[Chron] Adelman leaning towards Artest off the bench?

I just feel Artest would be more effective off the bench for this team than starting. He's a ball-stopper and is most effective when he's the focus of the offense rather than playing off the ball most of the time. He can essentially give us a second unit that has very little drop-off from the first unit. Plus, bringing him off the bench is a lot less disruptive to team chemistry that the team has labored so hard to build over the past couple of years, through injuries and all.

I can completely see Adelman's reasoning on this. It makes sense. The transition would be much smoother.

 

Also guys if you think about last year when Tmac and Yao were off the floor our guys looked confused on who was going to be the scorer, now we know who will be scoring our points when the bench comes in. Artest taking mid range jumpers and playing clean up, dishing to Barry for 3's, and Landry slamming down the hammer. I'm as excited about our bench as I am about our starters.

 

Was not the same logic people in this forum used when discussing last year argument over Hayes over Scola?
At the end is was proved that starting Scola made the team a lot better. I think that having the best talent to start and to finish the game is what will produce more wins.

 

In addition to what durvasa said, Scola was never a ball-stopping, offensive focal point type of player like Artest is. The argument for bringing Artest off the bench is that he can be a go-to guy when he steps on the floor, a role that he won't be able to play as effectively in the starting lineup.

 

One of the biggest issues the Rockets have faced is not having a scorer when Yao and TMac are not on the court. Artest can easily fill that role off the bench.

I am willing to bet that even if RA does have Artest come off the bench, he'll have Ron on the court to close the game out.

 

999 x outta 1000 it is best to start your best players. Artest is CLEARLY better than Battier.

Everybody keeps mentioning Manu. How did that work out for them? It didn't.

 

You can't compare Scola-Hayes situation with Artest-Battier situation. Yes, we all agree Artest is a better player than Battier. However, if I have Artest on the floor, I expect him to score just like Tmac and Yao. I would have all 3 on at the same time to finish games but they don't necessarily have to start together. Artest will have more opportunities to score if he comes off the bench and still have minutes with Yao and Tmac together.

Another reason why they might consider Artest coming off the bench is because of Battier. Battier is a spot up shooter so he may be most useful when opponents double team Yao or Tmac.

 

if everything was equal, i'd be a big proponent of last year's starting 5. Artest would have to earn a starting spot (or more minutes) in the regular season.

different dynamic with the Battier injury tho ... we start whoever is ready to go come regular season. looks like Artest now ....

 

The thing about Scola was that our offense then with Battier, Chuck and Alston simply didn't cut it. Scola was the spark plug that we needed to keep defenders from doubling Yao and becoming that third focal point, so it worked out great. But adding Artest into the line-up would be sort of over doing it, plus we'd have the same problem we had last season: not enough firepower off the bench. Ron as the sixth man should solve that problem.

By the way, Manu off the bench works. Why do you think the Spurs, a perennial contending team, does it year after year with the likes of Bowen and Finley starting in his place? Is Popovich stupid? I don't think so.

 

starter or not. if Artest doesn't get more minutes/gm than Ginobody, i'll be pissed. Popovich plays Ginobody at 29-31mpg because he's too erratic for 36-40mpg. Artest is the best defender in the league. imo, he's a top 10 player in this league, and is in incredible condition to play all out, all game long. If he doesn't get >36mpg, i'll be saying Aldeman is overthinking things.

that said, if we have the best record in West most of the season or highest pt differential with a lot of blowouts, i can see a lot of end game minutes of rest for the dude. but still, I'd rather rest TMac and Yao and let Artest finish all the games. I don't worry about him.

 

I've been saying it all the time on this board. dont mess with the chemistry. artest will still


get 35 minutes off the bench.

he will get the whole offense ran through him off the bench

He will make our bench players better by drawing double teams meaning it makes life easier for landry and barry

we finally have someone who can create his own shots off the bench.

Battier brings nothing off the bench.bench players need to bring a spark off the bench. battier dosent. he does the small things well and needs to be out there as a starter to help tracy .

 

Artest will start.

 

Well i don't know ...i mean we have Bonzi coming off the bench and he doesn't do much. Also just because Ron Artest start does not mean we don't have anybody off the bench to help so the statement like with Tmac and Yao out that we don't have anybody to spark the offense. But remember....just because RON YAO AND TMAC start does not mean they all will sit after the 1st quarter...no way and it never happened. So there is always someone there to help out the bench.

 

This sums up why I feel Artest should come off the bench. It was in the articles posted by BrooksBall which I believe he was posting to say he SHOULD start.

"When he was starting, Ginobili said, "sometimes I went back to the bench with nothing done." "

I don't want to waste his scoring potential in a situation where he's not going to get many touches. Plus he does have the tendency to be a ball stopper, something completely counter to what our offensive system is about. If he's in there without McGrady and Yao, or just one, he will be able to operate in his own style and be very effective for our team while the other guys are resting.

At the end of games closing out the 4th I think it should be: McGrady, Battier, Artest, Scola, and Yao. McGrady playing point. That way you have the two-headed monster of having to guard McGrady and Artest. You have to deal with Yao's power. You can't leave Scola open. And we'll have the best tandem of defensive skill in the league at once. Try beating that.

If there's something I'm missing here please tell me.

 

i hope that doesn't tick off ron artest even if he says won't...

but i think we should switch out more often than none..


that way if ron artest does come off the bench...sixth man award!!

 

Ront will embrace it because it means he will get a ton of shots as the second units go to guy. dont be suprised if he averages around 21 again this year.

 

I'm just wondering, what is it about being a starter that's so prestigious? e.g. ginobili is obviously the best SG on the Spurs, and even coming off the bench will get the bulk of the minutes compared to the guy who took his spot on the starting 5...

Is it because you miss out on the pre-game introduction? Miss the tip-off?

 

Here is just a basic basketball question that I think all the artest to the bench types don't get. When will Artest,Tracy, and Yao ever learn how to play with each other if they're never on the court together? Manu was a bench guy his 1st couple of yrs anyway. One of the main reasons why finley starts is because he's started his entire multiple all star career and that was his confort zone. That's a reason why manu comes off the bench. The spurs had 3 yrs or so of experience dealing with maun playing with duncan and parker in the 4th. The rox with artest might only have this yr. The more the 3 can play together, the easier it will be in crunchtime. By the same token, Posey should have started and allen off the bench. Artest,Tracy, and yao should start, then when tracy needs a rest, battier comes in, and when ron needs a rest, the slide continues, but the historically slow starts by the rox are a product of yao or tracy not hitting or the shots or plas the people they've created for not producing. Artest starting ends that because now he picks it up on the offensive end, sets the tone on defense and the rox crush the avg teams they seem to struggles with early on. When they see those 3 starting the game, teams will know they're in for a long night. The rox can crush their spirits early and sit on the bench in the 4 th drinking gatorade.