1 He's not very good. Signing Big Ben to that contract was crazy. Trading LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas was just plain stupid (I pegged Thomas as an NBA bust the day he declared for the draft). The guy doesn't know how to put together a roster. 2 IMO, Gordon has been on the outs with the Bulls for the last two years. I've wanted him on the Rockets as a 3rd scorer during the same time. But now that his contract is up and he's asking for more than Luol Deng got, I'll pass. We can discuss the Bulls further in the NBA Forum if you like.
6th Man players are usually gifted versatile offensive players. Shane is not. I like Artest as our 6th man. And who says Artest isn't going to get his minutes and be on the floor in the 4th if he doesn't start? Put it this way, if Carl Landry isn't back, then I'll bet Adelman will be inclined to try Artest as 6th man at the start of the season.
No, that's cool. I was mostly interested to hear what you think about Gordon. I love his scoring instinct and general efficiency. I'd still keep him on the radar for down the road, depending on what kind of contract he ends up signing.
Artest will be our 6th man early season. He'll compete the starting SF with Shane. Every coach believes in chemistry when your team did 22 in row. Shane is not a better player but he means chemistry. No way Artest start at PF. Scola did quite a good job last season as a rookie. He's already a proven role player who can score and hustle. Resign Landry as the backup 4 is the most realistic option.
scola has to start. ron is better but he can give us scoring off the bench when we give ttmac a rest and yao if he needs to. or he can give shane a rest. shane can be good off the bench too. finishin games w/ ron for the defense and scoring.
I propose another question: do we HAVE to start the same team every game? Can't we switch out Battier and Artest depending on match-ups? Start Battier for Kobe and Rip Hamilton and Artest for Lebron and such...
Aside from who's starting, I'm more interested to see what rotation and substitution pattern Adelman goes with. A lot of possibilities for sure. As for this topic, I really believe our starting 5 from last year to be the starters to open the season. I think you blow your load too early with Artest in the starting lineup. I think Artest would make a great sub for Shane with about 4 minutes left in the first quarter. Also, this would be a great time to take Yao out to get him early rest to give the rockets a different look offensively and Bring in Landry or Dorsey. Maybe it plays out like this: starting 5: Alston Tmac Battier Scola Yao 4 minutes left in the 1st: Alston Tmac Artest Landry/Dorsey Scola Start the 2nd Quarter: Barry Artest Battier Landry/Dorsey Yao I think we have a lot of solid options regardless of who starts. The main thing is the chemistry developing. This team should be on an absolute tear come January.
Flame me all you want (since it appears I'm in the minority) but I think you have to bring Artest off the bench. He's the best of those three players at creating his own offense and he can work from the perimeter or the post with equal effectiveness. Plus it's well documented that he's a "ball stopper", so why not put him out there when he can be more of a focal point and let him do what he's got to do? On top of that, you get to keep the same starting 5 from last season and not compromise chemistry. Makes sense to me.
If we bench Scola for Artest, I say the trade for him would be useless then. Logically, I don't see Battier starting, he doesn't do half the things that Artest does. Plus when Artest needs a rest, Battier will come in to continue the defensive onslaught.
It's r****ded to have artest come off the bench. The whole point of a big 3 is so they all play at the same time. Do you see the celtics put one of their big 3 on the bench? The lakers? Spurs are the only exception with manu, but manu is basically a starter anyways.
I dunno, Ron Artest could be our Ginobli, as much as I hate ginobli. Artest is more of a scorer than battier, and we need that coming off the bench. I could honestly see the starting 3 go to either battier or artest.
So, 2 out of 3 teams don't bring one of their big 3 off the bench and that's supposed to be overwhelming evidence that it's not the best choice? Last time I checked, the team that does that has 4 of the 5 championships in that group (obviously referring to current rosters).
Yes it's r****ded to compare it to the spurs because they have one of the greatest pfs of all time in tim duncan, so he automatically tips any big 3 in their favor. Here's espn's list of their top 3s. Only 1 out of 10 have one of their big 3 come off the bench. The spurs are the exception. The whole advantage of having a big 3 is so people can't double yao and tmac constantly like they do now. You negate that advantage by bringing artest off the bench. Run up the score early and blow teams out with the big 3 and then you won't need artest to come in and be an offensive spark off the bench. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3512435&name=broussard_chris 1. Boston: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen 2. San Antonio: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili 3. Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol 4. Houston: Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Ron Artest 5. New Orleans: Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler 6. Phoenix: Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O'Neal 7. Detroit: Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace 8. Dallas: Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard 9. Washington: Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler 10. Philadelphia: Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller
If you look at the number of tepid offensive 1st qtr's we had last year.... ...you start artest. No brainer. Shane will be a very good 6th guy of the bench and that's what he should be.
Again, who says Artest isn't going to get major minutes, won't be on the floor with Yao and Tmac together for majority of those minutes, and won't be on the floor for the 4th if he comes off the bench? You act like teams will just roll over and die when they see Artest Tmac and Yao starting at the beginning of the game, never heard of teams making runs later in the game? Especially against a bench of mainly specialists, and you want Battier to head that bench? Balance and chemistry is what we're trying to get with all the new additions, and Artest coming off the bench brings balance between the bench and the starters and doesn't disrupt the chemistry of the starting 5 that won 22 in a row (even without Yao for 10 of them). Again, it's almost a lock that if Landry isn't back then Artest is coming off the bench. If Landry is back, then I could see Adelman experiment and try Artest starting instead of Battier, but that's if Battier struggles with his shot early on in the season. Cause I can almost guarantee that Adelman will start the Rafer/TMac/Battier/Scola/Yao at the beginning of the season.
