With Ron Artest recently injured, it came to me: Did the Lakers make the right decision by signing him or should they have stayed with the same cast and resigned Trevor Ariza? And depending on who you ask, the answer varies. I'm sure Houston Rockets fans are very happy that their team is in the playoff hunt without T-Mac and Yao. Then again, Lakers fans can't argue with a 25-6 record, one loss coming in Artest's absence. It seems like both teams found the right piece. However, the question at mind is whether or not the Lakers made the right decision.
Just to clarify, during the offseason, the Lakers made offers to both Artest and Ariza. It just so happened that Artest responded sooner than Trevor. Some may point to the stat sheet and note that Ariza has statistically performed better than Artest in free throw percentage, steals, blocks, point, rebounds, and three pointers made. But the Lakers didn't sign Artest for his stats, per se. They signed him for his ability to defend. And these past few games, although played against the higher-scoring offenses in the league, have shown that his defense is rather valuable.
To address Ariza's amazing stats, though, I'd like to say that he wouldn't be able to attain those numbers as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Even with Kobe Bryant, Pau, Lamar, Bynum, and Pau, there's still only one basketball to go around. There's no way that Ariza would be able to average 16 points a game. In fact, he'd be doing a good day's work if he consistently scored 10. Nevertheless, Trevor is a great guy, and I'm glad to see him succeed in a new role with the Rockets.
Ariza's performance after departing the Lakers reminds me of another (former) Rockets player, Von Wafer. When Von played for the Lakers in the 2005-2006 season, he only averaged 4:30 and that was only in the sixteen games he played, albeit during garage time of the arguably the worst Lakers season in a decade. Despite the fact that Kobe and Lamar were pretty much the only threats on that team, he was never given a chance to show his game. I remember when my friends and I would play pickup games and dub the least-talented participant "Von Wafer" (it was either that or Slava Medvedenko). Anyway, when fans finally saw his entire repertoire in Houston last year, he averaged 19:23 in 63 games, quite an increase in playing time. He also proved he was a good shooter, 44.7% from the field and 39% from behind the arc.
What I'm trying to say is that Lakers fans shouldn't just read the newspapers and assert that GM Mitch Kuptchak made a mistake. The Rockets got exactly what they needed - and so did the Lakers. While Ariza was capable of guarding a quick forward, teammate Lamar Odom rightfully told reporters that Ron can guard anybody from the 1 to the 4 (positions). It's likely too early to embark on a complete assessment, as surely there are still some Artest antics that await us. At the moment, though, it's safe to say that the Lakers made the right decision.
Just to clarify, during the offseason, the Lakers made offers to both Artest and Ariza. It just so happened that Artest responded sooner than Trevor. Some may point to the stat sheet and note that Ariza has statistically performed better than Artest in free throw percentage, steals, blocks, point, rebounds, and three pointers made. But the Lakers didn't sign Artest for his stats, per se. They signed him for his ability to defend. And these past few games, although played against the higher-scoring offenses in the league, have shown that his defense is rather valuable.
To address Ariza's amazing stats, though, I'd like to say that he wouldn't be able to attain those numbers as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Even with Kobe Bryant, Pau, Lamar, Bynum, and Pau, there's still only one basketball to go around. There's no way that Ariza would be able to average 16 points a game. In fact, he'd be doing a good day's work if he consistently scored 10. Nevertheless, Trevor is a great guy, and I'm glad to see him succeed in a new role with the Rockets.
Ariza's performance after departing the Lakers reminds me of another (former) Rockets player, Von Wafer. When Von played for the Lakers in the 2005-2006 season, he only averaged 4:30 and that was only in the sixteen games he played, albeit during garage time of the arguably the worst Lakers season in a decade. Despite the fact that Kobe and Lamar were pretty much the only threats on that team, he was never given a chance to show his game. I remember when my friends and I would play pickup games and dub the least-talented participant "Von Wafer" (it was either that or Slava Medvedenko). Anyway, when fans finally saw his entire repertoire in Houston last year, he averaged 19:23 in 63 games, quite an increase in playing time. He also proved he was a good shooter, 44.7% from the field and 39% from behind the arc.
What I'm trying to say is that Lakers fans shouldn't just read the newspapers and assert that GM Mitch Kuptchak made a mistake. The Rockets got exactly what they needed - and so did the Lakers. While Ariza was capable of guarding a quick forward, teammate Lamar Odom rightfully told reporters that Ron can guard anybody from the 1 to the 4 (positions). It's likely too early to embark on a complete assessment, as surely there are still some Artest antics that await us. At the moment, though, it's safe to say that the Lakers made the right decision.
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