Which Ron will show up?

[VF21]

A new blog entry has been added:

[drupal=49]Which Ron will show up?[/drupal]

So, the Kings face the Utah Jazz again and you have to wonder which Ron Artest will show up? Personally, I'm through trying to figure him out. I'd rather see Garcia and Salmons get his minutes. The chest-pounding, posturing, trouble-making, etc. has just become a sour taste that I'd rather not experience again.

Brad should be back on the court and hopefully we'll see a return to TEAM ball and not "RON ARTEST THEATER." Yes, he can take over games but that's not gonna do us much good. My personal feeling is that we need to move him out of town for the first offer - decent or not - that comes along.

Ask Brad...a sharp knife cuts best. We need to use a surgically sharp scalpel and remove Artest from the Kings if we expect to continue to show any kind of growth.

That's my lecture for today.

The game discussion thread is here.

The PBP thread is here.

Let's get ready for some Kings basketball!!!

GO KINGS!!!

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Ask Brad...a sharp knife cuts best. We need to use a surgically sharp scalpel and remove Artest from the Kings if we expect to continue to show any kind of growth.

At this point, I think its only a matter of days before Ron isnt a member of our team. But, what kind of knife/surgical instrument can we use to trade one Michael Bibby? We definitely need to trade him, as well, to continue this 'path', if you will, however uncertain it may be.

 

[VF21]

I don't want this to turn into a trade discussion thread because there are already way too many of them, IMHO.

Thanks...

 

[ForlornKing]

well sorry thats what you get for posting a blog like that.

 

[fnordius]

One also has to wonder... which refs are going to show up? Last time we played Utah, Ron was being a buffoon with the Utah crowd (not a concern tonight), but things didn't fall apart until he was on the receiving end of some fairly physical play by Harpring, which the refs didn't seem to be interested in whistling. For whatever reason, Utah is one of the venues where home cooking gets pretty extreme, and I don't expect a total repeat in Arco, but... it'll be interesting to see how the refs call this one, and how that impacts on Ron's game.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

I think a big question to go along with the Ron and Mike questions, is what Kevin will show up, as well? Hopefully it was just one bad game and he can move on to have one of his normal-type games tonight.

 

[Larry89]

I have a feeling Ron will turn into the hulk and throw Matt Harping into a table with a bunch of gatorades on it.

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

I think the game will start out with Ron being overly aggressive, and we all know that an overly aggressive Ron who doesn't let the game come to him is prone to forcing shots, jacking up turnovers and impeding ball movement. Who knows whether that will boil over is anyone's guess--I just can't see, given Ron's current state of mind, how he'll be passive in today's game.

 

[VF21]

well sorry thats what you get for posting a blog like that.

I was simply asking people not to turn this into another discussion of trade possibilities. Your input will be given all the consideration it deserves.

------------------------------------------

The main point of my comment today was about Ron Artest. It's my feeling the ticking is definitely getting louder. And when the opponent coming into Arco is led by Jerry Sloan AND the most recent game ended up in RonRon being ejected, it's my belief that if you aren't at least a bit concerned you simply don't understand the situation.

I agree with all of you. There are a LOT of questions hanging over Arco right now. Officials could easily play a major role - as could the fans in attendance.

 

[VF21]

I think the game will start out with Ron being overly aggressive, and we all know that an overly aggressive Ron who doesn't let the game come to him is prone to forcing shots, jacking up turnovers and impeding ball movement. Who knows whether that will boil over is anyone's guess--I just can't see, given Ron's current state of mind, how he'll be passive in today's game.

Yep.

And this could be the first REAL test of Reggie Theus as a coach. If Ron starts to implode will Reggie be willing to sit him on the bench?

Inquiring minds have a lot of questions right now...

 

[Glenn]

And if he doesn't implode, will people be disappointed.

 

[bench_blob]

A new blog entry has been added:

[drupal=49]Which Ron will show up?[/drupal]

So, the Kings face the Utah Jazz again and you have to wonder which Ron Artest will show up? Personally, I'm through trying to figure him out. I'd rather see Garcia and Salmons get his minutes. The chest-pounding, posturing, trouble-making, etc. has just become a sour taste that I'd rather not experience again.

