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Tag Archive - ronartestisagodamongmen

Crazy Pills, You’re Not Making Anyone Feel Any Better

June 2, 2010 in by with 16 Comments

Somehow — maybe because, as Phil Jackson suggested, the basketball gods are on his side — all of this has come full circle for Artest, who stands four wins away from the championship he feels he stole from himself and the Pacers six years ago. Artest, the pariah, whose tenure ended badly in Sacramento and with epic failure in Indiana, understood Saturday night in Phoenix that he’s been given a chance to make it all right.

“I put it in God’s hands,” Artest said. “I always told God, I didn’t know if he’d ever give me another chance. Because some things were not my fault, some things were. And the ones that were my fault, I felt pretty bad. But I feel blessed and I think God put me in a good situation in Indiana. He put me in a beautiful situation. I got married in Indiana, it’s my home, four years there, had a chance to go to the championship and I screwed it up. Screwed it up. So I said, ‘If you never give me another opportunity again, I’ll understand.’ He’s just continued to bless me and I just keep getting more opportunities — Houston, Sacramento, here. I didn’t think he’d give me another chance, but he did.”

via Artest’s road to redemption may conclude with Lakers, in Finals – NBA – CBSSports.com Basketball.

Artest’s regret is really touching in this article. He talks about Larry Bird, Jermaine O’Neal, Reggie Miller, even Jeff Foster. He talks about how he feels like a coward around them and how hard that is for them. It’s a delicate insight into a guy who genuinely feels bad for the damage he caused, not just by running into the stands and punching some guy who didn’t actually throw a beer at him, but for then ditching them by demanding a trade, submarining the franchise.

One problem.

This doesn’t provide any redemption.

Ron’s not helping some classic small market team looking for the promise land to win a title. He’s not helping out a veteran All-Star Hall of Famer win a ring to cement his legacy. He’s not helping out one of the best fanbases in the league. no, no. Instead, he took the mid-level exception to play for a team that would have paid him full price anyway because money’s not really an object for them, just so he could be somewhere glitzy that’s already elite. He’s helping a team that’s been to the Finals 31 times out of 62 go back again. He’s helping a team loaded with All-Stars that plays in an arena loaded with people who haven’t been to a game until May win another championship. He’s not redeeming himself, he’s spitting on everyone else he played for.

Sacramento and Houston didn’t get this Artest, the rabid defender who just wanted to fit into the offense and not take bad shots. They didn’t get this Artest, who stays out of trouble, knows his role, and doesn’t do anything disruptive. Indiana didn’t get this Artest, being a good teammate, respecting the chain of command, only dreaming of a championship. No, no, only the Lakers, who don’t actually NEED it, are on the receiving end of it. It’s not like there’s been any sort of concerted effort, either. You listen to Artest talk about fitting in, and that didn’t happen. This isn’t a team that loves one another and fights for each other. It’s a team of mercenaries basking in their own glorious superiority. It’s the Titans, laughing at the mortals.

Don’t get me wrong, I can say these things without pointing out anything bad. The 2006 Heat team didn’t like each other much. Safe to say that 2000-2004 Lakers team was probably the same. But Artest stopped being a malcontent the minute LA signed him. It wasn’t Phil Jackson’s mind games or Kobe’s leadership. It was a decision by Artest, that NOW, now that he was in LA, he should put the Crazy Pills on hold. And now his whole career arc is being shifted. From wild man turned entertaining lunatic, to quirky championship contributor.

I think it’s terrific that Artest has turned it around. I think it’s phenomenal that an All-Star was willing to sign for the MLE to try and win a championship. I think it’s tremendous that he’s going to get to rewrite what the history books say about him.

I just wish for once it was a team that actually needs something like that to catch that kind of a break.

(Side note: Got out of the car yesterday after work and on my way in, I noticed something in the grass. Round mushrooms growing after the heavy rains. You know what they looked like? I am not even kidding.

Snake eggs.

I take it as a sign. Lakers in six.)

Go For Launch: Rockets Off To A Good Start

October 30, 2008 in by with 2 Comments

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way. Unless everything stays the exact same for the entire season, tonight isn’t indicative of anything. Furthermore the Rockets always start strong. We’ve been here before, at least in terms of a whole two (TWO!) wins. It’s a long damn season.

That said.

Every great team has to start somewhere, and it’s better to start early than late.

If this is the identity that the Rockets adapt, I love, love, love this team. Weapons, everywhere. Versatility. Defense. Focus. Energy. And Aldeman has taken full reins on offense, and you can tell.

