It's called a contract year. Remember 04-05 T-Mac? He was in a contract year too and never replicated that same production after signing his extension.
...sounds like this guy is writing from the same emotional place he criticizes Ariza's agent of being in. This is a complete knee jerk reaction article. Disregard.
Lets clear some things first. First of all, people were saying Ron was better than Tracy becasue everyone was pissed and still are at him. Ron is not better than Tracy. Secondly, Ron did not get us to the 2nd round, it was the hard work of every single player. If anything, Ron hurt the Rockets more than helped. He often did not play the Rockets offence and forced several shots and tried to win a game by himself which turned into a loss. Defense, yes, maybe against some players but Battier ended guarding Roy and Kobe most of the time becasue they were both tearing Ron to pieces. The Rockets could have easily offered Ron more years but something had to have happened for both Rick and Morey not to have extended such offer and instead go for Ariza. In Ariza we have a more cool headed, controlled and team player who is not going to try to win or lose a game by himself. That is why Rick and Morey decided to go for Ariza than Ron besides age. The reason why people are saying Ron is not a good fit with the Lakers is because they have too many people who demand the ball: Kobe, Gasol, Odem and now Ron. There is going to be some conflicts there as to who will be taking the shots and when. Just look at teams who have had too many stars: The Lakers when then Had Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Kobe and Saq' did not win a Championship. Houston when they Had Charles, Hakeem, Drexler, Pippen did not win either. People need to wait until the first game of the year and the final roster is set to begin running their mouths.
It's nothing new. I totally saw that happening. Artest getting the credit for Battier's defense because Ron has the bigger name.
I just have to say I'm so sick of the media discounting the players on the Rockets, and not just our current roster, but even the championship roster. I guess because our teams like to play as a team, the media critizes them. I pray that this season we can prove everyone wrong and make it to the finals and win. It would be nice.
Just disrespectful to call us lottery land. And quite funny. We challenged the NBA champs more than any other team, without Yao or McGrady. How are we all of a sudden lottery-bound? Especially if we trade McGrady, or he somehow comes back with stats similar to Artest, who by the way, barely showed up in a few of those seven games against the Lakers. Lottery land, ha!
No it's not even close to being that bad. The article almost reads like something I'd expect coming from the LA Times, it's so incredibly slanted that it reads like Laker propoganda.
It's funny how Lakers 'fans' are mad that they lost Ariza so now they say he will be nothing without Kobe and say the Rockets will be a failure. I also like how last year when Ron came to Houston, it was 'oh you guys are gonna regret that, this guy is going to implode the team'. Now that he's going to the Lakers it's 'three peat three peat'.
Love gettin Ariza... hate losin Ron Ron. All things being equal, I'd rather have Artest. The thing that makes me happy, is that sooner or later, Ron Ron is gonna clock Kobe right in his eye! Kobe's spoiled brat egotistical primadonna bs aint gonna fly with Ron Ron! That youtube where Kobe is on the bench shoving Gasol's head down as the rest of the Lakers look away and pretend not to notice... aint gonna happen with Artest around! The thing that does not bode well for the Rox, and the rest of the league, is if Artest does get Kobe behaving properly, and by turnabout Ron Ron staying good... - they will be hell to contend with. More likely though, sooner or later, it's all gonna break loose - and the Lakers will implode!
Yes...huge blunder by Ariza . He won a ring and signed a 5 yr. $35M deal. That's just terrible. "Lottery Land?" . It's Clutch City biyatches . Lakers got lucky this year. Good for them that Yao was out and the Magic took care of Lebron and the Cavs. Not that impressive.
You know, nobody's really stressed how smart a move this is for Ariza financially. If you compare Los Angeles and Houston, factoring in the different costs of living and tax rates, signing with Houston makes so much sense. According to a 'cost of living calculator' I found online (here). It costs 67% more to live in Los Angeles. Moreover, Texans don't give away 10.3% of their income to state taxes the way Californians making $1,000,000+ do. So, Ariza signing for $6.8 million in Houston is comparable to signing for $11,355,530 in Los Angeles. Add on to this the fact he gets a chance to take on a greater role in Houston and possibly sweeten his next contract, who could criticize this move? Obviously this guy's a hack and didn't consider this angle, but man, a difference between $6.8 and $11.3 million. Ariza's agent deserves a medal.
Yeah, because Rockets players never get endorsements, right? Ask half the team about their deals with Chinese shoe companies. Everyone outside of LA knows the Lakers are Kobe and batch of revolving-door role players. If you can get along with Kobe and contribute (Gasol), you can keep your job. If you can't do both of those consistently, you'll be employed elsewhere soon enough. Does anyone think Sasha "The Machine" Vujucic will still be a Laker next year? Saying that the Laker bench players are stars because they play in LA is ludicrous.
The only thing more humorous is the "We took them to 7 Games" Brigade. Apparently, being a Rockets' fan means giving up and objectivity and observing how much the Lakers sleep-walked through the series.
I've been following this writer's articles for a while now, and I've come to this conclusion: Adrian Wojnarowski is a turd. A mean spirited, spiteful turd. Facts are a mere sidebar for him, as he often takes assumptions and his own incendiary opinions and parades them as absolute truths. He is a sensationalist masquerading as a sports writer. That being said, if nothing else this article should provide excellent bulletin board material for the Rockets' locker room...assuming it isn't used up in the bathroom first.
I think the signing was a mistake, but I doubt Ariza will mind being on a lottery team if he gets to be the main guy and knows the rebuild is going to be a short one. I also doubt that Ariza settled for less money to sign with Houston. Other teams might have offered similar contracts, and Ariza choose us for other reasons, such as liking Houston or the chance to get more shots, but I don't think his agent walks away from a larger pile of cash. But let's boil down all the LA media whining. They simply cannot handle the fact that one of their players would choose to leave them and go to Houston.
