Saturday, July 19, 2008

Lamar or the New Improved Bill Artest

He's just a bill, yes he's only a bill and he's playing up near capital hill (Sac, get it? heh)

I've been the Lamar fanboy since he was a Clipper. I love his game, but if Bynum and Gasol play the big man tandem, I have to believe the piece missing is the lock down swingman, introducing William "Ron Ron" Artest. Between Bill and Kobe they could cause more chaos than Heath Ledger's Joker (*spoiler*). Ron can also pour in some buckets, and you'd have to think Kobe would be even MORE inspired facing one of the best defenders during practice. I frigging LOVE Lamar, but since we should have expectations of repeating as WC Chmamps it would be silly to not consider adding the elements to beat a team like the Celtics. Still, I would be happy standing pat and seeing how this team functions with Drew at C and everyone else playing their natural position. But what makes me feel like a change will come is that Artest fills the most obvious gap, and Phil Jackson has proven he can manage even more eccentric personalities.

My heart says keep LO. My head says if we can get Artest and a vet like Kenny Thomas then it makes too much sense addressing our weak links.

Also,side note...Turiaf is no longer a Laker after getting overpaid by the Warriors. He's going to be a fan favorite up here and I'm glad he got paid. I'll miss the dude. His spirit will always keep him a L4L.

When do the Olympics start?

3 comments:

flyE said...

I really don't like trading Lamar for some dog abuser like Ron Artest. I know Phil has a way with head cases, but I have to wonder if Artest's skills are all reputation at this point in his career. I liked it better when we were trading non-critical pieces, but not now. Luckily the Lakers have flat said they won't offer Odom in the deal.

HOWEVER, I do like Lamar to Miami in a deal to get Maid Marion. He would be a much better fit, is a another lockdown defender, can shoot the 3, and would shore up the rebounding hole at the 4.

But if we don't do anything, great. We got to the finals with this team, and the Celtics are older and shedding key role players. No team in the West is really on the rise other than NO -- unless you believe Shaq when he says they need a full season to realize their blah blah blah how does my ass taste. Keep everybody healthy, focus on rebounding and team defense, and we'll be right there.

- - -

Team USA plays Canada tomorrow (Friday) night on ESPN, then next thursday and friday against Turkey and Lithuania respectively, then Russia and China the following week . Olympics start August 8th.

I still say the East is in trouble if Kobe's work ethic rubs off on BronBron. I'm starting to feel bad for the guy that they can't find any decent players to put around him.

Samuel Lemons said...

OK, so Artest is in Houston. I have to love that, since it's almost assured that they aren't a major player in the west. I'm having a extremely hard time taking that squad seriously.

It also means we get to see this Laker team as it was meant to be. Bynum, Gasol & Ariza as players from day one. We still haven't witnessed this beast as an entire entity yet. I'm pumped to see this happen, especially after Paul Pierce has started mouthing off.

Best player? Better than Kobe? WTF? Is he even really top 10? Has he ever been? This barely made ESPN because it was such a joke!

I'm really glad we have some summer USA hoops to keep us busy. Because I'm psyched to see our full squad in action.

flyE said...

But we are missing out on SO much:

"I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto," Artest said, according to the report. "That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about.

"If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there," Artest added, according to the report. "Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed."