Every guy who posted or wrote against obtaining Artest has been waiting for him to go Ron-Ron, get ejected and go crazy. They've had to wait a long time for this and now they get to vent about how inappropriate his behavior was, how that sort of thing is never warranted and how it hurt the team. And of couse they say: "Now watch Ron go really psycho like I knew he would". I still say that Artest did a good job of plubicizing the incident and I think it works in our favor.
I don't like how it went down, but I can't complain about the results. The cheap crap was escalating, and if nothing happened yesterday game 3 would've been worse. The Lakers were getting arrogant in what they could get away with.
Was just about to say something similar. I think it's an asset that the Rockets can give different "looks" to Kobe. While I love Shane's stoic, battle-robot-like response to Kobe, at the same time, Kobe's despicable behavior has only escalated. I'd be fine with the Rockets swallowing that "cost", so to speak, if they got something in return -- e.g. Kobe losing his composure and/or his performance suffering. But that clearly wasn't the case in game 2. So I think it's great that we have a Ron that can respond in kind. It wasn't an ideal outcome in the short-term. And his response (though measured and restrained by Artest standards, at least historically) was probably not optimal given the immediate heated context of the game. But in the big picture, I think these were the right tradeoffs. And in this case, Artest's instincts probably led him to do the right thing for the team. For the cost of his ejection and the game (which was most likely a sunk cost anyway), Ron may have simultaneously preempted even worse and more dangerous behavior from Kobe (and the rest of the Lakers) in the future, as well as focusing and gathering the team's emotions and motivation. The key is that, going forward, the Rockets takes Will's observations and advice to heart.
You're right, Will. As much as I wanted him to knock Kobe out, I was really wishing that Ron Ron would keep his cool. The latter is far better for the team, even though it can serve to fire the rest of them up. When we lost Ron last night, the youngsters lost their composure and we lost the game. Go Rockets.
While you are correct Will in that Kobe played Artest, this may come back to bite Kobe in the butt. We were most likely going to lose that game anyway. We were down ten with 6.5 minutes left on the road - a difficult climb considering we weren't not playing all that stellar. What Artest has done is to bring the basketball world to analyze Kobe as a dirty player who may even get suspended. One thing is for sure, refs won't be afraid to call a flagrant on Kobe now, and will be paying attention. Sauce for the goose.
i can't believe how many "men" here would be so willing to compromise their integrity and self-respect for the sake of a win.. shrouding this obvious character-deficient mental inclination by deriding the former as mere "macho foolishness".. just reeks of dishonorable, spineless, pusillanimity.. that will stand up for absolutely nothing and no one.. including themselves..
QFT. Will, I see your point and agree on a lot of things, but I'm with Dave_78 on this one. Had Ron told the ref about it and let it go nothing would happen. Nothing still may happen, but at least its got people taking notice. Shane is a class act and I love that, but the knee and elbow he took to the head should have gotten a reaction from the league. Even if nothing was done from the hits on Shane, it would be that much harder to ignore this latest one. As it is, no one but us Rox fans even know it took place. Perception is reality. In the Navy, if someone does something wrong that isn't major that person gets talked to about it and it goes on file. It usually ends there, but when they keep having issues there is a paper trail. This way that person doesn't continue getting away with toeing or stepping slightly over the line. Also while the guys should be smart, they are human. Ron's reaction wasn't a wild one. We were getting killed by Crawford and Co. One minute it's playoff basketball, the other Yao is riding the pine because of ticky tack or phantom fouls. You can't have it both ways. Can you imagine the outrage if the prick kobe was in foul trouble? Stern's head would explode. This game reminded me a lot of that Kings/lakers game from a few year's back. I'm almost at the point where I want to stop watching the NBA. I love the Rox though. For the rest of the series though, we just have to stick to the gameplan and be cool. Its gotten attention, now let the cards fall where they may. It is telling that LA felt they needed to get in our heads to beat us. Who's the weaker team really?
i assume this would be the advice you'd self-administer yourself.. upon finding yourself on the receiving end of an equally intentionally harmful elbow to your throat.....
I don't agree with the thread premise on Artest's actions--the rest, more or less yes. Sorry of others posted similar, too hard to catch up. We were down 10 and already not getting the calls. That game isn't entirely over, but it is a long shot. But Ron made the league take a look at Kobe's actions they otherwise wouldn't. They said it was a Flagrant 1--basically admitting the refs blew it and Kobe was culpable. It didn't quite get Kobe suspended (nearly did, and w/o what Artest did it is probably never noticed), but it will defintely put him under the microscope for games 3 until whenever. I get it, and I don't think it was as "out of control" as the thread implied, Ron was very much in control and made his point. Lose the battle to win the war. We will see who was the "strong man", we will see who got the edge from that interaction, at the end of the series, not the end of game 2.
this is all nice and good, but what's the point of being a battier when you can't do anything on the court. when you can't score, you can't stop an opposing player, you can't channel those taunts and tests in a manner that steps up your play or your teammates play. one word: useless.
You know how on forums they say "DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!" Well in this case, the Lakers are the trolls. Battier knows better than to feed the trolls. Unfortunately Artest is mentally unstable and fed the trolls till they were full. We still could've won that game if he wasn't ejected. Hope it was worth it Ron. Thing is, the Rockets send video to the league, so the flagrant foul still could've been recognized. Charging Kobe after getting elbowed was totally unnecessary. It was Artest being the "LOOK AT ME!" character that he is.
The reason the Celts beat La last year wasn't because they had more talented, it was because they tgurned the game into a street fight. The physicality of perkins, garnet, and posey really took the lakers role players out the game. After every play posey,garnett or perkins were sending messages. Even when the basket plus the fou posey was knocking the ball lose and getting in guys grill. Lets be honest, you're not going to punk Kobe or fisher, but the rest of those guys are flaky at best. You knock those guys on their ass and foul them hard and now u have 1 vs 12, but the rockets have too many nice guys. That's why the don't get the calls they deserve or the respect. I guarantee if the Laker beat the rockets and play denver, denver will punk their role players.
No, the Celtics were bigger up front and had vastly superior point guard play. They also had home court advantage. It's not complicated. Toughness isn't the Rockets issue, not with Ron Artest, Luis Scola and Shane Battier playing 40 minutes a game. They just can't get Yao enough shots and have young point guards.
Say what you want. If Ron doesnt blow up, nobody would be talking about Kobe and the Laker's dirty play. I guarantee Doug Collins wouldnt have even mentioned it. The TNT guys wouldnt have said anything. Because of Ron's reaction everyone saw it. And Kobe wont be allowed to throw dirty elbows anymore. (Wishful thinking maybe) Now we can push all that dirty crap to the side and kick their ass when they come to out house.
