Adelman promised Ariza the Rockets would feature him offensively

Probably the main reason why (besides having character to not go back on his word) he chose our team. Right now he is featured mainly as a developing S. Battier/T. Prince defensive player with nice shooting.

On this Rockets team with Shane already there to take the hardest defensive assignment, he can develop his offensive game this season being one of our top 3 offensive options.

 

Am I an idiot because I'm excited to play a no-star no-center style basketball next year?

Every one of our guys is capable of doing more than they did last year. I predict all stats will go up minus a player or two.

 

Great post.

I want to campare Ariza to Josh Howard or at the very least say maybe theres a chance he'll be a 18ppg scorer like Howard but then I remember just how stacked Dallas was offensively his rookie season. Dirk, Nash, Finely, Jamison and Antwain Walker.....there just wasn't shots for him. He got on the floor cause he was the only one in the rotation who could have an impact without scoring.

When Dallas became a more traditinal team with Dampier at Center with Dirk playing exclusively at PF by trading both Antwans....Howards role became larger. The next 3 seasons he saw an increase in points and in PER peaking in '07 with 19ppg and a PER of 20 Those are legit 2nd/3rd option numbers depending on the offensive makeup of your team. Thats probably not gonna happen with Ariza.

Im actually interested in his jumpshot developement. He now knocks down open 3's ala Battier/Posey but cant he take it a step beyond that? Can he be a real catch n shoot player (curls, pindowns)? I remember McGrady being basically a pure slasher and then coming back after the 00-01 season being able to curl off of either shoulder...I've seen simular things with Wade and Lebron. Obviously, these guy are in the top %tile in terms talent but they are examples of guys who weren't in the least bit pure shooters who added that element to their games. It would seem be easier to add that than developing a one on one game.

 

Hilarious JVG story but while JVG might have been flippant about it, that Knicks team faced matchup problems because they had to play one of their natural 2s (Sprewell, Houston) at the 3. The lack of size and physicality at the small forward position was actually a dilemma during those years.

As it stands, I think the Rockets have the exact opposite problem of that Knicks team. While the Knicks had two All Star shooting guards with incredible offensive skills, we've got a pair of solid complementary players, great defenders with limited offensive skills who are better suited to play small forward. Switch one player from each team for the other and both of their imbalance is solved.

That said, I have no problem with Ariza and Battier as our starting SG/SF tandem for now, but that's due to lack of a better alternative. Ultimately, Morey's going to add a McGrady, a Houston or a Sprewell to give the lineup a better balance.

 

Exactly. Thats why they're called wings or flanks. In some cases, its more defined because of a guys size, but in reality, those 2 should be able to switch on offense and defense. When or if adelman said he was going to feature trevor, he probably meant his offense is built for his game. From clyde and kersey to christie and peja. The offense allows guys to catch a half a man and get to the rim or back door cut for a basket. Now that Yao is out the lineup, the baseline will be free and open up for some z and shallow cuts. Ideally, i still think Battier wil be moved, but if he isn't, maybe now he can get back to being a basketball player vs a specialist. Ariza will be fine just as brooks and the rest of the crew will be. Run the offense, turn it over multiple times, be patient and it wil work. When the game gets tight, it will probably be a pick and roll with brooks and someone.

 

Imo, we should look at this from a different perspective.

Lets assume that RA has indeed told Ariza he will be THE featured player on offense.
Then there would only be two possibilities,

1. Ariza would succeed and he will be more then what he showed in previous years.
In this case we would then have GREAT value in him and we could (if we wanted) trade him in a package for a star player or maybe a lottery pick.

OR

2. He will fail as a featured offensive player.
In this case, we will have a bad record and a high lottery pick(which would translate into a star) and Ariza can get back to his normal ............

either way,I would see this as a win/win situation and yet another good decision by RA and Morey

 

All you guys think about is trading, do you all ever plan to keep a team together for goodness sakes?!?!

 

I think this post is taking the word "feature" way out of context. The key line on the article is "He wanted to be sure he'd start," the source said. "That was a big hang-up." Simply put, Adelman promised more playing time (i.e. starter), and in a Princenton (motion) offense, usually a minimum of 3 players is "featured" in a given play, unlike Iso which features 1 or 2. I'm sure Adelman explained to him how he'll definitely get more touches in the Rockets offense.

 

Two words: Salary cap

 

In my post I said "lets ASSUME RA indeed said that".

And in regards to the previous post saying "why Trade?"
I said "IF WE WANTED TO"

 

My point was that every talent we have is to trade for someone else. We want to trade Battier and Brooks for Outlaw/Fernandez/Bayless (like that would ever happen). Then we want to trade our new acquired talent (Ariza, Buddinger, Taylor, etc) for some other crap.

I love seeing how trade works out but the problem we have had in this city for the past decade was that we could not put a single potent team out there since we always lacked role players. Now we have role players, yet we want to trade them away for a star. I know that you said I quoted above, but I was generalizing what goes on here.

Anyways, carry on.

 

I do agree with you on the "trade" issue, but this year due to cap positioning and rebuilding, that is/will be needed, needless to say, I do not expect a star pick up during THIS off season.
Based on what I see and hear, we are completely concentrating on our future, and rightfully so. I think it will be short and painless.

 

Who else do the Rockets have? If Yao's out the entire season and McGrady most likely gone as well, the team's best options are Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola and Trevor Ariza. Like I said earlier, I see Ariza developing into a Gerald Wallace-type player, maybe better if he can shoot the way he did during the playoffs. And the confidence he's gaining will make him work harder to become a better player.