Quote:
Originally Posted by Chronz
You described Rodman perfectly but Artest has an offensive game, hes practically MR Ball Stopper and gets out of hand with his erratic shot selection, its the main complaint the fans of every team hes played for has. Defensively is the one aspect that players are pretty consistent with, they dont have to change much.
Ask yourself these 2 questions.
How did Rodmans game change in Chicago? Did Harper have to change his game when he got to Chicago?
Artest will not have the same freedom he had in his best seasons, nor will he be the main perimeter creator like he has been for every team hes been on.
But fine if you dont think people overstate it, you gotta admit hes going to have to confine his offensive game. In no way has he not been a major ball handler in every system hes been in. Either he or Kobe is going to have to change, possibly both.
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First of all let's get this out the way from the get go. I didn't mean to say that Artest and Rodman have a similar game. It's very obvious that Artest can create way more havoc on oppossing defenses than Rodman who mainly got his points off of dunks or second shot opportunities. However Artest does have a similar mentality with Rodman when he is on the floor which is to never give up on plays and hustle his heart out whenever the ball is up for grabs.
As for the Chicago question let me answer. It's a certainty that Harper had to change his game majorly whereas Rodman didn't really change anything from his Pistons and Spurs days to his Bulls days. But that doesn't mean that Artest is either the offensive thread Harper was in his pre-bulls days or the incompetent offensive dude Rodman was. He's somewhere in the middle and that's why I said he won't have to change his game very much, because he never was the go to guy on any team he has been.
As for him controlling the ball and creating for the teams he was in I can remember his Indiana days when he wasn't the main ball handler or shot creator. It was JO and Miller that did the scoring there and Tinsley who controlled the ball. That don't mean Artest was a nobody but he certainly wasn't THE man either (not until his 03-04 season at least).
Either way, he certainly will have less shot opportunities with Kobe and Gasol on his team, I'm not debating that. I just never saw him as a hands down scorer either but rather a good and reliable 3rd string guy on offense for his teams (except when he was in Sacto where he was arguably their second best scorer so he did score plenty).
Quote:
Originally Posted by тояоито яаρтσяѕ
imagine this 5 on the floor together
PG - Kobe
SG - Ron
SF - Odom
PF - Gasol
C - Bynum
oh my gooddness
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PG - Payton
SG - Bryant
SF - George
PF - Malone
C - Shaq
6th Man - Derek Fisher
Dream line up right? Had it not been for a Kobe improbable three they would've been swept in the Finals.
Point is, no matter how good a team is on paper, the game is played on the court and teams stacked with stars don't always ammount to a chip.