Ron needs to stay as a third option if we ever want to win a ring with Yao... No Ron, No championship...
Knote, I do not get your fascination with Ron, what has he ever won? What makes you so sure that he will ever lead or be a part of a championship team. I could see it, but only if a team has a clear superstar to put him in his place, like Jordan did with Rodman. Ron is Rodman like in his crazyness on the floor and none of the Rockets are willing to step up and say..."Dude, just stop"..... That is the problem right there. DD
I think the raptors may want him. They desperately need a good defense wing player. But, I don't know what we can take back. Maybe their lottery pick this year?
That's impossible! They may want to trade a garbage contract + the lottery pick for him. I am not sure Morey want to accept a garbage contract.
I agree,he was able to do a pretty good job against the Suns. I do dread the way he drives though. Cutting to the basket without the ball is the safest way for him to get a chance to score in the paint or to draw fouls.
I hope Barry will be able to knock some jumpers down and perhaps be able to give some relief to Aaron and Lowry at the 1 even though that isn't his strong suit.
If we can possibly get another SG/SF across a Tmac deal, or start Wafer, I think we should keep Artest. Shane wouldn't mind coming off the bench (he would but he is the one who would mind the least). Brooks/Lowry Wafer/New SG Artest Scola Yao and have Shane come off the bench bring some magic and defense.
We're witnessing the reason Artest has been an NBA gypsy. He obviously can't help himself from going "rogue", totally undermining team play. He's the classic ball stopper, especially at crunch time. It's in his DNA and obviously no one in the Rox organization can control him. As much as I love his passion, toughness and defense, it's time to cut him loose. We tried.....didn't work. DR
Ron Artest and Yao are very complimentary, I think we should keep him and just bring in a new second scoring option, because Artest isn't an offensive threat unfortunately..
I have defended Artest before here but after last night's game, it was like that damn Bulls game all over again. He tries to take the game over, never gets the ball to Yao or doesn't try hard, and then plays foolishly on defense. And it is like you can sense the swing in momentum every time this happens - reminds me of a guy who is fixing to turn into a werewolf. The full moon is being hidden by the trees and then pops out in full glory and dude starts changing into half wolf, half man. Except unlike Teen Wolf who is actually good enough to win a game by himself, Artest Wolf is not. We should try to trade him for something useful like a good offensive wing player.
wow, i didn't think i would ever agree with you on something. i agree, right now, without tmac we need him, but next year,we are in a weird situation, who is going to take tmacs contract in the off season? i can't see anyone taking it, he won't be healthy for most of the season, and no team is going to take his contract assuming they'll be terrible that year, it is more valuable at the deadline, when teams know they're bad and don't see themselves improving the rest of the season. so we need someone to hold us afloat until either tmac gets back or we get someone in place of tmac's contract on that note, won't it be weird to have a different star, other than mcgrady and yao? i got so used to it, i am just curious where this team will be in 3 years
1st round exit and let Artest walk if he plays anything nearly as awful as he's been playing these past few games.
Kidd got into his head pretty easily last night - and about 2min later Artest was sitting on the bench w/ 5 fouls
This is the kind of thinking that screws teams up with bad contracts and hands big paydays to guys like Baron Davis and Antoine Walker. If we can't get out of the first round this year, it will be because Yao Ming can't beat a fronting defense no matter who else is on the team and no matter who the coach is. At that point, it becomes clear that the Rockets can't win with Yao Ming taking the important shots, and it's time to end the experiment. There's no "holding us afloat" until another superstar or two falls in our laps. It's full rebuilding mode at that point, from the top down. The team CAN'T be built around Yao and win if the fronting isn't solved. As for Artest, I was ecstatic when he was acquired. I thought he would bring a toughness and clutch play in the 4th that we needed. Well, I was sort of half right. Bottom line is Artest doesn't play a team game. He's just a crutch, not a leg the Rockets can stand on. Frustration can be purchased for a lot cheaper than Artest wants.
good post by the op. i'm getting more and more reluctant to get him back next season. even if we do, it should be not much north of the mle imo. sorry, ron, but you're the only who plays with intensity in the game. plus you're too intense sometimes, which results in many boneheaded plays on offense and too many gambles on defense (which in turn gives up open shots or cause fouls by yao or our interior defense). it may not be a good idea to talk about if we want a player back or not before the playoffs, but ron's performance as of late has really been disappointing.
I think you go too far! In 2004-05 playoffs, I don't think the mavs fronted Yao a lot. In 2006-07 playoffs, I don't think the jazz fronted Yao a lot either. In 2007-08 playoffs, Yao didn't play at all. We didn't pass the 1st round in previous 3 years not because of the fronting at all.
Ron Artest is what he is, a role player who thinks he is a superstar. And that type of player never wins. DD
