are you kidding? Landry was one of our toughest players last year. ok, and i also get it. Landry smiles when his tooth got knocked out, Artest and Dorset would have accidentally knocked out Boozer's tooth. Or, we hope accidentally, so they wouldn't get suspended. I think this upcoming year is going to be like a sitcom. We have a very good range of personalities. Adding the self proclaimed "one of the ghetto-ist players in the NBA" to play alongside perhaps the most upright and proper Chinese players in the NBA, and one of the most laid back dominant scoring champions in the NBA, and then mixing in a very intense, but polite Argentinian who can throw around some bodies, and a smaller street ball legend with mad handles who is also somewhat reserved but with a short fuse and something to prove, and a hustle guy with mad hops now hopefully over a knee injury who showed signs of greatness last year, he will be trying to get back into the mix, and an all defensive undersized hustle player with a very low center of gravity, trying to keep his spot, and our also very polite but incredibly hard working three point shooting often overlooked defensive player of the year who is tough and kind/polite kinda at the same time, and a rookie bruiser who has already shown he can get kicked out of a game without even being in it. Oh, and a mango tree, almost forgot the mango tree. Oh, and cookie monster. Oh, and one of the fastest players in the league competing with the old franchise for the backup point guard spot. I'm most excited that our really tough hustling meanish players will be adding themselves to a solid core of hustling tough sometimes kinda violent, but overall pretty professional and very well behaved players. I mean, Yao has become tougher these past two years, Scola and landry added an intensity that was already started by Hayes and Battier. Now with Dorsey and Artest, we have the mean element. The don't mess with our team at all element. The "watch you back" if you mess with us element. I want to see Scola both calm Artest down, and get his back. I want to see Yao back down some guy who was having words with Dorsey. I want to see Artest piss someone off and get them all riled up, and then Adelman switch Battier onto them and watch destroy them with his clever defensive play (when they are too worked up to play intelligently). I want to see someone who is overpower Battier cringe when they see ARtest checking into the game. I want to see TMac with a friendly competition with ARtest on the defensive end, seeing who gets the most stops... This year is going to be good because of the mix of personalities on this team. Somehow, I see everyone REALLY getting along. and our chemistry is going to be unreal. Thats my take anyway.
I haven't got a chance to see Dorsey. Is he really good enough to get any rotation minutes this coming season?
Undetermined. Summer League didn't show enough other than he has a ways to go. I wouldn't expect much early in the season.
Ditto, Artest was the missing ingredient that brings the whole thing together. Before that happened, I was really bored with the team, because despite the hoopla, you knew what was going to happen, one and done. The starting lineup at the beginning of last season (three bench players and two legit starters) was probably the most non-threatening five in all of pro basketball: Hayes, Rafer, Battier, TMac, and Yao. When your center is your best free throw shooter, you are in trouble. Now, the addition of one makes everyone better.
Artest- This guy not only will make us better, but he's bringing the circus to town with him. Francis- Like you guys, I can't help but hope he's healthy enough to make a contribution next year. Winning a ring with Francis having a role would be like a story book ending. Adelman- Remember how bobby jackson said it took most players about a year to finally feel comfortable in his offense? Well, we're getting to that time, so I think we would have been a better offensive team even before Artest. Yao- It's been a while, I miss watching him play! I think he'll benefit a lot from playing next to artest. Tracy- He got all the surgeries, the back issues are behind him. He doesn't have to carry such a huge load. I think this is the year we seem him settle into that assassin's role, where maybe he scores fewer points, but he does it at the right time. He'll get those demoralizing buckets, like a pullup 3 to stop a comeback, a crazy dunk to send the lead into double digits, or a cold blooded turn around jumper to put the game away. Alston- I asked Blinebury about him and he completely disagreed with me, but I don't care. I think you can put Alston in that group of bigger guards, like billups, andre miller, and nash who peak very late in their careers. I wouldn't be surprised if he continues to play very good basketball, and quiets any doubters who say he shouldn't start. Scola- with one year under his belt, he can only get better. I am so excited about this season its ridiculous.
and that's why 90% of the board agreed with me when i said this team was the weakest and less talented team out of all the western playoff teams. and that's why i agreed that we were gonna be a real sh1tty team if they would have rolled out the same lineup this year as they did last year. apparently Morey knew this and made the move i had been pushing for for about 6 months.
Really, you are right. Adding Artest was a great move, now we can get it done. The question is will we stay healthly?
"Francis- Like you guys, I can't help but hope he's healthy enough to make a contribution next year. Winning a ring with Francis having a role would be like a story book ending." I think many people have been too quick to say that Francis is finished. I think Stevie proved last season that he still has something left in the tank. Unfortunately, he got injured. Tmac, Rafer, Battier, and Yao were also injured last year. Are their career's over too? I'm really looking forward to Steve's return. I'm hopeful that he can be a reliable backup PG. Let's go Stevie!
He played in 10 games last season and was pathetic. How exactly did SF "prove" he still has something left in the tank? I think it's very logical to write him off.
I agree, and from what I read it sounded like his past injuries were pretty much all caused by the same thing and it kept on flaring up because he didn't want to have surgery. Well, he had the surgery. Let's hope that does the trick.
