Ron Artest Rox
Yao and Artest are cool, and Ron Ron’s ready to roll.
The war of words between Yao Ming and Ron Artest is probably not the start that Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey was looking for. Anytime you bring in a 20-point scoring defensive beast like Artest, that can get you five boards, three assists and two steals a game you hope that your team embraces him. So goes the life of a polarizing figure like Ron Ron.
While you have to love his game and what he could bring to the table, should he keep his head straight, he is still Queenbridge-bred and he’ll never let you forget. For a team of clean-cut good guys, the tough and rugged style of Artest is needed, regardless of what Yao says. Yeah, the Rockets already have a defensive perimeter guy in Shane Battier, and Yao can get you a few blocks a game, but both are the kind of guys to help someone from the other team up from the floor and neither of them will literally hit you in the chin with a one-hitter-quiter should you blow by them for a wide open layup. Ron Artest will not only do it, but he’ll go back and make a hip hop diss track about how he knocked you out. My kind of dude.
The question is will the Tru Warrior make the Rockets a “tru” contender out West or will they just make for the best Mutoni SLAM Wire postings all season long?
You have to figure that the Rockets will be able to keep Artest focused on basketball and out of the headlines, well at least out of the stands. Ronnie all but handpicked Rick Adelman to be his next Anger Management Coach, so he has to like his surroundings, pending teammates like Yao not publically bashing QB’s finest in the papers. Artest is like a delicate flower, meaning you have to tend to him everyday. Yao is right, chemistry is important, but criticizing your new teammate doesn’t do much as far as ice-breaking exercises go. If T-Mac and Yao want to get out of the First Round, it would be wise for them to learn to stroke Artest’s ego, see Tony Romo and T.O. (That’s my teammate man!)
While this deal won’t be finalized until mid-August, it is safe to say that with Artest the Rockets are Top 4 out West on paper. With Skip-to-My-Lou at the point, T-Mac at the two and Ron Ron at the three (my guess is Shane will move to the six man spot), with Scola and Yao tending to things in the paint, you have to think this team matches up with the Lakers, Hornets, and Spurs, leaving an up and coming Blazers team to battle with the Jazz, Suns, Mavs, Clippers, Warriors and Kings for the middle of the pack of the West. Title contenders? I’m not so ready to say that because you still have yet to see this team on the court together, and unlike the Celtics last year, you don’t really see how all of the pieces might fit together.
Will Artest still be able to post up weaker small forwards if Yao has the lane clogged up? Will Ronnie play the point forward? Will Battier or Austin go to the bench and how will that mesh with the chemistry of a team that won 22 straight last year? Oh, and the big question, how long will it take before the inevitable happens and Artest and his teammates stop seeing eye-to-eye, or has that already happened? It’s too many questions and only more will develop by October.
All joking aside, Morey and Adelman are not afraid to show that they are willing to take a big risk to win now, and they clearly see how much this team needs to distance itself from the perception that they are soft. If you look at the trade at face value it may make a lot of sense, but when you start to look at the details it could lean in Sacramento’s favor should Artest not pan out.
Sending Bobby Jackson back to Sac town is not a major blow, due to the developing Aaron Brooks and Artest/ T-Mac’s ability to play with the ball in their hands to take the ball handling responsibilities off of Skip at times. With that said, if the deal does in fact include Donte Greene and next year’s first round pick than this deal could have residual effects on the team’s future.
While Greene figures to be a project, he could be in the same mold as Rashard Lewis, so the Kings may have a future gem. As far as the future first rounder, it figures to be a late round pick so who knows what you well get there, but after all of the trades that Morey made to get Greene, it opens himself up for criticize if Greene flourishes and Artest returns to Malice in the Palace mode.
