So the Rockets made a splash yesterday by making a trade for Ron Artest. Rockets gave up over-the-hill PG Bobby Jackson, a 1st round pick next year and the rookie Donte Greene. Everyone is totally giddy about it, predicting championships, saying the Rockets are in the upper tier of the Western Conference, etc. Now this is a team that has not gotten out of the first round for 6 years straight. The same team that has 2 superstars who are oft-injured, no real point guard or back-up Center. But because of Artest the team is going to win a title? I don't think so.
The team have had injury problems galore for the past 3 years. Yao has never played a full season, so why do we think that after coming off the Olympics he will be fine this year? T-Mac seems to have a hard time deferring to anyone, so will he defer to Artest next season? But my bigger problem with all of this is the team getting Ron Artest at all. This guy is a creep. The same people calling sports talk today were calling Ron a piece of crap, everything wrong with sports today just a few months ago. This was after Ron beat up his gf. But now he is some sort of conquering hero? Let's look at the problems of Mr. Artest:
2003 - Suspended 3 games for destroying a TV camera
2003 - Suspended 4 games for confrontation with Pat Riley
2004 - Suspended from the Pacers for asking for a month off because he was "too tired" from promoting his R&B group
2004 - Detroit-Indiana "Brawl at the Palace", suspended 73 games
2007 - Arrested for domestic abuse when he beat up his gf in their home
2007 - Had dog moved into protective custody due to neglect
I am not even including all the ejections he has racked up.
I guess my point is that Ron is a bad man. A great player, but a guy that cannot stay out of trouble. So now have the Rockets taken on a "win at all costs" attitude? Would they sign Roy Tarpley if they could? I am not a big fan of this. Houston teams have always had class and not really dealt with this kind of player. I guess times are changing.
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