all the Artest 'haters' now are because he joined the Lakers. I know you fools were the first people clicking on Carmichael Dave's show as soon as he mentions Ron would be on. Hey think about it. This was better than Stromile Swift or any other disappointing free agent we signed. thanks Ron!
If you want to play the what if game, does Yao Ming suffer his injury if the Rockets don't advance to the second round, and do the Rockets advance to the second round without Crazy Pills?
Artest never fit with our offense anyway. He chucked the ball too much, dominated it, and couldn't play make. His defense is on the decline. He's too big to now defend guards. Did Artest help us get to the second round? Sure...but ya know what, A LOT of guys helped us get to the 2nd round, and played a bigger role than Artest. Yao is the key to this team, not Artest. Ariza will fill in probably better for us than Artest from a offensive and maybe even defensive, and definitely from a chemistry standpoint. He may not shoot the 3-ball as well, but that's the only thing we don't get as much from.
Couple of questions: 1) Who was more essential to us beating Portland, Artest or Battier? 2) If you think Artest was more essential, is safe to say you think we would have beaten Portland without Battier? 3) If you think Battier was more essential, just how much more essential was he? Do you think we would have lost to Portland with Artest and no Battier?
DD, how can you say a playoff run that ignited our city, that got us out of the first round for once in a long time, and taking the eventual champions to seven games nothing?! Whether Artest numbers were spectacular or not, he was a part of that team and was a part of that run. I would trade Donte Green and that other first rounder for a one year rental that helped give me that feeling of being a part of a city and fan base full of comradery any day of the week! Just thinking about that playoff run, and the adversity we had to deal with gives me chills...
artest was good for the city of houston! he helped shaped a image of grit, heart, and passion. i know we had a tough team before he got here, but i think his in your face type of play has really rubbed off on the younger players. it also gave us fans something to cheer about, how great was it when he dove into the stands and was swarmed by fans whom were cheering him on! we gave up greene and a first rounder, so what, we bought 3 first round picks. we got a good core of players, and i know that if yao didnt go down, we would had won the lakers series.
There's a good chance that the Rockets don't make the playoffs next season. If that pick isn't protected, the trade for Crazy Pills could end up going from a no risk trade to a disastrous trade.
I thought that second first rounder was our first round pick from this year's draft, which ended up being Omri Casspi. I could be completely wrong, but I'm pretty sure we're done owing the Kings picks for that Artest deal
As bitter as I am about him ditching us, then blaming us for something that was the Lakers' fault, he contributed to our team getting past the first round. Without him, I am not sure we would've beaten Portland He did have some hot 3-point shooting streaks. A better "What if?" question would be if Houston had beaten Dallas, and New Orleans and Denver beating their foes, would we have had more postseason success as the #2 seed?
He was absolutely worth it. Minutes from a birth in the Western Conference finals. Never would have happened without Artest.
A low first rounder isn't as valuable as you would think. In the past couple of years we were able to buy high second rounders, and they turned out to be quite successful. The talent gap between a high second rounder and low first rounder is non existent, and in this past draft we bought 3 of them. Bottom line is, we were very fortunate that Greene lit it up in one summer league game. DD, you are too infatuated by a young player's potential. Teams let go of players all the time. Toronto lost Tmac for nothing. Steve Nash went Phoenix for nothing. That's how free agency works. We let Artest go, but a younger more athletic player in Ariza was signed in his place. Do you think LA cares that they didn't get anything for Ariza? Yeah, we drafted Brooks as a late first rounder, but we also bought Landry's rights. Donte Greene and Casppi might turn into good players, but so could Budinger and Taylor. Seriously DD, if you were Leslie Alexander, Morey would either get fired or quit.
I don't regret the trade for artest, its just like after tracy went down, plan B shouldve been to dump Artest. No matter how people want to bring up taking La to 7 games, the rockets weren't winning the title. Just like the year before when Yao went down and rafer was out the last week of the season, that shouldve been the start of the brooks era. Then coming into the 08 season, rafer shouldve been gone at the start and brooks shouldve been the starter. Plan B has been slow,but maybe that will change.
You confidently declared the Rockets weren't winning the title before Tracy went down, remember? In fact, I believe you said they had no chance of beating the Lakers before the season even started. Here's a question. If you were advising the Lakers, would you have recommended them signing Artest instead of Ariza? Who do you think got the better end of that swap?
Artest and Ariza was basically a trade, whether you guys like it or not. Who's out there in free agency for us to get with the midlevel? Von Wafer? The Rockets don't have unlimited cap space. Trading Artest and signing someone with midlevel would add like 5 more million.
