After Chandler Parsons left this offseason, the Houston Rockets had quite the void on their hands at the small forward position. When the Houston Rockets signed Trevor Ariza this offseason, they made a great choice to fill the gap.
They basically swapped offense for defense, as Parsons was very gifted on the offensive end, while Ariza is elite on the defensive end. With that said, Ariza has always been a solid enough player on the offensive end.
In the past couple of seasons, what Ariza has brought to the table has been elite three-point shooting on the offensive end. Trevor Ariza is one of the best players to have on the court to stretch the opposing defense and to open up lanes for James Harden and Dwight Howard.
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Along with his three-point shooting, Ariza has been known to play outstanding defense for the majority of the game. The good news is that, while offensive production will largely vary depending on how well a certain player is shooting, defensive production will usually remain even. With that said, how can Ariza improve on his game?
Well, for starters, Ariza can definitely start shooting a lot better than he has been to start the year. After a very hot first week of the season, Ariza has cooled off significantly. His current shooting percentage is a measly 38.1 percent, which is a horrid percentage and it is far below his career average of 43.1 percent.
The good news is that Ariza’s three-point percentage of 35.9 percent is higher than his career 34.8 percent from downtown. There is a drawback to that percentage and that would be that his 35.9 percent from deep is down from last season’s incredible 40.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Such a high shooting percentage is hard to maintain, so I do understand a dip from last season’s percentage. However, 38.1 percent is simply too low for an NBA player, even for one who shoots as many threes as Ariza does. What Ariza needs to do to improve on these numbers is to get closer shooting opportunities.
Ariza seems to be too trigger happy from downtown and will shoot as soon as he has any space available to do so. Sometimes, that isn’t always the right move and it has led to a lower efficiency from the field.
So this isn’t so much of Ariza getting better as it is Ariza making better decisions. I understand that Daryl Morey and Kevin McHale‘s game plan is to not take any mid-range jump shots if they can help it. However, Ariza is taking too many three-pointers.
There’s no reason why Ariza couldn’t pass up a few of those opportunities to get a better look for one of his teammates, or possibly penetrate the defense using the dribble to get a closer shot for himself.
Trevor Ariza has been phenomenal for the Houston Rockets this year. However, he can always improve his efficiency by simply making better decisions on the floor. There is no problem whatsoever with his defensive production, but his offense isn’t as good as it could be.