Just wanted to point this out -- good job swyyguy apologizing for your mistake and King1 for accepting and keeping the thread moving forward on topic.
I especially like when he showed up late to shootaround against portland and just skipped the practice before game 6 against the lakers because he was "sick". The guy was a cancer. Nobody respected him. Yes, he played hard but he also did whatever the hell he wanted.
People shouldn't be surprised that there are still fans that support Artest despite what's come out since he's been gone. Shoot there are still fans who support players that loses their passion and has a big mouth. Even Alston who was not liked by the majority of the board due to his shooting had supporters. Bonzi during the JVG year is also a good example. Everyone's standards are different and there's a little something for everyone.
Lakers' Ron Artest says he's shooting well The numbers tell a different story, though, and Coach Phil Jackson has noticed. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers-fyi1-2009nov01,0,2959438.story
King1, knote32, et al: I just re-read the thread and i misunderstood some comments. Disregard my other post (and the unintentional re-post).
Artest's offense is deteriorating, but that's not why the Lakers got him. They need him to defend the bigger stronger SFs like Carmelo, Lebron, and Pierce in the playoffs. Artest is the strongest SF in the league. Ariza isn't strong enough to handle them. They were able to eke by them last year. Artest works for the Lakers, because they got Kobe, Gasol, Odom and Bynum. Artest didn't work for us, because we needed a 2nd option to play with Yao. This year, it would he would be the 2nd scoring option behind Brooks. He stops the ball and breaks the play. He likes to ill-advised airballs, sometimes. That's fine. The Lakers have enough offensive options, his shot attemps will be severely limited over there. Lakers may lose some more regular season games, but they will do just fine with Artest in the playoffs. Ariza will be better offensively for the next 5 years, and will still not be able to handle stronger SFs. We needed a 2nd shooter behind Brooks that plays within the offense.
Artest's sole redeeming qualities are his ability to still frustrate larger wing players defensively and his comic relief. The job him and Battier did on Lebron last year was flat out AMAZING. That alone might constitue justifying him on your team, however his offensive decision making practically coupled with his inability to guard quicker shooting guards practically cancels out his positives. I was excited, caught up in the euphoria if you will, when he was here and cheered for him, but in retrospect he wasn't a very good player for us.
Ron Artest will be fine in LA. Ron struggles offensively when he is forced to carry the load, but LA has plenty of guys to go to offensively, so all he has to do is take care of the basketball, and stay within the offense... and he's certainly capable of doing that. Like BetterThanEver said, the entire reason Artest is a Laker right now is to defend guys like Melo and LeBron.
I dont see him doing a very good job at all guarding those guys this year. Artest has declined too much to stay in front of either of them. His first test is right around the corner on the 13th.
Artest's main contribution will be roughing some of those guys up so that Kobe can look better defending them. I think we all saw in the playoffs, against Kobe and Roy, he can't really contain them but he can work them over enough throw off their game. He is pretty much guaranteed to defend the larger forwards like Orlando's Lewis and Dallas' Dirk very well, but I agree with FR0497, he doesn't have the speed to keep up with the younger superstar guards/forwards unless they are trying to take it to the basket in front of him.
ron did shut down joe johnson tonight. joe got going in the first quarter b/c he used screens/fast breaks to get jump shots. joe johnson can't elevate a lick to create his own shot. artest made him his boy toy from the 2nd quarter on.
Not to mention that just when Joe Johnson got hot, the coach decided to sit him down. Even the Lakers commentators were talking about how dumb it was to sit JJ at that point.
"He had 33?" Artest said. "Oh that's great. I didn't know he could score 30." http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-091101
BTE, I agree with what you are saying about why Artest was brought in and what his job is.... But Artest is a different breed and he feels and thinks that he's just as good as Kobe and that's not a good thing for the Lakers. Artest has a way of killing your offensive flow and that's where the problems will start with the Lakers. As you stated the Lakers due have enough fire power, but it will be interesting to see what happens if and when they try to shut Artest out of the offense.... Phil had to bench Artest in the 4th quarter of the Dallas game because of that problem... So get your popcorn ready it should be interesting year for the Lakers!!!!!
Rep earned T ! This is EXACTLY the point, Artest is a chemistry destroyer, and it is why I never wanted him in Houston, because our two leaders were so passive that putting Ron into that situation would cause chaos....and wasn't the clubhouse in chaos last year? I am happy as hades the Lakers got him. DD
Hmmmm....I thought we were happy with Ron last summer (08) BECAUSE our two leaders were so passive and we needed his attitude. Like you, I didn't want him here, but I really enjoyed what he brought to the court during the season. And still like you, happy he's not here (and tickled to death he's with the Lakers)
