A lot of Laker fans are envisioning Ron Artest taking Lamar Odom's spot. Kurt from Forum Blue and Gold has several reasons why the Lakers should not do that. Here are three: "1) He is a worse shooter than Odom. Last season, using traditional FG%, Odom shot 52% and Artest 45%. Use eFG% (to account for three point shooting) and Odom is still 5% higher. The reason is Artest takes a lot of jumpers (66% of his shots last year) while Odom gets to the rim (44% of Odom's shots are jumpers). And, on all those jumpers, Artest shoots just 3% higher than Odom. Look again at Artest's hot zones shooting chart - he is not a good midrange guy at all. Bottom line, Artest is like Iverson in that he takes a lot of shots to make his points, he is not an efficient scorer. 2) Artest is not someone who has played well inside an offensive system. There are things he does well, but what are the Lakers going to do when Artest decides he should just take his man (on the post or on the wing) and steps outside the offense? The Lakers offense was impressive last year because everyone played within the system. Do you really think Artest is going to do that for a season and playoffs, when that has not been his MO in the past? 3) Lamar Odom is a much better rebounder than Artest. I don't think anyone would question this - last season Odom grabbed 15.6% of available rebounds when on the floor, Artest was at 8.6%. You can say that a healthy Bynum will soak up some of those, but for a team that wants to get out and run having control of the boards will be key. Odom led some of the best Laker breaks this year by grabbing the board and bringing the ball up himself, and we need more of that not less." Source: ESPN
Classic example of somebody with too much time on their hands trying to out-think themselves Ron Artest >>>>>> Lamar Odom Anyday of the week
I actually agree with a lot of the article, because Artest did become a volume shooter in Sacramento and often took low percentage jumpers early in the shot clock. However, I think it had a lot to do with playing for a lousy team and Artest dealing with nagging injuries. Artest needs a coach to define a role for him and he'll be fine. Sacramento didn't have the veteran leadership to keep Artest under wraps and he doesn't listen well when his team is losing. I think Odom's rebounding is overrated because he steals rebounds from teammates and benefits from them shielding his man to free up Odom for the rebound. The Lakers will miss Odom's ability to grab the rebound and start the transition, but if Bynum and Gasol can master the art of the outlet pass it will work just as well for the Lakers fast break offense. The main difference Artest will bring is defensive intensity and pride in stopping his man. Artest is also a lot more effective playing back to the basket and posting up smaller defenders. Odom has struggled in the post his entire career and has never worked on adding more weapons to his offense. Defenders who study Odom can pick him apart because Odom is predictable. Odom can't finish with his right hand and he doesn't take the ball up strong. His footwork is terrible which results in offensive fouls and his lack of a mid-range jumper makes it even tougher for him to take advantage of shooting space. Artest knows how to pin a defender on his hip and ride him to the basket, or simply back his man down for a one footer.
