I was comparing Ariza's advantages to Lee's. Lee isn't Shane or Chuck in the instict, IQ, or discipline factors by ANY means. Your comparision is apples to oranges. And yes, obviously reputation does matter because to the people above that DETERMINE the DPOY & All-NBA D Teams, reputation is heavily favored. Not little ole you or me arguing on a forum. But to the people that ACTUALLY count. Anyways, are you going to tell me Shane would be worse off if he had an extra 3 inch wingspan, and more athleticism? As for Chuck, he is gifted athletically. His lateral movement is great, his lower body strength is fantastic, and he has tremendous grip(hand strength). All components mimic very good athleticism. His instincts are what separates him though, as well as his IQ obviously. But it's Lee vs. Ariza, take out Battier and Hayes who IMO are the top of the league in their respective defensive assignments in a 1 on 1 fashion. Lee isn't in that caliber, and really never will be.
They were great passers cause they had great basketball awareness, IQ, trust in their teammates, and faith in their system. All components combined not just one orthe other. Not because they were "skilled" or touted playmakers like a Jason Kidd. It's the same thing we're trying to resemble and assimilate here. Players that trust each other, believe in the system, and share a great camaderie. In a read and react offense with your bigs playing the high post, no **** you'll have 4-5apg big man. Brad had his APG high, too there. Christie ran "point" a lot of the time when Bobby Jackson was on the court, and handled the ball regularly even when Bibby was there. And no, there was not a single season in which Bibby average more than about 7, at the highest. No numbers in front of me so I cannot check, but the highest was mid 6's IIRC. Regularly, in the mid 5's though. In Vancouver? Yes, that's why I say the system is it. Cause you cannot blame the quality of players, or a sudden drop off in talent from Bibby. No, what makes the system work is all those elements combined like I mentioned; trust, faith, high awareness, and IQ. Obviously, this is with talent and skills already factored into the equation. Having those elements is rather hard to find in players nowadays. You think someone like Steve Francis can run that? Though, in his prime, he'd be our most talented player. It takes someone with a unique awareness on the court to read the court and also feel it out. Only smart players can survive. Along those lines, but that's pretty much identical to Bibby in terms of production, just more gifted athletically. Nothing strong with a sharp shooting PG with quickness.
Responding to those who say that Adelman offense doesn't require passers, I wholeheartedly disagree. Adelman has ALWAYS had gifted passers on his team. And his system, at least since Sacramento, relies on all 5 players able to make the right passes in order to get the best shots on each given possession. In essence, that is the Adelman system, to pass around the ball until the optimal shot is found. That's why the system spreads that stats, because it takes what the defense gives. In Portland, Adelman had Clyde and Terry Porter, both of whom were far superior facilitators than anyone on the Rockets. In Sacramento, Adelman had some of the best passing big men in NBA history with Divac, Webber, and even Miller. Allowing them to run the high post offense with absolutely brutal efficiency. I think the misconception about Adelman not needing passers comes from the fact that his Sacramento team does not rely on the point guard to facilitate every play. But that doesn't mean the play didn't start somewhere. The play usually started with the big men, Webber, Divac, and then Miller. They facilitated the offensive sets, and hence why Bibby's assist stats went down in Sacramento. My point with the OP post is that the Rockets don't have that great facilitator to start the offense. One with court vision and knows how to start the play optimally. We have a lot of finishers: Scola, Martin, Battier, Budinger, and even Yao who needs to get in position first. But who starts the plays? Brooks just isn't that guy. He's great at creating for himself, but average at best when it comes to creating for others. I feel like with the current roster, we're still not efficient enough on offense. Sure, we have a lot of players who can score, but what clip? There's a huge difference between Brooks shooting 42% vs 44%, Martin shooting 46% vs 48%, etc. If a great passer is added to this team, I believe our entire offense would instantly rise up a notch, taking it into top 5 territory.
It would be nice to have a guy who can sometimes have these 15 assist games...a creator who can surprise opposing teams who think they have figured out Adelman's system...someone who can just improvise when the system doesn't get it done. But how many of those are out there? Chris Paul? Who else?
Hard to say until we watch players in Rick's system. Until Ariza played in Hou his assist totals were in line with Courtney Lee type assist numbers. When Brad Miller went from Ind to Sac his assist totals jumped from about 2 a season for his career to over 4. Will Lee notice the same type of improvement in his assist numbers? Yao will likely be playing even more high post this season than in Years past, will his numbers jump? Paterson? Budinger in a bigger role? I guess we will just have to see but we certainly have good candidates to more than pick up for Ariza's assist numbers.
I am far less concerned about individual assist numbers than team assist numbers. I want to see my team average around 24 assists a game and could care less if any one individual has more than 4 or 5. Individual stats are for fantasy leaguers.
i'm very pleased with the current roster. for the first time ever we have tons of perimeter scoring: Brooks, Martin, Budinger, Lee Lee is probably our best slasher.