Am i the only person who thinks ariza is the second best player on the lakers?

[pacificstorm]

It looks like he's working on being the best, sometime soon. But as long as Kobe is there, Ariza won't have a chance at playing key roles that Kobe does.

[lxkoepke]

I know thats a big push sayin that but DAMn he is so good he does everything perfect he can shoot, play D, hustle for the ball, and grab boards.
Yeah i knew i was makin a push lol but i still think hes as good, he just doesnt play big man positions.

[AlphaTarheel]

His mother might.

[guerrero82]

he' s a great player....but come on better than Pau or Bynum?

[Carmelo]

Yea only you. What happened to Pau?Or Bynum. Open your eyes. Yea hes good. Hopefully he will get even better

[Corey]

Probably not. Some Lakers fans aren't too sharp, so I doubt you're the only one. How is Pau Gasol not the second best player? Didn't you pay attention to the Lakers marked improvement upon his arrival from Memphis? I don't think that was a coincidence.

[Chaney34]

I'll tell you what, every team needs a hustle guy, and I think we have one of the top 2 or 3 in Ariza. But hustle guys are role players and he plays his role very well. But as far as being 2nd best, no way. I think everyone would agree it's either Bynum or Gasol who's second best, I personally think it's Bynum. After Bynum I think it's Fisher then Gasol. After that, Odom and Ariza, Farmar, Vujacic and Radmonavic.

BUT in terms of importance Ariza is huge. Everyone talks about "if we had Bynum we'd've beat Boston in the Finals" well don't forget, Ariza wasn't at 100%. If we had his energy and defense and rebounding, we might've pulled it off without Bynum. You can't take away his importance to this team.

To answer your question, You're probably not the only person, but I hope not too many people think that, yet at the same time, I hope everyone realizes how important he is to this team.

[AnthonyEeMe]

Last time I saw Ariza play he was on my favorite team and what I can remember is he was super athletic, but lacked a jump shot and he was a very good defender, but sporadic @ times. We traded him for Steve Francis, which was foolish considering Francis did nothing here and Ariza would have been a nice component to the bench in Mike D's system.

[JohnHoustonStockton]

He is an important part of the Lakers quest to the title.

[ViNDiCaTeD]

i agree with you on everything he does... shoot, Plady D, hustle, boards.. but number 2?? hmmm?? ill put him as number 3