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He's been so horrible so far. Hoping for at least a decent game tonight from this loon.
Lakers' Ron Artest says he's shooting well
The numbers tell a different story, though, and Coach Phil Jackson has noticed.
By Broderick Turner
His stats tell one story.
He tells another.
The two are conflicting, confounding even when Ron Artest explains his woes on offense.
He's shooting only 25% (four for 16) from the field, 22.2% (two for nine) from three-point range. He's even missing from the free-throw line, making only 33.3% (three for nine) of his tries.
Those numbers say Artest's shot has betrayed him. He says otherwise.
"I feel like I shot the ball well," Artest, who is averaging 6.5 points after two games with the Lakers, said after practice Saturday. "I feel like I'm playing great. That's how I feel."
Artest's problems started in the exhibition season, when he made only 39.6% of his shots, 25% of his three-point tries and 57.6% of his free throws.
Perhaps Artest just isn't comfortable in the triangle offense yet.
"When we're all in sync, it shows how comfortable I am in the offense," Artest said. "As a team, when we're not in sync, it shows like something is stuck in between a door. No matter how hard you try, it's still something in between that door and you can't move it. That just means you've got to play a little bit more smarter at times."
Asked about Artest's poor shooting, Coach Phil Jackson gave another answer that was more in line with what actually seems to be the truth, saying that "shooting wise, he has not been shooting the ball well enough for his own satisfaction nor ours."
Jackson said Artest has to "figure out" on his own where he's most effective in the offense, because the triangle is supposed to mean equal opportunity.
"We don't do much play calling for individuals and so he has to learn how to fit in," said Jackson, whose team plays the Atlanta Hawks tonight at Staples Center. "We hope that that comes in time. That's something that we anticipate will happen. We're not surprised that there are some little things like that in various points in the game."
Gasol update
Jackson said "there's not a chance" that Pau Gasol, out for the first two regular-season games because of a strained right hamstring, will play tonight.
He's been so horrible so far. Hoping for at least a decent game tonight from this loon.
Ariza
23.3 PPG on 50/52.4% shooting
I am not saying that this will continue, but just observing that Ariza has been playing much better than Artest.
im worried about gasol. his health will fix it all looks like he wont play until friday
What's to be really funny is when Ariza completely s all over Artest and drops like 35 on him this week when the Lakers go to Houston.
Should be interesting to see if he can stop Marvin Williams and/or Joe Johnson (if Phil wants that matchup).
Shoot more Ron.
Some good matchup's tonight....
Bynum - Horford
Odom - Smith
Artest - Williams
Kobe - Johnson
Fisher - Bibby
------------------
Scrub 1 - Crawford
Scrub 2 - Pachulia
He's been horrid but Ron will get his shooting back. The rest of Ron's game is good.
Damn I've been slackin lately, I could have sworn that I warned Laker fans about this, guess not....anyways, get used to that
Ron, I think you're in trouble.
really?
[cliche'] He's not so much "with the words" [/cliche']
He really is crazy if he can't just admit his shot isn't there..it's not a big deal, he's a good player, his shots will eventually drop..nothing wrong with admitting it..
I still like that Artest is playing for LA instead of Ariza, but I expect Ron to play better than he's currently playing..
I still am glad he's a Laker, but he is absolutely insane.
Why are people acting like it is not incredibly difficult to go to a new team, learn a new system and learn how to be a 4th option when you are used to being the number 1 or 2?
yea not really i guess i just went ahead and listed the entire starting lineups.
2 game sample, big deal
F the exhibition stats.
Heres why this is bad...
If Ron thinks he is playing well, he has no incentive to change his shot selection or style of play. This is something we saw alot of last year, we too assumed it would get better. It never really did however.
His shot selection isn't bad at all this year.
His shooting on wide open shots is just friggin' terrible.
While I will admit I havent watched the Laker games this season, Artest was a killer spot up 3pt shooter for us last year, feeding off of Yao. So I find that surprising...
What was frustrating was his jumping to his left fadeaway contested jumpers with 18 seconds on the shot clock.
Ron's shot are all wide open. They are certainly not bad shots. Maybe that is what Ron means?
thats a good point. this season i have only seen him open for 2 shots the rest has been with a defender or the post. but i think with gasol back eventually that will allow him to be in rythm for open 3's. thats why im not going nuts over this play
He shot 40% from the field last year and he needs a decent amount of shots since he is so streaky....I'm not sure how this LA thing is gonna work out but time will tell.
Adleman's Motion offense made Artest look like a near All-Star last year. In Lakerland, the Triangle Offense has him completely screwed. It's pretty much traditional pick and roll offense sideways and he doesn't get it.
LOL Artest!
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