He was supposed to the missing piece, giving Houston our big 3 along with Yao and TMac. I'm not impressed so far, he's shooting 34 percent and I'm surprised about his lack of speed and leaping ability to finish around the rim. He makes steals and he is physical but his average athletic ability doesn't make him the premier defender that I thought he was. The guy has only made one all-star team his entire career and I doubt he makes it this year either. I think we got a little carried away with this big three, compared to Bostons big three we come up way short. On a positive note, Artest has been a good teammate and solid citizen but I don't see him taking us to the WC final let alone the NBA finals. So far he looks like a one rental to me.
I thought he would be better offensively but he is shooting an Alstonesque shooting percentage. I also noticed he seems to take quite a few ill advised shots (off balance jumpers) and has some difficulty creating for himself in a one on one situation. I think Adelman really values him for his defense though because he is getting the most minutes out of any other player.
On Defense yes. Even when he is scored on the defender has to work. On Offense yes for me. I don't see why people thought Artest was some type of great offensive player. If Artest scores it is going to look ugly and he's not athletic so it is difficult for him. Posting him up more would help him a lot.
I dont think so,he missed too many easy layups,and his free throw I cant flatter.He have a long way to go before he become one of our leaders,for now ,he is overrated.
His shots may have not been good, but neither has any of the other players. (Except for Brooks) Barry can't shoot a 3 to save his life, and in practice before the season and his career in general, he would be a high percentage shooter. McGrady has his issues with his knees. (and possibly his head) Landry hasn't been making his jumpers. And the list goes on and on. We'll just have to wait until we find our rotation. This will take a while with Battier being injured and Yao who might miss more games.
Artest is a monster.... However he fits in quite horribly with our offense in that he really isn't quick enough to create his own shot and not as effective as an outside shooter as Battier. We're suffering from horrible spacing at the moment.. However his defense so far as been as good as advertised. Although hes not as good as a team defender as bATTIER, hes an execellent on the ball defender. He will look a lot better when Battier comes back to start. Artest ideally should be playing in the post on the 2nd unit with Brooks and Barry - thats where he will thrive.
he is taking ill-advised shots because there are really no definite plays for him. He is not that athletic or flexible that can be beneficial in a pick or roll ala Lebron, or Wade. That's why he will be great in posting up because he is big,size advantage against most guards or even PFs and crafty around the basket.
you can't judge anything yet but......in there will a time soon where everyone will be singing his praise soon! ..........well not all but most!
i know it's still early but i think we definitely over hyped him. to say that he was going to come in and bring exactly what we needed and give us a close run for a championship was a pretty early call. but hey, after seeing what the celtics did and having a injury prone season, doesnt hurt to be optimistic right?
Look at his career numbers. Don't judge him on 12 games. The guy is a beast defensively and a good (not great) offensive player. If you expected him to lead this team in scoring then shame on you for not doing your homework. If you look at each individual players stats through 12 games then you would see almost everyone on this team is having a horrible time offensively. Look at the big picture and calm down. Everyone is going to end up doing what they have always done throughout their careers. You might see individual's scoring go down but guys are going to shoot the same percentage they always have and pretty much do what they always do. That's a good thing for this team, overall.
it depends how you advertised it. the guy is a stud and has unique personality. bball-wise he's been a borderline allstar, with his defense a lot stronger than his offense.
how the hell is he the missing piece when the other two pieces havent shown up yet? we got one piece that is on and off the other piece over played but the closest height to him is 6'9'' so for some reason he HAS to play more so now you come up with more hate on the Rockets, gg fan
No, definitely not overrated. If anyone ever watched Artest's pre-Houston games, they'd know that he's not an elite athlete, especially vertically - in that respect he's similar to Shane. But Artest is more agile and MUCH stronger than Shane, allowing him to guard the likes of Melo, Pierce and LeBron. On defense, Artest is always one of the top 2 or 3 perimeter defenders. On his offensive struggle so far, as others pointed out previously, EVERYONE is shooting badly on our team. Seems that not enough was accomplished during training camp.
Good post. Seriously, how can anyone judge him as "a third option" when that hasn't been his role since he's been here. Although Yao & Mac have played, it's obvious neither has been 100% any game this season. Artest is not a saviour and as far as I know wasn't brought here to be one. He was brought to be the 3rd option which I think he still can be. Our starting center tonight was Chuck Hays (no disrespect here, but he's 6'6" with shoes on and he doesn't have an offensive game). Even Gene Hackman would tell him only to shoot the ball if he was all alone under the basket. If we would get off our butt and re-sign Deke instead of trying to prove we can do it without him, I think it could be the physical as well as emotional lift that team needs. If not, please put some size in the line up - come on at least Dorsey is 6'9". Yeah, Artest's shooting percentage and FT percentage sucked tonight and have - more than just tonight, but I was under the impression he wasn't brought here to be the #1 or # 2 option. As the last couple of seasons have proved - injuries are this teams biggest weakness and as revealed tonight will continue to be so.
Please check this out before posting your opinion. Ron Artest's On Court / Off Court stats (82games.com) He has +23.8 net points. We are worse without him. Today's Rox is different from last season because of TMac's decline. Without Yao, we can go nowhere. Without Ron and Shane, we can go lottery.
RELAX....there are so many things going on with injuries and new guys meshing that we really can't judge this team based on what we're seeing now. The finished product in April will be much different. Have some patience, all we need to do now is win some games, keep improving, and put ourselves in a position to do some major damage in the second half of the season.
Man 2 day i was thinkin i remember when we played sacramento we had like a hard time guarding him and he used to make crazy shots and was good percentage wise but i havent seen tht. Maybe after Battier comes back we'll see changes SOON
