quality of the shots he will see. imho what the staff is looking for in Trevor to be better than what he was in LA becoming a reliable 3/4th option to score the ball here in Houston. This is all for next year, even if the Rockets make the playoffs this year (i am hoping this happens but not expecting it personally) they will be at best first round fodder (imo again) there is no better learning curve for trevor or for that matter any of our younger guys right now to go out there and play and try to become better players. Pretty much this entire season is "practice and development" if they go out and secure a playoff all the better. The trials and errors Trevor goes through this season will pay dividends in the upcoming seasons. He has already done more this saeson than he has in any of his other seasons in the NBA, he isnt an all-star type of guard he is just an above average player who has strengths on both ends of the floor (which is hard to find). the team as a whole is extremely flawed even if mcgrady's contract is traded for a person who can help there is a lot missing (namely size) its sucks having to wait because people in general are impatient and its always "what have you done for me lately" but that is the case this year. If the coaching staff and the front office knows it and accept it, not sure why other fans cant see this
If Ariza was a 38% his entire career, that would be one thing. But he's been an efficient player in prior seasons. The difference this year is he's being asked to do a lot of things that he's never done before. If he returns to a role he's better equipped for, the efficiency will improve. And with a shot-blocking defensive presence behind him, his aggressive defensive style will pay more dividends (which, incidentally, will lead to more transition opportunities for him and the team).
He needs to be moved way the hell away from the 2 guard spot. He can battle with Shane over who should start at the 3. I'd probably bring Shane off the bench, but give him more minutes than Ariza ultimately. I would certainly give Shane the bulk of the 4th quarter minutes. Trevor is playing badly thus far, but he's had his share of productive games for us. He's young, athletic, good on defense, and has proven he can be a critical role player on a winning ball club. I wouldn't move him PERIOD.
Let's not kid ourselves here: he was signed because Rockets brass felt he had upside as a scorer/two-way player and was being underutilized in LA. Ariza wanted to sign with a team that could feature him in such a role and given Adelman's comments before the season and subsequent usage of Trevor this year, we clearly had every intention of meeting those demands. Now, I'm not going to sit here and suggest that we acquired him to be a #1 option or anything -- nobody in their right mind could see him and think he's capable of that. But what people really need to understand is how Morey thought he could snag a #2-3 scorer for MLE money -- which, by any standards, is quite the bargain for that type of player. That, right there, is the very nature of Moneyball/Moreyball -- find underutilized or overlooked talent, lock them up well below their market value and reap the rewards. This was our intention with Ariza (on a larger scale). Is the book closed on Ariza successfully filling such a role? No, of course not. We need to see him play with Yao plus whoever/whatever McGrady's massive contract nets us. Everybody knows that he's been a complete disaster this season. He's played way over his head, been asked to do too much and evidently can't recognize some of his glaring weaknesses. But again, adding "star power" to this team changes everything and will make his job MUCH easier. I just hope I can keep my sanity long enough to make it to that point.
The fact that Ariza gets paid more than Landry, Lowry and Brooks still make me believe he deserves all the blame people put up here on the board, his performance and impact is no where near those three guys..... Yes, You can say it's too early to tell, but Ariza has missed a lot of open looks in the last 5 games are also true, while you can maintain positive about the future, you can't ignore tha harsh reality you are seeing now....
thats a horrible way to assess that its Ariza's fault because he gets paid more than some of the other players on the team... Ariza still has a VERY modest contract given his experience, traits and age. If anything it speaks volumes to the shrewdness of our GM that he can have talents like Lowry, Landry and Brooks on rookie or rookie type contracts....these players will command more once their respective deals are up. once again i see the "harsh" reality but it doesnt bother me too much because its part of the maturation process...much like learning to ride a bike everyone is going to get a bunch of cuts and scrapes before mastering it, but once it is mastered you never forget it. Right now Ariza is going through those bumps and bruises. Missing open shots? its a part of basketball everyone goes through slumps unfortunately the way this team is constructed right now there isnt enough talent on the team to make up for any one person's shooting slump and thus any mistakes, large or small, get magnified 10 fold
While I've certainly been critical of Trevor, more for his volume shooting and shot selection (he has control over that), than the fact that he's playing out of position (he's a 3, dammit), but his salary is very fair based on his history and the salary structure of the league. I don't think that should be an issue at all. What Brooks, Landry and Lowry make concerns Brooks, Landry and Lowry. Not Ariza.
Let's be honest for just a second. There were quite a few people here that believed that Ariza was going to develop into some kind of all star and they thought that Morey was a genius for picking him up for the price tag of the MLE. It's like they believed that Kobe or the Lakers were holding him back from reaching his true potential. Ariza himself came here thinking the exact same thing, he didn't outright say it but I mean, why else would he sign here? I understand that at THE BEGINNING of the year, he was asked to do something differently, I get that. But when a player continues to suck game after game, isn't that a hint that hey, maybe the guy can't handle it, maybe it's time to change it up?? So you know what, I'm not buying that crap anymore about the coach and the GM asking him to do too much. They should be smart enough to see what's going on. It's past the midway point of the season no longer the BEGINNING, it's time to change his role again because it's crystal clear that he can't handle it. And if he's going to be a role player next year anyways he might as well start getting used to deferring to other people damnit.
You got to give it to Daryl Morey. He never had the intention or vision to sign Ariza as a future "star". Those weren't his plans..Ariza was signed because of his age, athleticism, and ability to play and defend multiple positions- meaning, he was simply signed to be a role player. - Also if you look it this way...Ariza and McGrady have somewhat identical physical attributes. 6-8, 210-220lbs. Knowing Morey and how Adelman runs his offense, I can see how he took a risk on Ariza on possbily and potentially developing a role to what McGrady brought to the Rockets- and of course, the talent isn't there offensively but you have to look at the other things he does; rebounding, defense, length, durability..etc. Overall, Ariza has been a pleasant fit for the Rockets. He soon will be our future SF for many, many years to come. The Rockets and Daryl Morey knew exactly what they were getting in Ariza. At 24 years old, Ariza was a steal!
He can't dribble.... I don't know how a guy can be in the league for 4+ years and still suck at dribbling the basketball. What we got was a taller, more athletic, Luther Head. And he is getting WIDE open shots now, are his 3pt shots (the shots players get when Yao is in) all of the sudden going to be even more wide open? I know he was brought in here as Battier's replacement, a younger, more athletic wing. But honestly, he is a 20mpg player right now, same as he was for the Lakers last year. And there has been ZERO growth as far as I can tell...... I don't expect him to be a star, but at least to be able to dribble and shoot better than Rafer Alston (also an overpaid MLE guy, I might add). DD
I hate it when we agree :grin: Just kidding DD, too bad Ariza has these high expectations on him- he is much better as a niche player off the bench- good defensive specialist with some offensive burst at times. you're right the Lakers used him properly
I will say, this thread prompted me to check out how they feel about it in la la land. Quite a few people want Ariza back. I've been frustrated with his play but I don't think we can give a fair assessment until next year
