Artest will only join Rockets with a commitment

[Kori Ellis]

...

Artest wouldve been a shoe in for the Spurs.

Didn't you just say this?

i dont think any team contending for a championship would like him on thier team.

I don't think the Rockets needed Artest, but I think it's funny how many Spurs fans bash the Rockets for taking on a "crazy" troublemaker. I just wonder if they would have felt the same about him coming to the Spurs.

[T Park]

The guy is a full on whack job.

Just look at his response back to Yao Ming.

yao Ming doesn't want him on the team, and I don't blame him.

[xtremesteven33]

many spurs fans wouldve been skeptical. theres always going to be fans who will disagree with the FO decisions. many people here think they are smarter than the Spurs FO.

he wouldve been a shoe in in regards of filling a need as far as X's and O's is concernced. his at ude though is a different story.

[50 cent]

It's pretty funny how Yao gets over to China and he starts running his mouth like he's some tough guy, but once he's back in the NBA playing against these guys, he's a big gaping axe wound.

[Rynospursfan]

He'll either make them better or make them worse.

Last year the Rockets were 57-0 when outscoring their opponents.

[GSH]

ROckets fans can sugarcoat this all they want, but here's a guy who is sociopathic -- very little remorse about what he's done in the past, very little interest in changing his behavior or way of being --and who, from a strictly basketball standpoint, has shown over and over again that he wants to be The Man on whatever team he plays on. Artest is not a Bowen-type player who is comfortable being a defensive stopper and taking wide open 3's when they become available. He has said it himself, and shown with his actions, that he wants to be the go to guy offensively as well. And on a team with Yao and McGrady, he's not gonna be that guy. And he shouldn't, because out of those 3, he's the least creative and talented offensively.

I think this is a bad, bad idea. Why is Artest still getting jobs when Sprewell isn't? They both have same liabilities, they both think they're a lot better than they are, and they've both shown again and again they can't play on a TEAM.

Don't underestimate him because you don't like him. When he's on the court, taking care of business, he is a damn good basketball player. Yao is a 10-foot-tall, all-star center - and T-Mac is a scoring machine who has consistently been among the league leaders in scoring. So if you say that Artest is the least of the three, that's not much of an insult. Artest can put up points, and he's a tough sum . His talent is second only to the top-tier players in the league. Sprewell was a cancer. Artest is... okay, Artest is a cancer too. But he's more like a benign brain tumor. Even if it doesn't hurt you all the time, you always have to worry that it will flare up when you're driving across a bridge.

For the Spurs, the things that I found significant about this story is that Yao was consulting with Scola about team chemistry, and that Artest was deferring to Yao as the team leader rather than T-Mac. Obviously Yao and Scola get it - that it takes more than five talented guys on the floor to win a championship. It isn't surprising that even though Scola was a "rookie" last year, he is the one that Yao talks to about team chemistry. Not surprising, but ominous for the other teams in the division.

There's no doubt that the Rockets have the horsepower. The question is, will Yao and Scola be able to have that kind of influence on the Rockets, or will T-Mac and Artest compete to see which one does the most chest-pounding? Right now Artest is saying the right things. But if he goes off his meds and starts listening to the voices telling him the guys with the little whistles are Satan's minions?

It won't hurt their chemistry building efforts having a guy named Barry on the bench. I haven't looked at their roster recently, but it wouldn't shock me if they were to sign Horry for a minimum contract. That's not a commentary on the Spurs letting either one of them "get away". It's just that those two guys would get a lot of respect, and give a lot of extra weight to their team-building efforts. If nothing else, none of their young guys would pick up bad habits on the bench.

On the other hand: T-Mac decides to prove it's his team, and not Yao's. Artest discovers that Houston's gentlemen's clubs are more fun than going home and getting some sleep. Steve Francis stays healthy, and Adelman actually plays him. (See T-Mac above.) Carl Landry signs in Europe. Yao and Scola are worn out from the Olympics, and both get so sick of the constant bickering on the team that they tell their agents to start looking overseas for next season.

It could happen.

[robbie380]

I tried to tell this clown yesterday never to take what Ron says at face value. He's still a little kid and clearly has no idea about Ron's history.

yeah i am a little kid who had to explain to you that you were using the wrong words in the other thread where you never responded to my question about what exactly did the rockets really risk by attaining artest.

again the word you are looking for to describe artest is mercurial. you can take what he says at face value when he says it. he means what he says at that moment. the only problem is that his feelings shift like the wind from moment to moment.

anyhow...keep being a troll and calling me stupid.

[robbie380]

It's pretty funny how Yao gets over to China and he starts running his mouth like he's some tough guy, but once he's back in the NBA playing against these guys, he's a big gaping axe wound.

for s sake it's like some people just make something up in their head and just continue to run with it. 50 cent you should rename yourself G. W. Bush.

[Man of Steel]

Actually--I would not blame Ron if he did make those comments.

Yao was out of line to make these comments to a reporter in the first place. And I am sure he was probably baited by a reporter who got Yao to agree with these comments.

Still--I'd be upset if I was Ron and people who degrade him for this really need to put themselves in Ron's shoes.

Its easy to make fun of Ron because of his past and his somewhat unorthodox lifestyle. Still--his teammates should either accept him or voice their concerns behind closed doors and not to a reporter for God's sake.

