artest might be a loss more than a gain

[renocarter1515]

all i hear is how unstoppable the lakers are gonna be with artest well hold on just a minute
the lost a very valuable piece in trever ariza... lets say they loose odom. look at there starting lineup and bench
derek fisher jordan farmar shannon brown advantage spurs tony parker , george hill
kobe sasha advantage lakers manu, roger mason
ron ron adam morrison advantage spurs jefferson , fin
pau luke walton spurs tim, blair
bynum josh powell lakers ian, bonner


an argument can be made that the spurs have a better postion at every one except center because when healthy manu can be just as good as kobe and roger is much better than sasha
even tho ron may be better than jefferson adam morrison is no finley if the lakers dont sign odom and dont do anything significant there in trouble

[spurduncan21]

if they lose odom, LA's definitely a worse team. so regardless if they get artest, they must retain odom for any hope of being the best team in the west and repeating

[rayofsunshine]

"Odom is not going anywhere." - Kobe Bryant

btw, I am creaming in my pants with the acquiring of Mr. Artest.

[DunkinDan89]

Originally Posted by rayofsunshine

"Odom is not going anywhere." - Kobe Bryant

btw, I am creaming in my pants with the acquiring of Mr. Artest.

Funny, both Odom and Ariza agreed in the locker room after winning it all that they wanted to stay in L.A together, no matter what it takes, and look what happened. Artest and Kobe will be good in the regular season, but I predict a meltdown 2004 Finals style, only earlier in the playoffs, from the Lakers.

[rayofsunshine]

Originally Posted by DunkinDan89

Funny, both Odom and Ariza agreed in the locker room after winning it all that they wanted to stay in L.A together, no matter what it takes, and look what happened. Artest and Kobe will be good in the regular season, but I predict a meltdown 2004 Finals style, only earlier in the playoffs, from the Lakers.

[Vito Corleone]

Originally Posted by rayofsunshine

"Odom is not going anywhere." - Kobe Bryant

btw, I am creaming in my pants with the acquiring of Mr. Artest.

figures a laker fan would cream their pants, I've always thought that laker fans have a lack of balls

[TimmyDthaWay2B]

Originally Posted by rayofsunshine

"Odom is not going anywhere." - Kobe Bryant

btw, I am creaming in my pants with the acquiring of Mr. Artest.

How can an 8 year old cream his pants?

[rayofsunshine]

don't hate!

[Borker]

Does what Ron bring in terms of improved D make up for what they lose in O? I know Ron can make some moves with the ball in his hands for long enough, but that won't be the case with kobe, pau, bynum and odom all in front of him in the offense. The one thing that Ariza managed to do well this last P/O was knock down 3s... LA might not have got out of the houston series in particular with them... where as Ron was about 1 for a million in 3pt shooting in the LA series and was being dared to shoot it by the end.

[maldoror]

Originally Posted by DunkinDan89

Funny, both Odom and Ariza agreed in the locker room after winning it all that they wanted to stay in L.A together, no matter what it takes, and look what happened. Artest and Kobe will be good in the regular season, but I predict a meltdown 2004 Finals style, only earlier in the playoffs, from the Lakers.

People have been making predictions every year and most of them don't come true. The team with the best players wins. That's the bottom line.

Originally Posted by Borker

Does what Ron bring in terms of improved D make up for what they lose in O?

Artest is better than Ariza on both sides off the ball, not just on defense. Artest can create his own shot, and Ariza cannot. Artest is nasty in the post and can also hit the outside shot. His problem has been shot selection and taking contested shots when he has been in a position of having to carry too much of the load on offense. He's a better option on offense than Ariza and he won't have to be a primary scorer. His efficiency is going to go up now. He will be getting wide open looks with Kobe and Gasol on the floor, just like Ariza got. Ariza is a good young role player but his teammates made him who he is.

[DunkinDan89]

Originally Posted by maldoror

People have been making predictions every year and most of them don't come true. The team with the best players wins. That's the bottom line.

That might very well be one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard.

If that were the case, the Lakers would've won the Finals in 2004, with Malone, Payton, Kobe, and Shaq, but they didn't. The Yankees haven't won a championship in a decade despite rounding out a roster of all-stars year in and year out. Think next time before you make a statement like that.

[spursfan9]

some great wishful thinking

[maldoror]

Originally Posted by DunkinDan89

That might very well be one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard.

If that were the case, the Lakers would've won the Finals in 2004, with Malone, Payton, Kobe, and Shaq, but they didn't.

^^^And this might be one of the most ignorant statements I have ever read.

Malone was sitting on the bench injured in the finals and was not nearly the player he was in Utah.

Payton was well past his prime.

The Lakers bench was also weak that year.

[txbobcat]

i hate the lakers, but artest is a beast that will only help them

[Jose_TheGenius]

Originally Posted by maldoror

And this might be one of the most ignorant statements I have ever read.

Malone was sitting on the bench injured in the finals an was not nearly the player he was in Utah.

Payton was also well past his prime.

the best TEAM wins, not the best players. that's what he meant. Malone couldn't be the player he was in Utah. the Stockton/Malone pick and roll couldn't be done or even tried to be recreated with him & Payton and Shaq was clogging the inside. Malone was forced to change his game because of that and the fact the Triangle Offense ran through Shaq & Kobe, which made the PG/PF just spot up shooters really and didn't go through them.

[maldoror]

Originally Posted by Jose_TheGenius

the best TEAM wins, not the best players. that's what he meant.

The Pistons had the best players 1 through 12 with Malone out due to injury, Payton's decline and the weak Laker's bench.

[ALSPURS]

Our only hope is for him to blowup and kill the Lekrs plans...because if he comes to play right now alot of teams are just playing for second....

:/

[Uwe Blab]

He's an upgrade for sure, but he is not going to be another 20pt scorer. He essentially will do what Ariza did, play good physical defense and score when he needs to. The real question is, can Artest grasp the triangle offense, can he deal with being literally the 3rd or 4th option, and can he keep his head on basketball while he is in LA? I really don't think his impact on the team will be as great as everyone thinks. Artest can be stopped offensively, and he will be asked to guard RJ, most likely, leaving Manu(hopefully fully healthy) Time and TP to do their damage. I still think its pretty even, assuming the Spurs get a decent big and especially if Blair shines this year.

[Christer]

Ariza is longer/quicker/a couple of inches taller than Artest and probably a better spot up shooter. Plus he's YOUNGER than Artest. I agree that this is more of a step back. Artest almost became a hindrance for teh Rockets in that Lakers series on O.

[alh1020]

With the commitment of Ariza to Houston, I don't see the acquistion of Artest being a plus. I see Ariza as being equal to Artest but younger and less experienced. And if they lose Odom to free agency, the Lakers may be trouble as favorites in the West.