that's what i thought. we must get into their heads and take them down with our physical plays. we must intimidate them. we must make them shudder at the thought of going against us.
I completely disagree. it's hard to keep cool when someone elbows you on purpose IMO. Ron is a ture warrior. I gotta respect him.
He meant for the next game. It's kinda hard to play better without the best player on the team (for tonight).
anyone blaming Artest for this is just delusional... It came down to making plays, and we didn't make plays down the stretch.. they have Kobe, what do you know? and they just didn't go away and we did.. it's a 7 game series, no one expected us to win 2 games there.. we could've won this game in a non "weak" manner and dropped the next 4 straight because we would've allowed those pieces of crap to bully us.. Artest did what he had to do, and I support him 100% ..
Got to disagree with OP. Getting hit intentionally on the neck and losing the game is a NO! Getting hit intentionally on the neck and winning the game is still a DAMN NO!
I second this. We have been that "weak" team with Tmac. We let them get in our heads and do **** about it. I LOVED seeing Artest get kicked out, I just wish he really was gesturing that he is gonna take Kobe's head off. Kobe is a little crying b**ch along with the rest of the Fakers. I swear if Lakers keep pulling that I'd love to see Artest get a suspension for decking Kobe. Oh how beautiful to see a little attitude out of these Rockets. That is what is going to win this series, that fire.
What I meant is that the team will fight back the next game. They were showing too much respect for the Fakers and letting them push us around for the last two games physically. Look what Dallas did to Spurs when they decided to not respect Parker and letting him drive through them.
STFU... you're a weak fan. The rockets needed someone to step up and show the lakers that this team was not going to take anymore of their dirty ish. The lakers were trying intimidate the rockets and Artrest showed them that this team was not going take thier ish laying down. There was no way Artest ahould have been ejected. He was ejected purely because of his rep.This game was already getting out of hand when Artest got ejected and even if it would have gotten close, there is no way in hell the refs were going to let the rockets win it. It was obvious they had orders from Stern, that they had to do whatever it took to have the lakers win and that was evident by thier quick ejection of houstons best player
kobe and the lakers want to see our players get ejected. and ron gave them what they wanted. didn't you see that innocent looking smirk on kobe's face? i bet you won't say what fisher did was "toughness" or "sending a message", or "motivating" the lakers. in a way, fisher getting ejected was what scola and the rockets wanted. (i wish kobe is stupid enough to do that again in game 3. but he won't.)
It doesn't look like anybody's being persuaded here. We're still too angry about the game and the elbow and the ejection. But here's the question I'd like to get an answer to, and it's factual, so an answer is actually possible: What does Rick Adelman think, really? Is he glad Artest did what he did, or not? Somebody please find that out. I'm trying to look at this from the coach's perspective. I respect Rick. My bet is that he thinks Ron blew it. But if he's down with what Ron did, I'll go along.
this team will fight back no matter what. and they feed off the energy of the home crowd. they don't need what ron did tonight to get fired up. barkley said in the "inside" tonight - what? this is playoff bball and you can't take an elbow in the neck? (granted he also said the foxhole stuff and that ron can be on his team any time.)
Are you kidding me. I bet you that AB behind closed doors would congrats Artest for his plays and crap all over the stupid ass Crawford. But let be honest he'll say all the right thing that the media wants to hear.
Not only is Adelman happy about it, I guarentee he is telling his team to keep playing with that firey intensity. Man the Rockets had this game had some calls gone our way and had we utilized Yao more early in the game. This will fuel the Rockets and HOPEFULLY fuel Rockets fans in game 3 and 4.
Adelman knows, like some of the more astute responders here know, that Kobe will only attempt more cheap shots for the rest of the series when the refs aren't looking, or Kobe will try to "hide" his cheap shots to make it hard for the refs to call it. There is no doubt Kobe will attempt more cheap shots on Artest when the game is on the line.
I look at this as a classical situation of losing a battle to win the war. But first, Ron being thrown out was absolutely a bad call. The guys on TNT said so, and I believe NBATV's report said so. Heck, even Kobe said so. As for the Adelman thing, I'll bite. I think Adelman is telling Ron that it backfired on him. Ron was thinking at max a tech, and it got him thrown out. I think Adelman is telling him something along the lines of "It's an awful risk Vader, this had better work." (Provided Kobe doesnt show up for the last game of the series in an X-Wing, we should be OK)
honestly.. you're out of line with your post here.. Artest has displayed nothing short of admirable restraint and control.. by not saying a word.. and playing on.. at Kobe's first "weak" display on Shane game 1.. Scola proceedingly elbow/body checked with intent to physically "send a message".. Kobe winding up.. and following through with an elbow to a man's neck..? Artest wanted the problem addressed by the official.. as he so clearly stated in the interview.. he didn't want to retaliate.. he wasn't going to tolerate Kobe continuously crossing the line between tough/competitive play.. and intentional blows to a man's head and neck.. with no repercussions.. the officials wouldn't hear it.. apparently because they hadn't seen any of it.. so Artest felt obligated to address it himself.. you simply can't let that continue without calling attention to it.. and there's no better way than doing so.. directly at the individual perpetrating this nonsense on the court.. there simply was no alternative with the officials repeatedly failing to do so.. as i stated in the other thread.. it may not have helped us this game.. but will in the long wrong..
The only part about Will's post that I agree with is that what Wafer did. As for your other points, Artest did what Scola did, talked back. Ron knew what he was doing, he was creating a scene that would let the league understand that this was not going to happen anymore. Ron was not only taking up for himself, he was taking up for him team as well. Ron became the bigger person in my mind when he manned up and let Kobe know it was not going to happen anymore. Ron's rep got him ejected, thats not his fault anymore. Joey Crawford is a quick whistle. What's weak? It's Derek Fisher's cheap shot to Scola that will cost him game 3 in a huge playoff series. Yes, the Rockets lost this game because of turnovers, but an extremely hot start from the lakers and down by 15 early, the Rockets came back and took the lead. I saw all I needed to see from game 2, we took the Lakers best punch, got up and hit them right back. We have homecourt advantage, the Rockets have momentum heading in to Houston.
You were right on point, and I was saying the same thing in the other thread. 7 minutes to go, fourth quarter of a huge game, only down 10. No coach in his right mind would want one of his star players and leading scorer to get himself ejected at that point. Yao was taken out of the game, the PGs weren't playing particularly well, and you obviously aren't going to get playmaking from Battier. If the Rockets were to battle back, having Artest on the floor playing at a high level was essential.
