The Swift Signing made this offseason "great"!! Anything else is gravy!!

No way, please don't tell me this because now I am going to go nuts dreaming of Ron Artest coached by JVG!!! He would be a DEFENSIVE MONSTER

Plus if any coach can control Artest its JVG.

Man I did not want to think of this because now I will be so dissappointed if it does not happen.

YAO
SWIFT
ARTEST
T-MAC
JAMES

Man that squad would crush the opposition!!!!

 

Is this a poem or quiz??

And may i ask WHO is ROCKET!!!??

 

The difference is that we don't need him to be anything more than he is capable of, a weakside defender who can rebound and someone who can go to the glass for easy put backs, and occasionally hit the elbow jumper.

Swift would have been better if Gasol was not in his way...

DD

 

He's been known to be an (at least self purported) insider. If he's gotten any right, I'm not sure. I do recall that he has speculated several times way too soon (premature speculation?) in the past and provided skinny on deals that didn't occur. ROCKET!!! plays on our weakness - homer, win-chasing, scoop-loving-naive fans --- at least it is fun!

(I don't want to believe it) If this is true and idrockfan nailed it --- then I have to go NOW and pick out my season tickets. With Ron-Ron, there would be a few sleepless nights in San Antonio, even.

WOW!!! (thought I'm not a sucker, and at the risk of ridicule, I don't mind dreaming of adding Ron at the 3).

 

our test = Artest

..better not be screwing with us dude.

 

Howard + Sura for Artest would confirm Doc's 2 for 1 insider tip he was talking about

 

It's all good for the Rockets, but why would Pacers do this deal?

 

Howard and Sura for Artest would be a terrible deal for the Pacers. They could get much more than that from other teams.

 

To think the Swift signing is "great" and anything else is gravy, well some of you guys really have your head in the clouds, which is your right. But can I add a dose of realism?

1 Swift is an injury prone underacheiver who's toughness and dedication are questionable. If he ends up being a big upgrade to JH, great. Realistically, this may not be the case. Having them both means we have great depth at the PF position and probably the best front line in the NBA. If playing for JVG and with T-Mac brings out more in him than he's ever shown, we'll all celebrate. The fact he is still playing for his huge fatcat contract in 3 years should help also, though being an UFA during last season didn't seem to motivate him.

2 We have big issues in the backcourt. Sura is an injury waiting to happen. Wesley will be 35 in November and it's doubtful he will have as much gas in the tank as last year. Both of these guys are true professionals who I'm proud to have on our team, but depending on them for 30+ mpg is crazy. Can anyone seriously believe Wesley can give us 35 mpg like last year? Forget it. Jon Barry is great off the bench every 2-3 games, but he isn't an 82 game contributor any more. (Oh, and did I mention he's already 36?) Luther Head is a wild card. The chance he will make a meaningful contribution to the team is minimal. Anything is possible with him but assuming the best isn't logical because he's a rookie tweener. At this point, Mike James can do everything Head can, and better. MJ is a great backup PG we are lucky to have. Maybe with a training camp he can play more in our offensive flow. We'll see because he'd better if Sura likely goes down again.

3 I'm willing to assume we re-sign Deke, which gives us the best 1-2 punch at center in the NBA (yes, I'm including Shaq and Zo). Not much else to say.

4 T-Mac is T-Mac. I expect he will be better than last year in most every way. Last year he grew into a leader on a GOOD team, which was new for him. I predict his greatness next season will be one of the leading NBA stories. Maybe he'll pull a Steve Nash.

5 Yao's health and tenacity are as big a swing factors as anything else. If he stops the mini-disappearing act during midseason, plays smarter defense with fewer silly fouls and becomes more unstoppable on offense on a nightly basis, watch out. Again, I would caution against assuming the best but many of you can't help it. I guess that's what some fans do.

6 JVG impressed me by adjusting his offensive schemes when he realized his weren't working. On defense, I'm sure we won't be seeing Yao switch off to guard Josh Howard any more. One reason JVG seems to win over players is he works harder than they do and he earns their respect for it. When it comes to game prep (especially on defense), who is better?

Conclusions: If we stand pat, our regular season record may end up being better than last year, but 60 wins is a stretch goal. Even at 60 wins, this team isn't geared to go deep in the playoffs because of our age at SG & PG. All of our top 4 rotation players are over 30 and we will be bitten by the same problem in the playoffs we had last season. With PF depth, we may get out of the 1st round but we aren't a championship contender without either a real PG who can make other players better or a starting SG who can light it up from outside. I'm sorry, but Wesley(35) & Barry(36) don't cut it for me. IF Sura were healthy, he would suffice at PG because of rebounding and intagibles he brings.

We are too close to being a championship team to stand pat. I don't want us to do anything foolish, but we need to take a bold risk if something can put us over the top. Saying "anything else is gravy" is way off base IMO.

 

if this was a code . . . it was waaaay too easy. my girlfriend could figure it out, and she doesn't even know who's on the rockets. If it happens . . . great . . if it doesn't, it seems to be a fairly lame shot at getting some attention.

hopefully i get burned and my skepticism made to look foolish.

Toby

 

I know JVG is a great motivator, but he's not a miracle worker. He doesn't have a PhD is psychiatry as far as I know. Why would we jeopardize the future of the franchise by giving up 2 productive players for a deranged man? Ron Artest belongs in a mental institution. He's never put together a full season without taking away from the goals of the team (distractions, incidents, technicals, flagrants).
I know he's a very talented player, but he's a risk I would not be willing to take.

 

OMG, i am the one in this group...
I know the Artest gravy is a pipedream, but hey, just have fun baby!!

 

by the way . . . it also seems like bad hijack of a really good thread.

 

I don't care if Artest is crazy or not. We'd be crazy not taking Artest for Howard and Sura.

 

lmao. hahah. riddles, riddles. I'm blowing it off, but deep down i'm hoping that artest for howard deal is true. I know it really couldn't be though. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO THINK!!!!@!@!

 

Guys, Artest for JH and Sura?

I don't remember reading about Larry Bird's lobotomy. Link please.

 

I've wanted Artest for a while now. After last years incidents I thought the pacers would want to unload him and there probaly wouldnt be to big of a market for Artest.

But Howard and Sura for Artest? I mean its impossible for Indy to get equal value for the guy but I'm sure there are many teams that would give up more than this...

Not going to happen

I hope I am wrong though

 

And I guess that this means we won't be getting Nick "the quick"(or is it slow now?) Van Exel also.





JVG talked about making a bold move that would have the possibility of not working out well. You can't get much bolder than trading for Artest.

 

I don't know who this ROCKET!!! fellow is, but I'll say this.

JVG would absolutely trade for Artest, so that's not an issue. After the camera throwing incident a few years back, he commented on air at the ASG that he "would take 12 Ron Artest's on his team any day." This is a coach who traded for a guy who choked his last coach - and brought him off the bench.

They won't trade him to an Eastern team. No young rebuilding team would risk taking him on. That leaves only contenders in the West looking to get over the top. The Spurs are set. Phoenix has nothing to trade. Dealing Marion for Artest is a lateral move. That leaves Houston and Dallas.

The question is whether or not Indiana feels its imperative to trade Artest, perhaps in a salary dump of Croshere. Highly unlikely, but I don't think its impossible.

And I would make that deal without thinking twice.

 

maybe memphisx knows something about stromile that we dont. there has to be a reason why lorenzon freaking wright is starting ahead of swift. (swift can play a lil of the center position also so i dont want to completely blame pau gasol.)