Trevor Ariza missed 15 games last season. Rockets went 14-1.

of course it did! i agree with that 100%. however, luc is gone and melo might be on the way. hence my post was about if we had melo rather than luc in that situation. i believe if we did have melo taking the minutes from green, ryno, luc, and jj, we would've had enough offense to win game 7 without paul. another major issue is having enough playmaking ability on the floor against the warriors. they have so many playmakers, and we had 2 and then one didn't play in game 7.

of course i'd prefer to return a healthy luc and ariza. but luc may never be right again and we actually didn't even need him against the warriors. if cp3 was healthy for game 7, or if we had melo we would've won.

now losing ariza was a hit that melo can't replace. and it seems so far morey hasn't found an answer for that yet. i've mentioned in other threads, harkless, aminu, sefalosha, are options with the same or greater wingspan and shooting as ariza.

 

late in the regular season when he returned from injury he was really good at attacking closeouts putting the ball to the floor and driving to the rim... but it seems he cant consistently do it..too bad since it was the most glaring weakness in our offense

 

CP and Tucker for sure. In fact, you can pinpoint taking Anderson out of the starting lineup and putting Tucker in at PF. That is when the defense rose to #3.

I think "system" gets WAY over looked as well. Bzdelik's switching defense has been huge. And getting players to fit that defense is huge. PJ Tucker is like a middle linebacker out there calling signals. Ennis and MCW should benefit from this. And really, Melo too. It helped Harden.

 

I didn't think a player could be underrated and overrated at the same time, but I'll be damned if that hasn't happened to Ariza.

Group A- Ariza is a poor dribbler, poor shooter, and over hyped defensive player that ain't s**t without Harden, we can replace him like nothing.

Group B- Ariza is irreplaceable, without him the Rockets aren't even a top 5, team much less a threat to the Warriors.

 

LOL, pretty much this. Kind of comical.

 

Yes but it should also tell you that Dantoni trusted him a lot and that he was really important.

 

LOL yea this.

 

As opposed to who? What was the alternative?

 

Ariza isn’t irreplaceable and his offensive limitations played a big part in the Rockets offensive struggles in the playoffs.

My issue is that I don’t see anyone on the roster to replace him at his role defensively. The season hasn’t started and a trade can still happen but right now we are not as good defensively.

 

Well, according to Morey, he still has something up his #sleeve (that isn't Melo related)

 

Tweet was deleted. What did it say?

 

It said Morey is about to acquire Brothers, Foster and also has serious negotiations going with Mauer and Maloy because Tilman is ready to go over the cap under the table.

 

There's an under the table cap?

This New Meth kicks like a bull with balls stapled on tight!

 

On the current roster, Ennis is the obvious replacement.

 

The Rockets probably want another player to replace a healthy Luc. He made Ariza's job easier, and vice versa too.

 

He's ALWAYS played those amount of minutes, even during the regular season he played a lot. Remember when everyone was complaining about how Ariza was playing too much.

And I really don't see your point here cause Luc his replacement is gone now too.

 

Is it really that extreme to admit that Ariza was a key role player for us?

I'm happy about the Ennis and Melo signing and I think we have the potential to be better than last year. But damn guys at least give credit where it's due.

 

My comments had nothing whatsoever to do with this season. I was simply pointing out that the idea that Arizas playoff minutes being high indicates that he was critical to the team wasn't a valid statement. He had to play those minutes because there really wasnt another option.

Ariza was a good defender. He was never elite but he was versitile. He played just over 33 mpg last year. Someone else will pick up those minutes this year.

The matchup that counts is vs GS. Ariza's primary responsibility was Durant. Durant is going to get his shot against anyone just because of his size. That's not going to change.

Ariza can switch but against GS, it's more about staying with the shooters, Curry is the only guy that's going to beat anyone off the dribble. No reason an athletic guy like Ennis cant switch to the GS shooters.

Role players are important but they can be replaced. I'd guess that very few posters here know much about Ennis but many assume that hes a scrub. The Rockets only need him to do a couple of things , he doesn't have to be a star.I think that he's going to play a bigger role than most think.

 

I'll take it a step further, I wouldn't be surprised to see MCW in Bzdelik's system be a surprise.

 

I don't know what happens inside, but Ariza's presence was for everyone to see on the court. He got people talking and magnified what the other guys said.

Talkers and glue guys like him, Tuck and Chris are always important. Harden talks but it seemed like Ariza one of key people to deliver the message to others and send him some good feedback from time to time.

I didn't notice how Ego fit in with all that. He seemed more like a moving piece to me. Still crucial but not one that keeps chemistry bubbling.