Moved pretty well for his first game back. As he gets his legs under him, I expect we'll see a lot of the Bron at C with Ariza and Melo at the forward spots until AD is back.
Relying on 36+ year old players sure feels like fool’s gold. He should be nothing more than veteran depth at this point, but the fact that we’re heavily relying on what he can bring to the table speaks to where we are at as a team this year.
I think Ariza/Melo could be a solid combo for about 20-25 minute a game. They present a little versatility in the lineups. You can play both with Lebron in a small ball set. One or the other with Dwight or Jordan if we go big. No..it's not realistic to expect them to produce in heavy minutes, but they aren't the normal older guys either.
If there is a key that fits a lock that gives us a chance this season, Vogel might have been right, it's Ariza. The 3 ball and defensive instincts out there... very impressive game from him tonight.
Can someone explain to me what the hell happened in sports where all the leagues started getting sick again in droves?
It's probably running rampant in the general population right now. The sports leagues are just testing for it regularly.
Can't imagine they're being stupid enough, well except maybe Dwight and Malik going to that crowded concert, to not be being super careful when they have to be out in public, masks etc. I am. I go out in public. In stores. Do not wear one outdoors if not in tight proximity with strangers .... am not a freak about it. However, once the bug hits one of these guys who haven't taken it seriously with where they are and the precautions, and they bring it back to their own locker rooms and / or the basketball court the next game .... before they're showing postitive in a test, then of course that's how it happens.
new variant is insanely contagious and probably got here about a month ago, and pro athletes are young and healthy and probably feel pretty invincible. that combined with access to/encouragement for/mandates for testing is what will get you these clusters in the major sports leagues. as someone else said, it's probably just as rampant in any suburb right now, too, but if it's milder and a bunch of people are vaccinated, it's less likely to show up in tests or in hospitals.
Based on how the other returns have gone, that means it'll be one more before we see him on the court.
that play wasn't even as bad as maybe 1/4 of our defensive plays this year, tbh. but no, ariza hasn't solved all our problems. who could have seen that coming?!
And to think he was penciled in as our starter going into the season. Things just really haven't gone how this team envisioned. We need to get him worked into shape but I think best case scenario he's ready for 15 meaningful minutes a game in the playoffs.
