Let's trade Trevor Ariza.

[MaxRider]

Just admitted it. It's a bad signing. We screwed up all the free agent signing in the past 6 years (not including our own restricted free agent). People hate Alston because of him missing shots after shots. Well we have one here that's worse than Alston. Let's trade him and give more playing time to T-Mac and Budinger.

[Guy986]

I actually rather like Ariza.(but then again i Liked Alston also) He's better than i imagined. Seriously.

[Munchlaxatives]

I actually rather like Ariza.(but then again i Liked Alston also) He's better than i imagined. Seriously.

[Guy986]

Hey Max, if you hate Ariza that much just waive him. If you waive him, he won't haunt your nightmare anymore. Your fantasy team's FG% and FT% will be safe.

[hipmaster]

Ariza is not that bad. He is making a transition from role player to go-to-guy. That takes time. More patience required. What is he? 25 yrs old.

[Moreyball]

23 actually and i agree with all of that.

[rocketsballin]

pple have to realize ariza is not an all star, thats why he got an mle contract. he feeds off playmakers. he's a complimentary player, not a go to guy. he's still playing good, imo that shows how good he is. once tmac or whoever all star gets on this team, he'll start shooting 45fg%+ . next year if yao can come back he'll be on fire . but w/ barely any playmaking on this team, no one should be surprised his shooting sucks.

rafer had much easier shots than ariza. rafer had countless wide open **** shots and dont get me started on that ****

[Baller 24]

Max Rider is right, anyone who disagrees is blind. Plain and simple, give those shot attempts he's taking to a better player and you're going to have a more effective and all around ball game. It's a fact. It's absolutely horrible that he's still allowed to do what he does with the way his terrible handles are and with the way he can't create worth ****.

Let's see, I hate to say it, but the Lakers EASILY won the swap, Ron Artest was smarter, knew how to create his shot (although at times he'd take stupid shots), statistically speaking he was a very very calm shooter. He was a better passer, reboudner, EASILY the better defender, and at least he did this all while shooting 40%/40%. His personality would have blended very well this team, too bad it didn't happen. Personally, it's sad to hear Trevor makes more money than him.

NOW, if they change him into a Battier-like role, where he takes less shots, I'd be intrigued to like him, if not, please get rid of him ASAP, or calm his ass down.

Guy986, Rafer Alston had basketball intelligence, he didn't take that many shots, he knew his role at all times, and he was a FANTASTIC play-maker...Alston even scored at a more effective rate, sadly speaking.

EDIT: I hope Chase takes his spot, that would make my dreams come true, sadly speaking, Chase knows how to create better, rebounder better, and pass better. Just a damn shame Arzia is still getting chances just because "he wants to turn into an all-star". I'm so sick of him that I'd let Landry start at SF and let him have the minutes Ariza has.

[TMU]

I don't blame Ariza for trying to be in McGrady's/Yao's shoes. Knowing that the team lacks a go-to-guy, Ariza had the urge to carry Houston's offense. But as it turned out, Ariza is hurting the team and I don't think he understands this.

I wouldn't go as far and say that Ariza should to be traded. But the bottom-line is that his offensive role should be limited and have him focus more on defense. And if he's not willing to do just that, Adelman needs to step in.

[Aaron Brooks]

Were you guys expecting a franchise player for the MLE? He will be a great complimentary player/ fringe all-star in the future .

[TMACFORMVP]

Were you guys expecting a franchise player for the MLE? He will be a great complimentary player/ fringe all-star in the future .

See, I don't get this statement. I don't think asking Ariza to shoot higher than 38% from the floor, 31% from three, and 65% from the line when he's leading our team in shot attempts expecting too much from him, let alone franchise player. I expected him to be a DECENT player, so far this season, he's been one of the worst offensive players in the NBA, if not the worst, no in fact, THE worst, and has regressed defensively. He gets lost on his man, and is prone to getting beat off the dribble because of the gambling he does on that end of the floor. His handles are terrible, he's prone to turnovers, and has terrible shot selection.

There's no chance he becomes a fringe all-star, because he doesn't have that skill-set, and so far this season he's been absolutely terrible. He's putting up historically bad numbers from all over the court. I cringe when he shoots, and cries in anger when he makes a shot, because it's guaranteed he's going to miss the next five in a row.

