Rockets offense without Artest

[TMACFORMVP]

Artest has to adjust to the team, not the other way around, he's our third best player. I think everything will fall into place if McGrady and Yao both take 16+ shot attempts per game, then roles get defined and everything moves along smoothly.

[tisbee]

The Celtics Big 3 are really differ types-Allen is a shooter,Pierce the guy who needs the ball and KG is more a complementary offensive player while being a defensive monster.
For the Rockets,Artest is best overpowering other SFs in the low post which is where Yao needs to be. On the perimeter both McGrady and Ron tend to dominate the ball.

Artest hasn't had a great deal of time to work w/McGrady and Yao on the court due to first McGrady and later Artest's injury issues. As time goes on they'll figure it out. And w/more time together I believe/hope Ron will learn that if cuts and gets open near the basket T-Mac will get him the ball,and the resultant rewards will cause Ron to stay in motion even more.(Of course that depends on his healing.)

I think we will eventually see Adelman keep 2 of the three on the court far more than all three. Artest will come off the bench and we will see McGrady/Yao,Artest/Yao and McGrady/Artest pairings w/the Alston/McGrady/Artest/Battier/Yao combo eventually closing out games.(Think about the C/PF combos in the West. Either Artest or Battier can defend for 4-6 min Dirk,West,Odom,Aldridge,Boozer and Martin. Only Duncan and Amare would be problematic,and SA's Cs could possib be contained by either Battier or Artest. For a full game no,but for a few minutes at end of game the unit could work.)

The optimist in me sees Dec/early Jan as a time for getting healthy and learning how to play together just in time for the schedule to ease up setting up a nice run. The pessimist in me I'm locking up for the Holidays

[hackle]

Man after yesterdays game (vs clippers), i;ve got it: we miss everybody who is not available.... because we lose all the time against crappy teams and we are happy to find easy excuses.

[tha_rock220]

Our offense lacked flow before Artest got here. Add a guy who's essentially ineffective without the basketball and you're only compounding the problem. I don't know if anyone remembers it, but I thought this would happen when I heard about the trade(while admittedly being excited). T-Mac and Yao need chemistry guys around them. Guys who can work without the ball and can consistently hit open jumpshots fit the description.

Hopefully once everything is settled and the team is healthy(God willing) then Artest can be a bench player with starter like minutes. I'd say around 30 a game, and he's always in if T-Mac and/or Yao are not.

[TMU]

Well, we've played 1 game with the Trio + Battier but it looks like Artest is better suited coming off the bench.

[smapor]

Well, we've played 1 game with the Trio + Battier but it looks like Artest is better suited coming off the bench.

I still think Artest should start and Ric should make it work(find a way to make it work). however he shouldn't let all 3 stars sit at the same time. If our Big 3 meshed, who is to say, we can't get huge leads from the very start and keep it going till end of the game.

I will hold judgment until we see a few more games with our whole roster. Pray we don't have any more injuries.

[HTown_TMac]

Well, we've played 1 game with the Trio + Battier but it looks like Artest is better suited coming off the bench.

I still think Artest should start and Ric should make it work(find a way to make it work). however he shouldn't let all 3 stars sit at the same time. If our Big 3 meshed, who is to say, we can't get huge leads from the very start and keep it going till end of the game.

I will hold judgment until we see a few more games with our whole roster. Pray we don't have any more injuries.

I still feel Artest is best off the bench. There will be no huge lead with the Rockets.. Then Artest will make the offense more stagnat IMO so him off the bench allows him to control things more. you know?

[smapor]

Well, we've played 1 game with the Trio + Battier but it looks like Artest is better suited coming off the bench.

I still think Artest should start and Ric should make it work(find a way to make it work). however he shouldn't let all 3 stars sit at the same time. If our Big 3 meshed, who is to say, we can't get huge leads from the very start and keep it going till end of the game.

I will hold judgment until we see a few more games with our whole roster. Pray we don't have any more injuries.

I still feel Artest is best off the bench. There will be no huge lead with the Rockets.. Then Artest will make the offense more stagnat IMO so him off the bench allows him to control things more. you know?

I guess we will have to see. I just hope Artest is content with the bench role. However I think its also unfair to judge our Big 3 in the beginning due to T-mac's and Shane's injury. With T-mac and Shane healthy, i wouldn't mind seeing them trying to start Artest again. Than again, i know Shane isn't an offenisve player like Artest, so i can understand why people think Artest is the better option off the bench.

[HTown_TMac]

I just feel as our bench is more comparable to the Lakers with Artest off the bench. More scoring Power. Then we can rest t-mac more that way,