Ron Artest to Houston. No NBA summer is complete without the Rockets picking up yet another forward who is supposed to put them into title contention.
In the summer of 2005, the Houston Rockets picked up Stromile Swift from the Memphis Grizzlies, and, due to the immense amount of methamphetamine I must have been shooting into my eyeballs at the time, I thought that they finally had the athletic forward who can take the pressure off Yao Ming on the block and push them to the NBA Finals.
Of course, that year Yao and Tracy McGrady combined to miss 3,000 games total, and the Rockets missed the playoffs altogether.
The next year, they brought in another forward, Shane Battier, for the lump Swift and future perennial-All-Star-on-a-bad-team Rudy Gay. It seemed like a lot to give up for a role player/character guy, but they seemed to adapt pretty well before yet another disappointing first-round playoff knockout for Yao and T-Mac.
Then last year, they brought in yet another forward, Luis Scola, strengthened the guard position, and looked like title contenders again before Yao ended his season for a Chinese government-mandated "Your Parents Will Mysteriously Disappear If You Miss The Olympics"-vacation.
That brings us to this year and Ron “Punchy” Artest.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Ron Artest. I think he should be on the USA Olympic team, and not just because he would have the most potential since Mike Tyson to cause an international incident.
Artest is renowned for his perimeter defense, but his powerful body also makes him sneakily good at posting up on offense. That’s great. He also likes to dribble the nubs off the basketball. And, despite his post skills, he loves chucking up jump shots.
Unfortunately, Tracy McGrady already has that skill set covered for the Rockets, and that’s not even mentioning Steve Francis. Plus, unlike Battier and Scola, Artest's desire to hold and caress the ball means even fewer touches for Yao, the focal point through which all their plays should run.
On the defensive end, Shane Battier is the rare breed of player who is classy enough to come off the bench behind Artest when Battier would normally start for most teams in this league, which incredibly gives the Rockets an elite, veteran perimeter defender on both the first and second teams.
However, according to John Hollinger's "spies"—probably the same guy who sent military secrets to China—the Rockets are planning to keep Battier at the three and play Artest at the four.
What the funk? Are they seriously expecting Ron Artest to be guarding guys like Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Chris Bosh? (No, Yao, put your hand down.) And where does that leave last year's breakouts, Luis Scola and Carl Landry, in the competition for minutes?
Then again, Rick Adelman earns his paycheck on getting players to move the ball around on offense, and Artest is supposedly an underrated playmaker (mysteriously skills always appear when sportswriters need to justify trade—e.g. Artest’s hidden play-making skills or Kwame Brown’s hidden basketball-playing skills). If they work as well together here as they did in Sacramento (Artest dished one APG above his career average during his tenure with Adelman—one whole assist!!), then could be contenders after all.
Regardless, Artest's salary has always been a bargain, with his level of talent countered by his level of craz. With only one year left on contract, he's well worth the risk. Plus, Yao is definitely missing time after rushing back early from a foot injury to play in the Olympics, and T-Mac is definitely missing time because he just likes doing that kind of stuff.
Let's face it, nobody plans their defense around Rafer Alston. When that happens, the Rockets will be thankful that other teams will still have to worry about Punchy Artest.
7 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Erick Blasco 11 months ago
I've seen Ron Artest hold is own against Duncan in the past. If he can shove Eddy Curry out of prime post position, I'm pretty sure he can get in Garnett's and Bosh's grill and force them into being jump shooters. His lack of length is a small concern, but he'll compensate with strength and foot speed. Dennis Rodman wasn't a 7-footer, and Artest is a very similar defender to Rodman.
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Ryan O'Connor 11 months ago
I am going to write a good response to this article, but just let me say this.
"Hey, Where Do You Want Me to Put This Ron Artest?" is probably one of the most funny article titles I have read in the last decade.
