Trevor Ariza Will Either Be Tracy McGrady or Darius Miles
Trevor Ariza
Potential is a dangerous word in this game. How many GMs have drafted or thrown big free agent cash at someone solely on the “P” word rather than actual accomplishments? Players often claim that they can be all-stars if given more shots, more minutes and more touches. One guy who is going to get that chance this season is Trevor Ariza, who spent last season basking in Kobe’s, Pau’s and Lamar’s shadows. Over the summer, the Rockets inked up Ariza to a multi-year contract.
With Yao out for the season and the ever-so-uncertainty that seems to cloud Tracy McGrady, Trevor is going to have a chance to showcase the world what he’s really got. But how much potential does Ariza have? He’s always been a ridiculous athlete, but Ariza proved in last season’s playoffs that he can lock down anybody, can hit a spot up three and is not afraid of playing under pressure.
To me, Ariza’s situation is unclear and I can see it going one of two ways: T-Mac (post-Toronto) or Darius Miles (post-Clippers). In their first few seasons in the league, both T-Mac and Miles were considered young, exciting players with infinite amounts of potential. All they needed was to be put on a squad where they’d be “the man”. When McGrady was in Toronto, he was never asked to take over a game or do anything outside of dunk and block shots. But everybody knew that he could one day be special. After he signed for that nine-figure deal in Orlando, he worked his ass off to improve his jumper and handles that offseason. His numbers skyrocketed from 15.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 3.3 apg with the ‘99-00 Raptors to 26.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 4.6 apg with the Magic his first season. McGrady went on to be a perennial all-star.
On the flip side, Miles’ career slipped after he got his shot at franchise player. People forget how nice he was with the Clippers. Playing on that exciting ‘01-02 Clippers team that had Lamar, Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson and Elton Brand, D-Miles was dunking on everybody and beating up shots left and right. When the Clippers shipped him off to Cleveland, Miles was expected to be an instant all-star. In LA, he averaged 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and shooting 48 percent from the field. After more minutes with the Cavs, Miles’ stats dropped to 9.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and shooting 41 percent from the field. We all know where Darius’ career went from that point on.
Like T-Mac and Miles in their early years, Ariza has not shown the ability to create his own shot and score at will. Last year, he averaged a solid but modest 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and a career high 1.8 steals. Unlike McGrady, Ariza was not thrown superstar money and is not asked to save the Rockets franchise. But Rick Adelman expects him to step up his offensive game and hold the fort down until Yao and T-Mac are at full strength.
A lot of how his season will go will depend on how much time he is putting in the gym this summer. He told ESPN The Magazine that he has been working extremely hard on his handles and jump shot this offseason and wants to shoot over 40 percent from beyond the arc. He has the physical tools to develop into an 18-point per game type of player. But like Odom or Shawn Marion, he will always have to compliment a real superstar.
September 14th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
sans says:
TMAC was asked to compliment Grant “Damn, I got ankles?” Hill…not reinvent the squad
September 14th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
yoda says:
i think he could be second or third best player on good team, and he won’t have any issues with that. he’s deal says it all: all doing, hard working player who won’t bitch around if he doesn’t get 20 shots per game or stuff like that. he seems to be a humble guy who will do what ever his team needs.
September 14th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
dh says:
is this article only for rockets fans? doesn’t everyone else know this already?
September 14th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
johnny says:
Trevor looks flat-out solid, so he won’t be either.
Weird article imo. But we all can shoot from the hip until the season is going.
September 14th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
mumadone says:
or maybe he will just be trevor ariza
September 14th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
c-viz says:
he could never be as good as Mac. Mac has been hurt, but when he was healthy he was a top 5 player in the league. Ariza will probly never be an All-Star
September 14th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Kobeef says:
I’ve liked Ariza’s game since he was getting spot-minutes in New York. He always seemed to have a very solid game – not spectacular but no real flaws (shoots well, solid athlete, smart player).
As a laker fan it was disappointing to lose him but Treza deserves this chance to show what he can do.
September 14th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Yoooo says:
So if he always has to be a complimentary player similar to Marion and Odom, how is his ceiling T-Mac?
September 14th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Kermit the Washington says:
He’ll still be one of my favorite players…but I’m still kinda mad he left LA. I like the idea of having Artest, but Ariza seems so much more…trustworthy. I trust Ariza with the ball at the top of the key 10x more than I trust Ron-Ron in that same spot.
September 14th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
bobby stew says:
He can’t create a shot for himself. He can knock down open threes and finish athletic fast breaks but I wouldn’t iso him in a half court set, especially when it really counts.
September 14th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
king ralf says:
terrible article full of logical errors
bad work =/
September 14th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
nerditry says:
Yeah, but the difference is that Ariza MAKES HIS TEAMMATES BETTER, the knock on Tracy has always been that he really never did. Tracy was the best version possible of the Iverson/Marbury/Francis mold where they could get buckets all the time, but at the expense of their teams being great.