In short, don’t jump on the bandwagon too soon, Ryne. These are still the Rockets. The injury-prone, can’t make it out of the first round Rockets, but boy oh boy they do look good on paper. If nothing else, the NBA just got their newest soap opera or sitcom. “As the Rockets Launch.” No? “Houston we have a BIG Problem.” Nope? How about “General Hospital: Will Ron Ron send anyone to the ER?”
37 Responses to “Ron Artest Rox”
Jul.31 at 2:22 pm
Jukai says:
Wow, could you have picked a worst picture?
Jul.31 at 2:22 pm
Jukai says:
I mean, wow.
Jul.31 at 2:24 pm
Khalid Salaam says:
Slow news day huh? Geez. Ron Artest Sux
Jul.31 at 2:31 pm
Jukai says:
It looks like Ron is asking for a double team in that first picture. ONE IS NOT ENOUGH!
Jul.31 at 2:32 pm
Jukai says:
That second ‘defender’ might have to hurry though, looks like the Rocket player is close to finishing
Jul.31 at 2:36 pm
Ken says:
Best picture ever.
Jul.31 at 2:53 pm
emp84 says:
you can think of him what you want, but he is still one of the best defenders out there!!! all-star, dpoy….and he is real, like you, like me…not driven by pr agents telling him what to say…haters
Jul.31 at 2:57 pm
TADOne says:
Ever hear of the term “beating a dead horse”?
Jul.31 at 3:17 pm
tenorca says:
Jukai (#5): Clap clap clap. I would’ve been incapable of making that joke and getting it past the auto-moderator.
That said, I look forward to the Rockets’ annual First Round exit. It’s still happening.
Jul.31 at 3:19 pm
John E. Sanford says:
Dude we get it already, you think the 1st picture is awkward. Good post E. Sneed.
Jul.31 at 3:19 pm
John E. Sanford says:
Dude we get it already, you think the 1st picture is awkward. Good post E. Sneed.
Jul.31 at 3:22 pm
Teddy-the-Bear says:
The Rockets will be fine. Make no mistake, Ron Artest is a GOOD addition.
Jul.31 at 3:50 pm
Jukai says:
John E Sanford, we know that after that picture, Artest is going to demand for the ball(s) in his hands.
Jul.31 at 3:55 pm
kracka says:
Hey anbody notice that the first picture looks like the chuck hayes and ron artest are awkwardly posistioned so that it looks like there gay for another?
Jul.31 at 4:29 pm
Jukai says:
No, but now that you mention it, it does!
Jul.31 at 4:49 pm
Y. Wong says:
I hope Rockets management take a hard look at the trade. We have 14 day to decide. Artest said he is ghetto and would charge the fan again. Yao is right. Artest is a proven hoodlum. Artest made a cultural insensitive remark at Chinese when he called Yao remark as propanda.
Jul.31 at 4:55 pm
ciolkstar says:
I think its even more gay to think of that and post a comment about it.
Jul.31 at 5:11 pm
d.Y. says:
I think now I’m glad Nike pulled those ads.
Jul.31 at 5:32 pm
Is It The Shoes!!!!!!!!! says:
BRING THAT SH!T TO QUEENSBRIDGE MOTHER FU(KER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
Jul.31 at 6:06 pm
Tariq says:
Artest wouldn’t make the Rockets instant contenders even IF he were guaranteed to play to his potential. There are too many questions. The Rockets don’t have that proven Kobe/Bron- type player. T-Mac is great, but he’s a shade below that. IF they get out of the first round, then we can start talking about “contending”. They strike me as more of a Utah kind of team; a strong squad that can beat anyone but can’t really go all the way. Yet.
Jul.31 at 6:07 pm
Jukai says:
You’re sort of underestimating T-Mac, Tariq.
Jul.31 at 6:15 pm
Tariq says:
Jukai: I said he was great, but a shade below Kobe and LeBron. If anything, I was expecting people to say I was overestimating him. Are you saying he’s reached that Kobe/Bron level? Because if you are, I don’t think you can find anyone to agree with you, except MAYBE Rocket fans.
