ariza mades some big shot against us but more importantly he wont stop the ball like artest. ron is a cult hero here in houston, but he took bad long range shots like mcgrady at times and dribbled out the clock too much. he didnt really help the last 4 games of the lakers series either. ARIZA wheres the youtube videos
Ariza will help but the most important hole to plug in, in the line up is the center position. The team can not depend on Hayes and Dorsey to man the 5 spot.
I think you are wrong this time - going by the article, Morey COULD have raised his offer to Gortat but chose not to. He couldn't have offered Ariza more than the full MLE so the only conclusion I can make is that we offered Gortat less than full MLE. Frankly, I think both got overpaid.
I reread everything and looked up the Gortat/Mavs articles. It's looking like what you said although I'd really like to know what was the actual offer Morey made to Gortat. This is one of those where I'm going to trust Morey's decisions.
I liked the toughness Ron Ron brought, but there were too many times when he just did his own thing on offense (like jacking up shots and dribbling too much) and on defense (like gambling for the steal when he should've simply stayed in front of his man). But the thing that has been overlooked, I think, is that Artest lost a lot of lateral quickness. His slowfootedness was exposed by Roy and even Kobe whenever they drove. I liked having Battier as the primary guy on these guys rather than Ron. Artest used to be a bit better at staying in front of his man, but I think Ariza is a bit quicker and his length can really bother people's shots. He has potential to be a good third option--not second-- as far as I can see.
Totally agree, and Justice you really need to stop making dumbass articles like you know when its time to stop signing players on an undermanned team.
I am now kind of scare to the Lakers line up now. Very very tough starting lineup Fisher Kobe Pau Ron Odom
You know I thought he used to be a Knick but the fantasy news tracker I check only showed him moving from Orlando to the Lakers. Thanks for clearing that up! Wow! Four teams in six years... starting to sound like Chauncey Billups (I HOPE SO).
How? All indications are Ariza took the whole MLE. Bass needs to fire his agent if he takes a league minimum from ANY team. Cuban does NOT play with $Ball's so you can forget any hint of Brandon Bass.
The fact that we spend our entire MLE on Ariza would indicate to me that Morey is confident of making a trade to at least temporarily fill our void at Center. The only other explanation is that he is tanking the season and will sign a veteren's minimum type stop-gap. As others have said, Ariza really is a SF not a SG. Something has to be up to get a SG and backup center. Sounds like Amare and Barbosa or Rudy and Przbilla.
Wow. Everyone is so freaked out about our void at center. The question i have is ... who the hell cares this year anyway? To me, Morey is going with a 2-yr strategy. Now, I'm sure we could stagger into the playoffs, play our ass off, and perhaps even give a team a fight, but we are not contenders this year without Ron, Tracy, and Yao. Morey went with youth in Ariza, and it's clear we are going to lose another major piece in Battier. So I guess my point is that this coming season isn't going to mean a whole lot. It will be a chance to improve our chemistry with our new additions, and watch our youth get better with more playing time. It will hopefully mean a decent draft pick as well. With our chips to trade with, our draft pick, our cap room to sign a max free agent, and the chance of a healthy Yao, it's the year after that we'll be looking at. So for all those who are freaking out because we have no center, I say, what's the problem? If there's nothing available this year, so be it, it's all for next year anyway. No reason to sign or trade for a guy who you don't see as being part of the future just because we need a 5 this year. We'll still be semi-competitive regardless, but we won't be contending regardless. In Morey we trust. He's going to be patient, and when the right opportunity presents itself, he'll pounce on it. Oh, and btw, I hate Richard F---ing Justice
