Nice read. Thanks It makes sense that we'd gain defense against certain team with Ariza, but lose some against other teams without Artest. Artest is definitely less agile than he used to be, but he's still a better than average defender. Personally, I look forward to Ariza's athleticism more than I will miss Artest's presence.
Funny how everytime Artest checked Roy and Kobe, both players blew by him at times like he wasn't even there. Artest is a good defender against big strong offensive players like Carmelo Anthony and Lebron, but he's lost half a step or so against the quicker players from what I saw.
They like to keep telling themselves alot of positive things. It just doesnt make it so though. LOL! Lakers traded Championship proven for potential horrendous fit. Nobody talks about Rons past because he played with the classiest guys in the league and that had an eefect on him. Battier and Yao had an effect equally on Ron as he did the team for him to be able to perform that way without being a ball hog and causing emotional induced loses. Lets see if he is capable of that in LA. Ariza was a guranteed Champion player there and proven they just swapped that away and replaced him with someeone not kept him and added Artest so this isnt necessarily so great as they think.
I liked Artest, and even though the writer is focusing on the overall team numbers when Artest was on/off the floor, it's a little hard to swallow he was the most effective Rocket against the Lakers. I mean, we were 0-4 against LA in the regular season and the way he finished the playoffs against the Lakers was very memorable in a bad way. 10 games overall: 14.9 points (16 shots per), 36.5% FG, 24.2% three (6.6 threes per). Final 4 playoff games: 9.5 points (15.3 shots per), 27.9% FG, 15.4% three (6.5 threes per).
I liked Artest as well, but only with a healthy Yao and T-Mac. When he played within the offense and was posting up, he was pretty effective. He's not the lockdown defender that he once was, but he brought a toughness to a team that so desperately needed it. Still think the Ariza aquisition was the correct move.
the writer fails to take into account that A) we didn't sign him for a reason and B) Kobe himself admits to Shane Battier being the best perimeter defender.
I don't know about this article. I'm with the rest you guys. I watched every minutes of both Rockets' playoff series this past year and Ron got absolutely torched by Roy while Shane did as best as a human can do. The same thing goes for both guys guarding Kobe. Offensively, Ron was despicable and I suspect if he had guarded Roy and Kobe for the bulk of their minutes each guy would have averaged Lebron-like stats. The only player I saw Ron give fits was Lamar Odom and that isn't really very special considering Odom disappears for entire halves of games when a physical defender bumps him once or twice. If anything I'll bet the Blazers are happy to see the Lakers let Ariza walk only to bring in Ron and his madness. Nobody told the Lakers "if it ain't broke don't fix it"
Which is why its an absolute upgrade for LA. Artest on Pierce, Lebron, or Carter? Great matchups for Artest. Kobe will have a field day. Unless the Spurs get past LA.
Pointless numbers since Artest never consistently guarded players like Kobe or Roy. And IMO, the Blazers actually match up better against the Lakers with Artest on the floor. Because the Lakers are forced to use either Kobe or Artest to guard Roy. If Kobe guards Roy, then he won't have the energy to perform on offense. If Artest guards Roy... well, Roy will be breaking a few playoff scoring records.
I don't need numbers to know that Artest did: a) choked as soon as Yao Ming got hurt during the last 4 games of the series b) Got continuosly blown out by faster players, including but not limited to Roy, Kobe, Wade and anyone that could shoot a jump shot and drive c) Whenever a star player needed guarding I prayed Shane was on him instead of Ron (except surprisingly Lebron) d) I would absolutely get frustrated by his multiple 3 for 14 or similar stat lines while watching him be ineffective e) How easily he was stopped when he drove to the basked, even Jason Kidd (Yeah, the 36 year old guard) guarded him well. Extremely predictable going to the basket. That's why he shot so many terrible off-balance jumpers because he knew he couldn't create on his own. He was pretty decent as a set 3point threat but not on the move at all. Basically, Ron would be a great 3rd banana to Yao/T-Mac had they been healthy. He will be a great 3rd banana to Kobe/Gasol. But please, don't say he made us actually better defensively than without. If that's what the numbers say then I guess they truly do die sometimes.
How can anyone in their right mind claim Artest has more of a positive impact on his team than Battier? Thank god our GM isn't stupid enough to believe in all that on/off plus/minus bs.
I also share the sentiment that I liked Artest when he was here but i'm happy that we've moved on. Statistical analysis absolutely cannot account for intangibles, basketball IQ, chemistry and other variables that are unable to be quantified. None of those are strongpoints of good ol' Ron-Ron. Sure, he'll add a little toughness and edge for an otherwise mentally soft bunch but I think plenty are underestimating how badly he could potentially disprupt LA's offensive flow with all his tunnel-vision and submarine captain antics. He'll need to learn some retraint and discipline if he's going to survive in LA. I have a hunch Phil Jackson isn't going to bank his offensive gameplan around the one out of three games that Artest has a hot shooting night. Sadly, even though Artest's defense is slipping he'll probably be at his best if/when he plays exactly like he said he's going to play against us: defense first.
This is why I hate the sports media. Since Ron has gone to the Fakers, they act like he's a great player, yet when he was in a Rockets uniform, he was horrible and such a bad boy. I'm so sick of it. The media gets their favorite and then likes to shove any info. they have so everyone else will like them to. Sorry to rant, it's just something I've noticed with nba.com and espn.
