While I believe that Artest helped the Rockets this past season, I beleive they made a
good move getting rid of him. Ariza will fit in Adelman's system better and won't continually jack up bad shots when he's off. (aside from one game
he disappeared during the LA series) I just want to see how Artest reacts when he finally realizes that Kobe shoots the shots in LA.
Houston will still need to pick up a center some where along the way, and they don't grow on trees. Now, if someone would just trade for T-Mac......I
don't care if we get a water coller for him.........we just need the cap dollars it would free up. Unfortuantely no one will take him, even though he
basically should be close to his prime age-wise. He's damaged goods...
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Trevor Ariza makes the Rockets younger, faster and better. He fits with the way Rick Adelman wants to play.
Sometime next season, we're going to see Tracy McGrady, Carl Landry, Aaron Brooks and Ariza leading a fast break that will take your breath away.
Finally, we're going to have an Adelman team that plays like an Adelman team. I'm so giddy about Ariza that I'm willing to forgive and forget with T-Mac.
OK, so we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's take a deep breath and go one step at a time.
Ariza is a first-rate defensive player, threw in almost 50 percent of his 3-pointers in the playoffs, and is still only 24.
Yes, there's still that hole at center. Give Daryl Morey a couple more days to take care of that issue.
Maybe you've heard Ariza wasn't Morey's first choice. You would be right about that. In fact, I'm guessing Morey took a flyer on Ariza, never figuring he had a chance to land him.
Ariza told the Lakers and other teams it wasn't going to be about the money, but that's what people say. He apparently meant it, however; one source esti-mates he left $9 million on the table to join the Rockets.
Morey sticks to plan
Morey first whispered sweet nothings to Marcin Gortat, a young, improving center who would have filled that huge hole in the middle. But when the Dallas Mavericks offered Gortat more money, Morey declined to raise his offer and went looking elsewhere.
Morey had been clear on this from the beginning. He assigned a value to Gortat and didn't allow himself to get into a bidding war that might have locked him into a contract that would have robbed him of the flexibility he needs to make an impact move next summer.
We'll have time to evalu-ate whether Morey made the right call. His track record is solid. He'll sleep well.
Morey also made the right call with Ron Artest. Amid the storm of tweets and bluster, it's easy to be confused, but the Rockets didn't exactly lose Artest to the Lakers. They chose to lose him. Big difference.
Morey and Adelman reached this decision a couple of weeks ago. They didn't believe Artest was worth the money he was seeking. They also believed they could get him at their price but worried what his attitude would be if he thought himself underpaid.
Morey toyed with offering Artest a one-year contract and hoping he'd be on his best behavior in order to try to land a big deal next summer. They took a pass.
Here's hoping Kobe Bryant understands how different his life is about to be with his new teammate. I hope Kobe caught Ron-Ron's ESPN interview on Thursday night. If Kobe is wondering if Artest really is that strange, I don't want to be the one to deliver the news.
As for the Rockets, Artest will not be missed by the coaches or players. There was just too much craziness, too many wild mood swings, too much selfishness.
If the Rockets have to line up and play with Landry, Brooks, Shane Battier and Ariza next season, so be it. I'll take fast, scrappy and energetic over Artest and his myriad issues any day.
The odd thing about Artest is that he was nothing like I thought he'd be. He's not a thug. In fact, he's a caring, thoughtful man with a charitable heart and a winning smile.
He also has talent, gobs of it. If he were inclined, he could be one of the NBA's best low-post players. He's so strong that he's virtually unstoppable around the basket. He's on the short list of NBA players who can impact a game on both ends of the floor.
If the Rockets thought they'd get that Artest, if they thought he'd play around the basket and consider following the game plan, they would have signed him to a max contract.
The Rockets are a team in transition. They're likely to be young next season and to struggle to make the playoffs. This isn't the kind of team you want Artest on. It would bring out the worst in him. He'd stop the ball, throw up silly shots and run pretty much whatever assignment he felt like running.
Two different Artests
He was on his best behavior in his one season with the Rockets as he auditioned for a new contract. There were nights when he played like one of the NBA's 10 best players. There were way too many nights when his focus and behavior were off the charts.
He screamed at the young point guards so much that he finally was told to stop. He would agree he shouldn't do it and would promise to stop. Then a game or two later, he'd be back out there on the perimeter, demanding the ball, then dribbling away the 24-second clock or bulling his way into the lane.
Adelman's offense - based on motion, passes, screens and unselfishness - is a thing of beauty at its best. When one player stops everything or thinks it's about him, it doesn't work.
Adelman was brilliant with Artest. He explained why he was doing certain things, never showed his anger when Artest didn't do them. He was exactly the right coach for Artest, yet Artest simply wasn't worth the trouble.
The Rockets are better off with Ariza.
