pacerfan23

I heard the Pacer asst coach mention this last night, and now here is an article on it.
Basically it appears during the season they are toying with the Idea to go small sometimes and have Artest at the 4 , O'Neal at the 5,
which means Granger at the 3. Can you imagine that front court line up?
O'Neal, Artest and Granger?


Pacers to give Artest tryout at power forward



New position: Ron Artest, who usually plays small forward for the Pacers, says he doesn't mind trying to play power forward. -- Sam Riche / The Star


By Mike Wells
mike.wells@indystar.com


The Indiana Pacers say they want forward Ron Artest to get used to playing in a team setting again after being suspended for most of last season.

They are also going to use him at power forward during their summer league, which starts Friday in Minneapolis. Artest has usually played small forward.

"Ronnie has played the 'four' some in the past, and it's something we'll look at in the future also," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "In summer league, you're always sizing down one position. The 'twos' play the 'three.' The 'threes' play the 'four' and so on. The only position that doesn't change is point guard."

Artest's strength and ability to score and defend in the post allow him to take on players who are several inches taller.

"They asked me to play some power forward and I said fine," Artest said. "I think Mark Aguirre and Charles Barkley did it. Most of the power forwards in the NBA, as far as weight, I'm right up there with them. I wouldn't mind playing it if I have to."

Although it has been against lesser talent, Artest has had success at power forward during the team's rookie/free agent camp this week. The Pacers hope to use him, there at times next season when they go with a small lineup.

"Ron and David Harrison have worked well together in practice," said Pacers assistant coach Dan Burke, who is coaching the summer league team with fellow assistant Chuck Person.

"We hope to carry that into the regular season with Ron and Jermaine (O'Neal) playing together. That will give us a more versatile lineup on the court. Now is the time to find out if it can work."

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PacersguyUSA

Peronally I think that's a stupid idea.

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pacerfan23

Care to elaborate?
Because of Ron's size or ?

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PacersguyUSA

Because it's totally uneccesary with the athletecism of nearly our entire lineup, and it would be wasting Artest and Jermaine's talent.

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pacerfan23

I do see your point, however as you know the Pacers have a tendecy to sometimes bog down,and have scoring droughts now and then I would think this line up would work for maybe like 5-10 minutes a game. But certainly would not work out well for any lengthy amount of time.

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DetBNyce

They could get away with it at times. He's fast enough and strong enough to play against a lot of guys who play PF and he'd probaly give some of those guys problems, but I'd only count on them doing sparingly and only if it's successful.

Grangerx33

wouldnt work for long, rebounding would ba huge factor, but yea try it for mayeb 10 min a game

Hakeem Olajuwon

honestly i think this is a ridiculous idea. i'm sure he'll have success defending duncan/garnett/brand/wallace/wallace/webber/martin/boozer/etc/etc(sarcasm).

LamarButler

I don't think the two Wallaces and C-Webb would be tough for Ron. C-Webb just shoots from midrange all the time and his knees suck right now. Ben Wallace isn't a very good scorer and he isn't much bigger and Rasheed drifts out to the perimeter or doesn't bother trying to score.

clownskull

i don't think this is a bad idea at all.i can see it in various scenarios where it would work fine. ron isn't too small to play that spot at times. barkley was never any taller or stronger than ron, and chuck was a full-time p.f. same could be said about larry johnson before his back went out on him.
putting ron at the 4 at times wouldn't be wasting his talents. it would be givimg him an opportunity to display them at another position. and i believe he could do just fine there.
i think it's definitely worth a try.

pacersrule03

I like it, we could go small with Tinsley, Freddie, Jack, Artest, JO. I'm not saying this should be our starting lineup, but it could work for portions of the game. Look at the Phoinex Suns.

nbanoitall

I like it because Granger can guard in the post as well. I thought Granger was the overall best player in the draft to date. Not taking into effect a guy like MW Jr's potiental. I would have picked him as the ROTY if he had gone to a team where I knew he would start. If Indiana seriously plans to start him and give him minutes. I pick him as the ROTY.

Both Artest and Granger are good rebounders. Granger will add some shot blocking. Kinda like how a Josh Smith added shot blocking at the forward position in Atlanta last year.

Having
Tinsley 6'3 Jackson 6'8 Granger 6'8 Artest 6'7 O'neal 6'11

With Fred Jones, Jeff Foster as dual 6th men. Johnson at the backup point. Hopefully Bender can stay healthy. Good depth again. Me Likely. Especially against a lot of teams in the NBA. Now there may be a time when Foster sees extended minutes against the Shaq's and other guys that you cant keep JO on all game. You have to balance his fouls with the smaller lineup.

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Pacers Fan

I think it can work for 5-10 minutes a game, depending on who we're playing. I'm sure Artest can guard 6'7" 230 lb players in the post, but what about a 7 footer like Kevin Garnett, or someone with the bulk of Carlos Boozer or Zach Randolph? I just like the option, but I don't want it forced.

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pacerfan23

Yes and If you noticed this morning this was addressed on Pacers. Com today as well.

Q
. I was intrigued and excited to see that the Pacers are thinking about experimenting with Ron at power forward. Is the team really considering this? Or is this strictly for the summer league? I think he could flourish at four in certain situations. It would cause matchup problems for opponents, it would allow J.O. (Jermaine O'Neal) to rest longer, it would maximize Ron's time on the floor (he's like the Energizer Bunny), and it would open up more minutes for reserves like the Jones Boys, Danny Granger, and even (Jonathan) Bender. Could Ron be effective against the elite, shorter bigs of the league? (From A.J. in Tallahassee, Fla.)



A. You never really know how seriously to take a summer-league experiment, but this one bears watching. Part of the motivation for using Artest at power forward is the nature of summer-league play. It's generally a smaller-man's game, guard-driven, quicker-paced and often devoid of the halfcourt, post-up, inside-out style that is prevalent during the regular season. But there may be more to it than just that. If Artest takes to the position, it could open up some intriguing options.

Artest is very effective in the post – at least he has been against small forwards – and certainly has the strength and girth to cause problems in certain matchups. He has not been a strong rebounder and will need to devote more energy to that area. It also remains to be seen if he can be effective in the post against power forwards. He has been able to simply overpower small forwards and that is less likely against the bigger bodies. He should be able to use his strong base and quick hands to be an effective defender but, again, power forwards will present a much different challenge.

If the experiment works, it would open up the possibility of a lineup in which the Pacers' most talented players are all on the floor at the same time – Jamaal Tinsley, Stephen Jackson, Danny Granger, Artest and Jermaine O'Neal. Given that potential, it's certainly worth a look


QUESTION
OF THE DAY
Conrad Brunner

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