For the series so far, Von has a total of 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals in 90 minutes of play, shooting 43% from field. It's amazing he's still playing that many minutes. Our back court situation is beyond terrible now.
Artest makes worser decisions than Wafer. After he made that wide open 3 he settled for jumpers thinking hes Roy like. The animal will never learn. You can't teach a dog new tricks. Get Artest out, Brooks and Wafer. We need a star like PG. Maybe pick up Parker?
Give it up. There are too many people here who have formed an opinion of the guy. Stats and facts be damned. He's a horrible shooter (shot 50% tonight) and a terrible defender (he was all over Fernandez). Von needs to average All Star numbers in 15 minutes a game before some people here will admit that he is good at scoring the ball efficiently and consistently.
If Ron was not playing in this series...and Von had his spot, this series would already be over, probably 4-0 to the Rockets. We need his offense....and his D is not that bad.....how much D do you need to guard Batum? Let Battier run on Roy...we don't need Battier and Ron on the floor togehter that is too limited offensively and they don't have 2 wings that can score ...just one..really. DD
I agree...people expect wafer to be a triple double guy and point to a lack of steals and assists. If he is able to score at a high percentage within the flow of the offense without being a liabilty on defense then why the hell would you not play him more minutes??
Yea after watching so many games, i feel like the options should be Yao, Scola, VON, Brooks, Artest. Artest is last cuz he sucks!! I rather do a pick n roll with Brooks that letting Artest do his stupid dribbling shyt and forcing shots.
Not a chance. Wafer can be shut down once he's studied by Blazers. Just like AB. How can a 43% shooting completely one dimensional player be a deciding factor? Artest is have a bad series, but Wafer won't do any better if he gets those minutes.
Artest is simply doing what he does in the playoffs, this mirrors his career averages, he sucks in the playoffs......and as he gets older he will not get better. Wafer will get better, and his driving disrupts their D and opens it up for Yao. Wafer fits better than Ron.... Ron has to go.....the sooner the better. DD
Everybody was overrating AB so much when he was a bench player. Now people start to see AB's true color. Same thing goes to Von Wafer. He is useful as a scoring option coming off the bench, but not a starter yet.
<br> I honestly don't understand the point of Artest on this team. Von Wafer can give us soooo much more on offense. Battier is the one who plays the astounding defense on this team. Artest isn't nearly as great a defender as he is touted to be. Roy usually has a feast when Ron is guarding him compared to Battier. I really hope we don't resign Artest this off-season
<br> I don't know about this. Those ten games that Von started had the Rockets playing their BEST basketball of the entire season.
Von's getting, what, 8-10 shots off the bench? That's plenty. This team does not lack scorers, plus Von does have a tendency to make dumb decisions or try to overthink.
We will lose defense, but rebounding and assists can be picked up because overall the team is playing MORE as a team and less standing around watching MO-RON dribble the ball and take a bad shot. Ron is the problem.....he is not the solution. Yeah, those 77 points tonight were evidence of all those scorers we have.. DD
It's not shot percentage, it's shot selection and passing in the clutch, which Artest lacks. At all. I love Artest. I think he helps this team a lot, on defense, in mental toughness, even on offense. But in CLUTCH TIME, he is not a viable option, and cannot be trusted to be on the court. The ball movement and crisp offense often go the way of the dodo bird between Brooks' aimless (Francis-esque) dribbling and Artest standing with the ball refusing to do anything until precious seconds have tick tick ticked away, forcing him to either take a bad shot late in the shot clock, or give up the ball to someone else who is forced to take a bad shot late in the shot clock.
Wafer was shooting lights out in those games, 50%+, close to 50% 3 point shooting. And Rafer was the PG to get him the ball, not AB. I've said many times, Wafer is good when his shots are falling, but he does nothing else when his shots are not falling. In playoffs, chances are his shots will not fall like that if he starts. Defense on him will be tight.
Lol well in one of the losses Von's out of control play is one of the reason we lost the game so I don't think we would sweep them if Von was playing all of Ron's minutes. I mean Von has a lot of potential but to say that we probably would have swept Portland without Ron because of Von is insane. You make it seem like everything is Ron's fault. If Ron was not on this team this year we would not be as good as we were.
<br> I think you're overvaluing Ron Artest's contributions to this team. He's no T-Mac.. Artest gets those numbers solely because of the system. Wafer makes the right pass more often than not, except when he goes postal and tries to score no matter what, even though Artest does the same. Plus, he can rebound pretty well. Again, Artest's defense is amazingly overrated, and if it wasn't for the all around greatness of Shane Battier it would hurt us soo much more. Plus, the scoring that Wafer would add would be significantly more, and tons more efficient than Artest
The Rockets played their best basketball when Ron and Tracy were out and Von was starting. You are right, the Rockets would not be as good, they would be BETTER..because Von would have gotten more comfortable and settled in and down. Meanwhile back at the Crazy Farm, Ron still thinks he is an all star player....someone wake him up..he is dreaming again. DD
