BTW, not knowing Artest very well, I found out something else about him tonight. He is more arrogant than McGrady or any other superstar in the league. He has a superstar ego with all-star to slightly sub-all-star talent. He was having a colosally bad game, and rather than adjust, he just kept digging his own (and therefore the Rocket's) grave faster and harder with every passing quarter.
Everyone has bad games against Kobe sometimes. McGrady can make his own shot against ANYONE in the league. Artest can't. In the playoffs, that is what matters.
not just one game. i've followed artest from st. john's. he's a superb defender and he can impact the game there. but i'm talking about offensively. if he's not making shots, he has very little impact on the game offensively b/c he just does not possess those playmaking skills.
You don't get to see very many games against the #1 team in the league. You better learn while you can. Artest could play much better than he did tonight, but whether or not he shot well is irrelevant. His limitations and his ability to completely stop thinking were on clear display. This thread is about who is better - McGrady or Artest. The Rockets need someone who has the ability to finish a game against the best defenders in the league, and that is McGrady.
reggie miller said it best: ron actually thinks he's the best player in this league. that's why he tried to make it a 1-on-1 duel with kobe. and when he lost, he was still yappin'. kobe must be rollin' over his grave when artest challenges him by sayin: "i'll see ya next time."
Currently, he might have a higher shooting percentage than T-Mac, but T-Mac worked out his knee and didn't play till half the season we would have seen a better result. Everyone is pulling out the stats that we lose more often when T-Mac is in the line up, but they don't realize it was a rotten T-Mac version. T-Mac is a better dribbler and passer even when injured than Artest. T-Mac playoff version is better than Artest. It's T-Mac's D which really ruins the flow.
i hope the team trades tmac and moves on with him this offseason. we really need to move on and find a new identity with this team. but b/c of games like this and how hard it is to find that perimeter player, morey and the team just might stick with tmac probably until the trade deadline and see what he has left after the recovery.
I didn't get to hear that, but I would say he hit the nail on the head. I'd take Artest 99 out of 100 times in a boxing match though.
I agree with you verbatim. I just don't know why dribble penetration is so underappreciated by some. It's an absolute necessity in this league. This isn't college. You can't just pass the ball around and hope the "system" can get you past the best teams. These past few weeks have basically reaffirmed the nature of this team. They have good talent, a great group of guys, a great system, great coaching and great defense that will help them steamroll through the regular season and maybe get them past the first round. after that, they don't stand a chance without mcgrady. the more i watch these collapses, the harder i find it to believe that some people actually don't see how essential a great perimeter player is to elite success. it's like NBA101.
he killed us out there tonite trying to outduel kobe. it was literally painful to watch because he's so awkward offensively, you know that if he's trying that hard, the result will be a forced 3 or an awkward tumbling drive/spill to the basket.
If Artest isnt making shots, he has very little offensive impact? That applies to just about everyone...even McGrady. If McGrady is shooting poorly, then defenders will give him the outside shot. And when they do, that takes away his playmaking abilities. Whether you like it or not, a healthy Artest is better suited for this team than a healthy McGrady. He's shooting 42% from the 3 pt line this season. How many times in his career has McGrady eclipsed 40% from the 3 pt line? That would be zero. Not to mention his defense is far superior than McGrady's.
That mentality is a double-edged sword. Don't forget that during last year's winning streak, Artest almost single-handedly brought the Kings back from a 20 pt 4th quarter deficit. He kept backing down McGrady and powering his way to the basket.
umm.. mcgrady has shot a low fg% for the past fwe years now. and yet he still makes all-nba teams. so no, he's not useless when he doesn't make his shots. there's a reason he's called a playmaker. sure they can give him the outside shot if it's a 1-on-1 situation. but that's why there's called the pick and roll, post up... a healthy tmac is a top-flight playmaker. if tmac takes primarily wide open spot up 3s like artest has done for most of the year, he can shoot above 40%. hell, he shot 39% from 3s on ONE LEG this year. but coaches ask him to do more than that. today was one of those rare days artest tried to do too much. and we all know why coaches don't give a lot of offensive responsibilities to artest.
I wouldn't say that Artest has a bigger ego than McGrady. I say they are about the same. The main difference is McGrady had more natural talent to back it up. Besides that difference of opinion, I agree with the rest of your post. Sigh.
McGrady may stupidly take the outside shot, but it isn't because the defender gave it to him. It is because McGrady didn't choose to drive... which is another 20 or so annoying threads. Also, unless McGrady creates Artest's 3 point shots for him in the 4th quarter, there won't be any to shoot.
To put things in perspective here are McGrady's number vs. the Lakers over the last 3 seasons (6 games): 15 ppg 3.7 rpg 6.3 apg 34% shooting So let's not crucify Ron for having a bad game tonight against a good team when McGrady can be penciled in for a choke job vs. the same team.
Artest is one of the hardest working player on this team..... He plays hard on both ends of the floor. That means more to me than giving up.