[PDXKnight]

I for one think Ariza's a good player, but he's playing in the wrong role IMO. He shouldn't be your team's go-to guy because he doesn't have the offensive skill set to be that. I do believe that he'd be a heckuva third option, but in his role now, he's probably given too much of a role on offense.

[Guy986]

Lets just say Ariza has exceeded my expectation. He has made improvement to his game as a player but its not showing up on the stat sheet yet. He's taking alot of long jumpers/ quick 3s but those are the kind of shots that Adelman and Morey encourages him to shoot. I'm ok with that. I just wish he could slash to the basket more often.

For the MLE, he's still a net gain.

[Guy986]

I just have this feeling that from now on ppl are going to use Ariza as a scapegoat, like they've done with Alston, with Juwan Howard, with Ryan Bowen etc.

[moofs]

I actually rather like Ariza.(but then again i Liked Alston also) He's better than i imagined. Seriously.

I'm perfectly happy with Ariza. He's taking more than a third of his shots from 3p range, having to create a lot of his shots, and having to take more 3's than he should be taking. This year

Year 2p 3p 2p% 3p%
04-05 172-389 3-13 44.9 23.1
05-06 92-221 1-5 41.6 20
06-07 200-371 0-7 54.9 0
07-08 69-136 5-18 54.2 27.8
08-09 274-596 61-191 52.6 31.9
09-10 180-480 59-185 41.0 31.9
Total 48.3 30.8

Remember, (as of the last I read) he's being ENCOURAGED to shoot like he is. Adelman (and likely Morey) are wisely working on developing him a 3 point shot, much as the Lakers were doing last year, except to a far greater degree. The better he can get at it this year when it doesn't REALLY matter, the better off we'll be next year when it does. Consider it investing in R&D, with very, very little risk.

Ariza is not that bad. He is making a transition from role player to go-to-guy. That takes time. More patience required. What is he? 25 yrs old.

Mostly. I don't think he'll ever be a go-to guy, but by having a year of reluctant training as one, he'll be that much better of a role player in the future.

Max Rider is right, anyone who disagrees is blind. Plain and simple, give those shot attempts he's taking to a better player and you're going to have a more effective and all around ball game. It's a fact. It's absolutely horrible that he's still allowed to do what he does with the way his terrible handles are and with the way he can't create worth ****.

We don't really have one. If we go to the post more and ignore the wings, the posts start getting doubles and triples, lose effectiveness and potency. Trevor and Brooks are our best inside-outside guys.

Let's see, I hate to say it, but the Lakers EASILY won the swap, Ron Artest was smarter, knew how to create his shot (although at times he'd take stupid shots), statistically speaking he was a very very calm shooter. He was a better passer, reboudner, EASILY the better defender, and at least he did this all while shooting 40%/40%. His personality would have blended very well this team, too bad it didn't happen. Personally, it's sad to hear Trevor makes more money than him.

Ron Artest is also much older (5-6 years), involves a lot more headaches, really doesn't have a lot of basketball smarts, is losing the rebound war to Ariza this year, imo wasn't very good at passing, and doesn't really have any potential to get better. I'm still happy he's gone.

NOW, if they change him into a Battier-like role, where he takes less shots, I'd be intrigued to like him, if not, please get rid of him ASAP, or calm his ass down.

Eventually, he'll be reverted to a role like he was on the Lakers, but with whatever additional talents he was able to pick up this year.

Guy986, Rafer Alston had basketball intelligence, he didn't take that many shots, he knew his role at all times, and he was a FANTASTIC play-maker...Alston even scored at a more effective rate, sadly speaking.

Alston took about 12.25 shots a game with us, WITH Yao and McGrady playing (sometimes), Trevor's taking 16 in a more featured role. Alston did shoot slightly better, but as has been pointed out, Ariza is getting more defense played on him than did Alston.

EDIT: I hope Chase takes his spot, that would make my dreams come true, sadly speaking, Chase knows how to create better, rebounder better, and pass better. Just a damn shame Arzia is still getting chances just because "he wants to turn into an all-star". I'm so sick of him that I'd let Landry start at SF and let him have the minutes Ariza has.

I'd be happy for Bud to get more minutes as well, but I'm also sure there's some reason that hasn't happened yet. Adelman knows more than us.

I don't blame Ariza for trying to be in McGrady's/Yao's shoes. Knowing that the team lacks a go-to-guy, Ariza had the urge to carry Houston's offense. But as it turned out, Ariza is hurting the team and I don't think he understands this.

