Subscribe Feed (RSS)A lot of people are pointing at Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson and saying yes, Phil can handle Ron Artest. After all, Phil made it work in Chicago with Dennis Rodman. Artest joining the Lakers can do nothing but make the Lakers better.
I would not be so quick to jump to that conclusion.
Rodman, while probably crazier even than Artest, was not the problem on the court that Artest will be. Rodman did not want to shoot. In fact, when you passed him the ball he reacted as if you’d just pulled the pin on a hand grenade and lobbed it to him. What Dennis wanted to do is rebound and he did that just about as well as anyone ever has.
Artest not only wants to shoot, he’s the most toxic kind of shooter — the type who thinks he’s good at it and isn’t. I think it’s going to make for some long nights for Kobe Bryant, trying to somehow get it through Artest’s noggin that those long jump shots he favors aren’t going to be what’s best for the Lakers.
And that team does play in Los Angeles, you know. Ron Artest anywhere near Hollywood just seems like such a potential trainwreck. I’m not sure if Artest looks for trouble or if trouble just has a way of finding him but it’s going to be fun to watch this play out.
Tags: Dennis Rodman, Dwight Jaynes, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson, Ron Artest
Dwight, what worries me as a blazer fan is now the Lakers are able to win with defense. Artest will give all those soft players on that team an edge that they were missing. Even with Kobe.
I hope you’re right.
Me too, but I fear Dwight’s wrong on this one.
Artest showed last year what a good team mate he can be. I fear that this will be a major blow to us. All that said, Ariza needs a new agent. What an idiot.
What I’m wondering is why LA even bothered trying to re-sign Ariza if they could get Artest at 3yrs/$18m??? That is a low-risk, high-reward deal if I’ve ever seen one.
With Zach Randolph leaving town, there’s room for an additional nut.
This is an excellent observation Dwight. With Ariza, you had a player who came in and played hard defense and scored only when needed. He wasn’t a headcase, but rather a player who simply fit in. You could see the chemistry was good.
Ask any Rocket fan about Artest. You never knew which Ron was gonna show up. This isn’t Houston people. Guys like Kobe, Gasol, and Odom will not tolerate that crap but Artest is crazy enough not to care
Artest sees the beautiful people and glamorous light. The Lakers see this as getting a good player for cheap. However, I believe your gonna see some bickering and come playoff time they will meltdown
If it is too good to be true than it probably is
Think Rick A must be breathing better again. Maybe they et the Turk or Rudy.