Brad should be back on the court and hopefully we'll see a return to TEAM ball and not "RON ARTEST THEATER." Yes, he can take over games but that's not gonna do us much good. My personal feeling is that we need to move him out of town for the first offer - decent or not - that comes along.

Ask Brad...a sharp knife cuts best. We need to use a surgically sharp scalpel and remove Artest from the Kings if we expect to continue to show any kind of growth.

That's my lecture for today.

The game discussion thread is here.

The PBP thread is here.

Let's get ready for some Kings basketball!!!

GO KINGS!!!

There's a lot of hypocrisy on this board RE: Ron Artest and this VF21 blog is another shining example.

I respect your right to an opinion but let me lay it down for you:

If I guy wants to thump his chest, and make a bicep muscle in the midst of competition, my response to that is "so what?" Who cares?!!! It is totally irrelevant and inconsequential as to merit zero discussion. Would you rather a player cower and timidly refrain from any show of self-competence?

And how many times have we as fans bemoaned the fact that are TEAM is soft, that are players are SOFT, and here we have a guy who is anything but....why does the toughest guy on the team garner the most venom from fans???

Ron Artest is a true small forward...and yet he is our BEST power forward. He chews up opposing power forwards, they can't guard him, and yet he can guard them, and has no problem defending guys bigger than he is in the post....he is tough as nails and our only low post presence, ok let's ship him away for any decent offer or not....NICE PLAN!

Let's start Kenny Thomas at the point, and make Justin Williams are starting off-guard, and maybe rehire Musselman to replace Theus, how 'bout it?

I am not opposed to moving Artest if the right deal comes along, but we are not taking back less value, and thankfully Petrie I have no doubt will show the same restraint and measured judgement....and always separate personality quirks from talent when it comes to personnel maneuvers.

I would add too: No move is better than a BAD move. Let him walk, or let's do an off-seasnon sign and trade: Andres Iguodola is a restricted free agent this summer.

 

[VF21]

Ron Artest is a ticking time bomb. If you can overlook the ticking, more power to you.

 

[BMiller52]

well sorry thats what you get for posting a blog like that.

We should keep Bibby until the offseason when he becomes a 15 million dollar expiring contract, then flip him for an unhappy star. It sucks we'll have to continue to watch him chuck up bricks for the rest of the year though, but then hopefully he'll be gone next year.

 

[fnordius]

I have a feeling Ron will turn into the hulk and throw Matt Harping into a table with a bunch of gatorades on it.

That reminds me, thanks to fans here who post special Kings moments on youtube. Some of us can only listen to most of the games, and hearing Harpring crash into the table just wouldn't be the same.

 

[Glenn]

With less than two weeks until the NBA's trade deadline, it remains a mystery whether Ron Artest's days in Sacramento are nearing the end he's so sure is coming.

More...

 

[reid1boys]

If you dont want threads to turn into trade discussions than dont post in your thread that we should trade th eguy for next to nothing. Doesnt that seem foolish on your part???
Uhh, i dont want this thread to turn into one of the many trade discussions, but by the way, i think we should trade him for the first offer that comes along???????????????

By the way, Ron has played like an animal over the past 3 weeks if you havent noticed. The straight up one on one action has not happened as much, and you can include him on the list of players that has shown great ball movement.

So while you can keep preaching how the kings should unload Artest for nothing, Ill keep reminding you that this team is playing very well right NOW, and the the Kings could probably re-sign Artest. You can not trade him for anything close to equal value, and he is a match up problem for dang near every team we play to the Kings advantage. I dont think Ron has done anything close to the things you try to attribute to him. Is Jason Kidd a time bomb also?? he is getting triple doubles while at the same time telling the Nets he needs to be traded.

Ill just keep screaming to keep this team as it is, because i think this current group is pretty darn good, and the teams they have beaten shows that. They need to stay healthy.

