Who knew the blogging world had so many NBA fans? Sam Smith is a great NBA columnist, one of 5 best, and I guess he was right about Artest. The thing is, though, that (a) the Pacers wouldn't have made it to the Eastern Finals without Artest, and (b) Artest is reputed to be a genuinely good, decent guy off the court who is a little out of his depth in the world at large. I guess I feel bad for Artest.
And I'l be shocked if the Finals go more than five.
Is this in the "Bill Laimbeer, family man" line of defense?
Yeah, I'm worried about the finals. I think the Pistons have the bodies, but they're not ready.
Yeah, great minds analyzing the NBA. Artest was fouled, flagrantly, by skinny Richard Hamilton prior to skinny Richard running into Artest's raised right forearm. Of course the skeptics will note the officials called no foul on skinny Rich. Ignoring the obvious is the same as cognitive dissonance, you know, the purposeful doing without essential pieces of information. Why? Perhaps he was too skinny compare to the large presence of Artest. Plus it looks plain bad for a big guy to beat up on the skinny one. Save me the sour grapes comments as I'm a Spurs fan still griping about that physically impossible 0.4 second game winning shot by the Lakers.
Rich, if I understand you correctly: something about "skinny."
The Pacers would not have made it out of the first round or won more than 40 games, if that, without Artest. If you were, as Bill Simmons likes to say, putting together a team to play other planets, Artest is definitely going to go in the top 10. He's the best on-ball defender in the NBA and has become this season a legitimate scoring threat.
So, speaking hypothetically, would you like to have a player on your team who could get you 20 extra wins, but would always cost you the championship?
Ogged:
1. I didn't mean "Bill, Lambier - family man," so much as "Ron Artest - Little Boy Lost." Did you read the Sam Smith column about Artest working at Circuit City his rookie year so he could get the employee discount? Seriously, a first rounder working the floor at Circuit City - how can you not like that guy?
2. You absolutely take the crazy that adds 20 games, in part b/c I don't think you can claim the second part of that sentence - that he keeps you from the championship. Think about Rodman on the Pistons - IIRC, he lost them their first shot at the championship by getting too excited in Game 6 against the Lakers and losing the ball out of bounds. But he got more (and the later less) disciplined as time went on.
Skinny, yes!! Someone finally gets it. I mean really, if Artest was coddled by the NBA refs, opponents, and teammates like, let's say, Shaq, then perhaps he'd enjoy similar success and less, well, meaningless, criticism among lofty minded bloggers. Then again, Shaq certainly ain't skinny. My theory relates to the physical concept that defines the working of aluminum tube centrifuges. The earth and the universe spin like centrifuges and separate, rather than mix as most lay people surmise, like minded individuals, similarly nuclear weighted elements/isotopes. Only in the case of Artest, he "flies" off because, well, he is recognized by the spinning centrifuge as a "different" element, not skinny like Richard, and not "chosen" like the non-skinny Shaq.