[youtube]8tBe_2Y1Buw[/youtube] Listen to the way Ariza's former coach in Washington describes his defensive play. He equates Ariza's defensive prowess and giving him the 'green light,' so to speak, on the defensive side of the ball, to say the kind of freedom Harden has offensively. It will be a relief to have a perimeter defender as good as Ariza that we can put on some of the more elite perimeter scorers in the West. A good leader on defense who takes pride in it. It should be fun to see Howard, Ariza, and Bev work together. I would also think after all of the criticism thrown at Harden for his terrible defensive effort, that he may make it a point to bring some more hustle on that side of the ball. Here's to hoping.
I'd love to see what a great defensive coach like JVG could do with a team that has Beverley, Ariza and Howard.
Seriously. I really wish our FO would pursue hiring JVG as an assistant with a guaranteed head coaching job takeover after a season. He seriously loves the rockets.
I was no fan of the role the Rockets attempted to gift Ariza with during his first stay with the Rockets but I was stoked when I heard about the move on Saturday. The guy is a stud defender and he shot 45% on catch and shoot threes last season. Before, as a Rocket, I remember him being all over the court and grabbing a ton of 50/50 balls. He also had no issues going down low to do dirty work when he isn't sinking treys. He brings Championship experience and toughness this team sorely lacks outside of Beverly. Money aside, I think the starting lineup is better with Ariza over Parsons. The guy was built to play next to Harden.
It would be interesting to know how JVG views his offensive schemes in today's NBA. He has got a nice perspective looking from the outside working as an analyst.
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I really think Ariza is going to be one of the best signings of this free agent class. He is going to be looked at as a steal at $8M per year compared to Parsons $15M. Looking back at last year (in hindsight,) we should have included Parsons in that Rondo trade if those rumors were legit. A Rondo/Harden/Jones/Howard core is by far a better one than with Parsons there instead of Rondo. Again, this is purely using hindsight, but if those rumors were true, we screwed up big time.
I do think he should be a great fit. I'm glad that he will be improving our perimeter defense- at times that was embarrassing last year! And his 3pt % has been improving every season for the past 3 or 4 years. If he can maintain the kind of 3 point shooting he was last year, then I don't think we will see much of a dropoff.
Some thoughts from Randy Wittman on defense Spoiler :grin: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fVBulELTpvk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Commitment to ****ing playing defense. That's what it is. That's what it boils down to.
JVG's defensive mind and general coaching ability (and any perspective he's gained in his time out of the NBA) with more Morey/Finch influence on the offensive side and this team could do great things.
hmm for the most part in this video, Ariza gets beat and the player he's guarding misses for some other reason
Ariza was to compliment a rebuilding core around Yao Ming and Kevin Martin after losing Artest & McGrady the year before. The Rockets did not gift him anything but a chance to be a second or third option. Injuries necessitated him taking the role we all seem to selectively recall without the proper perspective. Harden & Howard should keep Ariza's offensive game limited and opportunistic. He'll do fine this upcoming year and likely be a catalyst for additional fast break opportunities with his perimeter D.
Part of the role he played here. Was expected to do so much offensively that his defensive effort lacked. Just a failure by all accounts. He'll be great with this roster though. Perfect fit on both sides of the ball.
