If Artest doesn't return, who will be the team's enforcer?

the magic have one? spurs had one? that theory is overrated.

just get good players and execute.

the magic are one of the most finesse teams in the L jacking up shots and are a win away from the finals.

 

Sign Rasheed Wallace.

 

Bad question. Even worse responses.

When I have time, I'm going to sum up Ron Artest's season...ups and downs...and ask the question as a whole and hopefully without bias.

On other news, I don't believe the Rockets would have beaten Portland minus Ron Artest. Or adding another REALISTIC player that the Rockets could acquire being around the same price. I'm sure there are a couple, though.

 

Simple question. Get Charles OaKley out of retirement. He's still in good shape.

 

What exactly did Ron enforce this season?

 

Ron's problems are well known but if he leaves we will lose a lot of toughness.

 

I think people make too much out of the "toughness" Artest brought the team. I appreciate his energy and enthusiasm, his defensive intensity (for the most part), and his willingness to make plays on offense (mixed results, certainly, but still important). The Rockets weren't lacking in toughness. They needed better basketball players, and that's what the Artest acquisition brought.

 

<img src="http://www.nba.com/media/rockets/clutchbig.jpg"/>

^^^ this guy

 

i can't remember Duncan, parker manu, bowen, etc. ever enforcing anything. If you let your playing do all the enforcing then you have no need to talk to push anyone around.

 

also, let's not mix this up with standing up for yourself or your team....what ron did walking up to kobe was his way of standing up for himself, but it really wasn't anything we needed and ron created that scenario, but it's seen as being an "enforcer", but enforcing is more like taking a guy out on the next play, not just backing up your guys. Now if someone drops Yao on his ass, i'm sure several rockets would run over and protect him, they've done it before, in fact tmac has. All we need is players who aren't going to leave a man down or let him get run over and our guys wouldn't do that. We don't need someone to "send messages" later on.

 

Aaron Brooks is on record saying that Ron has brought toughness to the team.

Scola,Landry,Hayes and Battier and Yao are all hard working and play with discipline but Ron made them tougher,despite his flaws. Toughness doesn't come around with banging and physical play. Ron has the will if not the ability to put the team on his back for good or bad,no one else apart from Yao and to a certain extent Scola can do that.

McGrady on the other hand is more talented than Ron but has rarely shown the will to carry the team. That shows toughness to me.

PS: I'm not implying that Ron is an enforcer like the OP.

 

i agree, i actually loved how he didnt care about a deficit, and just said we're gonna come back, we're gonna win, we can still beat them etc. Unfortunately i think he had too much of that quality and that led to him being passive too much and then trying to jack up everything when he realized he had to do something, we need someone that has that "we can shock the world" attitude, but not him.

 

Magic don't have a ring. Spurs had Bowen. Dude was an enforcer during their championship years. Pistons had Ben Wallace. Lakers had Shaq, who would steamroll opposing players. Only guy brave enough to throw down with Shaq was Barkley.

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I think we need healthy players more than we need enforcers.

 

so scola is not an enforcer? he gets into the heads of the opponents. rafer wasn't an enforcer? he didn't back down from anybody.

again, if you have good players and you execute your game plan better than the other team, you win. it's simple as that.

the lakers are one of the softest team i've ever seen in terms of physicality and letting the other teams just outphysical them, but yet they're still winning b/c they're more talented and simply better. thus proving the point that if you're better, you win.

 

Getting in another player's head doesn't make one an enforcer. That's just good trash talk. Jordan wasn't an enforcer, but he got in the opponent's head. An enforcer is somebody that will physically take out the other player.

 

and when has ron physically take out another player this year?

if that's the case, deke was an enforcer b/c he knocked lebron out for an entire game, along with his own teammate tracy.

get better players, we'll win. simple as that. the lakers are a perfect example. they're one of the softest teams i have ever witnessed the past 10 years. and yet they will win a championship.

 

That's right Deke was our enforcer, but he played limited minutes. He would take out opposing players that would screw with Yao, but he could only do it with Yao sitting.

Artest has started the biggest brawl in history. He's still trading on that threat that any minute, you might beat down Indiana style. The refs call flagrant fouls and technicals on him, before he beats down the other player. he still knocks people to the ground, but with less force. He uses his body and his hips, instead of elbows like Deke or kicks/knees like Bowen.

 

Ron artest enforcing for Yao.

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