Since I live in Iceland and rarely get to see my beloved Rockets play live, I havn´t been able to evaluate Ron´s contribution to the Rockets, although I´ve read alot about it. What I wanted to ask those who have seen the games is how is Ron´s shot choice? I truly welcome Ron to the Rockets, but first and foremost I though he would add defense and toughness to the team and scoring mostly as the THIRD option. However, now he averages more attempts then Tmac and Yao, but shoots 34% from the field. It´s always difficult to judge only from boxscores, so can someone imform me : Is Ron a trigger happy ball hog or is he fitting in nicely with the offence? I know he has said all the right things as far as being prepared to do whatever Tmac and Yao ask of him, but still he seems to jack up a hell of a lot of shots. This is in no way a knock on Ron Artest, I just wanted to hear from those who have seen the games. Thanks
I'll say this much he likes to shoot more 3's than Tracy. I believe he took 10 last night and only made 3. And I think he takes more bad shots than Tracy too. But hey if thats his game I'm ok with it I guess.
I think when Ron takes bad shots it's because he's the only real scoring option on the floor at the time or the shot clock is starting to get low. For the most part, he takes good shots. Before he started missing real bad last night, he was something like 50% from 3pt land. My worry is that career-wise, he's 33% from there. TMac 33.7%. Rafer is 35.6% Kobe 34%. Oh damn! NBA.com must be wrong! Rafer the sharpshooter! hehehe
He has played good defense but like every player in the league he got some off nights like vs. Celtics (bad shooting like Yao and Rafer too). No need to panic, team needs to strengthen up a little, it takes first 10-15 games or so.
He's a better 3pt shooter than Tracy. Also, Mcgrady's usually the one initiating the offense to get him the open look from the 3. Sometimes you have to take what the D gives you especially on a team like the Celtics that pack it in like crazy. If the guys who get the most open shots *cough* Rafer *cough* made them then it would free up guys like Ron to get all the way to the rack more.
C'mon dude I love Artest but he took some terrible shots out there. But this is what we should've expected from him, because he did the exact same thing in Sacramento. There's nothing but a bunch of isolation plays going on in our offense. Will Adelman ever get the players to follow his system? I just don't think we have the personnel for it. I hope Rick has a plan B. Ideally Artest's threes go down once Battier comes back. Pierce is physical, but I thought Artest would be able to post him up.
He is shooting 40% for the season from 3's counting last night bad shooting night. If you going to play Yao, T-Mac, Scola, Alston and Ron together someone have to shoot 3s to space the floor, when Alston is so bad, Ron is the only one who shoots a higher %. Battier have shoot over 350 3s every year with the rockets. You going to have to make 3s plain and simple and Ron is been great so far when leave open as good as Battier.
Well he may be a better three point shooter, but I don't like the fact that he takes so many. Maybe he should drive in when Tracy kicks it out to him or something and try to get a better shot.
Despite the fact that he takes a lot of threes, you have to keep in mind that majority of the time, the shots he takes are open shots. Rarely have I seen Artest throw one up with a guy in his face. In fact, a lot of his threes come from swinging the ball around and getting that extra pass. There are times where he'll just chuck it up even without letting the play develop, but that's usually when he's hot.
he's taken several (5-10) bad shots so far that I can remember, basically long jumpers or threes that came early in the offense in an iso situation ... there was no movement, no picks, people weren't even in position for the board ... early in the shot clock ... unless you are receiving passes out of the post or getting open looks due to good ball rotation, you really shouldn't attempt 10 three's in the normal flow of an offense... He is also limited in his ability to make a good pass once he makes a move to the basket, which is why help defenders can gamble for the block, and they often get it b/c he's not a high leaper. This is not a knock on Artest, he's a reliable shooter and he can create points because of his physical style and talent ... but he is not a great finisher (but crafty enough to draw fouls or get his miss and lay it in) and does attempt some bad shots
I said it earlier, even when he was shooting well, that he was taking some T-Macish shots. Those weren't good shots for him even though they were falling at that time. He should be going more to the basket. Posting up. Or waiting for the spot up 3s from kick outs.
Ron Artest is very McGrady-like in his shot selection. So if you think McGrady takes bad shots, Ron Artest is very similar.
ron is shooting 34% on a lot of WIDE OPEN shots (40% from 3s). he's getting the rafer alston syndrome of jacking up wide open shots after struggling with them instead of taking those passes and penetrate and create something. ron was terrible last night offensively. paul pierce picked up his 3rd foul early in the 3rd and ron just continued to jack up 3s instead of forcing the issue and taking pierce out of the game. i'm fine with ron taking his share of shots. but if he starts missing, go inside. create off the dribble, post up, get to the line... i appreciate ron's defense so that's why i haven't been very critical of him but he's been terrible offensively outside of the mavericks game. it's not like he's facing tmac's or yao's type of defense. he's facing a lot of single coverage and taking a lot of wide open shots.
Just becasue you're open doesn't mean you have to just keep jacking up 3's why not drive it in thats what I want him to do half the time. If he does he still will be able to take some 3's just not as many.
You have to shoot the ball, is you pass a wide open shot you wont get a better one. You have to shoot 3 when the defense is cheating inside you need to keep them honest, Period. He is problem is not the wide open shoot but his mid range and missing at the rim. You saw Scola open and he drain it, you have to do it. Yao is a inside player Scola is, T-mac is and Rafer is awful anywhere. He is so far the most reliable starter when he is open. He just need to finish better and move a little without the basket to get some easy basket.
