[Chron] Rockets use Ariza as a steppingstone

Well, that didn't read like a typical Solomon article. What's all this asskissing about, Jerome?

 

It would be cool if you would quote the article in the OP.

 

"Are you ordering room service for us, hon?"

"No, I'm trading Trevor."

The Queen actually made me chuckle.

 

Solomon needs to cite our posts when he basically repeats what's been said over here already.

 

Isn't that a contradictory statement? If the TE is used it will drive us deeper into the LT than we were pre-trade.

 

This move was so gangsta that Jerome really could not say anything bad about it.


You can look at this trade and see alot of different reasons why it is a good move.

You could take the money saving angle and be happy.

You could take fill a position of need angle

You could take the , "he was not really what we thought he would be angle".

The last reason is one of the kings favorite. He is of the opinion that the Rockets need another star to contented and any move that does not get them closer to that goal he is going to take a crap on.

Notice he did not mention anything about Lee for the most part his focus was about what this trade can allow us to do in the future.

Also Solomon hates being loyal for the sake of being loyal and Morey was not thinking about loyalty at all with this move.

 

What a benedict arnold to himself. Soloman's got no integrity in addition to no talent.

 

I don't know how this guy even has a job. He's not insightful. He makes up his "sources" because pretty much any time he give insider info its dead wrong. He takes absolutely no accountability for anything that he says. He's super biased for a reporter.

I don't really understand why he never puts out anything positive, everything is criticism about things that most Houston fans think is positive. Then to top that he praises things that most Houston fans think is negative like kissing Tmac's ass and saying we mistreated him. (I'm waiting for the we mistreated McLane and how McMullen was the best owner the astros ever had). He's basically an anti-Houston fan.

I really don't understand whether he's a reporter or a fan blogger because every statement he proclaims like its 100% factual and not an opinion, but when someone comments about it he gets uber defensive without citing any credible thing to back it up.

I really wonder who he has pictures of and how he keeps his job. I never thought I would miss Fran's bitter articles but with the poopoo that the king constantly spews out, I'd be willing to go to the chronicle's offices and beg for them to give him his job back.

 

Good article from Solomon, he is spot on in this one.

Some of his stuff is junk, some of it average, and some of it ok.

No need to jump off a bridge with overeaction every time he writes something.

He has some of you right in his pocket....bunch of Nancies...



DD

 

I'd like to use Solomon as a stepping stone.

 

Agreed.

 

For those who are annoyed the article isn't in the thread:


Rockets use Ariza as a steppingstone
By JEROME SOLOMON
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 12, 2010, 11:35PM

Only a year after telling us Trevor Ariza could become at least a low-level star, the Rockets figured a star at Ariza's level is just a moon.
And there are many, many moons circling the NBA.
If Ariza does surprise and take that next step — from decent NBA player to borderline all-star — it won't be in Houston, since the Rockets sent the swingman to New Orleans as part of a four-way deal that landed them guard Courtney Lee.
This is why Bill Belichick doesn't do those welcome-to-town-hold-up-a-jersey news conferences when the Patriots sign or trade for a player.
You say all those good things about a guy and a year later you're trading him for a third-year backup. Lee could one day be a starter, but for now he is likely to be the fourth or fifth player off the Rockets' bench.
You get the sense this is a move to set up a move; the trade to set up The Trade. Remember that lazy dribble before the Dream Shake?
The Rockets' brass will say how much they like him, blah, blah, blah, but initially Lee's biggest contribution to the team will be his salary, not his play. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey traded a pawn for a pawn, but one pawn cost some $5 million more than the other, earning the Rockets a valuable $6.3 million trade exception.
The flexibility that offers and the mega savings to Leslie Alexander's bank account (about $10 million in salary and luxury tax) made this a pretty sweet deal.
It should be interesting to watch Morey work at making a deal in the next six months to move from also-ran team to contender. Little gets in the way of a Morey move. He was on vacation, taking in the USA Gymnastics national champion-ships in Hartford, Conn., when this one went down.
"Are you ordering room service for us, hon?"
"No, I'm trading Trevor."
Dealer Daryl knows how to make things happen in his team's favor. He could be the best in the league at getting rid of what he doesn't want and acquiring pieces that fit. This team hasn't been made in his image, but it has been made with his type players.
Morey won't admit it, but Ariza didn't fit. Not many knew it until Ariza got to town. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. This was a good miss.
Not a go-to player
Signed last summer to be a replacement for Ron Artest, someone to hold the team together until Yao Ming returned and a building block for the future, Ariza disappointed the coaching staff by never taking to the role of go-to guy or team leader.
The Rockets hoped Ariza would be something he is not. (And never has been except for a two-month hot stretch helping the Lakers win the 2009 NBA title.)
They will tell you this isn't about Ariza, it's about Lee. That's not entirely true. You don't trade a starter for a backup without being disappointed in the starter's play. Had Ariza stepped up as Morey thought he might, he would still be wearing Rockets' Red.
"To get something you like you got to give up something," Morey said. "I really like Trevor. It was going to be difficult for coach (Rick Adelman) to figure out how to make the minutes work at the 'three' spot."
In other words, Ariza was not better than Shane Battier or what the Rockets expect to get from Chase Buddinger this season. In other words, Ariza was expendable because he is what he is — a moon, not a star.
Big deal brewing?
Ariza had his chance to show what he could do and too many times he didn't show up. Now he is off to his fifth NBA team, which officially qualifies a player — particularly one entering only his seventh season — as a journeyman.
In comes Lee and more hope Morey can take advantage of the trade exception to land a star.
"Obviously one of our stated goals is that at some point — and who knows when the opportunity will arise — we want to make a move for a star, who comes loose like Boston did in trading for (Kevin) Garnett a few years ago," Morey said. "Those opportunities don't come along often, but if something comes along like that, it's something we have to look at.
"And we feel like we're in a similar or better situation to get those kinds of things done after this trade than before."
The Rockets are closer to a star than Ariza is to being one, which means they might be closer to contending without him than with him.
jerome.solomon@chron.com

 

Can anyone that already read the story post it? I'd rather NOT click the link.

 

You read my mind, thanks.

 

And I actually do have a complaint with this article. Morey and the Rockets NEVER said Ariza would be a star. To the contrary, they said he was worth the contract they gave him if he never improved. It was Worrell and Drexler and many people on this board that talked that go-to-guy crap.

 

Dear Jerome Solomon,

Fail.

This was actually an almost awesome article about basketball until you used the moon vs. stars proverb in your introduction and held onto it till the end.

Trevor Ariza is a moon? How does this make any sense at all?
Do you smoke crack with Steve Francis?

The saying by W. Clement Stone is: "aim for the moon, if you miss, you might hit a star".

Not the other way around.

The Rocket's signed Ariza and missed both the moon and a star. You did as well by completely butchering a literary reference.

Thanks for continuing to suck ... even when you almost get it right,
Douglas Schwab

 

I agree, if he thought he was going to be a superstar, he would have given him a much richer contract. (If we had the money) Since supposedly we were going to give Chris "superstar " Bosh the max. Good point.

 

I guess I don't have to stop by the store to get some TP.