I'm thinking the two should not be on the court at the sametime until they learn how to play off one another. I also think it may be time to shake up the starting line up. Perhaps move Tmac back to his natural position as a sf and put Wafer in at the two. Someone mentioned trading for a Ray Allen type of player but I dont think thats necessary with Wafer playing so well off of Yao. It seems Shane's defense has declined possibly due to the foot and since he only trolls the perimeter, they might as well have Tracy do it rather than have both of them standing on the outside. I don't know, its just an idea and I'm probably just disregarding the fact that Yao didnt play and the other 2 just returned. I stated in another thread that they would disrupt the flow and last night it was ugly. Hopefully I was also right when I said eventually itll work out.
And I only hope Yao is ok and ready, because we need him so bad. In my opinion T-Mac and Ron CANNOT play together. I mean, you can't have them on the court at the same time. I really hope and I am prettu sure, Artest will once again come off the bench, which means when T-Mac is on the floor, Ron is out, when T-Mac sits, Ron plays. Why? Because you have two guys who need the ball, you have two guys who you wanna get the ball to. So when they both play at the same tim, you just don't know which way to choose. Give it to Tracy, or Artest? But when Ron is on the bench the game is easier. Because you have Yao inside and you give him the ball, and than you have the only guy (scorer) on the perimeter, so at least you know what to play. Obviously, we also have to blame injuries. We have played only 2 (ridiculous) games at full strength, so we really don't know how to mix those guys together. Rick needs time to make the adjustments, hopefully it will work out soon.
Rick needs to get Ron's ass on the block, that is where he is most effective... With Tracy and Yao, he is being strictly used as a 3-pt shooter....... We need him closer to the cup... But again, He was playing tough defense all night, and many of his missed shots were wide open shots that he can usually knock down......... If Tracy gets the benefit of the doubt like he always does around here, a guy that plays as hard as Ron on both ends should as well...
If that falls through, I will abandon this team for the Lakers. We will sink the mediocrity hell and the Lakers will have a 80% shot at winning the championship.
Bench both those guys until they learn how to play the offense. The way they're playing now they're not showcasing their trade value either.
Totals Shooting Per Game Season Age Tm Lg G MP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA ORB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS FG% 3P% FT% MP PTS TRB AST 2000-01 20 ORL NBA 4 112 19 48 7 18 3 4 5 18 7 0 3 3 13 48 .396 .389 .750 28.0 12.0 4.5 1.8 2001-02 21 ORL NBA 4 72 7 21 1 8 4 4 0 5 5 4 0 4 8 19 .333 .125 1.000 18.0 4.8 1.3 1.3 2003-04 23 MEM NBA 4 98 12 34 5 13 1 3 0 12 3 5 0 5 4 30 .353 .385 .333 24.5 7.5 3.0 0.8 2004-05 24 MEM NBA 4 110 18 37 8 17 4 4 0 10 11 0 3 5 7 48 .486 .471 1.000 27.5 12.0 2.5 2.8 2005-06 25 MEM NBA 4 107 12 30 1 8 9 9 1 15 7 2 2 8 11 34 .400 .125 1.000 26.8 8.5 3.8 1.8 Career NBA 20 499 68 170 22 64 21 24 6 60 33 11 8 25 43 179 .400 .344 .875 25.0 9.0 3.0 1.7 Why do you want this guy? Now if you want to talk richard jefferson or caron butler, yeah, but not this no-show 4 the big sho.
Artest just needs to focus on playing defense. That's his specialty. It's when he tries to be an offense juggernaut, his defense suffers as well. He should just get his shots in the flow of the offense instead of 1on1s.
That sums it up. If Tracy or ron doesnt shoot, theyre cowards, but if they do they shoot too much. I agree it has to be a balance and you really need shot takers in the playoffs. The game will slow down as the pace gets tighter. We know shane isnt going to shoot unless he is butt naked like head. We dont know what wafer will do in a big spot, but he doesnt seem like one that will shy away. Its all about shot recognition. I think ron is trying to save his ankle and is hesitant to drive. I would like to see him inside 18ft just like tracy. Theyre much better than standing at the line. of course there will alway be overreaction and the end of the world after the loss.
I say the mismatch didn't play to our favor last night. Ron wasn't quicker than Tim Thomas and couldn't shoot over him. His 3p was off last night too. Tmac couldn't driver and jumper was off. Rafer's 3p off. Scola should've made the layup. On and on. If we don't have Yao there, we will have problems like that.
I didn't like his and the team's performance in Detroit. The difference was, the jumpers were going in.
That would be a hell of a deal for us. We get a pg who ran this offense and knows what he is doing but the Hawks have enough wing players already. I wouldn't be so quick to trade anyone though. They say you trade to make the team better but what good will trading artest for another pg when everyone loves rafer now that he is hot. If we would have to trade Artest ( which i hope they don't ) then it needs to be for a Kyle Korver type of player who can knock down 3's at will. Maybe Mike Miller or whoever. Don't just trade Artest to trade him. Yao Artest and McGrady only played probably 5 games together. Guys need 2 relax. 28-18 is not a bad record. Season is far from over
80%? LOL! If this trade went down the lakers would need to get a good backup at the C/PF positions.. Also the lakers would still have medicority at the PG spot. Lamar is starting to get disrespected on these boards.. This is what Lamar brings: - He was the starting PF for a finals team and has been a second option to a playoff team the 2years prior.. - He plays off real well off other big’s and I'm sure he'd compliment Yao really well.. If he can compliment Gasol I'm sure he can compliment Yao with his versatility. -Really underrated defender(one of the best screen and roll defenders). -He’s also a very unselfish player. -Great rebounder Lamar Odom is a great talent and would have a lot to offer for the Rockets.. Famar is a better scorer than Alston right now, you can't even argue this.. Farmar can create, slash and shoot much better than Alston. The only reason he doesn't start is because Fisher doesn't play well with the run and gun second unit.. Farmar's contract is a big bargain btw, and he still has a lot of room to grow. This is a really fair trade imo.
