Da doo Ron Ron: Rockets 112, Mavs 102 I met him on a Thursday and my heart stood still. Da doo Ron Ron Ron, da doo Ron Ron. There was that one brief moment, when Ron Artest ran into the crowd to pull Yao Ming away from a scuffle and accidentally bumped into Josh Howard, when you thought it might all go down the drain. Artest was slapped with a technical foul, based more on past reputation than his actions here. But the important thing is Artest did not blow up. Except in the Mavericks' faces. Could Donte Greene have done this? For that matter, could Tracy "The Cheerleader" McGrady have done this? Artest was everything the Rockets wanted and more coming down the stretch, scoring 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and refusing to let the win get away. For most of the night, the Rockets regarded defense as if it were a bad rash they didn't want to contract and it didn't look good that they were heading into a shootout with the shootin' tootin' Mavs in their own building. But this is the way it was drawn up on all those computer printouts read by GM Daryl Morey. One more option in a pinch. One more reason to think maybe the Rockets finally can win a first-round playoff series this season. Maybe two more reasons when you count Aaron Brooks, who proved to be a fast healer with that bad wheel and an even faster bolt of lightning on the court, scoring 9 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. When Shane Battier eventually rehabs his left ankle and gets back onto the floor, this is how the Rockets could take over - and finish - a lot of games. They can put Battier back into his starting role and pair up Artest with Brooks in a second unit that packs a mule kick. Maybe this is how McGrady finally learns how to close out a playoff series, by sitting on the bench and watching Artest do the heavy lifting in the final minutes. It is one thing to have Yao Ming (30 points), McGrady (16) and Artest all on the floor together as starters. But there are too many times with that structure when they're encroaching on each other's territory. And it also leaves the second unit woefully short of offense. With Artest coming off the bench, he's like one of those huge, rolling boulders in an Indiana Jones movie, threatening to flatten everything in its path. His strength and Brooks' speed is a thunder and lightning combination that can bring down the rain. A team that has relied too much on two stars with bodies - and emotional makeup - that are fragile-as-your-mother's-china, now has backup from a guy with a chin and attitude of granite. Just as important, it should allow head coach Rick Adelman to limit the minutes of McGrady and Yao throughout the long regular season. The Rockets didn't get Artest expecting him to score 29 points and carry them home every night. But just knowing he can, will make them sleep better. Da doo Ron Ron. -------- Was that rag on McGrady necessary? Mac has proven on more than one occasion that he's capable of carrying a team in the clutch. But blinebury's a biased fatboy so I don't really think this means much. He was spot on about Artest, though. Frickin' boulder of doom! link
yes that rag on mcgrady was completely necessary. when was the last time T-Mac carried us like Ron did? When was the last time T-Mac had a big game WHILE Yao also had one? The answer is never, because T-Mac would rather defer to Yao when what we really needed was for both of them to score. As the saying goes, what have you done for me lately? Ron is the leader of this team.
It's insane to me to think that Artest should be anything but a starter. I've heard all the rationale and I still don't buy it. McGrady should come off the bench before Artest.
I can't stand Blinebury. He'll find always find a way to take a shot at Tmac in his blogs. Tmac obviously deserves some of the criticisms that he has received over the years, but the crap that Fran spews is just pure hate.
You shouldnt say never. I think we all remember a little game against San Antonio a few years back. Anyway the reason for this post.... check out this eyebrow action from Ron. just SICK http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/h...6a884-getty-83010064th012_rockets_mavericks:1
Blindbury has been following basketball for decades yet still has no clue about the game. He may know history but his analysis of players and games is pathetic, at best. He's not a Rockets fan but there is nothing wrong with that as most sportswriters aren't fans of the teams they cover. He is full of wit and uses a bunch of fancy words but if you read enough of his work, you realize that he just doesn't understand the sport. He just likes to write slightly controversial stuff to get people angry and to post on his blog. He plays counterpart to Feigen, who is too positive and under-critical all the time. Basically, Blindbury is to basketball like Justice is to baseball. Amazingly, neither of them know much about the sports they cover even after being inside and around the industries for so long. The only difference is that Justice is a moron and Blindbury is actually pretty intelligent. I try to avoid reading anything written by either of them. Now that we have Friedman over at Rockets.com, I barely even read the Chron to get Rockets news anymore.
Man I can't wait to see the lineup of Yao Artest Battier Tmac and Barry on the floor at the same time. Or Yao Hayes Artest Battier Tmac <--this is a defensive nightmare lineup
if tmac comes off the bench I think it should look like this 1 brooks barry artest hayes yao 2 alston tmac battier scola landry
I was thinking the same thing.. with Adleman's weird substitution patterns, might as well have Yao play heavy minutes in the first half while tmac (coming off the bench of course) finish the second half.. with this strategy, - Yao could get his game on early and won't be so tired closing - tmac can close and finish off the game...since he will be kept fresh and rested throughout the game - and have Artest play with Yao OR tmac (not both)...since by the look of things, they're more effective that way (rather than having all 3 of the big 3 on the court at the same time)...and since he is I-RON man, he can handle the heavy minutes
I still think you start... Alston McGrady Artest Scola Yao and bring... Brooks Barry Battier Hayes Landry off the bench. That's your 10-man rotation when Battier gets back. I think we will eventually find that we can't play with bigger teams and be forced to bring in Deke or another 7-footer. At that point, somebody has to get bumped from the rotation or Adelman will go with a situational rotation based on the opposition.
McGrady clearly isn't 100% but still got out on the floor to play. He does not deserve that type of ciritism with a 70% knee and a shoulder that needs surgery.
Artest's strength and Brooks' speed is a thunder and lightning combination that can bring down the rain.
whats up with the song lyrics, its like hmmm how could i make this clever, i know let me use song lyrics for the 80th time like thats tight 16 pts, 7 assists, 5 reb, 2 steals in 3 quarters.....yeah that man is garbage some people are morons
