For the 12 games this year, he looks lost in this offense because he has no role. Our offense consists of Yao in the post; Tmac in PNR; Yao at high post; Tmac in the post; Brooks dribble drive/PNR. Artest is left floating around on the other side, struggling to figure out whether to spot up, cut or whatever. It's like what happened with Robert Horry, except that Artest is much more talented. I feel bad for Ron -- he's worked the hardest out of all the rockets. He's done nothing but hustle and be a good teammate. He hasn't b****ed once. But you can see the frustration sometimes when he gets the ball on the inbounds and dribbles it all the way down the court and forces something, often something bad. I'd be mad at him except it's totally reasonable and understandable. Rick Adelman - you've got to step up. Artest must be a major cog while Tmac and Yao get limited minutes to heal up. You've got to be the hard ass to get Tmac to give up the ball. Here's my proposal. Battier's return is important. 1. Tmac dominates the ball too much for Artest to be effective. Until healthier and more efficient, Tmac's should be 8 min to start Q1 and Q3; last 6 mins of Q2 and Q4. He's to be told to go full out for 28 minutes (yeah right). 2. We start same lineup as last year: Alston, Tmac, Battier, Scola and Yao. 3. When Tmac comes out in Q1, so does Scola. We go with Yao, Artest, Battier, Wafer, Alston. Yao is the primary option. Artest gets all the kick out shots that used to go to Scola, and also gets featured to take opposing PF's outside, or to straight up post them. Battier and Wafer space the court. 3. Sub out Yao and Alston in late Q1. Go with Hayes or Scola, plus Artest, Battier, Wafer and Brooks. This is your defense/hustle/scrap team. Brooks PNR/iso and Artest are your primary offensive options. (Until further notice, Barry is out of the rotation. Brooks doesn't need Barry to be effective.). 4. In Q2, get a little bigger by plugging in Landry for Wafer. That gives you Hayes/Landry/Artest/Battier/Brooks. (has anyone else noticed that Landry isn't playing all that great either?) 5. Tmac and Yao return mid/late 2nd quarter. Take a look at Landry with 1 and 11. Artest returns to 3rd option and effectively plays from mid Q1 to end of Q2. Repeat this pattern in 2nd half, with adjustments in 4th quarter based on what's working and who's hot. The important thing is to keep Tmac and Artest from being on the court at the same time. It's just not working.
I agree, with minor differences. Last year's starters were excellent with little bench help. Why shouldn't we be able to go with last year's starters, plus add Artest and Brooks to the bench?
Even when Artest is out there without T-Mac, he still plays the same. Sticks to shooting threes and very tough mid range jumpers. Seems like the only time he is willing to attack is on the break. I want to see more post ups for Ron. But the question is, is the lack of play due to Ron playing the role Rick wants or just Ron himself?
Once Battier comes back we can have Artest coming off the bench and then he will be able to find his shots without worrying about taking touches from Yao or TMac. I think Adelman knows this and so does Artest so nobodies worried about trying to make him fit with Yao and TMac on the court.
But our Big3 have to know HOW TO PLAY TOGETHER. To play the most important time of the games: the last 8 minutes.
Funny, before the season started, lots of people here claimed that starting Artest was a no-brainer because he was hands down more talented than Battier. The problem is, you can't take the ball away from Yao and TMac and give it to Artest because offensively he is not on the same level as those other two guys. He doesn't command double teams and he is not a very good play maker. If he is anything more than the 3rd option, the offense won't be very good. What Artest needs is Battier. With Yao and TMac, we need consistent 3pt shooters, which Battier is and Artest is not. I've always thought that Artest should best be coming off the bench, playing while either TMac or Yao sits.
Artest is playing how Artest plays. Dribbling the ball and chucking a bad shot... Thats his game. Don't act like Adelman has drastically limited Artest's game because he hasn't. What Adelman did for Artest in Sacramento was make him the most efficient scorer he has ever been. But this team does not have the personnel.
Besides D.......RON ARTEST SUCKS Bad shots, misses them, doesn't take it to the hole and does not prevent hoops on fast break like Battier. OVERRATED I think the hype created around here is the curse maybe. I don't buy into it and never will thanks to Boki, Vspan , Swift and on and on and on. Oh yeah the debate Yao vs Jay Williams.