This team has dabbled with focus in its incantations. But before it was always built out of a desperation. “We need to be good enough with Yao and T-Mac.” There was a sense of desperation that led to mental breakdowns. But Morey let the team simmer, added elements from the D-League in young players, let them bond, and then added Artest.

What you have now is a unit that’s more evenly centered and believes in itself. Instead of relying on McGrady and Ming to carry them, the team is surging, letting Yao and McGrady excel in situations that put them in the advantage. They can drive, then work the post, they can hit from the perimeter, they can run, they can pass, and man can they defend. The Mavs played well tonight, the Rockets just played better.

Adding Brent Barry was another stroke of genius. Last night when Luther Head was detonating, Barry took the ball from him to control the damage. Tonight, when Brooks started rushing things, Barry did it again. I kept thinking, though, “Barry, you have to let him grow into it, or you’re just avoiding the problem.” Then when Brooks started to rush it again, Barry caught him, took the ball, then told him to set the offense and gave it back. The Rockets scored on that possession. Brooks’ speed on the pick and roll is devastating and a change of pace that caught the Mavs off guard. They didn’t know how to react to that kind of speed. Letting him handle it in crunch time before putting in Rafer to close was another nice touch.

Alston’s stat line looks terrible, and his shot wasn’t falling tonight. But he ended up having 6 hockey assists that I counted, and kept up what he showed last season and has especially worked on going into this season. He understands the offense and knew how to manage it tonight.

You can tell McGrady loved having people to distribute it to tonight. Maybe it’s the injuries. Maybe it’s the family gene. But he made some killer drive and kicks on the way to 7 assists, relishing not having to force the issue.

For a majority of the fourth, Aldeman held out Yao and McGrady. The Rockets built and held a lead behind Ron Artest. That’s what Artest does. He provides the second unit a guy who can produce when he needs to and then shift to an auxiliary role when the two top guys come back in. In one sequence, Artest guarded Brandon Bass, Josh Howard, and Dirk Nowitzki in back to back possessions. On top of this he nailed a huge three of a screen. Rob messaged me as Artest unleashed an awesome tribal dance, “When did Ron Artest turn into Jason Kapono?” Artest working the perimeter gets back to a level of offensive potency with the inside-outside game that made them very hard to stop tonight.

We’ll have to see if Artest can keep his head and if McGrady will work through the injuries or if they’ll bog him down, but getting nights where Yao has 30 and Artest 29, that’s a pretty good start even without McGrady.

Now they just have to, you know, do it for more than a month.

Also, I want to watch the Crazy Pills dance a hundred times.

Ball Movements 9.18.08

September 17, 2008 in by with 5 Comments

The Story Which Is Not A Story That We Keep Talking About Because It’s So Not A Story, Thereby Making It a Story: When Corn told me he had written about Josh’s little video escapade, I prepared myself for an onslaught of comments that would strip the skin from my bones and leave me begging for mercy. So when it turned out that I not only agreed with his position, but was impressed with his tact and approach, well… my universe fell apart a little bit. Of course, this didn’t stop the race discussion from boiling up from the ground and making me saunter back and forth over the ‘delete comment’ button. What stood out, and I totally expected this, was that so many people missed the point. And I can’t speak for Corn, but to me the biggest issue is not what Josh said, it’s how he said it and where he said it.

When I was in ninth grade, my ‘girfriend’ (can you have girlfriends at 14?) was going to break up with me, I had heard through the grapevine. As I sauntered into first period Algebra in my nice, safe, clean, unfathomably white classroom (and I don’t mean the walls), I was full of teenage angst. Screw the world. So when we were instructed to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, I hesitated. I didn’t feel like it. When prompted, my little angsty white teenage self got uppity and whoop! Flipped off the American flag. Yeah.

In the vice-principle’s office, coming to quick terms with the inordinate amount of trouble I had landed myself in, I was penitent. The Vice Principle quickly asked me the requisite questions to avoid a lawsuit. Was my act of unbelievable disrespect part of any political statement? No? I’m sure? No? Okay, then you’re suspended for a week. That didn’t bother me as much. That’s not bad for hyper-conservative Arkansas. “Oh, and I’m calling your father. He was in the Navy, wasn’t he?” That’s bad.

I’ve done some dumb things in my life. That one sticks out there at the top. This became painfully clear to me when my dad drove me to the nearby war memorial and gave me a twenty minute lecture without looking me in the eye. I’ve felt lower than that in my life, but not very freaking often.

