Easy to answer this: Ariza's steal%, assist%, blk%, rebound%, Defensive BPM, ORB% - ALL at ***career lows last year. We were 15-0 without Ariza AND performed at a higher level defensively as a team when Ariza did not play. Add to that Ariza shot an abysmal 41% last year. Mathematically I think Ennis Vorp delta vs. Ariza will be about -1 this year. In other words I think with Ariza we win just one more game in 82 than Ennis. So it winds up being Ariza for $15M or Ennis for $2.9M, Vorp -1 and 5 years younger. Easy decision.
Who cares... it was one game. They probably thought they could beat New Orleans without breaking a sweat but found out that wasn't the case. Let’s face it, if AD plays like he did all season, I will have no problem in declaring him the heir apparent to Olajuwon. I think they will surprise a lot of teams this year. As much as it sucked to lose that game, I was in absolute of awe of what AD did. That said, I’m betting Rox will come out next game and take care of business emphatically...
In the Pelican's game, the primary issue was defense. I'm not sure why you're focusing on offensive spacing or why you think Ariza is a solution to anything on offense. For his last 4 year stint with the Rockets, Ariza shot 35.0%, 37.1%,34.4% and 36.8% from the 3 point line (between 6.2 and 6.9 attempts/game). He shot open 3s and was slightly above average. Since Ennis has been here he's shot open 3s and he's shot them well. In preseason, he shot 56.2% on 3s. In the Pelican's game, he shot 40% (2-5) from behind the arc. How is Ariza "another option" compared to Ennis? Ennis has shot the 3 fine since he's been here and he can actually put the ball on the floor and go to the rim when players are over aggressive on closeouts. Defensively, the communication sucked and guys got wide open cuts to the hoop. That has to get fixed. The bigger issue was that NO killed us inside. Tucker nor Ennis could do anything to stop AD or Randle when he posted up. If we sent a double then Davis did a good job of finding the open man (Randle still shot the ball anyway) and Mirotic couldn't miss. When we switched a wing onto Davis or Randle, they punished us by just shooting over the smaller defender. The Pelican's are one of the few team that have the front court personel that can take advantage of our switch everything defense. Ariza wouldn't have stopped Davis or Randle either. We got abused because we were too small and yet people are wanting to start Gordon and get even smaller? How does that make sense?
You make a lot of great points but my gut says that this year's defense will be below average so I guess you could say I've given up on that. That leaves us to outscore. Granted it's going to be hard to score more than 131 per game but our offense was painful to watch most of the game. And you're right that we need more height but we also need more talent on the floor for more options. MDA isn't going to play Hart, Chriss and who knows what's up with Nene. Obviously the height advantage Ennis gave us So height is pretty much out of the question barring a trade. Bottom line - Ariza had slowed down and I wouldn't have matched the 15 million but I also don't see Ennis as a starter on a championship caliber team. He's not a bad player (I'm not going to start a "I have grown to hate X" thread) but he is just a role player - not a starter unless injuries dictate it. So until the roster changes to get a real starter, IMO we have better starter options in Melo or Gordan to get a jump on the opposing team and bring Ennis off the bench for the energy when the starters tire out.
Clint got abused like a rookie and no one even peeps about him, good call. I guess Ennis was supposed to guard him too.
Did anyone listen to Morey on the ESPN LA radio today? The Laker guy asked Morey today if the reason he didn't sign Ariza and Luc was because of financial reason and Morey said, "No, it was because of change. I like change. I like the guy we added. Melo, MCW, and Ennis are all doing great. It wasn't for financial reason, but for change." WOW. So Tilman isn't in financial trouble afterall and isn't worried about Luxury tax and paying $90 million for Ariza and Luc with Luxury Tax. It was because of CHANGE!
Right on. AD dominated and we had no answer. Remember who was guarding AD most of the time last year? Hint: Not Capela
How do you feel about Melo? He seemed out of place on this team to me and really bothered by not being a stsrter. I think he is going to pop off very soon if he is still coming off the bench by game 3.
You don't go on public radio and tell the world your boss is broke, do you? Just kidding, but Morey won't say that way since it's more or less a long term planning and finance is part of it
Again ennis is not a bad player! He is a great pick up. But there are things that Ariza did for us in the starting lineup that are not in the boxscore, not in percentages and so forth. He was a great defensive conductor on the court. Maybe it was Bzdelick but either way it needs to be addressed. 3 out of 5 personnel responsible for our strong defense last year are gone. This is an issue Morey needs to adjust. I have yet to be impressed with Roy Rogers. The meticulous work that Ariza put in night in and out is sorely missed.
It takes time to build defensive chemistry. We need to be ready and elite defensively 81 games from now. It will come. If Mike D doesn’t figure it out, I guarantee you that Daryl Morey will.
If we give up 120 points to a non shooting team like the Laker tonight, it's time to fire Roy Roger and hire his horse Trigger
IMHO he needs touches and FG attempts which we can't give him for his confidence. Eric Gordon will lauch the most or 2nd most 3s every game when he is healthy. (he is close to being a pure shooter) He is going to be streaky as hell but will have his string of efficient games. Even if Carmelo starts, Gordon, Harden, Chris Paul and others will attempt many long range shots.
