Honestly. It is funny to hear all these guys talking about how The good locker room folx will 'keep Artest in line' I laugh I just don't see T-Mac, Battier, Yao, etc keeping him 'in line' Nothing against them but they not vocal their personalities don't have alot of commonality with Artest IMO The person on the team that I think Artest will relate to the most Is Steve Francis. They are competitive and aggressive I dunno Brent Barry as much of a talker type guy Rocket River Honestly. . I think SF will be the bridge between Artest and the rest of the TEAM
It will be Rafer. He already knows Artest well and is the quarterback of this team. If Francis steps up and tries to lead the team it's just going to look like he's got an ego problem.
Just what Artest needs: more guys he can "relate to". Maybe we can bring back Bonzi Wells and trade for Rasheed Wallace also. But seriously, I agree that it if anybody is to keep him in line, it will be first coach Adelman, and second Rafer Alston. Edit: yep, Mutombo also. That might be reason enough to bring him back, actually. Mutombo is well known as a fantastic locker-room guy, and we'll need that more than ever next season.
How about Mutombo? Seriously, who can walk into that locker room and not check yourself after all his accomplishments. Not to mention Mutombo is probably the same age as Artest's father. ...And if worse comes to worst he can drop bows on 'em if he really gets out of line.
i think both Yao and Tmac are escatic to have Artest on the team as they can now get past the first round. battier is such a good guy that there shouldn't be a problem. hopefully raefer will feel the mood of the majority and not cause any trouble.
I hope everybody gets along and acts professional. I'm somewhat worried about the offcourt combination of Artest + Francis + Rafer. I don't want to hear, "BREAKING NEWS: Rockets guard Rafer Alston, Steve Francis and forward Ron Artest were both tazered and arrested outside a Houston nightclub last night" during a playoff series.
Good! I can see him and Steve getting along well as well Actually If Steve will be on the Second Team Steve, Artest, Landry/Dorsey, etc on the secont team would be all world Rocket River
the endless infatuation with Steve Francis never ceases to amaze me. he isn't as good as he used to be and he never was as good as people thought he was.
I agree with that. Just yesterday, Artest implied these guys weren't true to their black culture because they weren't ghetto like him. I can see Artest hiding behind this cultural divide excuse, saying Yao and Mcgrady and Battier (and Mutombo) don't understand him culturally. Francis and Alston could bridge that gap. But, whichever. I'll wait until we have a problem (which shouldn't be too long).
Its funny because you don't hear much about what his role is going to be this year.....All you hear about is trading for another pg and or developing brooks to run the back up role.
I hope it doesn't happen. But if it does, there is a 90% chance the incident will be parking-related. The only thing Steve Francis needs to do is to get healthy and get back into game shape. If that happens, things will sort themselves out and there will be minutes for him either on this team or on another team.
Um, what? When the hell did he say that? If you're talking about his quotes in his initial response to Yao Ming's comments, you are twisting his words like a tornado.
its pretty clear that Mutombo and Francis are the most vocal guys on the team. Just because Francis is being more vocal, doesn't mean hes trying to be the main leader or take over anything. I think we need a couple guys that can light the fire under our players. Even if those guys are the ones that don't play much.
Steve Francis is a great person, but he's death to chemistry on the court. Honestly, people always saying that Francis has heart and competitiveness. Does Rafer not? Check turnover avg and jump shot.
