This is my main problem with Artest. Top seven at his position? Sure. But Everybody on this board could name at least ten players better than Ron.Ron Ron said:I definitely feel like I’m one of the top players in the game. I would say top seven
True but i have heard many writers from SI and ESPN and alot of "experts" in general say that artest is one of the few players in the game, maybe top 5 who is able to change a game. He is a top player in this league, top 7? no but he is GREAT and i dont have a problem with him saying that. As long as he continues to play unselfish basketball and takes good shots (which he does for the most part but no one will say) then i dont have a problem with him saying that.This is my main problem with Artest. Top seven at his position? Sure. But Everybody on this board could name at least ten players better than Ron.
Exactly what i was trying to say but you definitely put it best, thank you.I've heard Jerry Reynolds call Ron Artest one of the top 15 all-around players in the NBA several times in the past few years and top 5 in defense. Top 10, Top 7 - it's all subjective. There's no doubt he's in the top 10% of elite players in a league with ONLY about 385 total on all rosters. Most basketball experts (GM's, writers, etc.) agree he's NBA first team defense every year (or no worse than second team) along with names like Camby, Bowen, Duncan, plus a small handful of others. I thought the interview was revealing and reinforced a lot of what I already knew about Ron Artest. Mainly, that he's not as bad as generally portrayed.
Nice work, Glenn. I think you have excellent incite into Ron Ron here. The question is can we live and thrive as an organization with the bad choices this good guy makes?I suspect many people won't read the whole article because there are too many words - a product of this generation. I think, though, that people who have a reflex reaction to the words "Ron Artest" should set aside some time and read it.
Then expand your minds a bit and remember that every basketball player has a story to tell, perhaps not all as intelligently as Ron, but they all have a story. They didn't suddenly appear fully formed and become NBA players. They all are determined, they all have sacrificed, and they all are very skilled.
As public figures, they can be trashed. That's part of what getting all that money earns.
We don't know them. I think what we really don't know is what motivates these guys and what got them to our team. Sadly, we don't even know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys because they all have been trained in how to respond to the media and they all say the same thing.
To me, Ron Artest is one of the good guys. Unfortunately, some times good guys do bad things. I don't want bad guys on the Kings. I want Artest on the Kings because he is good for the Kings. Some day, I'll write a lot more words of what I expect from Ron's behavior in the future. What we DO with Ron depends on what we expect from his behavior, isn't it?
As a single player he is top 15. As a team player I think he is more around #30-50 or so. There are so many better team players out there than Artest.
You can take a team like USA Dream Team, and they lose to a bunch of no names because it seems that people select the good 1v1 players. You take a team of roleplayers who know what their role is on a team, and put thm against the world and the outcome would probably be better than the Dream Team (with the exception of the 1992 dream team).
People have to put themselves in my shoes and understand that the brawl was not ENTIRELY my fault. How many people are going to let somebody push them under any circumstance? I did. I let somebody push me. I showed a lot of restraint. What about that? How many people are going to let someone throw beer in their face from rows high off the floor? There are going to be people that disagree with that.
I've always had the same high hopes for Ron, and was one of the few people that when all that stuff went down with his dogs and wife last year, didnt jump on the 'trade Crazy Ron' bandwagon. Ron has matured so much since he has been here, and now we're seeing the fruit from taking the chance on him...Ron is good for the Kings, period.Absolutely. I hope Theus can mold a different Artest. This is part of why I have more hopes for Ron than most people.
I still do not think he should be on this team if we want Martin to improve and become a bona fide star.
We need to lock him up to the same contract Kevin got!