Ariza, 23, has been a burst of energy as a reserve, leading the team with 1.95 steals a game and averaging 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in 24.2 minutes.

"He's something refreshing," longtime Lakers official Bill Bertka said. "He's a lot like Michael Cooper was athletically."

Ariza's penchant for creating turnovers is often punctuated with an authoritative dunk, leading to early-season recognition around the league.

"He plays the passing lanes extremely well," Philadelphia 76ers Coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Getting into the open court is another one of his assets. He's a good complement to what they have, particularly with their second team. He's one of the reasons why their second team is so good."

On offense, however, Ariza carried a reputation as an inconsistent contributor. A rangy 6 feet 8 and 210 pounds, Ariza had an innate ability to get open with his planting and cutting skills, but his lack of an outside shooting touch hurt him. Defenders learned to lag off him, taking away his ability to slash to the hoop and daring him to shoot from the perimeter.

Over the summer, he added an extra dimension to his game, piling up long hours in nearly empty gyms.

He concentrated on holding the follow-through of his shot a little longer and added confidence via twice-daily visits to the court -- 90 minutes in the morning and two hours at night. Ariza went with his cousin, his personal chef and Tony Bland, a former Westchester High standout who played college basketball at Syracuse and San Diego State. It was an unlikely quartet, but it allowed Ariza to shoot with more assurance.

He is shooting 50.4% from the field this season and has already made eight three-pointers after making only nine in his entire career before this season.

Judging by his play so far, Ariza might double his annual salary, with a five-year contract worth about $30 million seemingly on the horizon when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July.

Whether he stays with the Lakers is unknown.

Then he smiled.

"Hopefully things work out so I can stay home."

- LATimes

just another Isiah blunder... just sweep it under the carpet and move on, you will feel better!

If we didn't have Chandler, I'd say go after him if you were interested, but Chandler is better. Same defensive player, same energy player, MUCH MUCH better offensive player. To top it off, we have Patrick Ewing Jr waiting in the wings and he's the same player too, except he might be a better shotblocker than Ariza.

Perhaps we can develop Ewing Jr. into that energy role player.

Reezy had a great knack for the ball.

This is why I keep harping on why Phil Jax is so great. He makes role players very relevant! He won with Rick Fox as his starting 3! Evolving Reezy took hard work on his part, but phil does his Jedi mind trick thing and elevates his team. He finally got into Kobes head also!

Posted by fishmike:

Larry wasnt the GM and Ariza probably quit on Larry along with the rest of the Isiah veterans because it was the cool thing to do.

Isiah was responsible for every roster move and coaching move. After 4 years we have Lee, Nate and Chandler to be happy about and missed chances on franchise caliber talent

Reezy was also a nervous wreck under larry. No doubt his own maturity has been the greatest factor in his improving. Larry was bought in to win now, and I can see how he was used as a trading pawn when Isiah moved him.

While I am a Larry lover, he was the wrong guy for this team (duh!), but Reezy was a great pick for a rebuilding team and we could have used the Balky pick on another player or in a trade.

Earl, If reezy's shot is consistant, he would be better than Shawn Marion. Good call.

He might be athletically gifted, but he was had the mental capacity of a rock. He was the guy who asked how you figure out how much time is left on the shotclock...

You guys are all living in the past man

Bippity - shut up and pass the cheetos

I guess you're having fun hoping Stephon Marbury finds a team so he can get 20 minutes of playing time, if he's that lucky.

Islesfanbury.

I would marry Duhon