No, 08-09 made the second round of the playoffs, almost the western conference finals (without tmac AND Yao), can't forget that
Wow... You reminded me of how young Trevor is. He's been in this league for quite sometime that it makes you think he's older than he is.
yao lead us to the playoffs. ron's play was pretty overrated i thought. i had no idea why we had ron on roy instead of battier, because roy was absolutely destroying him. he had one good shooting game against the blazers and everyone forgets that he was not having a good series. dont want to sound like a flip-flopper, but where are people getting that ron was a "leader" on this team last year?
Yao has NEVER been considered a leader, he is not a guy that can get his teammates pumped around him. Ron did do that, he brought an intensity and toughness that rubbed off on the rest of the team.
get his teammates pumped? this is the nba, not high school. how much pumping up do you think players actually need? by led i meant that he was our best player and showed up to work every night. he's widely accepted as one of the hardest workers in the nba, and unlike other nba players who might try to play it cool, he is visibly displeased when he plays badly and just tries to work harder. if you don't think this "rubbed off" on the team in a positive way more than Ron, then i don't really know what to say. as for intensity and toughness, im not really sure what you mean. shane got hit in the face and was bleeding everywhere and still tried to play defense in that lakers game. he also guarded kobe that entire series and finally got some recognition for being the best perimeter defender in the game. yao demanded to be let back into that same game 1. chuck battled against gasol and bynum. i can go on. what exactly did ron do to inspire his teammates and make them go "i should be more intense and tough like ron now"?
Again, Yao is not a leader. He and Scola are some of the hardest workers in the NBA, but they are foreigners and have never been seen as leader. Ron was the VOCAL leader the team had needed. If you don't see that, idk what to tell you. Guys like Landry, Von, Lowry, etc learned a lot from Ron, that much is clear. The team did not act the way it did until Ron got there. Yao is a great guy and a hard worker, but he is NOT a LEADER. That's not a knock on him, that's just who he is. There is a massive difference between greaty player and great leader.
Then by your standard the Leader of this team was Shane Battier and Deke! They were the vocal leaders that lead us past the first round. Deke was always around even after he got hurt. No way The Guys even game 2 ****s about what the new comer Ron had to say.
learned a lot from ron? i honestly have no idea where you are getting that from. what did they learn exactly? in terms of the way the team acted, i again have no idea where you're getting that from or what you're talking about. maybe im in the minority but i feel like the people that have really put their personality on the team are Morey and Battier.
All I know is that they never made it past the first round without ron, and then did not make the playoffs this year without him. I think he played a significant role in that.
I believe that rhino is right to some degree - Ron was a leader for this team despite his insanity, and his toughness was key to finally getting past the first round. Combined with his excellent Game 6 performance, and we weren't beating Portland without him. I don't have any complaints about the guy for what he did to Houston. That said, with the injury of Yao, he had to go as he no longer fit. Artest would have been a disaster on this team instead of Houston, as he would have taken being the man to a much larger degree and would have turned into bad Artest, as he did when stuck on those junk teams in Sacramento. Given that this season was really a preparation for next season, Ariza would be a superior fit for this team, as he is younger, about as talented, and sane, while lacking in leadership which I argue Battier could provide. Consequently, Ariza was a better player to get.
Ron Artest was the Dunta Robinson of the team. He talked big, charismatic and would have his moments, but he was no leader. Real talk, he tried to be, but let's be honest, brother DISAPPEARED in round 2, leaving Brooks, Scola and Landry to carry the team when Yao went down. And in the next series guess who was at damn near every Lakers game? I'm just saying. Really, as others have said, that year's team more or less was under the leadership of Battier, Deke, with Barry being a behind the scenes assistant coach. Ain't none of the guys you listed that are still on teams have anything similar to Artest's "leadership " on them.
there was also this 7' 6" guy. Battier was more of a leader than Ron. Ron was no doubt an important piece and brought great energy but he isn't a good leader.
You must be confused brother because it all started and ended with Mr. Brian Cook. As soon as he left there was no chance at making the playoffs again. :grin:
So I guess that means that Shane Battier, Chuck Hayes, Luis Scola, and Kyle Lowry weren't tough nosed gritty players before Ron got here. I swear these "so n' so isn't a leader" arguments are some of teh most asanine things I've ever seen. YOU AREN'T IN THE LOCKER ROOM! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!
Barry? LOL, with that comment, I won't even bother with the rest of your post a certain 7'6 missed quite a few big games in the playoffs. and again, Yao has never been a leader. And you do?
