Thoughts on Ron's return to Indiana on Friday (merged)

[hanchiho]

ron artest has shown us he's the best defender today.
friday night game with pacers is gonna be great.hopefully ron doesnt try anything stupid, such as being "KOBE"(taking too much stupid shots) to try to prove something.
ironically i kinda want him to take peja out of his rhythm cuz we need every win we can get on road.

so what's your prediction??

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

ron artest has shown us he's the best defender today.
friday night game with pacers is gonna be great.hopefully ron doesnt try anything stupid, such as being "KOBE"(taking too much stupid shots) to try to prove something.
ironically i kinda want him to take peja out of his rhythm cuz we need every win we can get on road.

so what's your prediction??

Peja= 5-16 shooting, 23 pts/6 rebs. Average Peja night, for this season, at least. Ron doesnt really need to do much to take Peja out of his rhythm because Peja takes Peja out of his rhythm, he still hasnt really found his shot, even with Indiana. Ron will only frustrate Peja that much more. But, I hope I'm not wrong and goes for 40 or something against his old mates.

 

[piksi]

I am concerned about;

a) Pacers fans who will make him a target to say the least

b) his former teammates who might provoke him to try to get in his head.

other than that - he will be fine.

Hell, I would even consider sitting Ron out. Way too valuable to take such big risks. Then again, everything might just go without problems.

the game itself will be interesting because Pacers are much better than lakers.
Hopefully we don't get killed by Jackson again

 

[SacTownKid]

I am not worried about Jackson as much as I am Pollard and Foster. Lets hope Brad is aggressive on D as he was tonight.

 

[hanchiho]

Peja= 5-16 shooting, 23 pts/6 rebs. Average Peja night, for this season, at least. Ron doesnt really need to do much to take Peja out of his rhythm because Peja takes Peja out of his rhythm, he still hasnt really found his shot, even with Indiana. Ron will only frustrate Peja that much more. But, I hope I'm not wrong and goes for 40 or something against his old mates.

interesting point
peja take peja out haha
i notice that recently there were some pacers fans complaining about peja not scoring in the 4th quarter

 

[bigbadred00]

The big question is, what will the fans do? Standing ovation or BOO? Artest has put the Pacer fans through a lot. I don't know how they react to former players especially ones that asked to be moved.

 

[Bricklayer]

No prediction. Just hope. Bit of a dangerous test for Ron here. Things are going so well for us that its hard to see him doing anything stupid, but I do think I could see him getting thrown off his game if he isn't 100% focused.

 

[piksi]

The big question is, what will the fans do? Standing ovation or BOO? Artest has put the Pacer fans through a lot. I don't know how they react to former players especially ones that asked to be moved.

are You serious ?

chances of him getting standing ovations are as big as the chances of lakers winning tonight

 

[bigbadred00]

I guess your right, just wondering if they will heavily boo, indifferent, or ovations. I guess I'm skewed due to the Kings fans. I think the Kings will give Peja a round of applause even though 1.5 seasons earlier than he actually left he asked to be traded. Well whatever, just wondering.

 

[foretaz]

i think the reaction from the fans will be very, very mixed.....with probably more boos than positive responses....hope im wrong, but thats my guess....

as for rons performance, ive probably never been more curious to see how he will play than in this game.....

ron will say its all about the team, as he said earlier tonite...that its not about him....

but i know there is no way this is just another game for ron....not even close....nor is it just another game for the pacers....i assure u there is not a game that ron artest wants to win more than this upcoming one...and i assure u theres not a game the pacer players want to win more than this one....

it should be incredibly entertaining to see how it all plays out...

id love for ron to have a great game and the pacers win....but i will be honest....if i was betting, id probably bet against both....i wouldnt be surprised at all to see ron have a subpar game....this will be a true test for him....and i also wouldnt be surprised to see my pacers lose...because for a number of reasons, theyre just not very good right now....

 

[piksi]

I guess your right, just wondering if they will heavily boo, indifferent, or ovations. I guess I'm skewed due to the Kings fans. I think the Kings will give Peja a round of applause even those 1.5 seasons earlier than he actually left he asked to be traded. Well whatever, just wondering.

