Haha you right. I'm just trying to figure out why DD hates every chance he gets. The Rockets have put together a pretty solid team, and they play the game the right way. DD you seem to be opposed to the deal to get Artest. You say he is not a good fit. You're basing it on your idea of what kind of player Artest is, and your basing it on how he has shot the ball to this point in the season, correct? That's fair I guess. Artest is a guy who tends to go one on one and the Rockets already have guys who do that......But have you conscidered that we havent exactly had our whole roster all season. Have you conscidered that having Tracy healthy, Shane Healthy, etc would make our shooting percentage go up. Have you conscidered the other things that Artest has done to help this team win. The steals he gets on defense create extra possesions and fast break opportunities that werent there last year. He gives us another guy that can knock down a three, and he gives us a few points here and there from the FT line. Have you conscidered that we are 12-7 despite our highest paid player and our best defender being injured for a lot of our games? Even if Artest doesnt ultimately help us win(which i think he already is helping us but thats my opinion), his contract is up at the end of this season and we can choose to let him walk. All we lose is a pick, donte green, and bobby jackson. Anyways. I guess you're allowed to
DD doesn't hate the Rockets... He has what we call the "love and hate relationship". You know he really loved them before training camp started and you know right now, he hates them. It happens. But deep down in his heart, he loves them. Him not loving them is like not loving Baby Jesus.
I don't hate anything or anyone, I just want the Rockets to play better, I don't believe they play the right way, they play "A way" but if they were playing the "right" way they would not be 2nd from the bottom in the entire league at FG%. You seem to be mistaken in thinking I came to the "Ron doesn't fit" recently, actually I never thought he fit, he is a ball stopper, and is a redundant piece to Battier. If you are going to have a big 3 you need complimentary pieces..... Ron steps on Tmac's toes by needing the ball, and he steps on Battier's toes by taking some of his minutes. He is a very good player, just not a perfect fit for Houston and our current roster. You can not let him walk, you don't get any value for his contract, as the Rockets are over the cap, if they let him walk, they would not be able to sign another 7 million dollar player to replace him, they would have to do a sign and trade, which they could do to get value for him. Letting him just walk would not be a reasonable option. DD
I might be mistaken but I think the Rockets have his bird rights. So it would work really well for the Rockets to do a sign and trade. But if you are going to trade him, trade his ass to the East. I'm tired of him killing us everytime we played him.
even if he doesn't fit best with our "expected" starting five, don't you think come crunch time in the fourth quarter, that our so-called "big three" will be in the game together? what makes you think they wouldn't have three go-to guys? and it's freaking spelled considered.
Yet another good reason to own him. We dont have to watch him destroy our defense. Haha. Not a good reason, but a reason.
First of all, I think the fact that you came to the conclusion that he wasnt a good fit even before he played a minute here speaks volumes. You came to your conclusion before he even stepped foot on the floor so its going to take something pretty significant to change your mind. That's okay I guess, but I think you have come to your conclusion way too early without enough evidence to support it. The basketball season is a marathon, and then you get to the post season where everything is different, where talent and mismatches make the biggest difference. Having Ron Artest come off the bench(which he will do eventually) is probably better than any option any other team in the west has off their bench. He scores in alot of different ways, he defends, he rebounds, he brings tremendous energy, he is a good passer, he gets to the FT line, he doesnt turn it over that much, and like you said yourself "he is a very good player". In todays NBA you can never have enough of those.
I don't dispute he is a good player, I dispute that he makes our team that much better. Boston's big 3 compliment each other, ours do not. I think Ron could work off the bench, but if you could trade him for a quality PG, or a PF with length and a 3ball, you do it. Heck, I would trade him for Mike Miller because he fits in better with Yao and Tmac... Let's face it we have hitched our wagon to Yao and Tracy, we should find players that compliment them. To me, Ron is a very good player, but not a good complimentary piece for our team. I would love to be wrong here, and have the team find it's identity, but so far, I was right on the money about Ron Artest. DD
It is still very early in the season. It is too early to judge Ron Artest, or this team. I do belive you are wrong and they will start to click. Those 32% will improve, don't worry. When Tracy comes back they will start clicking, I am SURE. As for Mike Miller. Well Miller is good, but Ron is a star. But that's not my point. Look at this team now and exchange Ron for Miller. I mean you are playing without Tracy. Morey knew situations like that can happen so that is why he went for Ron. This team would have been loosing like crazy with Miller instead of Ron. Because Ron can always go to the post, even if he is struggling now, he can create for himself. Miller is ONLY a shooter. Just wait DD, WAIT...
It says here that I'm a rookie, but I don't consider myself one. I was just turned on to this place by 1560 the game. I've bled and cried for this team for 24 years... Anyway, way too early to make judgement with this team, gotta wait and see what Tmac is able to bring... I know one thing.. this team will win more than not with Artest on it.
It probably won't take you long to get a "member" status. Clutch passes them out to people who contribute meaningful content and intelligent posts to the site. Welcome to the boards!
DD, I really don't think shane gits the offense when u think about it. If we really want this "system" to work, he doesn't do anything the wings are required to do. He doesn't handle or penetrate. Doug Christie, to use a point of reference , was a good defender, a slasher, and a psuedo pg. I played against him in college and even in toronto, he was like a 6'6 point forward. So its not just artest to me.
http://www.82games.com/0708/07HOU12D.HTM And yet, the offense was better with Shane on the floor than when he was off.
I guess in some fantasy world where we can just pick the players we want for our team, then yeh your philosophy works. This is reality though. And in reality, you have to evaluate all of the moves that are realistically possible, and then you decide which move will give this team its best chance to win a championship now as well as in the future. In reality, trading with the grizzlies for Mike Miller in the offseason was probably not going to happen because they have absolutely no use for a player like Donte Green and an expiring contract is of no use to them either, because theyre a small market team that doesnt attract free agents. They can only really hop to get better through the draft. In reality, Ron Artest for Donte Green, Bobby Jackson, and a pick is a move that the rockets couldnt pass up. we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The risk is we lose out on what could potentially be a good scorer down the line. Scoring is important but its not really what wins championships. Players like Ron artest help you win championships. He hustles, he plays defense, hes physical, he can shoot the three, he is one of the best players of all time at getting steals. But all you want to focus on is how he is shooting the ball in 15 games of the regular season and how he isn't a perfect fit with tmac and yao. All i know is that without him we would be screwed right now.