All i have to do is listen to the Artest phone call after he saw Boston winning the championship to get me pumped up. This man is a competitor. He's soo pissed that its boston winning and not him. http://www.sports1140.com/pages/2222335.php Check it out... I'm digging artest right now.
I agree, and from what I read it sounded like his past injuries were pretty much all caused by the same thing and it kept on flaring up because he didn't want to have surgery. Well, he had the surgery. Let's hope that does the trick.
We were the number two defensive team in the L last year, and we added the number two or maybe number one ball defender in the L...cant wait to see how this pans out.
What gets me excited is thinking about the Artest factor. If Artest truly plays as we know he can and keeps himself in check, he is going to be the Domino Affect that can take us over the top for maybe not just one year but maybe two or three. The aquisition of a truly legit second or third scorer behind Tmac just opens the options for this team. We no longer need Raefer to jack up 15 shots as someone posted in another thread because most of those shot opportunities will go to Artest who is much more reliable to score. This allows Raefer to play at his strengths and shine. I really am excited to see how much better the role players truly look now that we have three stars such as the big three affect in Boston. I have a feeling that people/ media will now start talking about the improvement of our role players especially Raefer. I will also love the idea of having either Battier or Artest off the bench. This definitely finally gives tmac a legit chance to rest and remain fresh throughout the season and into the playoffs. Watching a Tmac that is not broken down and just energized will be truly something special. Something we haven't seen since his first year here and his first year in Orlando. I've posted this in other threads saying give Tmac what he needs in a legit back up and give him the confidence he needs to win it and watch as he starts shining like the Kobe's and the Lebron's. If he needs to play defense he can do that too now that he doesn't need to overly worry about concerving his energy for offense. He can now shine as that all around Mega Talent that we originally thought he was, the man who guarded/ shut down Dirk basically that year in the playoffs. With Battier or Artest coming off the bench you allow Barry to play back up pg and guard the larger pg's in this league. I am excited to see a truly legit back up veteran pg with championship experience on our bench. His veteran leadership will be exactly what this team needs down the stretch of close games and playoffs. I am definitely excited to see what kind of Leadership Barry has to offer. I think he will be the pg that will force other teams to play our tempo and at our pace. I think we are what the Celtics were last year. A team that is excited, confident and Hungry to win it all. That is something to be truly excited about. Now that I hands down believe that Morey has the ability to sodomize other teams.. I can't wait to see what we has in stored to secure our thin front court.
Was Landry during the 22 game streak a fluke? He was absolutely destroying any PF that lined up on him. Would he be able to do this against starters? Is he healthy? Artest...where does he play and how does he mesh with others? Francis...can he return to form? Doesn't have to be 100% to be better than Alston. Brooks....will he find the 3pt shot at NBA range? Will he be able to use his speed to cause havoc? Will he be more then a glorified speed bump on defense?
I am excited about two things mostly- the potential for an all-time great defense and having such a deep and versatile bench. Adelman's not afraid to play around with combinations and will have a lot to play with.
Really there's many things to be excited about, but then again I get pumped every year. First off it's Adelman's second year as coach and instead of having to teach his players from step 1 what he expects, most have already been broke in. Now we add a player like Artest who we "Don't question his heart" and drive. He adds a mental toughness that only gets this team over the hump. Personally we don't have to rely on Tracy fading in the finals minutes or getting tired. We don't have to hear any more excuses about not "having enough talent". The fact is that, Artest already knows Adelman, the system and what he expects and Adelman already knows how to handle Ron. Many have called for Tracy head, and for Rockets management this will be a good year for evaluation for T-mac and Ron. Ron wants a new contract and in my opinion this gives the Rockets even more flexibility as who stays and who go's. Then hopefully and I honestly believe the guy formally known as "The Franchise" makes a full recovery and makes big contribution as a backup to Rafer. So for all the bashing of Rafer around here he doesn't get the credit he deserves. He solid at running this team and we saw last year how this team runs when he's "not" on the floor. Plus Steve coming in as a spark plug off the bench would be most effective for him. IMO, this team is stacked and ready for great things!! Starters: Yao/Scola/Artest/Tracy/Rafer then you still have coming off the bench: Battier/Barry/Landry/Hayes/Francis/Brooks/Head/Deke/Dorsey We've added without taking anything away. So many options and flexibility with players like Tracy, Artest, Battier, Barry being able to play multiple positions. Being able to roll out Artest and Battier to lock down on defense. Going small with Hayes, too play center for short times. Hopefully we bring Deke back for "ONE more year" and we still have the rookie in Dorsey who's seems pretty tough himself. Brooks has good scoring ability, plus he's one of the fastest in the league and one year better. Head also takes a lot of bashing but he does have some skills, it may not be "dribbling" but he can shoot the ball. Remember, he did be out Stevie in the play time department last year. Hopefully he'll have a break out year. Barry has a great basketball I.Q., shooting skills and sounded like he was looking forward to playing in Adelmans motion, reading the defense type offense. I can't wait to see them on the court together!!!! Pumped for 08'-09"!! Go Rockets!!!
