How is LA better than last year?

[cobbler]

Don't take what I'm saying the wrong way. Artest is an upgrade to Ariza, but it may not show because of his personality. Nobody is going to change who he is not Lamar, not Kobe, not Phil. I felt the same way most Laker fans do this time last season. I told myself he just needs to get on a winning team and he will sacrifice his game to win. WRONG!!! If you have the time, go check my posts starting from about January. This is around the time I started calling him Dinoboy.

The name was given because he had a bad habit of ignoring the offense to showcase Ron Ron for about six or seven plays in a row. This would all to often cause us to lose games we should have easily won. When he is in this mode if he touches the ball it stops, and he will be the one taking the shot. I have seen Yao have his man sealed four feet from the basket, and begging for the ball, and not get the pass because Ron is in the "zone". The Lakers should have signed him to a much shorter contract, and I have a feeling they will be missing Ariza sooner rather than later.

The difference is, Ron will not be the 2nd, or even 3rd best player on the Lakers. He will fill his role or he will sit. You will see him playing with the 2nd unit more than in past as he gives the lakers another person other than Lamar that can create his own shot with said unit.

What cracks me up here is how everyone thinks the Lakers need Ron to be a scorer. Everyone has the Lakers imploding because of his quirkiness.

The Lakers don't need Ron to do anything more than play within the system (PJ will have no problem getting him to do so or he will sit) and play tough D.

What was the one thing everyone said tha Lakers lacked last year even as they were on their way to the le. Toughness and at ude.

Artest brings both and that has to be seen as upgrade to the team.

I guess we will all see.... until the games are played... it's all conjecture.

[Unholy Turkey]

The only reason some of us think that is cause he's on a team with the player he respects the most in Kobe, one of the coaches he respects the most is PJ and he has a friend he's known since he was 12 in Lamar Odom not to mention the fact he's on a team that has a chance to win a ring and he knows this is his last chance to win a ring. Wether he'll change or not, nobody really knows but looking at the situation there is a lot of hope for it. Either way it was let Ariza walk and make Luke Walton your starting SF, with Morrison his back up or sign Ron Artest. I'm much happier with the second option even with the possible risks.

He was really kissing up to Rick Adelman, who is possibly his most respected coach (And the biggest reason the Artest trade last year was done.), Yao, T-Mac, Battier, and Rafer (Who was his New York homeboy.)

I had the same feelings that The Franchise had the summer we traded for him. I was jumping up and down when I heard that we got Artest. It had me thinking about crazy things. Maybe T-Mac and Yao can be healthy, or maybe Rafer can shoot above 40%!

If everything works out for the Lakers and Ron, then they'll be undeniably scary and the le will be theirs to lose. Their biggest weakness (Toughness) will be cured and they'll have a defensive reputation.

IF everything works out.

[OceaNus]

Don't take what I'm saying the wrong way. Artest is an upgrade to Ariza, but it may not show because of his personality. Nobody is going to change who he is not Lamar, not Kobe, not Phil. I felt the same way most Laker fans do this time last season. I told myself he just needs to get on a winning team and he will sacrifice his game to win. WRONG!!! If you have the time, go check my posts starting from about January. This is around the time I started calling him Dinoboy.

The name was given because he had a bad habit of ignoring the offense to showcase Ron Ron for about six or seven plays in a row. This would all to often cause us to lose games we should have easily won. When he is in this mode if he touches the ball it stops, and he will be the one taking the shot. I have seen Yao have his man sealed four feet from the basket, and begging for the ball, and not get the pass because Ron is in the "zone". The Lakers should have signed him to a much shorter contract, and I have a feeling they will be missing Ariza sooner rather than later.

Well you have to take into account what his team asks of him. Last season the rockets had no clear pecking order. Tmac out of the picture, and Yao would be great early but then fade late. Who gets the ball? When Yao went down he felt he could lead the team and play like he did in the first two games vs LA in the playoffs. In LA there is a very clear pecking order. Sure Artest will take some re ed shots but guess who will be in his ear the second he does and Phil will bench him if he pisses him off.

That being said, I'm excited about him coming to LA. Sure we may win less regular season games because of him, but he makes us a better team against teams that gave us trouble. Artest will force Pierce off Kobe unless they want ray being muscled around, guard melo, guard VC, and guard lebron. Not only will they have to go through him on their way to the rim, gasol/bynum/odom will be waiting for them.

[Scrappy Coco]

Well, I got us penciled in for the next two, with ease. Just like old days.

Why? Boston will be healthy next year and stomp the Fakers out again. Then take your mothers to a nice seafood restaurant and never call her back. That's how the Cs roll...

[OceaNus]

Why? Boston will be healthy next year and stomp the Fakers out again. Then take your mothers to a nice seafood restaurant and never call her back. That's how the Cs roll...

