Artest as a Spur?

[arodz]

He will be a free agnet. Pop has shown interest in him this season. Would you take the risk on him at this point in his career?

[Thomas82]

I think he found a home in Houston.

[duncan228]

Some Artest conversation in the Think Tank.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124716

[spursbird]

I think he will stay in Houston. No chance we give up the 2010 plan for him.

[Udokafan05]

I dont know about artest. He has made a lot of poor descisons in lakers series by forcing 3's and when driving to basket, he's not a good passer.

[SnakeBoy]

No chance we give up the 2010 plan for him.


What's the 2010 plan?

[duncan228]

What's the 2010 plan?

It's explained wonderfully by Bruno here:

Spurs 09-10 Salaries, Luxury Tax and 2010 Plan.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125187

[MrChug]

He has to conform to our plan...he won't and the second that Pop gets up his ass he'll throw a baby tantrum and cry.

[Yuushi12]

no thanks

[SnakeBoy]

It's explained wonderfully by Bruno here:

Spurs 09-10 Salaries, Luxury Tax and 2010 Plan.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125187

Thanks, that's a great thread.

[Thompson]

I don't like Artest as a person, and I don't particularly like him as a player either. He's a good player who thinks he's a great player, and that sometimes makes him a very bad player to have on the court. I've seen a few Houston games this year where he just went nuts trying to carry the team (and couldn't), jacking up bad shot after bad shot. That, and he's going to ask for more than he's worth. I'd hate to have to see Manu or Tim screaming at him to give them the ball.

[Fabbs]

Artest stealing minutes from Bonner and Finley is not a good idea to Popped.

[spursfaninla]

artest is JR rider who somehow lasted longer in the league, and with better d.

It is amazing that he lasted this long.

sad, so much talent, esp. on the defensive end.

[thekingrobert]

as a person he is not bad he does loads for the community as a third and sometimes second option he's great but he thinks he's a first option and that's where the problem lies

[George Gervin's Afro]

No.

[symple19]

Ronny boy has become the best sound bite in the NBA..."C'mon, don't you know i'm Ron Artest" (from lakers/rockets game 2 postgame interview)

[completely deck]

no thanks. I think the Spurs need a defensive big to help TD

[RamReddy]

If he was willing to come down here to SA Town...then i say HELL YEA. Artest along w/ the big 3 and possibly gooden, would amount to a guaranteed WCF visit and most likely the finals. I think people have over-hyped his attitude as a "bad person", and personally i would give up bonner, udoka, and finley for him. I'm sure he won't let his personal history repeat itself and and with all the defensive improvements the spurs need to make should be an easy decision.

[z0sa]

100% yes. He's a nutcase, granted, but that's why we have the League's BEST disciplinarian in Pop and Tim Duncan, a player Artest looks "up" to.

I think it'd be safe to say that Finley would be frozen to the bench during cold spells if Artest came over, as well.

[sananspursfan21]

wouldn't that be nice

[exstatic]

If he was willing to come down here to SA Town...then i say HELL YEA. Artest along w/ the big 3 and possibly gooden, would amount to a guaranteed WCF visit and most likely the finals. I think people have over-hyped his attitude as a "bad person", and personally i would give up bonner, udoka, and finley for him. I'm sure he won't let his personal history repeat itself and and with all the defensive improvements the spurs need to make should be an easy decision.

:lmao

Funniest "wishful thinking" post of the week. First of all, I've never considered Ron a "bad person", but he is mentally ill, and refuses to take medication. That's straight from one of his former organizations. That makes him do bad things. Chemical imbalances in the brain don't magically correct themselves. It also means that pattern will continue. He's loved by all and lauded when he first gets to a team. Then he alienates the coaching staff and front office. Then he alienates the players. Then, finally, the fans. He's summarily shipped out to start again somewhere else.

It's a pattern that will repeat again and again until he retires. After he retires, he will spiral down faster without a team and league to cover up for him and provide some structure in his life. Ron Artest will be dead by the age of 50 or maybe 55.

[Captain Oblivious]

After watching him go 1 on 5 possession after possession during last night's game I change my opinion to no thanks.

[Bukefal]

I dont like him and I dont think spurs are a good team for him, but i would say yes.

[tmtcsc]

BALL HOG ! But he's tough. He also likes to dribble into the lane when its full of defenders. Unreal. When he's on, he's great but when he's not, he can't control himself and just self destructs offensively by throwing up terrible shots.

I feel bad for Houston. Yao can't stay healthy. How many years has it been now that he just can't finish a season w/o getting leg or ankle injuries.

[E20]

Yeah. I would take him. I mean Sjax is a nut almost on the same degree as Artest, but with the combination of Pop and Tim (maybe David as well) they made him into a good boy.

Artest thinks Tim duncan is a pimp so he would influence the shit out of him.

[duncan228]

Artest thinks Tim duncan is a pimp so he would influence the shit out of him.


"I remember one time Kevin Garnett was mushing him, and shoving him in the face; and Tim Duncan didn't do anything, he didn't react. He just kicked Kevin Garnett's ass, and won the damn championship. You know what I'm sayin'? That's gangsta. Everybody can show emotion, dunk on somebody, scream and be real cocky; but Tim Duncan is a ... he's a pimp."

-Ron Artest

[E20]

exactly, 228 with the goods timely delivered.

[duncan228]

exactly, 228 with the goods timely delivered.

