LOL 6.5 ppg 4.0 rpg 3.5 apg 25% field goals Compared to Ariza: 18.5 ppg 4.0 rpg 3.5 apg 42% field goals Artest isn't getting any younger either. Can you imagine how screwed we would be in three years or so if we had given Artest a 5 year mle deal? He would have been another Juwon Howard/Stromile Swift albatross. Ariza on the other hand is just starting to enter his prime. He's better than Artest now and will be MUCH better in 5 years. There's a reason that several other good teams also wanted Ariza. Even if you don't like him as a player, he's still an asset who can be swapped down the line for more value than we paid. Great "trade" Morey.
Artest isn´t supposed to put up big numbers in L.A., he´s there for the dirty work. Ariza on the other hand plays with a team that has no stars right now. If you would trade back Ariza wouldn´t play such a big role and Artest would put up big numbers again.
I think its only going to get worse. I dont want to say it because of his drive but Kobe looks a little slower and jumping a little les higher as well. It just looks that way though maybe in a loss by almost 20 to the Mavs and barely getting past the Clippers? One can hope.
No thanks. i dont wanna see artest ruining the offense he's pathetic shot selection.. going 4-18 and 1-6 from the 3pt line. plus ariza has'nt hit prime yet while ron is washedup.
It's only two games. Artest needs time to adjust to a different offense, especially one with Kobe, Lamar, Bynum, and Gasol (when he returns). His numbers will obviously go down this year because the Lakers are stacked, but his work ethic will be beneficial for the whole team.
If we can have threads after 1 day bashing Ariza, surely we can have threads praising Ariza after the 2nd.
Well, it looks like Artest has achieved Rafer status in terms of people creating a thread after every bad game he has.
Lets give it more than two games before we declare that Ron sucks. Say what you want, he was a big reason why we finally got out of the first round last year. Also, Ariza had a good game against a team that doesn't play defense.
Ron Artest struggling? (oh wow!) Hey LA, that's just part of the RON-RON Experience! Quit whining about it because you knew that would happen when you got him. By the way LA Lakers, what Dallas did to you guys last night is my NBA Texas warning shot to you LA Lakers and your Hollywood/So Cal fanbase. NBA TEXAS WANTS ITS NBA TITLE BACK IN TEXAS AND IF YOU THINK MY HOUSTON ROCKETS AND OUR I-10 AMIGOS, THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS ARE GOING TO BOW DOWN AND KISS YOUR NBA-rigged ROYAL FEET, THEN EXPECT TO LOSE MORE OFTEN AND TRUST ME, WHEN IT'S PLAYOFF TIME 2010, SHOULD YOU CROSS PATHS WITH NBA TEXAS, THEN EXPECT A HARD AND TOUGH SERIES AND THIS TIME AROUND, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR TITLE BECAUSE NBA TEXAS DOESN'T BACK DOWN FROM ANY CHALLENGE! P.S. You Lakers can have the RON-RON Experience because it will be an up and down ride!
Artest, outside of a few good games, has a horrid post season last year. We got out of the first round because of a favorable match up and the emergence of some of our younger players, if you did see that then you weren't watching last year. As far as Artest is concerned, cared when he was here, don't now that he's not.
Artest's overall numbers should go down. However, his overall shooting percentage should be increasing due to others drawing more attention and getting better looks for him. He doesn't have to create for himself anymore. Efficiency should be increasing as his usage drops, yet he is becoming more inefficient and jacking even more than he did with us. Yeah, I'm sure his numbers improve some as the season progresses, but I'll be shocked if he posts a higher trueshooting percentage than Ariza.
Pau Gasol has not been playing. If he can't produce while Pau Gasol is out, it may never happen this season.
I agree Ron was inconsistent on offense, but he gave the Rox some swagger that rubbed off on the entire team. AB destroyed the Laker defense, but Artest got inside of Kobe's head like Rodman did to Malone. That's something you can't really learn. Either way, I'm happy we have the younger Ariza, but keeping Artest would have been more than fine with me.