Trevor is a very good defender and could be one of the best man defenders within a couple of more years. He drastically improved his distance shooting over the course of a summer and benefited from the Triangle Offense.
Let’s be real for a second and understand that the glue on the Rockets is actually Scola. Dude does EVERYTHING you could ask of a power forward and has been a winner on multiple levels internationally.
Know that the Spurs would have at least one more title if they hadn’t given up on Luis and sent him packing to Houston.
September 14th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
j-dub says:
I really think you’re underestimating Tracy McGrady. T-Mac was on his way to a top 50 career before injuries began to take there toll.
Ariza is a role player. Nothing more, nothing less.
September 14th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
marco says:
i think he’s not saying that trevor’s ceiling is t-mac..i think what he was trying to say is that trevor would either get a breakout year next season (like what happened to t-mac) or perform worse due to added pressure (kinda like what happened to d-miles), i think this is a given already..but ehh..
September 14th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
dk says:
Trevor Ariza will be the next Trevor Ariza, give it up morons… Hes not hiding any secret F’n talents…lmao
September 14th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
johnny says:
Yea, Marco, you’re making sense.
Trevor won’t blow-up in either direction imo. A steady incline sounds right.
September 14th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
loganlight says:
This is an interesting thought… I like Ariza’s game, but some players are never going to be all stars. Yes, even if his numbers shot up dramatically and he continued to be able to lock people down on D… Even if he was voted onto an all star team… Trevor is not an all star. He doesn’t have the make-up.
I liken it to a back up singer trying to go solo. They can sing, sure, but they’ve spent so much time in the background, they don’t know how to shine on their own.
I wonder if we can apply this label to other players in the L. If, given their numbers were on point, “so and so” had the all star brash in him.
Things that make you go “Hmmmmmmm.”
LL
September 14th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
sh!tfaced says:
Lots of next’s for Ariza… thought he already was the next James Posey?
September 14th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
nick says:
did you ever watch tmac in toronto? HE PLAYED POINT GUARD a lot of the times (gotta have handles to do that right?)
terrible article.
and ariza is who he is, and might improve a little bit. he’s not going to be a superstar even if he reaches his peak.
again, terrible article.
September 14th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
bdk23 says:
whats the diff btw miles and t-mac again?
September 14th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Bron42 aka Had Springs before Slamball says:
@sans, actually tmac signed first, grant hill and tim duncan were supposed to brought in along with him but duncan resigned and grants ankles were made of wet chalk.
@nerdity, you can’t put tmac or francis in the marbury area. a) tmac has had to carry crappy teams his whole career. In orlando his second best player was drew gooden and then mike miller, neither has ever sniffed the allstar level. In houston hes got yao who puts up numbers but doesnt do much in the clutch and isn’t a defensive stopper a 7′5 center is expected to be. Outside of that who did he play with that meritted any respect? Same with francis s a rocket. When he played the style he got drafted to play, the rockets got places but when van gundy wanted to slow the ball down and run it through yao who was SUPER soft at the time, they got wrecked. Look at the first yao vs shaq game. Yao sucked but franchise put up 44 points and set up the game winning assist to mo taylor. b) tmac steps up in the playoffs. All his stats go up from rebounds to assists and hes 4th ALL time in playoff points per game. Not his fault the other guys no show.
September 14th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
bdk23 says:
PS WORST ARTICLE EVER ON DIME
YOU GUYS SHOULD GIVE ME A CHANCE
(LIGHTBULBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB)
HEY SINCE THIS ARTICLE IS OF NO INTEREST TO ANYYYYYYYYYONE…HOW ABOUT THE DIME STAFF DO A “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE FOR DIME” COMPETITION…WINNER GETS A JOB??LOL HECK WHY THE HELL NOT…LIKE MY MAN BIGGAVELLII(DOIN 75 FREE MAX B OWWW)JUSS SHOW ME SUMM LOVVVV
September 14th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Mase says:
Trevor Ariza is a solid player, and will get better (he has to), but he doesn’t have near the offensive talents of a T-Mac. His inherent ball handles and shot-creation ability don’t show the instincts of a consistent 20ppg scorer. He scores the vast majority of his points when left alone by the defense.
As for the article stating “…he can lock down anybody.”
Um, I recall TA getting abused repeatedly by Carmello in last year’s playoffs. Ariza’s best D is on guys his size or smaller, but the bigger ones cause problems. (LeBron, Pierce, Melo, etc.)
September 14th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Bron42 aka Had Springs before Slamball says:
@mase, melo was beastin everyone early on…remember him pushin kobe around in the post
September 14th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Adonis says:
the thing about potential is that you is u don’t know,its truelly the “unkown”. u can predict but its bang or bust.just like some expected, but did not truelly know, that tmac would be a superstar.amd just like others predicted that he was never gonna get any better back when we watched him in toronto, the same goes with trevor. i see the potential 4 him to be a very good player,but of the x factor(which is the “unknown” that lies in the future)says that he very may well bust and tank his career, or he may just be an all star one day. what i also can say is that the rockets scouts have a rep of goin and gettin players that are not wellknown ,and those players shine .examp scola,brooks,landry.i’m just more excited this season than i have been in a long time, and i can’t wait to see if any of the haters on the board will be eating their words…..