By the way, did you like the chest thumping last night on that monstrous dunk on the break Artest did? Did that get the crowd excited? Dont we need more of that?

 

[Warhawk]

Hopefully this Ron will go back into hiding - sounds like lots of "backstage" disruptions going on:

http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/700347.html

With the trade talk relatively quiet, Artest continued to make noise in Sacramento. His absence from Thursday's practice created a ripple effect of sorts for Reggie Theus and his team, one that threatened to undermine the first-year coach but was somewhat contained before Friday night's game after a bizarre sequence of events.

After the Kings' loss to Seattle on Wednesday, sources close to the team said a frustrated Theus told his players that anyone who missed the next day's practice would not play against Utah on Friday. Yet Beno Udrih and Artest did not practice, the point guard because of an illness and the small forward - according to Theus and team officials - because of sore knees and feet.

The team sources said Theus relented on his stance Friday morning, telling the team it wasn't fair to punish injured or sick players for not practicing. Yet after Friday's shootaround, Artest - who had attended the practice but didn't participate - said he wasn't sore and that he simply wanted the rest.

"I just wanted to take a day off," Artest said. .... It's not a big thing if I take off."

 

[reid1boys]

I remember Jimmy Johnson talking about how to deal with players on his team. He was asked how he would handle a player falling asleep at one of his meetings. He said that if a special teams player was to fall asleep, hed cut him the next day.

He said if Emmitt Smith fell asleep he would stop the film session and announce to the team that it was, " Nap Time!"

He said that you treat players differently and it isup to the coach to figure out how to best do that. I think Theus, as a former player, handled that situation perfectly. The next day that big " Trouble Maker," Ron Ron went out and played a great game and helped his team to a very impressive win.
Remember, "We talkin bout practice."

 

[Glenn]

Here's the full article without cherry picking and bold facing. If we assume the writer is reasonably truthful about what happened and not exaggerating anything, it might be best that people read the article and make up their own mind how serious this issue is/was.

http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/700347.html

Edit - text removed - remember we are not posting entire articles. Hence the link in my post and the "snippets" you refer to.

 

[PurpleHaze]

What I got from the article was not so much, "MAY-DAY! ANOTHER ARTEST BLOW-UP! - but whatever little crisis it was or was not, Coach Theus handled it DEFTLY.

 

[Andriod_KiNg]

What I got from the article was not so much, "MAY-DAY! ANOTHER ARTEST BLOW-UP! - but whatever little crisis it was or was not, Coach Theus handled it DEFTLY.

It would be nice if there was nothing to handle.

Ill take a bag potato chips in a trade at this point.

 

[Glenn]

Here's the full article without cherry picking and bold facing. If we assume the writer is reasonably truthful about what happened and not exaggerating anything, it might be best that people read the article and make up their own mind how serious this issue is/was.

http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/700347.html

Edit - text removed - remember we are not posting entire articles. Hence the link in my post and the "snippets" you refer to.

Then let me add that Reggie Theus did not seem upset by any of this and in fact said that veterans earn a little leeway especially in relationship to whether they practice or not.

I remember full well about the rules but as you cherry picked the article to make your point I thought more was necessary as you left a misleading impression. It is human nature to just read the snippet and not read the whole article especially when it appears that someone has selected out all the pertinent information which in fact, you had not.

Let me repeat, Theus was not bothered. He had set a rule that everyone must practice and then faced with Beno and Artest missing practice (not just Artest) he changed his mind as to how strict he was going to be.

Theus is learning.

 

[Warhawk]

Then let me add that Reggie Theus did not seem upset by any of this and in fact said that veterans earn a little leeway especially in relationship to whether they practice or not.

I remember full well about the rules but as you cherry picked the article to make your point I thought more was necessary as you left a misleading impression. It is human nature to just read the snippet and not read the whole article especially when it appears that someone has selected out all the pertinent information which in fact, you had not.

Let me repeat, Theus was not bothered. He had set a rule that everyone must practice and then faced with Beno and Artest missing practice (not just Artest) he changed his mind as to how strict he was going to be.

Theus is learning.

