Our good old friend Charley... Now I am heading over to Beijing for a week! Hopefully, I have enough time to get my Rockets fix! article link Should Artest be Rockets' main man? by Charley Rosen Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 15 books about hoops, the current ones being The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA and No Blood, No Foul. Updated: October 31, 2008, 3:55 AM EST Game time: Rockets 112, Mavs 102 This was an impressive road victory for the Rockets on many counts. Whenever they ran hand-offs, give-and-go procedures and circle-cuts, they usually kept the ball and the bodies moving with an admirable degree of synchronicity. They also used isolations in a judicious fashion: Carl Landry was 1-2. Ron Artest tallied five points in six one-on-one situations. Tracy McGrady produced nine points, two assists (and one turnover) in his 14 go-it-alone plays. And Yao Ming attacked defenders with jump hooks and turnaround jumpers in establishing nearly total dominance in the low post. Just about every offensive play opened up with some kind of high-post screen and evolved from there — executing different plays from the same initial look being an excellent strategy devised by Rick Adelman and his staff. Luis Scola was usually in the right place at the right time, and also played rough-tough defense on Dirk Nowitzki, especially in post-up sequences. However, whenever Nowitzki was able to turn and face, Scola was abused. T-Mac was clearly hampered by injuries to his left shoulder and left ankle, but compensated by making sharp passes to generate open looks for his teammates. Also, the Rockets got substantial contributions from the bench, particularly the speedy Aaron Brooks, who still has difficulty making mature decisions with the ball, but who can shoot and scoot with any of his peers. Yet the star of the game was Ron Artest. He powered and slicked his way to the hoop, hit standstill treys, and mid-range jumpers pulling left. Indeed, it was two late-game jumpers worth five points that ultimately put the game out of reach. And, of course, Ron-Ron busted his chops on defense — totally shutting down Nowitzki in the clutch. But no team is perfect, and with the season still in its infancy the Rockets have several issues that must be resolved if they hope to dethrone the Celtics. # Artest forced five shots, making only one. # Artest picked up a technical foul in the fourth quarter when, during a post-whistle-bump-and-shove set-to he raced toward the scrum and — in the name of protecting Yao — made aggressive contact with both Josh Howard and Jason Kidd. A no-no for Ron-Ron, and a danger sign for the Rockets. # Erick Dampier routinely out-muscled Yao at every turning. But for some reason, Dampier played only 22 minutes (accumulating only three fouls) — and Yao had his way with DeSagana Diop and Brandon Bass. # On the defensive end, the Rockets were hurt by any and all high screen/rolls that involved Yao. The big man failed to make an appearance in the vicinity of the screens, choosing instead to retreat to the familiar turf of the paint. As a result, the Mavs were always able to find an open shot. However, why Dallas used this tactic only in the first half remains a mystery. # If Yao can easily block shots that are brought into his face, he lacks the lateral quickness and the quick ups to challenge any other sudden in-the-lane attempts. The Rockets' transition defense left a lot to be desired. If Artest locked up Nowitzki with the game on the line, in the first half Josh Howard easily out-quicked him and scored at will. And that's precisely how to counter Artest's aggressive, chest-to-chest, intimidating defense, i.e., make him run, and look for perimeter shots in early offense. At times, Houston appeared to be more of a collection of talented individuals instead of being a team. Presumably, over the course of the long season, Adelman will be able to mold these disparate talents into a more cohesive and more consistent whole. If/when this happens, the Rockets could easily win the championship. However, aside from Ron-Ron's potential for disruptive behavior, the biggest problem for this particular cast of characters is to determine who the leading man should be. In Indiana, Artest and Jermaine O'Neal were perpetually battling to be the Pacers' go-to guy, and although Artest has recently confessed the sins of his youth and vowed to change his ways (for the nth time), the pecking order must be clearly established for the Rockets to truly blast off into the league's upper echelon. It says here that T-Mac is too fragile and too soft. That Yao is likewise injury-prone, and also must be passive and wait for the ball to come to him. And that because he can post-up, drive with power, and also shoot the lights out from downtown, it's Artest who has to be the Rockets' main man. Perhaps this responsibility might also make his latest, oft-repeated promises finally come true. Perhaps not.
negative, its only perfectly balanced with artest as the 3rd option yao is the engine, tracy is the gas, the rest are the other parts, dash, pedal etc....ron is the man on top of the car with a shotgun wishing a mofo would
This Rosen guy is a complete idiot. He claimed the 2nd best center in the WNBA, Ericka Dampier, outmuscled Yao? Sorry buddy, Yao abused Ericka Dampier, Diop, and the rest of the Dallas MavReferees like his step-children!
Except it was Chuck Hayes on Nowitzki. Ron and Chuck have the same body-type and I think Rosen got confused.
Whomever is hot should be the main guy.....Artest will be on the bench some day in the 4th with Tmac and Yao leading....and conversely Yao will be on the bench with Tmac and Artest leading. This team can go with who is hot...... DD
I dont think anyone should be the "main man" of a team, instead there should be a "main man" on everygame depends on the flow of the game.
"And that's precisely how to counter Artest's aggressive, chest-to-chest, intimidating defense, i.e., make him run, and look for perimeter shots in early offense." Right, because early perimeter shots is the key to winning ball games... Jacking up quick jumpers isn't a counter to intimidating defense, it's exactly what intimidating defenses want you to do.
Dampier is really underrated on this board. He's a very good, strong post defender, and he does a great job preventing Yao from getting good position. I'd love to have him as a backup C.
I don't know how he missed that unless he was simply trying to narrate his own script. Chuck Hayes' defense was the story last night, atleast from my perspective.
You want your backup center making 9, 10, and 13 mill the next 3 years? I got no problem with him being a backup big, he's just a grossly overpaid starting center.
I didn't see that at all, but maybe I'm mistaken. The Celtics didn't exactly establish the pecking order between Garnett and Pierce (until the playoffs anyway) and look where that got them.