Pedja will get standing ovations. Kings fans are classy. You can take that to the bank

 

[bigbadred00]

i think the reaction from the fans will be very, very mixed.....with probably more boos than positive responses....hope im wrong, but thats my guess....

as for rons performance, ive probably never been more curious to see how he will play than in this game.....

ron will say its all about the team, as he said earlier tonite...that its not about him....

but i know there is no way this is just another game for ron....not even close....nor is it just another game for the pacers....i assure u there is not a game that ron artest wants to win more than this upcoming one...and i assure u theres not a game the pacer players want to win more than this one....

it should be incredibly entertaining to see how it all plays out...

id love for ron to have a great game and the pacers win....but i will be honest....if i was betting, id probably bet against both....i wouldnt be surprised at all to see ron have a subpar game....this will be a true test for him....and i also wouldnt be surprised to see my pacers lose...because for a number of reasons, theyre just not very good right now....

I think the Pacer fans were kind of spoiled with the Pacers hot start which was fueled by a lot of home games. I read on the ESPN boards that some fans wanted to trade Jermaine and they have been incessant in trading Jackson. Wtih that being said the team even without Jermaine is doing a pretty damn good job. When Jermaine comes back, and if Tinsley ever gets healthy, your top 10 players are very strong and very solid and probally the 3rd most talented team in the East by far. It's hard to win a lot of games without your best player.

 

[ImaKingsFan]

Indiana fans are passionate basketball fans. I could see it getting ugly and them booing Ron everytime he touches the ball. I can also see some of his former teammates trying to get in his head and take him out of his game. I hope none of the above happens and Kings go to Pacerland and bring home da W.

 

[piksi]

i think the reaction from the fans will be very, very mixed.....with probably more boos than positive responses....hope im wrong, but thats my guess....

as for rons performance, ive probably never been more curious to see how he will play than in this game.....

ron will say its all about the team, as he said earlier tonite...that its not about him....

but i know there is no way this is just another game for ron....not even close....nor is it just another game for the pacers....i assure u there is not a game that ron artest wants to win more than this upcoming one...and i assure u theres not a game the pacer players want to win more than this one....

it should be incredibly entertaining to see how it all plays out...

id love for ron to have a great game and the pacers win....but i will be honest....if i was betting, id probably bet against both....i wouldnt be surprised at all to see ron have a subpar game....this will be a true test for him....and i also wouldnt be surprised to see my pacers lose...because for a number of reasons, theyre just not very good right now....

worst case scenario - I would rather lose a game than lose Ron and I hate losing games. I figure - if we can keep it close - we should be able to steal it.

 

[Kings113]

I think there'll be some things early, but he'll get going and do fine. Fans will be very mixed, and probably boo most of the time when he touches the ball. Peja will get some baskets, but will have a pretty tough night.

I think we win it, though am not definitely expecting a win.

 

[foretaz]

worst case scenario - I would rather lose a game than lose Ron and I hate losing games. I figure - if we can keep it close - we should be able to steal it.

im not sure what u mean by losing ron....unless hes injured, and im not sure how thats more likely to happen in indy than any other place....

i wouldnt be surprised if ron tried to force it a bit too much....like i said, it will definitely be the ultimate test in that regard, as theres not a game he would rather win than this one....and in the past, when hes been so pumped and insistent on winning, he sometimes has forced things a bit too much....thats why i mentioned i wouldnt be shocked if he has a sub par game....

one of the things to keep an eye on is this....prior to the season, there were reports of legendary-like one on one workouts with ron and granger....that could be very entertaining to watch if those guys go at it, which will probably happen at some point...

the pacers just arent that good right now....and it pains me to say that.....we had an unbelievably cush schedule in february that lead to some false sense of reality.....we are struggling against bad teams, indeed losing to quite a number of them....the kings are playing well right now....and uve got ron, brad, and bonzi having a homecoming....i know the pacer players will never be more motivated to win a game than this one, im just a bit skeptical on their ability to do so against a motivated kings team....frankly, it pains me to say so, but the best chance the pacers have of winning is if ron loses total focus and insists on continually forcing things the whole game-and is unsuccessful in that effort....thats the thing about ron, even when he forces things, it doesnt always end up bad....

as ive said....interesting and entertaining....

