Ariza Watch

[lovethisgame]

Just checking to see how Ariza has been doing.

He attempted 21 shots last night for 25 points. His career high with LAL was 26 points (09-13FG; 05-05FT) and came in game 66 of last year and his his most FGA was 14 and came in game 4 of the finals (where he sank 03-04 from deep). It's nice to see he is getting his shots. Wish him well.

10/27 HOU v. POR
12PTS/03RBS/02AST/04TO (03-08FG)

10/28 HOU v. GSW
25PTS/05RBS/05AST/06TO (09-21FG)

[Slava]

9-21 is not actually a bad performance from a player with limited tools and a significantly less scope to get to the FT line. The 6 TOs lets you know that he shouldn't be counted for sharing the scoring load but still good to see him put up points when needed.

[arigold24]

i can drop 20 on the warriors haha

[Danny Darko]

well they are definitely going to see what he's made of. I hope he grows and comes back someday a star to be a vet on the post Kobe-Lakeshow.

[96 Til Infiniti]

It's going to be tough for him while T-Mac's out, consider he's the focus of all opponent's perimeter defense. But this is what I expect throughout the season...mostly 12 and 5 games with an occasional 20+ performance.

[Plastered]

rick adelman runs a very nice offense, easy to get good looks off and if you are a slasher like trevor a lot of those shots can come within 10 feet of the hoop. i expect him to average around 15-18 points this season maybe shooting around 46% from the field

[CowsMoo]

I can't stand how they make him a volume shooter.

[Jaykoolzboy]

I can't stand how they make him a volume shooter.

you mean Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes going to be the scorer for that Rocekts team?

[Frantik]

when is T-mac scheduled to return? or is he ever returning?

[Hyral]

Ariza would've never put up a 25pt, 5reb, 5ast game if he were still with the Lakers! Oh, and he also wouldn't have gotten 21FGA on ~43% shooting and 6TOs too. Hope he's enjoying himself being a main option in Houston...

[LAKESHOW]

ariza watch?

more like his agent watching the terrible mess he got his client in. in the end, without yao and mcgrady, ariza is gonna be hatin life when the losing streaks begin to happen for that team. and thats sad, because i liked this dude as a player on our team. quality player. excellent teammate. nba champion. but his agent placed him in texas on a crap team.

[The Skyhook]

You know I wouldn't be surprised if down the road we see an article come up with a headline such as the following "Ariza admits he regrets not resigning with L.A."

[hermes]

good for him, i've always liked trevor

probably more than i should but i don't care

[kevin_405]

I have a feeling both the Lakers and Ariza are going to regret in equal terms..

In the preseason and the one game we had Artest seems slow , his offense seems very forced.. he looks more like a linebacker trying to play basketball..

I am not at all impressed with Artest.. so yeah watching ariza do well is really painful.

[TonyMontana]

Sasha and Farmar for Ariza......... DO IT MITCH.

[Danny Darko]

let's be honest... we wanted Artest all along... Had Ariza's agent not been a douche then maybe we would have resigned him at a hometown bargain, but Ariza was in a position to cash in rightfully to his performance. We know Phil's been asking for Ron, Ron's been trying to get to LA. Basically we couldn't have both players. I think the hate on the admittedly idiotic agent is overlooking the fact that we were bent on getting Ron.

I also think that Ron will be great for us, Ariza got pushed around by guys like Paul, Lebron, and Melo despite his quick hands, and most importantly in the upgrade area: Ron allows Kobe to not get beat up on defense versus bigger guys like Melo. He adds length to Kobe's career.

kevin I fully disagree with your assessment.

[DEEP3CL]

Trevor isn't a Laker anymore...........so why should I care about what he's doing?

[snaquille oatmeal]

Trevor isn't a Laker anymore...........so why should I care about what he's doing?

it is been years since Shaq left and threads about him still pop up.

Kobe Bryant(notes) looked at the box score from the Houston Rockets’ preseason game against the Boston Celtics and was alarmed by the stat line of one player. Trevor Ariza(notes), Bryant’s former teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers the previous two seasons, had missed all but one of his 11 shots – including all four of his 3-point attempts – and failed to hand out a single assist. Bryant figured Ariza was in need of a little brotherly advice, so he sent him an encouraging text message.
“He was like, ‘I’ve been through the same situation before. So just slow down, stay focused on your goal and it will come around. You’re in a situation where you have an opportunity, so take advantage of it,’ ” Ariza said of Bryant’s message. Ariza welcomed Bryant’s advice because he now finds himself in a unique position: The Rockets need him to become their go-to scorer, a role Ariza hasn’t held since he was a senior at Los Angeles’ Westchester High six years ago. In his six NBA seasons, Ariza has never averaged double figures in scoring.

It’s an adjustment,” Ariza said. “It’s a different style of basketball that I’m playing now. I’m going from being the fifth option to one of the main guys on the team. It’s taken a little while to adjust to it, but I’m happy to be in this situation. “The best part about it is I can take shots, and if I take a bad shot, I’m not going to be yelled at. But the toughest part is probably having to take it all on my shoulders. It’s what people say pressure is.” Ariza expected as much after signing a five-year, $33 million contract with the Rockets this summer. With All-Star center Yao Ming(notes) sidelined for the season, guard Tracy McGrady(notes) likely out until January and Ron Artest(notes) having taken Ariza’s place with the Lakers, the Rockets are desperately counting on Ariza to tap into more of his talent and expand his game. While trying to change his mentality from that of role player to dependable scorer, Ariza leaned strongly on Bryant for guidance. Ariza figured he would still be alongside Bryant this season after helping the Lakers win their 15th NBA title by averaging 11.5 points in the playoffs. He entered free agency hoping to land a big contract from the Lakers. Negotiations, however, never really progressed after Ariza’s agent made it clear he wanted more than the $5.8 million midlevel exception. The Lakers quickly turned their attention to Ron Artest, who eagerly accepted their five-year, $33 million offer. Ariza was left to take a similar deal from the Rockets.

Ariza’s goal: To become more like Bryant and less like his old self. “I have to tell myself to shoot more, and everyone reminds me of that,” Ariza said. “Every practice when I pass up a good shot thinking someone else is open for a better shot, they tell me to shoot the ball. I got to [be aggressive], and I’m still having problems with it.” Ariza showed some of his potential this week when the Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors on the road. He scored a team-high 25 points while making four 3-pointers. “Now you have to guard him like he’s an All-Star, basically,” Warriors guard Anthony Morrow(notes) said. “He has the green light, obviously, and it’s hard to guard guys with the green light.” Said Ariza, “That’s what I came to Houston for. And that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Some 400 miles down the road in L.A., Bryant probably had a proud smile on his face as he looked at the box score.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AqB0yNyMDLGzwJIjw3euFgu8vLYF?slug=mc-arizarockets103009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[LAKESHOW]

well i think the loss to the mavericks is where a guy like ariza is needed. when we face bulked up teams, artest is needed. but when a team has its shooters out there, ariza is the guy with length and speed to get out there and cover. artest, not so much.

artest brings us toughness on the interior, but we got torched from the perimeter tonite.

[snaquille oatmeal]

I don't think Ariza would have helped tonight or even Gasol for that matter. the whole team had a bad night. oh well, let's move on.