They're also old enough to take my grandmother out too! Pierce can't light up scrubs like luke walton again.

[KSeal]

You have no faith in your team at all.

My thoughts exactly.

[Killakobe81]

What IS missing in this analysis of numbers and PER is that effect that a GREAT defender has on the opposing team. I agree Ariza is faster a better leaper and longer ...
Ron is stronger tougher and can limit a great offensive player with FAR LESS help ...
The 3 greatest threats to the Lakers are:
1. Celts Pierce vs. Ron
2. Spurs RJ vs. Ron
3. Magic Lewis vs. Ron
4. Nuggs Melo vs. Ron
5. Cavs Lebron vs. Ron

Out of those 5 you could argue that MAYBE ariza's lenth would be better for Lewis and that is it ...team wise we take a dip help wise ...but 1 on 1 we are better ...

[Scrappy Coco]

You have no faith in your team at all.

Not a Spurs fan....

[all_heart]

I don't think one player can inspire toughness. Toughness is an at ude for the whole team to take on together. I don't see anybody "getting tough" because of Artest. Gasol, no way.. Bynum will foul out in 1st half, Lamar? Nah, he got his contract already. Vujacic? no he already es enough as it is? Walton, yeah right! Shannon Brown.. maybe. Kobe? it's a long season he needs to pace himself. Here's a question.. how long can Artest go w/Kobe riding the whole team's ass hard? Some people no matter what the cause, just can't handle being disciplined too hard for too long.

[Culburn369]

Some people no matter what the cause, just can't handle being disciplined too hard for too long.

You'll notice 'em right off:

* they'll blow their whole wad all over the sheets when the Lakers show up and then sleep for two weeks worth of games thereafter.

* they'll tromp that pedal hard, real hard, face 'em up and bust their ass to the rim...then locked in with their own accomplishment find they're terriby afraid & chronologically incapable of repeating it.

[Mori Chu]

Here's my two cents on Artest. He may end up being better than Ariza, may end up being worse. But we know that the Lakers as built in 08-09 were good enough to win a le. If they'd just kept Ariza, we'd still know that team was le worthy. But by swapping in Artest, now we don't really know what they are capable of. The uncertainty gets me excited. I'm so glad they didn't bring back Ariza, because now I have hope that catastrophe may occur. Seeing Phil or Kobe go ballistic because Ron-Ron broke a play for the 100th time would bring a tear to me' eye.

[TheManFromAcme]

What Artest actually brings to the table regarding playing with his new teammates is yet to be seen. With that said, Rick Adelman is NO Phil Jackson. Jackson's ability to work with loonies is well chronicled.

Assume, analyze and dissect all you want you guys in here with Crystal balls that look into the future. Phil Jackson will end up being the steady hand that keeps Ron-Ron in check and extract out of him what probably other coaches could never do.

I am confident that Artest will do just fine, flourish and surprise many people.
Lets just wait and see.

[all_heart]

What Artest actually brings to the table regarding playing with his new teammates is yet to be seen. With that said, Rick Adelman is NO Phil Jackson. Jackson's ability to work with loonies is well chronicled.

Assume, analyze and dissect all you want you guys in here with Crystal balls that look into the future. Phil Jackson will end up being the steady hand that keeps Ron-Ron in check and extract out of him what probably other coaches could never do.

I am confident that Artest will do just fine, flourish and surprise many people.
Lets just wait and see.

Talking about Rodman? Rodman came from a different era, the late 80's bad boy club where you had to keep in line. Artest is his own beast, each "loonie" is different. Rodmans' sole job in basketball was to rebound and defend, never looked for his own shot like Ron. So if Ron can just play D and rebound while minimizing his trigger finger, he may do alright. Also PJ is not young anymore, does he still have the patience to put up with guys like Ron? If PJ can't help, maybe some meds can! Everybody will have to wait and see..

[TheMACHINE]

Not a Spurs fan....

Your team name says otherwise. First time internet user?

[hater]

Here's my two cents on Artest. He may end up being better than Ariza, may end up being worse. But we know that the Lakers as built in 08-09 were good enough to win a le. If they'd just kept Ariza, we'd still know that team was le worthy. But by swapping in Artest, now we don't really know what they are capable of. The uncertainty gets me excited. I'm so glad they didn't bring back Ariza, because now I have hope that catastrophe may occur. Seeing Phil or Kobe go ballistic because Ron-Ron broke a play for the 100th time would bring a tear to me' eye.

they were le-worthy only because other top 2 teams had devastating injuries.

[TheManFromAcme]

Talking about Rodman? Rodman came from a different era, the late 80's bad boy club where you had to keep in line. Artest is his own beast, each "loonie" is different. Rodmans' sole job in basketball was to rebound and defend, never looked for his own shot like Ron. So if Ron can just play D and rebound while minimizing his trigger finger, he may do alright. Also PJ is not young anymore, does he still have the patience to put up with guys like Ron? If PJ can't help, maybe some meds can! Everybody will have to wait and see..