All Duncan all the time. :)

[exstatic]

From the source, this week:
cnn.com Ian Thomsen column (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/05/08/weekly.countdown/2.html)

3 thoughts from Ron Artest

Last summer Ron Artest believed he would be playing at Kobe Bryant's side this season, not against opposite him, in the playoffs.

These quotes come from Artest's interview with me last month in Houston.

3. On scoring in the playoffs. Artest became more prominent offensively in February after Tracy McGrady was sidelined by a knee injury. Despite an early-season ankle injury, Artest had a strong second half to average 17.1 ppg overall this season:

"For some reason everybody was saying the Rockets are not good, but they were not taking into consideration that we were banged up," Artest said. "I heard that Charles Barkley went on TV [and] said the Rockets are horrible, they're not going to make it past the first round. He wasn't giving us any credit for the adversity that we faced. When I look at him, he was a guy who had a chance to win a championship, and when he faced adversity I don't think he overcame it. He had Michael Jordan in front of him; now we have guys like Kobe Bryant and LeBron in front of us, and we're still trying to fight for a championship. And he really didn't respect that. So I called him; I said, 'Why don't you respect us? Why don't you give us no props?' He said, 'I don't think you guys can score the ball enough to win in the playoffs.'"

I have to admit here that I agree with Barkley: I've written that the Rockets don't have enough scoring to beat the Lakers. Yet Artest has scored 46 in the opening two games at Los Angeles as the Rockets seized homecourt advantage from the Lakers in their Western semifinal.

"If Yao [Ming] averages 20, and I'm averaging 20, I don't know how we can't score the ball," continued Artest. "Look at me -- when I was playing after T-Mac left and my ankle got better, my numbers were right up there with some of the best. I just didn't see how we couldn't score the ball."

I mentioned that Paul Pierce contributed to a championship by defending more and scoring less. Artest replied that Pierce will enter the Hall of Fame someday because of that championship. "That's what counts, that's what's going to make you great," Artest said. "That's why Paul Pierce moved ahead of Charles Barkley. I don't think Charles Barkley is top 50 no more, I think it's Paul Pierce. I think Paul Pierce just knocked him out."

I asked Artest if he can be up there with Pierce.

"Got to get that ring. I mean, there's nothing without that ring. Got to get that ring."

2. On his emotions. Artest was ejected with 6:57 left in Game 2 Wednesday in the Rockets' 111-98 loss at Los Angeles. But he wasn't the only violator: the Lakers' Derek Fisher also was ejected, and a total of five players on both teams earned technicals in what was an emotional game.

"For the most part you've got to think the game," he said. "It's impossible to stay like this (low-key) for the whole time. But for the most part you've got to able to think, and you can't think with emotion.

"It's too hard, there are too many things that your mind has to be focused on rather than being caught up in the moment too much. There's always going to be a time for getting caught up in the moment, but emotion takes too much out of the game. Having a medium tone mentally, you're able to overcome any adversity during the game. And you're able to not get too big-headed, you're able to stay more level-headed during the game."

Artest was assessed just three technicals during the regular season. In his first year with the Rockets he avoided the inflammatory incidents that threatened his ruin in the past.

"Sometimes I want one, like when I'm not going to the free throw line," he said, smiling. "I let it slide all the time, every time. I let it slide so much that I think [the officials] know I'm not going to say anything to them. Because I don't really talk to the refs. I'm not going to say anything, so sometimes they miss a lot of calls. But that's all right."

1. On Kobe Bryant. When Artest heard rumors of a trade from Sacramento last summer, he assumed he would be going to the Lakers.

"I was playing in a streetball game in New York City -- I was in a gym playing with a tournament -- and after the game we went to eat at a Houston's restaurant. So we were going to Houston's and my friend said, 'Ron, you got traded.' The only trade that I knew of was the L.A. trade, and I'm like, oh, I'm going to L.A. -- let me call Kobe really fast to tell Kobe that I'm going to see him in a little bit. Then he said, no, I'm going to Houston.

"I said that's not possible. How am I going to Houston? That's like me going to San Antonio or Utah. I'm like, that's impossible -- those teams are not going to risk a Ron Artest. Even though I know I'm getting more mature and I know they can use a Ron Artest and I know I can adapt to that type of team.

"And I got a call that night from my agent (David Bauman), he said, 'You're going to Houston.' I was like, oh my goodness, these people don't even know what they done did. We're getting a ring. And then Mac got hurt, and I still say we're getting a ring."

Much is being made of Artest's attempts to create a rivalry with Bryant, but in our conversation he presented a different view of the relationship.

"We have a respect for each other, playing against each other over the years, that led to us really talking to each other," said Artest. "Kobe loves basketball. He probably thinks he loves basketball more than anybody. I don't think that he loves it as much as me. I mean, I don't know how much he loves it -- I don't work out with him in the summer. We just respect each other, and I love his game. You've got to love somebody who reminds you of Michael Jordan. Let's face it, when Michael Jordan left, something was empty in a lot of peoples' hearts, and now there's Kobe Bryant playing like Michael Jordan. You get a chance to see Michael Jordan every day."

[sook]

artest will walk this off season 100%. Nothing left to see in houston.

[superjames1992]

He will be a free agnet. Pop has shown interest in him this season. Would you take the risk on him at this point in his career?
NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

Need I say more?

[superbigtime]

One can only hope. Spurs have a full-time maniac position open.

[ivanfromwestwood]

we talking about the same ron artest who wanted time off to promote his record lable when he was with indiana?? same dude who punched out a fan in detroit? didnt we trade antonio daniels just for choking his chicken during an off season pickup game?