 

[SacTownKid]

Peja will score 82 points...

 

[JJ22L]

interesting point
peja take peja out haha
i notice that recently there were some pacers fans complaining about peja not scoring in the 4th quarter[/quote]




Peja...not scoring in the 4th!! you dont sayyyyy

 

[Andriod_KiNg]

Its going to be a long day for Peja.

 

[foretaz]

do u guys think that Rick will put artest on peja??? im not so sure he will....i wouldnt be surprised to see him put martin on him and artest on jackson....

i think thats probably what i would do.....frankly, jackson will take martin into the post and probably tear him up....peja doesnt have much of a post game and spends his time on the perimeter....martin would be better suited to deal with peja than jackson...

at the very least i would start out with artest on jackson and see how it goes....now when its fred jones and peja at the wing when jackson is sitting, then theres nothing wrong with putting artest on peja....but with both peja and jackson in the lineup, the kings are probably better served by putting artest on jackson....in truth, this is probably a game where bonzi and artest would be more effective starting, with martin coming off the bench....it would probably be better matchups on both ends for the kings....

 

[Hicks]

No prediction. Just hope. Bit of a dangerous test for Ron here. Things are going so well for us that its hard to see him doing anything stupid, but I do think I could see him getting thrown off his game if he isn't 100% focused.

That's exactly when he DOES do something stupid!

Sorry, that just screamed in my head when I read that. And it was typically so painfully true here in Indy. Fair warning.

Friday should be interesting. I know that with us, when we played Chicago Ron tried hard to show them the mistake they made by trading him, and that didn't always workout for him. He had a few really good games against them IIRC, but he also tried to shoot too much in others.

As for Peja, he has found his shot here for the most part. The last couple of games have lowered his stats, but as of a week ago he was shooting 47% from 3, now it's down to 42%. "Darn!"

With that said, I expect Ron to make his life hard. However, usually taller and longer guys give Ron trouble on both ends if he can't overpower them, and I can't remember if Peja usually did well on Ron or not; they didn't matchup too often as King vs Pacer. In the 1-3 times I think they did play one another, I remember Peja being pretty average. Guess we'll see.

When he's introduced, I expect a mixture of cheers and boos. Probably more boos. He really screwed us.

 

[Hicks]

interesting point
peja take peja out haha
i notice that recently there were some pacers fans complaining about peja not scoring in the 4th quarter[/quote]




Peja...not scoring in the 4th!! you dont sayyyyy

In this case, it hasn't really been his fault. We really stop going to him for the majority of the 4th, so he only gets a few shots. He hit what ended up being the game-winner in NO/OK last week.

Frankly the way he shoots (when he hits it looks smooth as anything, when he misses it can be UUUUGLY sometimes), I think some of his reputation as a choker is a bad rap. Even the best 3pt shooters miss over half of their shots. And he hit at least one game winner or tie-er in the playoffs, right? I want to say against the Mavs?

 

[Andriod_KiNg]

As for Peja, he has found his shot here for the most part. The last couple of games have lowered his stats, but as of a week ago he was shooting 47% from 3, now it's down to 42%. "Darn!"

With that said, I expect Ron to make his life hard. However, usually taller and longer guys give Ron trouble on both ends if he can't overpower them, and I can't remember if Peja usually did well on Ron or not; they didn't matchup too often as King vs Pacer. In the 1-3 times I think they did play one another, I remember Peja being pretty average. Guess we'll see.

Make no mistake, Peja 1 dimensional game will be quickly shot to the ground, and Artest will basicly just man handle him on both ends of the court.

Thats just my opionion though.

 

[foretaz]

When he's introduced, I expect a mixture of cheers and boos. Probably more boos. He really screwed us.

whos this us u speak of????

while u may feel like he screwed you, that doesnt make it factual...it only makes it ur opinion, which ur totally entitled to... im not sure who else u feel qualified to say such things for....but its hardly an opinion that is shared by all....

 

[swisshh]

I think Ron's game will be a mixed bag. I am not sure if he'll be matched up on Peja or Jackson, but either should be important. It will be emotional and it seems players tend to be a little off on the offensive end in those sort of games.

