Artest Fan
Prospect
I'm a Pacers fan and as much as I hate what he's done to this franchise the past two years I can't hate the guy. His game is too good and watching him battle the likes of Kobe, Lebron, Pierce, Carter, or whoever can almost be awe-inspiring on certain nights.
I'm sure many Pacer fans will be bitter and hope Ron implodes, but I would love to see him flourish in Sacramento. I kind of see Sacramento as the Western Conference version of the Pacers. We're both relatively small markets in the NBA, loyal and supportive fan bases, and have both been about as good over the past 5-10 years as a franchise can be without winning a championship.
Ron liked living in Indy and I think he'll like living in Sacramento. The key in making this work long-term will be if the other leaders on the team can deal with Ron successfully. JO couldn't and Carlisle's controlling offense (Ron isn't the only one that was/is unhappy with it) didn't make matters any better. I think Ron will be happier in your free-flowing offense and his relationship with other players has to be better than it was with JO (it already is with Brad).
My prediction for Ron in Sacramento is this. You will fall in love with his game quickly. You will win more games with him and work your way into the playoffs. Somewhere down the line, it may be this season or next, Ron will do something that makes everyone scratch their heads and upsets quite a few people. How everyone reacts and deals with this (or those) situations will determine how successful you can be with Ron in Sacramento. My advice is that if it is just words, ignore them. Ron speaks without thinking sometimes and quite frankly the Pacers would've been better off if they would've initially ignored Ron's trade request because the whole thing would've blown over in a few weeks. If the Kings can just adopt an attitude of "It's just Ron being Ron" then I think it has a chance to work long-term.
Finally, the best analogy I've ever read on a Pacers board concerning Ron is the following. Ron on your favorite team is like dating a "perfect 10", whoever that might be for you . . . your absolute dream girl. However, you know that this girl is going to cheat on you. In the end, she will still come back to you (Ron will come back and help your favorite team win if you let him) but you have to be willing to let this happen to make it work, even with the knowledge that it's going to happen again.
Good luck with Ron. May he be more faithful to you than he was to us. I know there will be many of us looking on from Indiana with interest.
I'm sure many Pacer fans will be bitter and hope Ron implodes, but I would love to see him flourish in Sacramento. I kind of see Sacramento as the Western Conference version of the Pacers. We're both relatively small markets in the NBA, loyal and supportive fan bases, and have both been about as good over the past 5-10 years as a franchise can be without winning a championship.
Ron liked living in Indy and I think he'll like living in Sacramento. The key in making this work long-term will be if the other leaders on the team can deal with Ron successfully. JO couldn't and Carlisle's controlling offense (Ron isn't the only one that was/is unhappy with it) didn't make matters any better. I think Ron will be happier in your free-flowing offense and his relationship with other players has to be better than it was with JO (it already is with Brad).
My prediction for Ron in Sacramento is this. You will fall in love with his game quickly. You will win more games with him and work your way into the playoffs. Somewhere down the line, it may be this season or next, Ron will do something that makes everyone scratch their heads and upsets quite a few people. How everyone reacts and deals with this (or those) situations will determine how successful you can be with Ron in Sacramento. My advice is that if it is just words, ignore them. Ron speaks without thinking sometimes and quite frankly the Pacers would've been better off if they would've initially ignored Ron's trade request because the whole thing would've blown over in a few weeks. If the Kings can just adopt an attitude of "It's just Ron being Ron" then I think it has a chance to work long-term.
Finally, the best analogy I've ever read on a Pacers board concerning Ron is the following. Ron on your favorite team is like dating a "perfect 10", whoever that might be for you . . . your absolute dream girl. However, you know that this girl is going to cheat on you. In the end, she will still come back to you (Ron will come back and help your favorite team win if you let him) but you have to be willing to let this happen to make it work, even with the knowledge that it's going to happen again.
Good luck with Ron. May he be more faithful to you than he was to us. I know there will be many of us looking on from Indiana with interest.
