It shouldn't come to that much of a surprise? Kobe has known to pick up his game, on both ends, toward the end of regular seasons. I've seen him set up his team mates the first half and get it going the second. Of course, we've also seen him take wildly contested shots, but honestly, I could live with that from a superstar gym-rat.
of course, 30% isn't 0%. So he's bound to hit some. And the way he would go off occasionally, hit crazy clutch shots occasionally (remember the inbound turn around 3 he hit to win a game?) and his overall wackiness all endear him positively to fans in hindsight. but would also forget that on 3 pointers, in the finals for example, he shot 1-6 (W) 2-6 (L) 0-6 (W) 2-6 (L) 1-4 (W) 1-6 (W) 2-6 (W) That's horrible. He was just a horrible horrible shooter. very inefficient offensively, generally...but he could go off, and he could be clutch. yeah, he went off in game 3 against the suns, but while they were choking away Games 1 and 2, despite Hakeem playing out of his mind (as usual), Vernon was 1-9 (1-4 from 3) for 3 points (though did rebound and assist that game), and 6-18 (2-9 from 3) of course, it was a different NBA back then. much different on the perimeter. nobody except Hakeem really played well at all that series.
Yeah Rafer's 3 point shooting and free throw shooting kept him off that list but his FG% for most of his tenure here was sub 40 for sure.
If you make enough crazy shots, people will forget the tons of shots you miss. The "Kobe is clutch" myth is by and large a product of that. People just say, "Don't bother me with stats. Just watch how he made all those game winning shots." That said, Maxwell's value is as an elite defender. He's hands down better than Ariza.
True on all counts. As bad as Vernon was from a FG% / efficiency perspective, at least he hit the clutch 3 pointer and wasn't 2-18 and 0-11 on 3 pointers in the deciding game 7 (John Starks) - who Vernon guarded.
The best part is that he also claims that Kobe missing shots so that Gasol, Artest etc. can get the offensive rebound is part of the game plan. Basically, Kobe can do no wrong and anyone who comes into contact with him is blessed.
I think you missed the point of the post I quoted. It asserted that Ariza was a better shooter for the Lakers because Kobe taught him how to shoot and so without Kobe, Ariza can't shoot. Next thing you know, he'll say Kobe taught Shaq how to dunk?
Good god, I was tracking Arizas progress in the begining of the season to see the how we was vs. Lee, but I stopped. Apparently its gotten worse. Trevor Ariza might be the worst player in the NBA. What happened to all those people who said Lee was a talent downgrade?
At the start of the playoffs vs. the Lakers, I knew Adelman did not respect Ariza's outside shot because he often had Scola defend Ariza. Scola would stay near the paint and not allow Ariza to drive to the basket, but pretty much gave him the open perimeter shot. The strategy of course backfired because Ariza ended up getting hot from the outside. But maybe Adelman's strategy wasn't that bad after all.
I can't believe we're already handing out the Award for Stupidest Quote of the Year and it's only March!!! As to the thread in general, why settle for 30 years, can't we just go ahead and name him worst shooter of all time?
Seems you are blind and didn't see him in the finals 2 years ago. I'm not saying who is better or not. I'm just saying Ariza has helped his team when it matter most. If you read my posts you would know I hate Martin. He's nothing more then a stat guy that doesn't make his team mates better.
This just in folks, and I can't believe it, the 2011 Award for Stupidest Quote of the Year is being split between two quotes by the same person in the same thread!!! What are the odds?! Never in the history of sports has a tie been this rewarding! This is truly one for the ages.
Surprised no one pointed out the parallel between Ariza and Maxwell. Both players are great defenders but terrible shooters. Both played really well for a championship run. But here's the key point. Being hot and contributing to a championship doesn't mean you can use that forever. Hence, why the Rockets kicked Mad Max to the curb when they got Drexler, and Maxwell started acting up. Same with LA/Houston for not keeping him for his "one playoff glory". In the end, while fans tend to focus on specific playoff glories, teams care more about consistent contribution day in and day out.
First of all, Kobe misses shots so his big men get better rebounding stats. 2nd, Kobe turns the ball over so he can assist the other team. 3rd, when Kobe calls out and punches his teammates, it's the teammates fault for not having the same fire. 4th, when Kobe rapes a chick, it's the chicks fault because Kobe is irresistible:grin:.
I still don't think Ariza is such a "great" defender. He has the physical length and he plays the passing lane well. But he is not particularly good or disciplined man defender. Maxwell is a much better man defender, imo. I mean, if you could lock down Michael Jordan, you're pretty good. Could Ariza do that?
You emphasize too much on man-to-man defense. I'd think after watching Yao vs Hayes in the middle, you can see that there's more to defense than just manning up. Ariza plays the passing lane as well as any player in the NBA. And getting TOs, especially ones that lead to fastbreaks, are basically 3 points turnarounds(teams generally scores 1+ points per possession). It also forces your opponents out of their comfort zone in their passing game, disrupting offense overall. You can say Ariza looked like crap on defense as a Rocket(although we weren't that bad despite no big). But in that Lakers championship run, Ariza IMO played at a level higher than Maxwell in our first championship run.
one of the most important if not the most important game in rockets history, if he doesn't take over that game, no championship i was at ut watching that game in the basement of the dorm because they didn't have cable yet. there this guy watching in a phoenix hat. needless to say we were giving each other grief. not many rockets fans outside of houston at that time. needless to say at the end of the game i was sitting by myself in the bask of their glory
Pretty eye-opening article, for me. I had always heard Ariza heralded as a "good catch and shoot guy", used as praise of last resort when there was nothing else to be given. Now take his current shooting numbers and add the fact that Shaq is a better ball handler, and you have some problems. Only on Clutchfans could someone this intensely mediocre (terrible?) be so divisive.