 

[piksi]

do u guys think that Rick will put artest on peja??? im not so sure he will....i wouldnt be surprised to see him put martin on him and artest on jackson....

i think thats probably what i would do.....frankly, jackson will take martin into the post and probably tear him up....peja doesnt have much of a post game and spends his time on the perimeter....martin would be better suited to deal with peja than jackson...

at the very least i would start out with artest on jackson and see how it goes....now when its fred jones and peja at the wing when jackson is sitting, then theres nothing wrong with putting artest on peja....but with both peja and jackson in the lineup, the kings are probably better served by putting artest on jackson....in truth, this is probably a game where bonzi and artest would be more effective starting, with martin coming off the bench....it would probably be better matchups on both ends for the kings....

Kevin Martin on Pedja - nah. Ron will do just fine

 

[piksi]

im not sure what u mean by losing ron....unless hes injured, and im not sure how thats more likely to happen in indy than any other place....

..

what I mean is a small incident that can always happen. I don't know. An elbow under the basket, anything. Ron doesn't need to cause it and yet he will be guilty. Stern can't wait for thet. Anything at all meand 5 games suspension at least. We can't afford it. I would rather take my chances without him for one game. Much less risk

 

[foretaz]

Kevin Martin on Pedja - nah. Ron will do just fine

im really curious....why do u say that....based on what ive seen and i know the pacers backwards and forwards it would seem to make sense.....

the pacers will iso jack against martin....its one of their favorite plays....thats not gonna go well for martin, especially since it will probably be in the post....

peja on the other hand spends most of his time running off screens and playing on the perimeter....given the fact artest is likely to totally shut down anything jackson wants to do, i would think martin would be able to run around with peja pretty good...and get a hand in his face on any jumpers....when u then throw in the fact that peja is likely to have a poor game due to the fact hes playing his old team and i can see it making alot of sense....

as i said earlier, i think bonzi on jackson and artest on peja would probably be the best thing yet....

but tell me which part of that u dont think works....im really curious...

 

[piksi]

im really curious....why do u say that....based on what ive seen and i know the pacers backwards and forwards it would seem to make sense.....

the pacers will iso jack against martin....its one of their favorite plays....thats not gonna go well for martin, especially since it will probably be in the post....

peja on the other hand spends most of his time running off screens and playing on the perimeter....given the fact artest is likely to totally shut down anything jackson wants to do, i would think martin would be able to run around with peja pretty good...and get a hand in his face on any jumpers....when u then throw in the fact that peja is likely to have a poor game due to the fact hes playing his old team and i can see it making alot of sense....

as i said earlier, i think bonzi on jackson and artest on peja would probably be the best thing yet....

but tell me which part of that u dont think works....im really curious...

The way - jackson is playing - I wouldn't mind to see him shooting 30 times. If he catches fire - we can always switch. I would assume that Pacers will go to Pedja more than usual. Pedja is a quick starter. He can score 15-20 in the first if he is on and we let him. Kings have the tendency to start slow. We don't want to dig a hole and play catch up. Start safe with Ron on Pedja and then see how it is going. In thing that makes me feel good is the fact the there is noone and I mean noone that know Pedja better than Rick Adelman. I am quiet sure that he will have the right strategy. With Pedja - You never know. He won't be open regardless because he is the one that has the most potential to hurt us. it will be an interesting game.

 

[foretaz]

The way - jackson is playing - I wouldn't mind to see him shooting 30 times. If he catches fire - we can always switch. I would assume that Pacers will go to Pedja more than usual. Pedja is a quick starter. He can score 15-20 in the first if he is on and we let him. Kings have the tendency to start slow. We don't want to dig a hole and play catch up. Start safe with Ron on Pedja and then see how it is going. In thing that makes me feel good is the fact the there is noone and I mean noone that know Pedja better than Rick Adelman. I am quiet sure that he will have the right strategy. With Pedja - You never know. He won't be open regardless because he is the one that has the most potential to hurt us. it will be an interesting game.

we will see...should be interesting...typically the pacers go to jackson early and often....and if hes got martin on him, they will probably do an iso nearly every time down, and in the post more often times than not....

i actually think the guys that the kings will end up struggling with will be harrison, tinsley and foster....with the big variable being harrison...i think the pacers need a big game from harrison to have a chance....