Trevor Ariza once had a reputation as an offensive liability. He has come a long way. Ariza this season averaged 11.7 points per game while shooting 36.8 percent from downtown. He helped the Houston Rockets claim the No. 1 seed in the loaded Western Conference.
Years ago, when Ariza struggled offensively, his coach, the legendary Larry Brown, told him to not even think about shooting. Ariza was in his second year with the New York Knicks when Brown doled out the confidence-killing advice.
“He told me not to even look at the basket or shoot the ball,” said Ariza, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I was definitely afraid to shoot. I just wouldn’t, I would not shoot.”
That season (2005-06) was Brown’s lone campaign with the Knicks. The team finished a miserable 23-59. Brown had public feuds with several players, including the team’s star, Stephon Marbury.
Ariza has transformed his jumper; he has become one of the league’s deadliest off-ball shooters. Lakers head coach Luke Walton, who played with Ariza in Los Angeles, remembers the 32-year-old’s hesitance to shoot.
“He was afraid to shoot the ball,” Walton said. “The crazy thing about Trevor is that he was a good shooter. We’d do the shooting drills before practice and then we’d get into a scrimmage, he’d be wide open, and he’d pump fake and try to drive. We constantly told him to shoot it.”
Walton and the Lakers helped Ariza turn into the offensive weapon he is today.
“It took for me to get to the Lakers and for my teammates to help me get through that mental block that I had,” Ariza recalled. “Anytime I was open, anytime it even looked like I might be open, they always told me, ‘Shoot the ball. We don’t care if it goes in or if you don’t make it. Just shoot it.’ They saw the work I put in to try and get better at it, and me, if I’m going to be on the court and not be aggressive, it’s not going to help the team.”
Rockets-Warriors
The Warriors took a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals on Ariza and the Rockets Sunday night. Game 4 is slated for Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST.
