Is Artest really a ballhog?

This guy averages 13 shots a game, if you look at all the team he has been on after his 2nd year in the league he has been at least the #2 perimeter guy on offense, in the last 3 years he has been the #1 option on the perimeter and sometimes even the #1 option overall. Artest has always been on his best behavior at least in his first year and he is going to do what Jackson tells him to do and I think Fish and Kobe is gonna keep Artest in check in term of shot selection and playing on a team with so much fire power is sure to help Artest to be an more efficient player.

I don't know if he is a ballhog, but he likes the ball in his hands. He thinks he is one of the top players in the league and nobody is going to convince him otherwise. Therefore he believes he should be taking a large portion of his team's shots. A lot of those shots are not good ones. He'll probably take a backseat to Kobe, but he might be a disruption on the offensive end. His defense should make up for it though, so he will be a good additon. I think.

I hope you're right. I don't trust him at all, so I'm hoping that Jackson will keep him in line.

we really don't need him shooting as much as he has in the past, so I wanna see that decrease as well. Idk if he was a ballhog before, his stats don't really indicate that he was.

Artest = me first

Artest = crazy

Artest = cancer

Artest = will work with lakers cause of his infatuation with Kobe and being friends with Lamar

My concern is he might take shots away from Gasol, Kobe is going to get his, but if I am Jackson I will put Artest with either Kobe/Fisher in the backcourt, and Gasol can play with Odom more.

I agree with corey in a way.

He isnt really a ballhog, but he loves taking hard shots and likes to create his own shots, and that usually fails.

West Coast Bias wrote:

Artest = me first

Artest = crazy

Artest = cancer

Artest = will work with lakers cause of his infatuation with Kobe and being friends with Lamar

How is Artest a cancer? Sure he blew up the promising Pacers, but JO and Stephen Jackson could stayed away from the stands too and JO's keen troubles killed that team as much as Artest's brawl. Artest led the Kings to the playoff from 14th seed, then he co-starred with Yao to lead the Rockets past the first round.

Artest is not a ball hog
he just takes bad shots sometimes
but the man is good.......i know 100% it will work out and we will win 75 games this year

I hope the experiment is a complete failure. Artest is an x-factor and it could go either way. You are going to have to deal with the bad shots and excessive ball handling. That is part of the deal when you sign Ron Artest. Maybe Phil Jackson can give him a book about sharing.

Corey, can't you wait until October to wish us bad luck

MC aka Mother Curser wrote:

West Coast Bias wrote:

Artest = me first

Artest = crazy

Artest = cancer

Artest = will work with lakers cause of his infatuation with Kobe and being friends with Lamar

How is Artest a cancer? Sure he blew up the promising Pacers, but JO and Stephen Jackson could stayed away from the stands too and JO's keen troubles killed that team as much as Artest's brawl. Artest led the Kings to the playoff from 14th seed, then he co-starred with Yao to lead the Rockets past the first round.

Cancer because how he leaves lasting impressions on young players. His antics make it seem alright. He doesn't destroy the team that season, but he hurts other young players. When he came to Houston, Von Wafer just got worse and Artest was always showing up late, etc. He leaves the coach in a whole because of how much command/respect he loses with Artest on the team.

Corey wrote:

I hope the experiment is a complete failure. Artest is an x-factor and it could go either way. You are going to have to deal with the bad shots and excessive ball handling. That is part of the deal when you sign Ron Artest. Maybe Phil Jackson can give him a book about sharing.

I don't know Corey, every team ARtest has been on has improved (record-wise and playoff-wise) in his first year.

Maybe he's not a cancer, but he is unpredictable and mentally unstable. He doesn't mean to do dumb thing, they just seem to happen.

KB I'm still surprised that you trust Artest 100%.


I wanna see Artest's shot attempts drop by at least half, his FG% is ok.

I think the Lakers are the favorites to win it all this year. Ron Artest is my only hope for them to blow it.

I wouldnt say that Artest helped the bulls much.... hahah

jade wrote:

Corey, can't you wait until October to wish us bad luck

No Corey should start stacking up his hope early that way it will be sweeter when it blows up in his face like this season. I bet you enjoyed the summer of 2008 right Corey?

RƠƇҠ ƠƝ [BORED] wrote:

I wouldnt say that Artest helped the bulls much.... hahah

well maybe he wasn't crazy back then.

Yeah, I had to eat some crow, but I gave the Lakers their due. I have been to Arco Arena and have seen Artest up close. He can control a game with his physicality, but he thinks a little too highly of his abilities. He will look to take the game winning shot, when he should be passing it to Kobe or Fisher.

He's a great player, but he's a head case. Plain and simple.

jade wrote:

KB I'm still surprised that you trust Artest 100%.


I wanna see Artest's shot attempts drop by at least half, his FG% is ok.

yeaa.....in the playoffs i was kind of mad at artest for trying to beef Kobe but my
older cousin{ Jordan Fanatic} kept saying its all competition, and that artest trying
to win as much as Kobe. Since then iv always respected the man, and his crazy talks.

Corey wrote:

Yeah, I had to eat some crow, but I gave the Lakers their due. I have been to Arco Arena and have seen Artest up close. He can control a game with his physicality, but he thinks a little too highly of his abilities. He will look to take the game winning shot, when he should be passing it to Kobe or Fisher.

He's a great player, but he's a head case. Plain and simple.

I doubt Artest will get the chance to take the GW shots with Kobe around.

MC aka Mother Curser wrote:

Corey wrote:

Yeah, I had to eat some crow, but I gave the Lakers their due. I have been to Arco Arena and have seen Artest up close. He can control a game with his physicality, but he thinks a little too highly of his abilities. He will look to take the game winning shot, when he should be passing it to Kobe or Fisher.

He's a great player, but he's a head case. Plain and simple.

I doubt Artest will get the chance to take the GW shots with Kobe around.

he shouldn't but thats the question. will he be willing to play 3rd or 4th fiddle?

I think he will. Why else would he have signed on?

He knows he SHOULD pass the ball to Kobe, but Artest doesn't always do the rational thing. He went to LA because he likes the spotlight and attention. He'll want a little glory for himself.

West Coast Bias wrote:

MC aka Mother Curser wrote:

Corey wrote:

Yeah, I had to eat some crow, but I gave the Lakers their due. I have been to Arco Arena and have seen Artest up close. He can control a game with his physicality, but he thinks a little too highly of his abilities. He will look to take the game winning shot, when he should be passing it to Kobe or Fisher.

He's a great player, but he's a head case. Plain and simple.

I doubt Artest will get the chance to take the GW shots with Kobe around.

he shouldn't but thats the question. will he be willing to play 3rd or 4th fiddle?

I think he will. Why else would he have signed on?

Well I think Artest is smart enough to understand he is at best the 3rd option on offense with the Lakers.

West Coast Bias wrote:

MC aka Mother Curser wrote:

Corey wrote:

Yeah, I had to eat some crow, but I gave the Lakers their due. I have been to Arco Arena and have seen Artest up close. He can control a game with his physicality, but he thinks a little too highly of his abilities. He will look to take the game winning shot, when he should be passing it to Kobe or Fisher.

He's a great player, but he's a head case. Plain and simple.

I doubt Artest will get the chance to take the GW shots with Kobe around.

he shouldn't but thats the question. will he be willing to play 3rd or 4th fiddle?

I think he will. Why else would he have signed on?

He signed on knowing the Lakers is the best chance for him to win a championship
and he knows he will be the #2 or #3 guy on the team in order for him to win.