So why'd Orlando do the Trevor Ariza for Brian Cook (right) and Maurice Evans deal? Two reasons, both of which make sense.
First of all, they're dead serious about surrounding Dwight Howard with shooters. Ariza can't shoot, so he didn't really have a role on this team. Cook, on the other hand, can shoot like nobody's business -- he's a career 39.2 percent 3-point shooter. It's the only reason he's in the league, in fact. And since he can also play the frontcourt, an area where the Magic find themselves a body short after losing Tony Battie for the season.
But a second reason may loom larger. To me, the Magic make this trade only if they legitimately think they can win the East this year. And the fact they did tells me they truly think they can win it. Not in a "Maybe if things work out and the best players on the other teams get hurt and we get real lucky in close games" kind of a way, but in a "We're the best team" kind of way. And after starting 10-2 and beating Boston, they might be right.
Keyon Dooling out of size mismatches, and a backup power forward who can space the floor and keep defenses from collapsing on Howard -- Pat Garrity, with a 1.57 Player Efficiency Rating in 120 minutes and a half-decade long streak of single digit PERs, clearly isn't working out. I'm still not sure Cook is a Stan Van Gundy type of player because his D needs a lot of work, but for the 10-15 minutes a night Orlando needs him it may not matter
_________________ Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before, but Ariza will provide a MUCH better match up against the Suns, Mavs, and Warriors who love to run and gun. Arzia will bring defense and athleticism against these teams, when we need it the most. Cook was never a good fit against them.
Ariza's mother and I got into it two seasons ago at a Knicks game. I swapped my father courtside seats (hzm was with me and we were up high for the first half), when hZm and I went down low, Ariza's mom was shouting anti-Kobe stuff (all in good fun, but annoying). hZm and I turned around and got into it with her (nothing bad or disrespectful, all in good fun).
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before, but Ariza will provide a MUCH better match up against the Suns, Mavs, and Warriors who love to run and gun. Arzia will bring defense and athleticism against these teams, when we need it the most. Cook was never a good fit against them.
Also against Houston when Bonzi is abusing Luke and Lamar is at the 4.
I love this trade, but some people are saying he'll guard the Lebrons, T-macs etc. How can he do that when hes coming off the bench and those guys are going to the bench? It makes more sense guarding Bonzi and Ginobli since they both come off the bench.
I love this trade, but some people are saying he'll guard the Lebrons, T-macs etc. How can he do that when hes coming off the bench and those guys are going to the bench? It makes more sense guarding Bonzi and Ginobli since they both come off the bench.
1st units don't exclusively play against first units and benches don't exclusively play against benches. He's not going to get 30mpg or anything, but he'll be valuable in spots. If that means 15-20mpg where Kobe doesn't have to guard the opposing team's best swingman, that's a good thing.
I love this trade, but some people are saying he'll guard the Lebrons, T-macs etc. How can he do that when hes coming off the bench and those guys are going to the bench? It makes more sense guarding Bonzi and Ginobli since they both come off the bench.
The Lebrons and Tmacs play 35+ minutes/game. If Walton, Vlad or Odom are getting eaten alive, Phil can put Ariza in to try and slow them down a bit.
Before the trade, the only option would be to put Kobe on them and just add something else to his plate.
in an amazing trade the orlando magic have sent TA the silent assasin and the larry obrien trophy to the lakers for brian i am a horrible player cook and mo im hot now im cold evans!
how does ariza help the lakers? he's a sf. they have enough sf's. i still dont think he's learned to shoot since he was a freshman at ucla years ago. maybe he'll bring a little defense but he wont play much when he's learning the tri.
trading mo means sasha, or karl, or critt become kobe's backup. why do the lakers want "filler"? they have the leagues best bench. why mess with the chemistry just so you can change the names?
sorry, ariza's had years to show what he's going to turn into and he hasn't done much developing since isaiah took him in the 1st round after 1 college year, several years back.
Hindsight's always fun _________________ [Insert ignorant or naive statement from poster here.]
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