[T Park]

Are people seriously making excuses for him going into the stands in Detroit?

Wow....

[Man of Steel]

No excuse going into the stands.

None.

Zip.

Nada.

[nkdlunch]

Yao making those comments from 7,000 miles away

[Walton Buys Off Me]

You mean chemistry is important in winning championships?!

Ron Artest is one nipple ring away from being Buffalo Bill in Silence Of the Lambs.....no thanks.

[bigfan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3512419

Artest is such a dirtbag and I am sooo glad we didnt sign him. Its just a matter of time before his at ude gets him in serious .

[The Truth #6]

There's nothing wrong with what Yao said. If Artest can't handle it, then there's no reason to go further with this experiment and have it explode later in the season. If Yao wants to establish some structure for his team, considering Artest might join, then it's a safe move. It sounds like Artest is cool with things. This doesn't sound like that big of a deal.

[WildcardManu]

1 year lease to see how well they mesh. , I'll take the risk.

[rj215]

I was all for Ron Ron coming to the Spurs somehow but man....that guy's a few beers short of a 6 pack.

[50 cent]

for s sake it's like some people just make something up in their head and just continue to run with it. 50 cent you should rename yourself G. W. Bush.

When has Yao ever had a set of testicles in the NBA?

Maybe your should rename yourself the Iraqi Information Minister.

[benefactor]

If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there. Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed.

We've still got to make sure there's still a commitment. That's the main thing, is to make sure there's still a commitment. When I speak to the powers-that-be of the Houston Rockets' organization, we're going to find out how much they really want me there. We'll find out. I'm still waiting to find out if this is just a trade or if this is like a long-term commitment-type thing. I haven't spoken to anybody yet. I'm still waiting.

So for one...he is justifying the brawl and basically saying that if another drink got thrown at him he would head into the stands again. For two...he wants something from the Rockets showing that they are committed to him. I don't know what he expects, since the Rockets are over the cap and can't sign him to any kind of long term deal...and I doubt Houston wants this to be much more than an experiment anyway. We saw what happened in Sacto when he began to feel they were no longer committed to him. How long before Houston gives him that feeling?

Its even more troubling that he says he's, "Yao's soldier" but he is "still ghetto"....because there is zero consistency in those statements. All he has shown is that he is still the same crazy ass Ron Ron...and for that reason I never wanted him anywhere near my team.

[coopdogg3]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3512419

"Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands," Yao said, according to the Chronicle.

When asked about those comments, Artest said Yao had bought into "all the propaganda" about him, according to The Sacramento Bee.


"I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto," Artest said, according to the report. "That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about.

If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there. Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed.

The agreed-to deal sending Artest to Houston cannot become official until Aug. 14. And Artest, who has one year remaining on his contract, also said he was looking for a long-term deal from the Rockets, according to the report.

"We've still got to make sure there's still a commitment [from the Rockets]," Artest said, according to the Bee. "That's the main thing, is to make sure there's still a commitment. When I speak to the powers-that-be of the Houston Rockets' organization, we're going to find out how much they really want me there. We'll find out. I'm still waiting to find out if this is just a trade or if this is like a long-term commitment-type thing. I haven't spoken to anybody yet. I'm still waiting."


Ron still sounds like Ron to me. Houston, enjoy the Ron Artest-era.

[Bruno]

Artest is a heck of a player but he has the ability to destroy a team by himself. he destroyed Pacers that where a damn good team.
Rockets aren't the most solid team in the league mentally wise. If Artest goes wild, it could turn into a huge mess.
The most likely case is Artest being a good soldier but, unlike a team like Spurs, Rockets won't be able to handle Artest if he enters in crazy Ron mode.

[T Park]

Im still ghetto, hes never played with a "black" player?

Oh my god.

Thank you Spurs for not trading for this whacko.

[peacemaker885]

Artest is a heck of a player but he has the ability to destroy a team by himself. he destroyed Pacers that where a damn good team.
Rockets aren't the most solid team in the league mentally wise. If Artest goes wild, it could turn into a huge mess.
The most likely case is Artest being a good soldier but, unlike a team like Spurs, Rockets won't be able to handle Artest if he enters in crazy Ron mode.

yeah! Pop will bench that .

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I really don't get the big blow back about Yao's comments. He expressed some concern over the fact that Ron's been a headache at some point to every team he's been with. Any player that would that would say they weren't worried about that is a damn liar or a damn fool. He could have kept that all out of the press and just said the PC thing and everyone and their dog would be laughing their asses off and calling him on that line of bull .

I can understand the need to feel like they need to make a splashy move. They stood pat as the Mavs and Suns made their big moves last year and joined them in a first round exit for the third year in a row. For the last two years my pre-season thought on the Rockets has been a single word -"unpredictable". With Yao and McGrady's talent and health issues they wouldn't surprise me one bit if they made it to the conference finals or were a lottery team. All this changes IMO is extending the extremes of the possibilities. If the stars align they're a dark horse championship team, and if things go to as badly as they could it'll be a of a trainwreck.

[exstatic]

You mean chemistry is important in winning championships?!

Ron Artest is one nipple ring away from being Buffalo Bill in Silence Of the Lambs.....no thanks.