I don't think I left a misleading impression of anything.

I never said Theus was overly upset.

All I said was Ron was causing more disruptions. And he is, by choosing not to practice when he's not sick or injured. And if you think Theus is TRULY OK with this, I disagree. Read a little closer. Point was, he wanted everyone to practice. Ron elected not to on his own, and not because of an injury or illness (like Beno).

Brad's finger is sliced open. He practiced. Ron is a player that practices constantly, is proud of how good an example he sets, how long he practices, and how tough and strong he is. And then he just "chooses" not to practice after coach said he wants everyone to work after the terrible game they had. And you don't think that's disruptive to a team?

Theus, I think, is just playing nice until Ron's behind is on the quickest flight out of town. Ron needs to be showcased an he can't do that sitting on the bench. Artest knows he has certain leverage right now, and is using it to his advantage.

 

[Glenn]

I don't think I left a misleading impression of anything.

I never said Theus was overly upset.

All I said was Ron was causing more disruptions. And he is, by choosing not to practice when he's not sick or injured. And if you think Theus is TRULY OK with this, I disagree. Read a little closer. Point was, he wanted everyone to practice. Ron elected not to on his own, and not because of an injury or illness (like Beno).

Theus, I think, is just playing nice until Ron's behind is on the quickest flight out of town. Ron needs to be showcased an he can't do that sitting on the bench. Artest knows he has certain leverage right now, and is using it to his advantage.

Actually Theus is being totally inconsistent. He said players couldn't play unless they practiced. He also said veterans earned a little leeway. Beno is not a veteran and did not practice yet he got to play. I'm not sure what any of that means.

 

[Warhawk]

I would be nice if there was nothing to handle.

Well put. These are problems we do not need. Theus is handling it well, apparently, but he shouldn't HAVE to handle it. Ron should just do what he is supposed to and not be a problem to begin with. I know, I know, a lot to ask, but it's the truth.

 

[Warhawk]

Actually Theus is being totally inconsistent. He said players couldn't play unless they practiced. He also said veterans earned a little leeway. Beno is not a veteran and did not play yet he got to practice. I'm not sure what any of that means.

I agree about Theus, but see my point about Artest having some leverage. He's being shopped and window shoppers are not going to buy something not out on display, now are they.

Theus also mentioned illness. That's where Beno fits in.

 

[VF21]

Actually Theus is being totally inconsistent. He said players couldn't play unless they practiced. He also said veterans earned a little leeway. Beno is not a veteran and did not practice yet he got to play. I'm not sure what any of that means.

What it means, quite simply, is that things are going on the media doesn't necessarily know about. What it means is that unlike some other clubs, the Kings - at least so far - are managing to keep their personnel matters behind closed doors. What it means is that where there's smoke, there's fire. We just don't know how big or how many alarms to sound - or if the sprinkler system put it out permanently or just for now.

 

[reid1boys]

Well put. These are problems we do not need. Theus is handling it well, apparently, but he shouldn't HAVE to handle it. Ron should just do what he is supposed to and not be a problem to begin with. I know, I know, a lot to ask, but it's the truth.

I remember a team a few years back that had won a few titles and had 2 superstar players acting like little kids because they didnt like each other. Hmmmmm, so even a title team with superstar players had some crap going on that a coach shouldnt have to deal with.

Then last summer one of those same two players was demanding to be traded, the team said screw you and a few short months later that team is contending in the west. Now I hear no problems from the player. Amazing.

 

[Dime Dropper]

I remember a team a few years back that had won a few titles and had 2 superstar players acting like little kids because they didnt like each other. Hmmmmm, so even a title team with superstar players had some crap going on that a coach shouldnt have to deal with.

Then last summer one of those same two players was demanding to be traded, the team said screw you and a few short months later that team is contending in the west. Now I hear no problems from the player. Amazing.

You cannot seriously be comparing Artest to Kobe and Shaq, two of the greatest of all time? Seriously, common sense should prevail. As good as I think Ron is, he is unpredictable, and has caused trouble everywhere he has been. It is not just a once-off.