No Tmac, no Artest, no Ariza, no Yao..the Rockets are boring once again

Learn to read?

I never said Ariza was meant to be our go-to guy. I mentioned McGrady in that post, not Ariza. I'm simply we lack a go-to guy.

 

The thing is we don't even know if Yao will be on the court in those clutch situations though...

Its interesting because you say Brooks made many 4th quarter baskets...but in that case is Carl Landry clutch too??? Because for most of the season last season he was in the top2 in scoring in the fourth quarter? I highly doubt you will pass the ball to him and wait for him to come up with the game-winning basket when you team is down 1 with 10 seconds to go.

Brooks was forced to be the clutch leader of the team because he had was forced into that role...cos we really had no other better options to score in the clutch. Brooks was the best perimeter scorer so naturally he got the nod to be the man taking important shots in clutch situations. But would he be doing that on any championship-calibre team?

Brooks and Martin are fine scorers, but they are not skilled or consistent enough to be depended on when we really need that basket. sure, they've made some clutch shots in their career..but then again do they have that "clutch" reputation? Can they hit those high-difficulty shots that stars like andre iguodala and kobe has been hitting for their gamewinners?

 

LOOOOOOL...ok?

So far really I've presented my argument nice and clearly,,,and the response I'm seeing? Nothing more than a few lines of ..."ariza sucks..period...ur wrong and im right...what u are saying is laughable...."

sure I'll be convinced by that kind of rebuttal...

 

Huh? What do you mean by "thunderous rejections?"

 

Thank you very much for making the most well-supported and presenting the strongest rebuttal to a disagreement I'll hear all month.

You are indeed a great debater.

in that case, I'll play your awesome mature well thought out game...

UR MOM.

 

The HEAT will go much further than the Rockets this year.

That's enough argument right there.

Ariza wasn't the most skilled player on the team, but he was easily the most talented player on this team. And talent wins championships.

During a season in which he shot a miserable 39.5 percent from the field and showed a complete inability to create offense for himself and others, the signing of Trevor Ariza looked like a borderline disaster. Ariza played poorly in his role with the Rockets, but more importantly, the Rockets missed the playoffs for the first time under Rick Adelman.

After an outrageously good start, Ariza’s production came down to Earth. As in, way down. He shot in the 30’s percentage wise for the entire season after the first month, struggled with turnovers, and disgusted Rockets' fans with awkward off-balance shots that had no chance of going in. Suddenly, the five year, $33 million investment the Rockets made on Ariza was not looking good.

After this rough stretch, it became evident that Ariza is never going to be the go-to player or the number one scorer on the Rockets. He simply does not possess the coordination to create offense for himself against high-pressure defenses to be that kind of player. He constantly dribbled into trouble or had nowhere to go in midair, turning the ball over countless times as a result.

Then after a hip injury sidelined Ariza, things went from bad to worse for the Rockets, as they embarked on a season-crippling losing streak without Ariza and Kyle Lowry. What the Rockets learned during this losing streak was that while Ariza is never going to be a star, he is a huge contributor and is crucial to the Rockets’ success.

What makes this season’s statistics so easy to throw out is that for the majority of the season Ariza was thrust into a role that the team had not planned on him filling after they signed him. He was the team’s second or third scorer for most of the year, and simply could not perform well enough in that role.

When he finally began to fill the role that the team originally envisioned for him, as the “utility guy”, he actually performed very well. Every team must have a great utility guy, a player who can play without the ball and still be successful. And Ariza fits perfectly in this role. He plays excellent defense (he still gambles a bit too much), can make open three pointers, and slashes extremely well.

With Yao Ming potentially back in the fold next year along with Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks on the wing, the pressure on Ariza will be significantly lessened and he will be back in the role that he thrived in during his tenure with Los Angeles, not being forced to create offense for himself but depended upon to hit open shots and make key defensive plays.

After being eliminated from playoff contention, Ariza and Kevin Martin both returned healthy enough to give the Rockets a sneak peek of what the wings could potentially look like next year, and the returns were very good for Houston. No longer forced to create offense for himself at all times, Ariza picked his spots and looked very impressive, scoring more efficiently while rebounding and assisting much more effectively.

Instead of an offensively inept defensive specialist as a “utility man” like Kelvin Cato (or Shane Battier), Ariza’s future is so promising because he has a much higher upside offensively than they do. He has the makings of an adequate offensive game and Daryl Morey describes him as a “top five wing defender”. While that might be a bit of a stretch, he and Battier are in similar leagues as defenders, and if he can get rid of some of his more bone-headed mistakes on offense, he can basically become Super Shane Battier 2.0.

At just $6 million a year, that is a bargain, especially for a 24-year-old with athleticism and potential for improvement. He may never be an All-Star, but he will be the Rockets’ next great role player.