Jul.31 at 6:40 pm
AB_40 says:
I really like the trade especialy from a rockets perspective. But if Greene blossoms and rudy gay becomes an all star type player or something close to it will rockets fans be sad in a few years if the team can’t win now?
Jul.31 at 6:42 pm
RV says:
tmac isn’t at that level, but i dont thinkit matters since Kg, ray allen, paul pierce, tim duncanc, manu, and TP aren’t at that level either.
Jul.31 at 6:45 pm
RV says:
AB_i think it all depends on how the rockets keep drafting and dealing, when they lost out on rashard lewis and Rjefferson fans were upset,not so much because they lost out but because nothing good came from it, bryce drew,eddie griffin, mirsad turcan, michael dickerson…in this case the players they’re getting are well worth it
Jul.31 at 6:55 pm
albie1kenobi says:
Tmac has the tools to be just as dominating as those two, but for some reason he just never got there. i suppose his body’s holding him back? dude used to lead the league in scoring in orlando. when i play as rockets in nba 2k8, most of the time, mac leads the team in scoring and assists. but even in the game he was fragile. dude got injured and would be out a month when i played the game last night.
for ron artest, he’s best if he can be paired with a dominant alpha dog to keep him in line (see: jordan with rodman), but there’s no such person on the rockets. there’s a good chance that this could get ugly. or worse, irrelevant.
Jul.31 at 10:45 pm
Dacre says:
Ron Artest could get back to being an Allstar this year.
Jul.31 at 11:43 pm
DP says:
T-mac looks like he wants to take a nap rather than playing basketball most of the time.
Aug.1 at 1:04 am
D.Brown says:
^^^^^^^^^ wow DP, what an observation. insightful stuff nice post sneed, Ron Ron is one of my favourite players to watch, on and off the court. Interested to see how this all pans out for the raw dog
Aug.1 at 3:24 am
Tariq says:
So the addition of Ron Artest takes a team that has NEVER, as currently constructed, gotten past the FIRST ROUND, and turns them into title contenders?! Wow. People may say that Pau Gasol did the same thing for the Lakers last season, but you know what: LA have Kobe friggin Bryant. I like this trade for Houston, and they can be a dangerous team, but PLEASE stop sniffing the glue and come back to us here in reality. I can make this pencil disappear.
Aug.1 at 4:39 am
Hursty says:
I can pencil in that they’ll be in the 2nd round though Tariq.
Aug.1 at 4:42 am
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
Okay, Tariq, here’s what you expected: T-Mac is several shades below Kobe and LeBron - in fact, they really shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence. And it isn’t T-Mac’s body that’s holding him back, it’s his head. He wilts when the lights shine the brightest. Simple as that. By the by, I’m sorry but those suggestions for the soap opera’s name were really lame.
Aug.1 at 6:10 am
Tony B says:
I THINK RON IS GONNA KICK RAFER’S ASS…r
Aug.1 at 8:40 am
TADOne says:
Yes, write that in pencil and not pen. Very smart.
Aug.1 at 8:41 am
TADOne says:
And Tariq: TMac WAS on that level about 5 years ago, except for that whole Grant Hill not working out and 1st round thing.
Aug.1 at 12:16 pm
RV says:
Tariq, the thing is this ISNT the same team. I’m not sure how its not obvious they would have beat Utah with a healthy Yao this year…the team that lost last year didn’t have scola or landry, both who played major roles this year and improved the rockets’ weakest position. What were the 2 major knocks on Houston last season? Health, scoring and the 4 spot. They got the 4 spot covered this past season and got some extra offense (which would have been enough with Yao, but not enough without him), but they didn’t have health. This year now they have even more scoring. The only thing left is the health.
Aug.5 at 12:14 pm
ETB’s Scribes of the NBA Interview Series - Ryne “Odenized” Nelson of SLAMonline - EmptyTheBench.com says:
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