Rollydog

Obviously Artest is third all-nba and the reigning defensive player of the year, but how come he sets the record for missed shots in the opening 2 games of a playoffs series? The Pistons are obviously a great defensive team, but Jefferson, put up 20 ppg against them and went to the line 10 times per game. I pose the question because on a Pistons board on another site, most members were in agreement that Jefferson was close to Ron's level or better.

Who would you rather have on your team?

PetroToZoran

RJ is my favorite player in the league and I think he will prove to be a superstar in the near future. But I would definitely take Artest over Jefferson for the next few years. RJ might become better than Artest way down the line, but RJ would have to improve mightily to become a better player than Artest who I consider the best SF in the league and the 3rd best SG/SF after TMac and Kobe.

Vermillion

Even then, I'd still pick Artest. He's just a beast on both ends of the court.

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"If you've ever seen Iverson play in person, you know that his improvisational skills are amazing. Baron Davis calls him unguardable. He's a killer on the fast break. One on one, even one on two, when the guy they call the Answer is on a one-way trip to the basket, you better just foul him. People can hate all day about the number of shot attempts. But, damn, give him props for even getting them up. He's small enough to have every shot contested. That 39% shooting sounds terrible to the regular reader, but have you seen these NBA players lately?"

-SLAM issue #68, April 2003

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Spriggan

hobojoe

I feel your pain spriggan, did you see what I said in the Prince/Melo thread? I'm with you on this one...

It's Artest by a mile. Artest is the best forward in the league other than Duncan and Garnett, yes that means he's ahead of Jermaine O'Neal, Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire, Elton Brand, Peja Stojakovic, whoever else you throw in there. Ron Artest is a monster, RJ isn't even close, and that's coming from a person who thinks Jefferson will average 21-7-4 next season.

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dork

artest by far..

futuristxen

even though artest is shooting poorly he is creating good makeable shots. I think he's just to anxious to run Prince over. He needs to calm down a little.

Artest is just a beast though. That's the long and the short of it. He plays offense and defense with the same burning intensity. I think he's better now, and I think he will get better. Ron's offense has really developed, and he's only going to get better. He's still young enough to add some more offense.

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lakegz

Artest probably has the ugliest offensive game ive seen in a offensive minded small forward. he just jumps into when he turns towards the basket when he posts up hoping to get a foul call. There's nothing smooth about him at all. not many people can defend him though cause he's so thick. somebody's doing something right though in this series. 5-21 the other night" yuck!

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RP McMurphy

I suspect that most of the people who posted in that thread have not seen any Nets or Pacers games this year outside of these two playoff series, so their opinion is unsurprising and isn't worth much. There are a couple of really good posters on that board, but in general it's not the place to go if you want to talk to people who have a clue.

I was flamed by about five different posters there just for saying I didn't think Tayshaun Prince is a future star.

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EHL

Artest right now. RJ has a shot at being better than Artest eventually, but definitely is not better at the moment.

BrYaNBaIlEy06

Artest

Dirkandnash

Im still not sold on RJ. Ive never really liked his game, Im suprised with how well hes done so far in his career. I still think if you stick him on a team that doesnt run and gun, and he has to play more of a half court offense, Hell struggle BIG TIME.

jmk

NEWS FLASH. This already happened. When Kidd and Martin were out, all the Nets were was a half court game. And RJ was superb. He averaged near 25 7 and 7 with no fast break. I still can't believe how many people still say that RJ is a product of Kidd and the fast break.

I take Ron right now, but Richard for the future.

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