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J. Michael Morris 11 months ago
Yao is not very exited about this experiment. He was quoted as saying, " I hope he won't be jumping into the crowd after fans anymore".
I think you grazed Houston's real problem though, T-Mac.
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Robert Kleeman 11 months ago
People are making waaaaaaaaaaay too much of Yao's comments. More than 90 percent of his comments praised Artest and what he can bring to the Rockets. He merely said the obvious--that chemistry might be an issue.
Accoring to the latest story in the Houston Chronicle, Yao and Artest have chatted and things are fine.
Yao is very exited about this experiment, so let's stop making a fuss about nothing.
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Michael Whittenberg 11 months ago
Good article man. True Swift was suppose to be a bit of a difference maker, but Artest is what they need.
A hard-nosed guy because Yao and T-Mac are just too nice. Good players, but too nice.
They should have kept Rudy Gay, too. And like Erick said, Artest is decent when guarding Duncan.
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Robert Kleeman 11 months ago
Chendaddy,
I don't think you can put Stromile Swift and Ron Artest in the same sentence. Swift may be an athlete but he is an edge of the rotation player and always has been.
That McGrady ever thought Swift would become the scoring addition he needed to win a championship shows he has no future as a general manager.
In terms of talent and his numbers, Artest is one of the 30 greatest two-way players in league history. You are comparing a role player to a superstar who happens to also be a nutcase. I don't see the connection there.
Daryl Morey convinced the Spurs to DONATE Scola. Jackie Butler has no future on any NBA roster and Vassilis Spanoulis was ready to return home to Greece.
I struggle to connect the Rockets losing in the first round to picking up Scola or Battier. Yes, the Rockets have picked up a new forward each year and lost in the first round, but that is not a trend or correlation. You point to the real problem in other parts of your article.
As long as Yao and McGrady are the team's cornerstones, their health will decide how many games the team can win and how far it excels in the playoffs. Do other players deserve some blame for underperforming at times? Sure. However, this team will never win squat if Yao and/or McGrady are injured.
I initially booed the Rudy Gay/Shane Battier swap but now I wouldn't reverse that deal if you paid me $1,000.
The Rockets would not be any closer to a championship with Gay than they are with Battier. Gay is a nice kid but Battier is the ultimate professional. He is the guy who can make this acquisition work.
And just so you know, Artest has already offered to come off the bench. He is a nutcase, so we'll see if he is serious.
The starting lineup would most likely look this: Alston, McGrady, Battier, Scola, Yao
Artest, Barry, Landry (assuming the Rockets can re-sign him), Mutombo (assuming the Rockets can re-sign him), Hayes and Brooks would anchor the bench. Artest coming off the pine makes a lot more sense because he can alter the course of a game on both ends.
As has been the case with Manu Ginobili, coming off the bench does not limit impact. Starting doesn't matter. What matters is that Artest will be on the court at the end of games. Just like Ginobili. That's all that matters.
I also do not expect Artest to play the four for large portions of the game. I would expect that he will switch more between the two and three spots, filling in the gaps when McGrady or Battier sit.
Landry, Scola, Yao and Mutombo will still handle the bulk of the other team's bigs so I wouldn't worry about Artest matching up with Duncan, Garnett or Nowitzki.
I expect the Rockets to find a new home for Steve Novak and shop around Luther Head.
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Chendaddy 11 months ago
love the comparison to ginobili, if in fact artest is coming off the bench as the 6th man. when t-mac sits, alston and artest are really the only other players on the perimeter who can create their own shots and make teams pay for doubling yao, and i much prefer artest pounding it in to alston jacking up a 3. unfortunately, artest had a tendency to jack up quite a few shots himself in sacramento. but if he can get his touches while commanding the offense on the second unit, then switches over to stopping 2s and 3s when he plays with the first unit, he will fit in perfectly.
im sure ron artest has had success guarding players like tim duncan in the past, but i dont think anyone can prove to me he's been successful doing it for 40 min a game.
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