I wouldn't go as far and say that Ariza should to be traded. But the bottom-line is that his offensive role should be limited and have him focus more on defense. And if he's not willing to do just that, Adelman needs to step in.

Has the status changed from what I heard last? It's been stated on the board that Ariza is reluctant to shoot as much as he is, but Adelman keeps telling him to do it. I don't know if there is any truth to that statement or not, nor if it's still the case, but it's been floating around here.

In any case, Ariza took about 20% fewer shots in December than November/October.

I'll repeat what Guy said: why scapegoat?
We're 18-13 in the 7th spot with Yao and McGrady out, Budinger out, Landry having missed a couple games, putting in a new offense, taking on 4 consecutive back-to-backs in under 2 weeks (Comprising 25% of our games played), having played 14 games (almost half our schedule) against top teams. What else does this team need to do or overcome?

[Guy986]

Exactly. We're winning with Ariza taking the lionshare of the offensive burden. He competes hard. Plays defense. I like Ariza's game. Go to the rack more and his FG% should go up.(but he'll likely continue to shoot under 40%)

The only Rocket in the rotation i'm not happy with is David Andersen. He's like an Aussie version of Brian Cook. Except that Cook plays better defense.

But since he's a rookie... i guess i should be easy on him.

[DraftBoy10]

First, and foremost, Ariza isn't a top option.

But what he can be is a glorified role player/3rd option. I don't see any reason why in the future when we have a good team, Yao, plus a real 2nd option, he can't be a efficient 14ppg scorer with 7rpg and 3.5apg, plus VERY good help defense.

We're overplaying him and overtaxing someone without the talent to do a job we've given him. But at 6ish mil, it's hard to find an athletic, 6'9, 23 year old that can play basketball and fit into a team. He can be 14/7/3.5/45%/39% from 3 if we had a more proper team. We're just making him to do TOO much.

[MaxRider]

Exactly. We're winning with Ariza taking the lionshare of the offensive burden. He competes hard. Plays defense. I like Ariza's game. Go to the rack more and his FG% should go up.(but he'll likely continue to shoot under 40%)

The only Rocket in the rotation i'm not happy with is David Andersen. He's like an Aussie version of Brian Cook. Except that Cook plays better defense.

But since he's a rookie... i guess i should be easy on him.

noticed we won against Detroit without Ariza (suspension)?
i don't know about Ariza playing hard
i haven't watch too many Rockets games these days
but for some time i noticed Ariza is kind of lazy and gamble too much on steal

[Baller 24]

Exactly. We're winning with Ariza taking the lionshare of the offensive burden. He competes hard. Plays defense. I like Ariza's game. Go to the rack more and his FG% should go up.(but he'll likely continue to shoot under 40%)

His FG% isn't going to go up, tell him to attack, fine, but guess what? he doesn't have the skill set to finish, or draw a foul. It's pathetic, he handles the ball so much that he only gets to the line a little over 3 times a game. Just effing terrible it is. He sucks on defense, I don't understand where the "good defense" crap comes from, he can't stay on his man, he gets lost, he's good at help defense, but that's about it. We're winning because this team plays well together, and mainly because Carl Landry has shown us he's worthy of being a go to player, Scola has shown up, Brooks has been spot on, Arzia on the other hand? 37% and 31% with 65% from FT line? Are you kidding me? we're not expecting him to contribute and take a load of the offense, we're expecting him to pitch in and help out. This guy is effing terrible, I know some of you guys will continue to defend him, but he needs to understand that his role on this team is nothing more than being a glorified role player, I mean give me a break taking over 6 three's a game, but only making 2, it's just terribad...he's 2nd in the league in 3pt attempts.

[TMACFORMVP]

It's more like we're winning DESPITE Ariza. You'd think by now, he'd either have to realize he's a terrible shooter, and should attack more, or take less shots. The 10-48 from the field, and 3-20 from three point land in the last four games CLEARLY shows he's not "improving his FG%." He's the worst shooter among the top 50 shot attempt leaders in the NBA, only gets to the line 3-4 times per game despite playing 39 minutes, which is worst among the top ten minute leaders in the NBA. He's the epitome of a chucker, and getting worse every game.

And I agree with MaxRider, Ariza's "plays hard," is based more on reputation. I've seen him get lazy multiple times this season, the Utah game sticking out as a sore thumb, where he didn't even watch defensively for Brewer, and that resulted in 3-4 WIDE open dunks, all blown coverages by Ariza.