I dont think Ariza is overrated at all. He signed a MLE contract, not a max deal. He wasnt brought here to be a 25 ppg player. He was brought here to be a good defender and put in 15 or so ppg. He has done so... Im not the biggest Ariza fan in the world or anything. All I am saying is that the expectations were put on him by the fans, not the Rockets... Anyway, just had to get that off my chest.
It's not about the ppg. It's about the field goal percentage, the shot selection and decisions on offense, the declining attitude and defensive intensity on the court.
You might as well settle in for a long winters nap. Plenty of McGrady supporters will be beating on Ariza all year blaming him in part for McGrady leaving.
I HATE these type of posts, it's almost as much as I hate how much Ariza shoots. This is dumb. Asking him to shoot higher than 38% from the floor, or 32% from three when he's one of the league leaders in three point attempts, and the 20 FG attempt leaders in the NBA isn't ASKING HIM TO BE A SUPERSTAR. It's ASKING him to be a MEDIOCRE player. Shooting 40%, and 34% from three is still crap, but he's shooting WELL below that. That's asking him NOT to be a hinderance, or a liability when he's on the floor. THAT'S what he is now. He's not even played that well defensively. "Oh he's an MLE guy, so expecting him to be an average player is expecting too much." That's why we complain, or at least I do, because right now he's a liability whenever he steps on the court. For an MLE player, he sure as hell shouldn't be playing as bad as he is now.
A good value for an MLE guy is someone who knows his role, does what he can and doesn't try to do what he can't. It's not a guy who consistently tries to do things beyond his skill set with disastrous results. you don't get an A for effort in the NBA. It's about the bottom line. Ariza's bottom line is embarrassing.
Like I said, Im not the world's biggest Ariza fan. Im just saying expectations are very high. All I know is, we are winning, the team has good chemistry. Im gonna go out on a limb and suggest Adelman and Co want him to take those shots. He is capable of going off for 30 any given game. Consistency will come...
"Relax guys, Ariza didn't come here to be a #1 option. Once we get our star players back, he'll go back to playing the same role he played in LA." Um, if Ariza was willing to play the same role he played in LA, HE WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT LA! His whole reasoning for coming here was that he wanted to "expand his role." In other words, pad his stats. Now people are surprised at his ridiculous chucking? And not only are people surprised at his chucking, they're actually trying to make it seem like he's chucking against his will? Like he wasn't hoping to take 17 shots per game, or something close to that? Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of clause in his contract saying he has to get X amount of shots. That might sound absurd, but it's not any more absurd than Ariza's shooting percentages so far this season.
The the Lakers fans offseason debate was do you bring back/let go Ariza or Lamar Odom? When Ariza felt "disrespected" by what the Lakers were offering, which was basically...come back and win a championship again, I thought hmmm interesting but young talent signed in the offseason is always exciting. Do you think Lakers would take back this version of Ariza and consider him "polished"? Would they let Lamar Odom walk for Ariza instead?
Sometimes its undeserved. When you lead the team in shots and you are shooting 38% there is a problem.
Don't worry, his turn on the Clutchfans crucifix is just beginning... lol. Grab the pitchforks, here they come... My guess is it'll be : Ariza Yao Adelman The above order depends on who they get for TMac. Whoever that person is may get to be the next whipping boy for the board. Then we can see another 800 threads about the same thing during the week!
If only the ability to start threads had a clause associated with it: "if you visit the GARM X number of times this week, and you click on at least 3 pages of each unread thread, then you can start a new topic"
By the end of the season, I dont think Ariza will be taking max player number of shots. He wont necessarily be phased out, but more will go to Brooks, Scola, Budinger, Landry, Andersen, etc.
