Laker Thoughts: The recent injury to Ron Artest has gone a long way towards demonstrating how important his presence has become to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the need to get him back as soon as possible.
Many people felt Artest would be a distraction, but he has proved just the opposite. He has, by all accounts, been a perfect teammate, and his assimilation into the Laker framework has been seamless.
He just seems to fit into the scheme, and his grasp of the complexities of the triangle offense are a testament to his overall knowledge of the game and understanding certain situations and how to react once they present themselves.
He remains one of the top defenders in the game, and his play has afforded Kobe Bryant the comfort of not having to guard an opponents' best player the majority of the time.
Bryant, an excellent defender himself, has been able to team with Artest to give the Lakers arguably the most formidable shooting guard, small forward defensive combination in the NBA.
In Artest's absence, the Lakers have reverted to their nominal defensive ways, and have lacked the toughness and intensity that came with Arte ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Hadarii Jones
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December 29th, 2009 by Hadarii Jones Leave a reply »
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