thanks batkins! you rock People say they can't wait till the season starts. I'm over the season I want to see us make some PLAYOFF noise.
At the beginning of Sportscenter, there was a little teaser where Stephen A asking Ron Artest a question. But so far there have been no interview.
artest being a ghetto or well spoken isn't the issue. but what's clear from the PTI interview is that 4 years later artest still cant admit what he did was wrong. he's talking about some people being too "scared to do something" and not having "initiated anything" during the brawl I guess if you went in thinking he was some totally ignant negro who couldn't put 2 words together he impressed but if you wanted any sort of manning up and saying plainly "I was wrong I never should have done any of that" then this interview is actually a step backwards It seems that artest's main point is that, that brawl doesn't make him a bad man (see his charities, humor etc) and that his role was reactionary not instigation. The logical piece that artest seems to miss in all this is that of course every man has the immediate instinct to react as he did by beating the crap out of some little punk who throws beer on you but people can control their instincts with rational judgment. artest does show maturity in deftly dealing with the Yao "controversy" so it does show he does want to play for houston and is willing to make certain concessions to make it happen. what does that mean for the rockets? probably that everything is about as they expected from ron artest. the downside financially is small and it's unlikely a situation like Detroit would ever happen again... not least because fans are going to have it in the back of their minds now that they might get an ass beating if they throw crap at players. ron does seem like he can be a cool guy off the court so here's to hoping everything meshes well on the court
That was an extremely illuminating interview. Thanks for making it available. My takeaways: 1) The kudos I gave to Yao for smoothing over his original comments (to Blinebury) actually belong to Artest. He's the one who tracked down Yao's number and made the phone call. This is great news. It means that the guy with the "problem" is actually making himself the solution. It shows a level of maturity and grace I hadn't expected of him. Well done, Ron. 2) The line between aggression, misbehavior, and emotional fragility is awfully thin. I noticed this last year with Bonzi -- every time I saw an interview with him, he seemed way more fragile than his game or off-court antics suggested. Artest comes off as a sweet ADHD case who's absorbed many lessons of therapy and still needs a hug. Volatile, hypersensitive, and needy, but also perceptive and reflective. 3) It looks as though the defining characteristic of this guy is that he cares. A lot. Sometimes, as in the brawl, it does him in. But it's what our team too often lacks. I'm glad to have him in the fold. And I want him on the court and in the huddle in the last 3 minutes of every playoff game to remind the other four guys that somebody around here gives a damn.
I havent seen Rockets player with that type of energy for a long time! Glad he's on board! I'm a believer!!
Artest reminds me of that line from one of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories. Something like: "Civilized men are less polite to each other than barbarians are because in civilization rudeness is tolerated, while among barbarians rudeness is rewarded with a punch to the face."
oh man, clutchfans is having a massive man-crush, dude loving, phenomenon. you guys need to chill. we like basketball, not the man.
I think it's regrettable that Artest went after that guy, but it doesn't matter if you're in a bar, an NBA game or in church. If you throw a beer at somebody you should expect to get into a fight.
When the idea of Artest coming to Houston was originally floated, I was strongly against it. I only knew Artest by reputation and had never paid that close of attention to his career. But after watching that interview and listening to the interview with Carmichael Dave, I feel a lot better about the deal. The guy is obviously smart. The people running around calling him dumb don't know what they are talking about. He has a great attitude. How many ways can he say "I'll do whatever is asked of me." While it's self destructive for professional athlete to go into the stands after a fan, it's not an unusual, or "crazy" reaction to physically confront someone who just through a beer on you. Artest is motivated in the extreme to win and hopefully this energy will rub off on the rest of the team. They've been almost there for a couple years now. Artest's fire just may put the Rockets over the top.
The comparison with Bonzi actually makes me more hopeful. Bonzi thrived on the Rockets last season. Feigen quoted some guy recently who said "You can have one jerk on a team, but never two. They'll just breed." If any team in the entire league can help Artest turn it around it's the Rockets. 1) Chemistry: the Rockets have got it in spades. 2) No cancers or jerks: the Rockets are filled with guys like Shane Battier, Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes. Mature, unselfish professionals who set the tone of the team. Hopefully Artest can show up and just plug into that. 3) The coach: Artest has a great relationship with Adelman, who has a reputation as a hands off, player's coach who gives his team plenty of space. 4) Talent: the Rockets are on the verge of breaking through, and winning cures a lot of ills.
That's an encouraging interview. But, he's got to learn to ignore everything happening outside the boundaries of the Court during a game. If that means taking a beer in the face, then he's got to take one for the team. On the other hand, if something happens on the Court, he should have free reign to enforce...hopefully with the basketball and not his fists. If he can focus his anger, then he'll be unstoppable.
