thought I'd share this. I found it interesting at how they almost hint at Ron being dirty, but then back off of it and dismiss it as just him "playing to win". If thats not kudos, I don't know what is. Get Em Ron. http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...1&format=&page=1&listingType=celt#articleFull Revisiting Ron Pierce’s most recent memory of Ron Artest still is fresh. When the Celtics played the Rockets in Manchester, N.H., during the preseason, the Rockets forward started the night with a shot to the back of Pierce’s shoulder. He later knocked Pierce to the ground with what essentially looked like a tackle while chasing the Celtics captain around a pick. Pierce is braced for more of the same tonight at the Toyota Center. “You have to expect it,” he said. “That’s the way he always plays. That’s the way he gets himself up for this.” As for Artest’s tackle, Pierce has little doubt it could happen again. “I kind of expected that at the time it happened,” he said. Artest’s rough stuff isn’t losing him any fans in the Celtics locker room. “Artest has never been accused of not wanting to win,” coach Doc Rivers said. “If anything, when he does something bad, it’s because of stepping over the line on the floor.”
another thing i found interesting while digging around today is that right now the Celts are 26th in the league in free throw percentage. Ouch. Lets hope that continues tonight.
Nice article and people need to distinguish the line between playing on the edge and playing dirty. Bowen, almost the whole Jazz team, Josh Howard, Karl Malone, Stockton... are dirty players. Artest just plays intense D and sometimes can go a little overboard but that's just because he plays to win. An occasional tackle, running over people, running at people, elbow or chest pounding never hurt anybody He used to do stupid stuff like pulling Pierce's pants but he's over that now. I hope tonight will be intense like the pre-season game and we come out firing like against Dallas. It's a special game, playing against the Champs which is supposed to get you fired up. Some extra motivation and we need to dominate defending champs again like the Bulls in the early 90s.
