Too much panic, as a business decision it makes sense too. We might not have even be able to keep LO if we signed TA for more.
I hate Plaschke. Apparently he missed the memo that Ariza felt disrespected by the Lakers MLE offer. Whatever, Plaschke can go, as Maggie Gylenhall says in Donnie Darko, suck a fuck. And for those of you who haven't seen that movie, you really should, great movie.
I'm not to concerned about Artest's shooting %. He'll be taking less shots, he won't be the focal point of an offense, he won't have to create for himself. A lot of those shots he took in the playoffs were just horrible, forced shots. I don't think you'll see that in LA.
damn. plaschke agreeing with me almost makes me want to change my position. and what is it with people wanting to pretend that ariza has limitless potential? he's a role player and that's basically his limit. he can be a great role player but unless he suddenly adds to his game consistently creating his own shot and creating for others, he can't hope to ever be more than that.
I really don't think any of that shit about Ariza was true. I think a lot of the rumors that were leaked, were leaked by Ariza's agent to try and smear the Lakers and posture their position.
He really does have a lot of potential. He reminds me a lot of Caron Butler at this stage of his career. If he added a bit better handle and continued to progress his jumper, he could be pretty formidable on offense. However, I think most of his potential comes on the defensive side of the ball. He's got tremendous length and great instincts and all the makings of a defensive wiz.
I see Ariza as a Caron-lite type of player. I don't see his offensive game every being like that. I don't ever see him being a go to guy on offense, but I do think he can pan out into a solid player.
Why couldn't the Lakers give him a chance? Because waiting is the worst thing you can do sometimes. They could have waited and still watched him walk away while Ron signed with Cleveland or some other contender.
what an ignorant article. what a dumbass. so much hate for artest in that bit of so called "journalism".
that really can only be judged at the end of each of the next 3 seasons(or however long artest lasts on the team), right?
artest average is around 15, 5, 3. Ariza around 9, 4.5, 3. thats what artest is going to average next season, if not more assists, and maybe a few less points. ariza probably not much different. now im not a stats man myself, id rather rely on other facts, but numbers speak loudly in the nba and its obvious lakers made the right decision. its obvious that the lakers are commited to bynum, pau, lamar and kobe. ron fits in well and is good friends with kobe and lamar, he has alot of respect for phil and is finally going to a team that he really wants to play for. he has his attitude problems yes, but he really showed his worth in the playoffs. yes he got ejected from one of the games, at a crucial point, but that was against the lakers so who can blame him, he was frustrated playing against the best team in the world, a team he'd rather be playing for. ron can be our ben wallace (detroit years when they took down the lakers), an addition that puts us over the edge, making it even more difficult for our oponents.
Amazing article! I can't get how he fails to mention how "under-appreciated" that Lee said Ariza was because of LA's similar MLE offer, money enough for his current contributions. Guess they want LA to overpay, and then Plashcke's gonna make another article saying that "LA made the wrong move" overpaying for Ariza which could cost them LO, when a cheaper Artest was available. Puh-lease!