I am not sure that eras/periods/decades has anything to do with loonies. A loony is a loony no matter what year or period. ().

I think that a "older" Phil is a much more patient Phil and more adept at working his magic on these head cases.

Besides, I am sure there is a nice padded room deep in the bowels of Staples for Ron-Ron should he pull any mental caper.

[Mori Chu]

they were le-worthy only because other top 2 teams had devastating injuries.

The Celtics, yes; but the Magic? No way. I don't think the Magic can claim they had a "devastating" injury vs. the Lakers. Jameer was back on the court and played decently well for them in the minutes he was out there.

[TheMACHINE]

The Celtics, yes; but the Magic? No way. I don't think the Magic can claim they had a "devastating" injury vs. the Lakers. Jameer was back on the court and played decently well for them in the minutes he was out there.

All other fans can do is pray that Ron Ron has a melt down for thier own team to have a chance.

[all_heart]

All other fans can do is pray that Ron Ron has a melt down for thier own team to have a chance.

HAHA, I bet all you Laker fans are saying just the opposite for the Lakers to have another chance.. There's no way Kobe, Pau, and Lamar can take you back to the Finals with that bench!

[TheManFromAcme]

HAHA, I bet all you Laker fans are saying just the opposite for the Lakers to have another chance.. There's no way Kobe, Pau, and Lamar can take you back to the Finals with that bench!

Uh, besides Trevor and Sun, isn't the Lakers bench going to be pretty much the same? The LOB bunch? The Laker bench doesn't have to hit the floor having all star performances each night. I'll be the first to laugh at Sasha as far as his 2009 performance but lets not kid ourselves of what the kid is capable of doing. Put the blinders aside, put on your "purist" specs and see Sasha for what he is; a more than capable player. Roger Mason wasn't exactly Mr. consistent throughout the playoffs either. I guess all I am trying to convey here is that the Laker bench is probably not worth a second or third glance but to label them keystone cops is not accurate. I think this bench along with the scoring of Morrison and Sasha (not to mention his decent defense) will surprise some this upcoming season. Lets wait and see.

[TheMACHINE]

HAHA, I bet all you Laker fans are saying just the opposite for the Lakers to have another chance.. There's no way Kobe, Pau, and Lamar can take you back to the Finals with that bench!

seems like you forgot other players in the Lakers....but i dont blame you...it helps your arguement if you only list 3 players, one being a bench player in Lamar.

[TheMACHINE]

Roger Mason wasn't exactly Mr. consistent throughout the playoffs either. I guess all I am trying to convey here is that the Laker bench is probably not worth a second or third glance but to label them keystone cops is not accurate. I think this bench along with the scoring of Morrison and Sasha (not to mention his decent defense) will surprise some this upcoming season. Lets wait and see.

You mean the playoff in which the Spurs won one game?

[all_heart]

seems like you forgot other players in the Lakers....but i dont blame you...it helps your arguement if you only list 3 players, one being a bench player in Lamar.

Lamar .. one decent bench player.. big deal. Still nothing to worry about, you need at least 3 decent players you can rely on to maybe say you have a "bench". Sasha.. yea right, Lakers will probably trade his ass away, I would. Shannon Brown is decent.. who else?

[all_heart]

You mean the playoff in which the Spurs won one game?

We spurs fans admit it, we weren't getting too far in the playoffs, even w/Manu being healthy, we were way too thin in the 4/5 positions. Mason wasn't the same once he had to play backup PG, he was taken out of his rhythm. This year he should be back in full form..

[Jacko]

We spurs fans admit it, we weren't getting too far in the playoffs, even w/Manu being healthy, we were way too thin in the 4/5 positions. Mason wasn't the same once he had to play backup PG, he was taken out of his rhythm. This year he should be back in full form..

The operative word here is *should* be. Like it or not the Spurs still have a lot of question marks. Duncan looked very unlike himself during the 2nd half of the season and Ginobili was completely MIA again. The Spurs need both of them to be at peak form to go all the way. They also need the rest of their acquisitions to fit in perfectly chemistry wise.

The Lakers don't need nearly as much work. They are bringing back the same core that won the 2009 NBA championship and adding Ron Artest. And they were the best team in the NBA last season despite your myopic rantings about injuries to the top teams. You don't win 65 games if you're a scrub team that got lucky due to other team's misfortunes. Need I remind you that LA also had a 4-0 record against both BOS and CLE? I'm not sure how much else they could have proven, they didn't get to choose who they played in the playoffs.

They now have something that should scare the rest of the league, championship mettle. And trust me, it goes a long ways. With a fully healthy core and the addition of Ron Artest the Lakers will be a better team than they were last season.

Quite frankly, it's ridiculous that we're even discussing this.