Artest is in my dog house right now. He shot us out of this game. As a team we shot 34.8% from the field according to the box score while the Jass shot 44.7%. We actually out rebounded them and our turnovers were relatively low. As a team they had 12 blocked shots against us. That is a recipe for a loss against a team the caliber of the Jazz. Give them their props tonight they out played us and we made way to many mental mistakes.
Brooks dribbbles a little too much but he's got the handle for it and he is going somewhere with it, buzzing around the court. Still, he would be better served to pass more and dribble less. However, part of his problem is psychological. He looks around and sees 4 other lunks out there that can't dribble worth crap and when he throws it to Artest, Artest puts his head down and starts Dribbblemania II. Artest should not be shooting off the dribble unless he is going straight to the rim. And if it takes him more than one dribble to make a move to the rim, then it turns into a dance contest for him out there and the whole offense and the idea of ball movement and cutting goes down the tubes. So, I don't mind Brooks dribble as much. But the team as a whole falls into this one pass dribble dribbble dribble, then shoot, or throw it to someone else with the clock running down and they try to silly dribble or fire up a bad shot. We are wasting Yao in the post. There are so many opportunities to throw the ball into him it is unreal. And Yao is a ball movement facilitator above all. He is probably our best defense reader, and the guy on the floor with the best court vision. The ball should be yoyoing into the post to him multiple times, back out, then around and back in, back out, and around, looking for cutters. We should be getting a minimum of 7 passes out of our half court sets. Instead we usually get about 3 or 4. TOO MUCH DRIBBLING! WAY TOO MUCH DRIBBLING!
the yoyoing doesnt do anything, it just kills the shot clock. its only good if Yao can score that shot, or it will be like 3 on the shot clock and we force a shot or drive.
When you throw the ball to Yao in the post and he pitches it right back out and resets, that takes a total of 1 second for 2 passes.
Well there's a difference. Tracy McGrady was the guy, much like Kobe/Lebron/Wade (not as good though) who could dribble around and make a play for himself and others. Ron Artest cannot and every time he 'tries', it frustrates the hell out of me.
Thing is, a playmaker like those you listed, make basically one move, MAYBE two. Artest makes a myriad of moves to try and get a bad shot, not even a good one. His skill alone allows him to make some of the tough shots, and his strength earns him the closer buckets or fouls.
yeah, totally agree on this one every time artest has the ball, i get scared, and i scream pass the ball. he just dribbles and dribbles than he either drive and force up a shot that gets no call or he shoots a 3.... sometimes he reminds me of stacy mclazy except artest dribbles instead of holding the ball..... god i am tired...
I had a bad feeling about this game from the start, because of how we executed our offense. I was sort of hoping our threes or any sort of clutchness would get us the win.
He has flashes of 'greatness' but they come so rarely, I feel as though he needs to be simply a role player if TMac returns. I don't care much for his little 'wanna be the hero' personality takes over. Because when this initiates, he starts jackin' up shots instead of making plays like Tracy did. He IS usually a good shooter, so I think he should take more of a Battier role (Posting up every now and then, playing good D, hustling, spotting up), except with more FGA. This is all if TMac can come back and be close to what he once was. Then again, I doubt Ron could accept a role like that. He can say what he want about just wanting to win, but when it came to coming off the bench, he clearly wasn't happy. Bah, it's complicated.
I don't think any guy of our team still has the appetite for dribbling since tmac is done and rafer is gone.
i agree. we're not shifting their defense enough. don't they do that "everyone has to touch the ball before shooting" drill once in a while?
I don't mind Brooks dribbling too much since he actually has the handle and capability to do so. A lot of times Brooks will create something out of nothing merely by using his dynamite speed to drive, run the baseline and dish to whoever. I wouldn't necessary call that a problem. Artest, on the other hand, is an entire different story. Artest's problem might be that he tries too hard. I know that sounds weird to say but I think it's a valid point. He tries so unbelievably hard to take over games sometimes that he often ends up dragging the team down with him if his shots aren't falling. Especially whenever he's challenged by a good defender or big star, he becomes hell-bent on trying to ISO, go 1-on-1 and show up whoever is guarding him. It's sort of a weird problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.
I do too. He looks like he's too big and clumsy to play basketball. There's nothing graceful about the way he plays. He's the anti-Drexler style.
i'd rather believe that they're not selfish but a little simple-minded instead. adelman tells them to attack the rim all the time. i guess he doesn't tell them more importantly we need to control the tempo and make adjustments. going at 100mph isn't going to getting you an automatic victory.
artest needs to realize he is not a player who is good at create good shots off the dribble on the perimeter. he needs to realize when he bulls his way to the basket, it's only effective when the refs are calling fouls for the contact (like the 2ot win over the jazz in houston this year). he also needs to know that he's a lot better in catch-and-shoot. and all this are the reasons why he's never a max player. so better don't act like one. if he can't figure it out, adelman needs to tell him.
since steve's gone in 2004, we've never got a good PG, we've been sucking in this for years! Rafer? he's good, but not enough for a champ team, but hell, we just want a PG who can led us to 2nd. what kind of need is that?
did the celtics cry for a PG last season? Rondo had seldom got any game time before the celtics traded half of their team for Allen and KG. Rondo is not as good a PG as brooks IMHO, but his luck was good beyond what he could imagine. Great players can make his teammates look better and lead his team to the summit as a result, at some point the franchise player of a team can determine the quality of his team. unfortunately the rockets don't have such a player that can make his teammates better.
artest isn't selfish he's just competitive to a fault. he's taking it upon himself to try and score but he's not good enough to offensively take over a game like he's trying to.