September 14th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
A-Lid says:
Potential is the worst word in professional sports. Since the dawn of time GM’s seem to be more interested and intrigued by potential then productivity. Wouldn’t a guy who averaged 14ppg and 6rpg in the Pac 10 be considered a late first rounder? Guys like this usually go undrated for guys like Hasheem Thabeet [who might have the worst offensive game EVER!].Chris Douglas-Roberts tore up the NCAA and led his team to the championship game, but went in the second round, while Derrick Rose went first overall [Great player, but if CDR had that much playing time he'd drop 14,5,5 everyday]
Trevor Ariza is an interesting player. He played good during the playoffs, but he did have Kobe, Gasol, Odom, Fisher, Bynum & Walton to help him out. Now in Houston he has Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola, and hopefully a fully healthy T-Mac. He’ll be an okay player, giving the Rockets 10,4,5 a night, but in the long run Ariza’s isn’t gonna be what Adelman and the Rockets front office expected.
September 14th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
ORSON says:
he’ll be a tracy mcgrady.. or maybe stephen jackson
September 14th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Nevacare says:
I’m a native Houstonian so this pains me to say this but we are lottery bound(again).We’ll be front runners for Demarcus Cousins,John Wall or whoever the “IT” player is going to be. We made a panic move when we lost Artest & signed Ariza. We have a team full of SF’s, with no room to play them. Ariza is a slight improvement over Battier, but only a slight one because he is more athletic.He can’t fill T-Mac & Von Wafer’s void,because he can’t handle & can’t create for himself or anyone else.James(Flight)White is the exact same player(offensively) as Ariza but has a better mid range game & a scorer’s mentality. Horrible acquisition.
September 14th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Bron42 aka Had Springs before Slamball says:
@A-Lid, Rose is levels past CRD already, and I like CDR, but his game isn’t well rounded enough to earn big minutes and hes super thin.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:01 am
gregory says:
No to T-mac. That’s ridiculous. He still can’t create his own shot off isolation yet and he has not proven to be a reliable shooter off the dribble either–he mostly got wide-open shots last year. To think that he has the potential to average 25 plus points is ludicrous. What’s he going to do against a team’s top perimeter defender? Try to run cuts non stop and get open standstill shots. Yeah, he has the arsenal of a elite scorer.
Even being a no.2 or no.3 on a championship team is a joke. It takes at least a top 20 player to be a no.2 and Ariza is never going to get close to that. He’s a role player who does a little bit of everything. He’s basically who a rich man’s Corey Brewer.
September 15th, 2009 at 5:11 am
Kickking says:
Impossible!
September 15th, 2009 at 7:32 am
arisloco says:
He can never be like a T-Mac or even close. As what many of those who posted here says, he can’t create his own shot, can’t drill the ball just like T-Mac does, and can only benefit from an assist. I also doubt that he is a lock-down player coz he can’t lock down most offensive players from other teams (take Melo for example, the Lakers had to switch defenders for Melo coz Ariza can’t do it alone). He’s definitely a role player but not an all-star caliber one. Hope T-Mac gets in full strength so he can provide Ariza the extra passes when he gets open.
Im out like Capt. Jack.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Apollo88 says:
If T.A. ain’t worthy of your phrases, then why the Lakers fans are sad and mad that T.A. left? T.A. got a really big potential to be an All-Star when he reaches his prime! He’s just 24yrs old man! And please don’t compare him to T-Mac nor Miles or anybody! Ariza is a CHAMPION! Kobe would not have gotten his thropy without T.A. and Fisher! They were the heroes of that finals series!
Wondering why L.A. wasn’t able to keep Ariza? I’ll give you a clue: K O B E
KB didn’t even tried to pull Ariza back to L.A., that is why T.A. went to the team where he felt he is “wanted” the most.
Replacing Ariza for Ron? BIG BIG BIG MISTAKE MITCH KUPCHACK!
Replacing Ron for Ariza? BIG BIG BIG ACQUISITION DARYLL MOREY! and it’s for FREE! the NBA gave relief money to Rockets to sign Ariza! the NBA PAID ARIZA A NICE CONTRACT NOT HOUSTON ROCKETS!!! always keep that in mind!
“you don’t know what you got til’ it’s gone”
September 15th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
mb says:
to bdk23
I’m sure with all the added letters in your writing dime would be sure to pick you up in a heartbeat. Hey everybody let’s get a guy that really knows how to EMPHASIZE what he is sayin’ No doubt it will make a better read! LMAO
September 15th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Dr.Googles says:
The only reason lakers fans are sad and mad cuz they are aware that they will need someone else on the wing to hit open 3’s when their left alone the perimeter..not cuz their giving away all star potential. If that was the case then kobe would’ve wanted T.A. to stay.