Why does everyone believe Ron Artest has good defense (now)?

Disagree

Lakers have a lot more pieces to move the ball around where we didnt. They have a lot more options to score where we didnt.

 

Sorry but meaningless accolades aren't sufficient in proving anything except how terribly flawed the voting system is.

Not sure where I said it was.

Not sure what this even means.

Talk about circular reasoning.

 

Derek Jeter has won multiple Gold Gloves, and he's one of the worst defensive players in all of baseball.

Using a media-voted "all defense" to substantiate your claim is absurd, and has been proven to be so time after time. Ron Artest's typical "position" is about three steps behind a driving defender after flailing at an attempt for a steal.

 

It was almost Pavlovian how Kobe would barely fake in one particular direction and Artest would habitually lunge in anticipation as the former walked to the basket uncontested. Painful to watch.

 

just cause brandon roy owned him in the playoffs, he's not a good defender anymore?? does anyone watch rocket games throughout the season?
the same people saying this are probably the sames in love with trevor ariza cause he hit a couple open 3's and stole 2 poorly thrown in inbound passes.

Look at KG, he might not be a great defender anymore, but the defensive intensity he brings makes the difference, same with ron, except he didnt just miss most of the year.

 

Gold Glove award is a perfect example of media-bias influencing awards given to players absolutely unworthy of them. Jeter is a terrible shortstop, but won the award anyway. Slick fielders in smaller markets or with weak bats are typically blown off in favor of players like a Jeter. It's a total joke.

 

Ron Artest is a great defender.


Keep trying to cope with losing him Houston fans...

 

Keep watching game tapes from three years ago...

 

That lasted about half a millisecond.... I'll be glad to help Artest pack. Good bye ARTEST.... don't let the door hit you on your way out!

 

He's a good defender, but not a stopper. His asset is getting a lot of steals from poking at the ball and from loose ball, but he ain't someone who is good at face-to face. Granted, he wasn't really healthy during the middle of the season.

 

morey didn't even make signing him first option so there's no need to cope with anything

 

Agreed with the original post. There is no way Artest resemblance of his past defensively but his outside shooting did get better. I would not have gave Artest the number of years we gave Ariza but Lakers got him for 3 years at minimum which does make one believe the rockets just did not want him. I just can not wait to see Kobe doing Artest the way he did Pau Gasol in game 3 I believe where he grabs his head and scruffs his head.

 

This is basically it.
while some say he is living on reputation . .
and then turn around saying he is not that good

He is still good. Above average
but
It is the same Rep I think people are holding him too.
He is not as good as his rep . .. but he still better than most of the league

let's just say . . . . as bad as he was this past year [which I didn't think it was that bad]

let's say Battier was the better defender.
Who was the next best defender on the team? Third?
Hell . .. where do you rank his Defense on this team last year?

Rocket River

 

I like the move by Morey as well, because Yao is out for a while, But I am not a fan of knocking a player that poured his heart and soul into this team and helped us get out of the first round, played hard with a bum ankle, got in Kobes face, gave us some playoff nuts that we never had against the Jazz, among other things.

We lost a very good player...

Good luck Ronald, but you better hope we don't see you come playoffs

 

He's clearly still in the top 2 or 3 best perimeter defenders in the NBA. You guys are clowns.

 

Battier and Chuck Hayes hands down were the best two defenders we had. Nobody else came close. These two guys not only are great on the ball defenders. They are extremely disciplined. They are rarely out of position on team defense.

I'd say Yao was the third best. It used to be Deke. But Deke has lost a step or three at one-on-one defense although he was still damn good at blocking shots and rebounding. Artest was fourth.

edit: saw cabbage's post, forgot about Lowry.

 

Battier, Chuck Hayes, Yao, and Kyle Lowry were all better.

 

I'm sorry that you didn't get a chance to watch any games last year. It's ok, perhaps your schedule will allow for more free time this season.

 

Facts: Artest is slow; Has pretty quick hands; Is very phyiscal; Is very strong.

Although Artest at this stage of his career isn't quick enough to stay in front of people on the wing and reaches a lot, his reputation as a physical defender helps him a lot because refs allow him to do things out on the perimeter that other players just aren't allowed. And that feeds into his reputation as a great defender.

At the moment, I don't think he is a great defender because he is just getting too old to keep up with the younger players. But since refs allow him to get away with things, his physicality helps him a lot.

 

In fairness, I will add that against the bigger wings such as Lebron and Lamar Odom, he was tremendous. But these types are few and far between. He was obliterated by the O.J. Mayo types which are basically the norm now.

He's just too slow now and what makes matters worse is that his game is predicated on taking risks. He gambles way too much leaving his teammates in bad position and breaking down the entire defense. If I were his trainer, I would be making it my top priority to get him down to his playing weight from his Indiana days (235-240). He is just too big right now for his playing style in that he doesn't even use the added bulk to his advantage offensively.