Artest v. Ariza

[Bankshot]

I think the Lakers should have kept Ariza.  Artest is horrible, especially on offense.  He's not that special on defense anymore either.  He's more of a bully than a good defensive player.  Ariza was a better fit.  He could hit the 3 and play good defense the right way.  Oh well, our gain.

[wdleehi]

It seems teams were all gearing up to beat certain teams.


Orlando to beat LA
Cleveland to beat Orlando
LA to beat Lebron?


Nobody prepared to face the Celtics in the offseason. 



LA would be better with Ariza.  Good, quick defender with the ability to hit the outside shot. 

But with the way the Celtics defense is playing, I am sure he would have disappeared as well.  It takes an amazing player like Kobe to put up numbers every game against this defense.  Not even Gasol can do that.


(man, I am rambling this morning)

[the_Bird]

At this point, I'm not sure how much better Artest is than Tony Allen.  Well, at least Good Tony.  Pierce was having trouble early in the series, but PP also missed a lot of shots he will usually make.  Not sure Ron's making Pierce work any harder than TA's made Kobe work.

And on offense...  I love every jump shot Ron Artest takes.  Dude's HORRIBLE.

Plus, we now know that he's a flopper.  Funniest thing I've ever heard on a broadcast, after Rondo's little push and RonRon's Oscar-worthy fall, JVG screaming "Say Queensbridge NOW, Ron!"

[Bankshot]

At this point, I'm not sure how much better Artest is than Tony Allen.  Well, at least Good Tony.  Pierce was having trouble early in the series, but PP also missed a lot of shots he will usually make.  Not sure Ron's making Pierce work any harder than TA's made Kobe work.

And on offense...  I love every jump shot Ron Artest takes.  Dude's HORRIBLE.

Plus, we now know that he's a flopper.  Funniest thing I've ever heard on a broadcast, after Rondo's little push and RonRon's Oscar-worthy fall, JVG screaming "Say Queensbridge NOW, Ron!"

Ariza is a much better offensive player than Tony and Artest.

[Fafnir]

LA would be better with Ariza.  Good, quick defender with the ability to hit the outside shot. 

That's the thing though, Ariza really isn't a better shooter than Artest and he showed that this year in Houston.

He's a better cutter and finisher at the rim though, and those aspects of his game would really benefit LA who are getting nothing from Artest offensively.

I don't know if he's a better defender than Artest though, all the stats and the first several playoff series tells me Ron Ron still has an edge in that department.

[the_Bird]

Oh, I'd absolutely take Ariza over either of them.  Dumb move by LA to make the de-facto Artest-for-Ariza swap this summer.  Said it at the time, still believe it.

Just shocking that Artest seems to have gotten so much worse on the offensive end, and now he's not quite the same defender.  Good, but not lockdown.

[Fafnir]

At this point, I'm not sure how much better Artest is than Tony Allen.  Well, at least Good Tony.  Pierce was having trouble early in the series, but PP also missed a lot of shots he will usually make.  Not sure Ron's making Pierce work any harder than TA's made Kobe work.

And on offense...  I love every jump shot Ron Artest takes.  Dude's HORRIBLE.

Plus, we now know that he's a flopper.  Funniest thing I've ever heard on a broadcast, after Rondo's little push and RonRon's Oscar-worthy fall, JVG screaming "Say Queensbridge NOW, Ron!"

Ariza is a much better offensive player than Tony and Artest.

Yes, but only because he'll flash to the rim strongly. Most importantly he'll keep flashing even when his team mates don't find him, Artest won't do that.

[Celtics17]

Teams seem to do this all the time. They have a player who is a great 'fit' and they undervalue him. I kind of thought we did it with Posey too. It's really difficult to be a player who just happens to do exactly what your team needs the most, and in the case of Posey, do it at just the right time too. Those players are special, rarely need the limelight, and yet are so often undervalued.

[Fafnir]

Teams seem to do this all the time. They have a player who is a great 'fit' and they undervalue him. I kind of thought we did it with Posey too. It's really difficult to be a player who just happens to do exactly what your team needs the most, and in the case of Posey, do it at just the right time too. Those players are special, rarely need the limelight, and yet are so often undervalued.

By all reports LA wanted Ariza for the same deal they ended up signing Artest to.

The problem was that Ariza felt like he should get more than the MLE from LA, despite no other team offering him more than the MLE.