absolutely agree. actually I think ron should be the leader of this team. as a team leader you need not only star bb stats and a right practice attitude, but also leadership on the floor, that is, fighting for your teammates whenever they run into trouble, on which a good team chemistry can be built, rather than laughing it up with the opponents.
Artest has been a big boost to the team this year. Sometimes he takes some questionable shots, but he takes them because he can make them(and often does). The officiating respect angle seems to have swung from the negative to the neutral on benefit of the doubt calls. Definately glad we have him on the squad.
Agreed. I was hoping for a bit more... but we may see (I hope we see) another level get cranked up in the playoffs. I'll put it this way... I think everyone is breathing easier knowing Artest is still around after the T-Mac shut-off switch was self-inflicted. There for a while I thought Ron-Ron was gone-gone.
He laughs at injured teammates like no other. You are correct that we have it, maybe we can see doc and get rid of it before it's too late.
I think it offers a good perspective over the entire year especially from back in the beginning. If folks want to whine about benching Artest after a poor game its nice to have that "other side" when he has a pretty solid one.
His defense is simply amazing. When he is attacking the basket like today he is truly one of the greatest two-way players to ever lace them up. You can see the respect level that Shane, Yao, Chuck and all the other guys have for him. We need him to sign an extension If we ever want to win with Yao. His hard work demands respect.
Here's something funny, I read it and didn't realize that it was written back in October, and the T-Mac part did confuse me a little bit, but the rest of it was completely true, and that can be seen in today's game as well. Artest IMO was a good acquisition, but just like every other player he does have some downfall. In his case it's his lack of staying true to the play, too many times have I seen Artest just do what he wants, and yes sometimes it does turn out to have a positive impact, but sometimes, especially when there's isn't much time left in the game it leads to bad possessions. But, at the end of the day he does bring that much needed respect.
No doubt. Ron has alot of RESPECT for the game. Bowen was using so much effort to guard Artest in the post and Artest was battling back where it was starting to get physical. After a whistle was called I can tell Ron loves that effort and challenge and Ron gave Bowen a little dap. Ron greeting fans whether they were Spurs or Rockets fans. Ron having fun with a Spurs fan when he was sitting in the chair out of bounds. You gotta love this guys heart and what he brings to the league.
He brings toughness, leadership, respect and most of all heart. He's the guy that has the balls to call out people when they need to get their act together and won't let the team quit/go soft. He's quickly become my favorite player. I hope he stays so I can proudly get a number 96 jersey for next season.
Artest and Lowry bring something that has been lacking for ages on this team: Perimeter players who are inclined to take it to the rack and aren't afraid of contact. We flamed out in crunch time during the last two playoff series because our perimeter players were jacking up outside shots instead of attacking the basket. Meanwhile, at the other end, Deron Williams was attacking the basket instead of settling for outside shots or kicking the ball out to shooters every time down the court. I'm not saying your perimeter players don't need to take and make big outside shots late in games but that shouldn't be the only option other than going to Yao down the stretch. If we make it out of the 1st round this year, Artest and Lowry may be the pieces that put us over the edge. I'm not saying we don't need Yao and Scola and others, just that Artest and Lowry attacking the basket late in games may be exactly what was missing the last couple of years. In Game 7 of the Jazz series two seasons ago, we had like a 5 point lead and the Jazz were in foul trouble with several minutes left in the 4th quater. None of our perimeter players took advantage of it. Hopefully, this time around, that won't be a problem.