Josh Howard and I have nothing in common. I’ve never faced racism against me, though I saw it a lot in Arkansas towards other people, particularly two of my best friends who were Korean. I haven’t had to rise up from poverty, I had a nice stable family environment, I’ve never been in legal trouble (*knock on wood), and I have absolutely no idea what it means to be black or African-American. I don’t know anything about it. I can’t empathize, sympathize, or relate. If you ask me if there should be reparations for slavery? I say yes. If you ask me if I support affirmative action? I say yes. I can see the arguments on both sides, that’s just where I end up on the matter. And if you ask me if there’s still enough racism both in our history and existent in today’s society to justify a black person having negative feelings towards this country and a song written nearly 200 years ago by a slave-owner? I’ll emphatically tell you yes.

But to me it seems like that has little to do with Josh Howard.

Josh Howard said something on a camera held by someone he knows during a charity flag football event. He didn’t go on Dateline. He didn’t go on ESPN. He didn’t elaborate on his feelings, beliefs, or perception of reality. He just said something on tape. Is there probably some truth in regards to how he feels about this country in that ten second clip? Yes. Is it enough to weigh his opinion in the court of public values and determine his understanding of patriotic sacrifice or the beneficial freedoms that America has provided him and his family, despite the hardships he’s encountered? No. He popped off on videotape. “I’m black” isn’t an answer to the question “Why do you have an issue with the national anthem?” It’s just a guy popping off because he doesn’t think the entire world is going to hear him say it.

He got blasted on local radio today, which was predictable. The unfathomably droll host even used the awesome phrase “Love it or leave it.” If there was ever a statement more contrary to the foundation of this country’s principles, that one is both the most popular and more outrageous. But it goes to show you how we react to such a small and pointless statement. This doesn’t mean Josh hates America. It doesn’t mean he has a deep urge to stand in defiance of a past rife with bloodletting, cruelty, and human rights violations. And it doesn’t mean that he fails to recognize the respect due to those that gave their lives for the protection of our freedoms and way of life, or those that continue to do so (albeit in misguided campaigns they have been drug into by poor leadership). It just means he needs to learn that anything that goes on camera is probably going to end up on the internet, and he should react as such.

The point is that I have severe issues with how America has treated and continues to treat its racial issues, gender issues, gay rights issues. I have a certain disgust for how we gloss over our rampant violations of human decency that pepper our past. I also have a deep, heartfelt love, appreciation, and respect for all those that have given or dedicated their lives in defense of this country, and want them to be provided the respect and support they deserve. None of that has anything to do with what an immature 9th grader did one morning over a girl that wore hoop earrings. Nor do any of Josh’s thoughts or feelings have to do with a YouTube clip from July where he’s on camera for less than a minute. You can’t sum up a person’s relation to their country in three minutes, be it a YouTube clip, a national anthem, or an act of youthful defiance.

And even then, for us to take Howard to town based on our interpretations of his thoughts and feelings is, as Corn pointed out, unnecessary and socially clumsy. If the guy in the cubicle next to you felt that way, but didn’t go out of his way to express it, would it bother you? No, you care about whether he gets that report you need done on time. Same with your investment broker, mechanic, or babysitter. You care about how they do their job. That’s what we should care about with Josh Howard. Whether or not he’s good at a game he’s paid to play. Everything else is self-grandizing so that we can feel patriotic, mature, or socially superior. As beneath Josh as it was to make such an offhand comment with no regard for its implications on camera, it’s equally beneath us to have Josh brought to judgment, celebration, critique, or defense over something which has nothing to do with Howard’s place in our society, nor our own state of social equality. It’s not just that this isn’t a big deal, it’s that it’s not formulaic in a way that even lends itself to the level of discussion it has garnered, nor the vitriol it has created in comment sections, watercooler conversations, and media criticism. If we want to uphold the values this country was idealistically founded on, let’s focus on the problems we have, how to solve them, and how to make Josh Howard not as alone as he probably feels at this moment in time.

When Crazy Pills Is Giving You Advice, You Know You’ve F*cked Up: Ron Artest weighed in on Josh’s little proclamation.

“I think josh howards comment is a reflection on education. I think the schools need to teach deeper in the history classes and make the students aware of racism but also teach them that all people are not bad. “I can relate to not feeling wanted by my own country at times but as I dug deeper I realized that America is divided and we need leaders to bring America closer together. An example where I felt unwanted by my country was when I didn’t get a chance to tryout for my national team. I believed it was because my history.

I hope he overcomes this.

Family 1st”

First off, when I logged on tonight, I thought to myself, “You know, someone should really ask Ron Artest what he thinks about this.” And boom. Sam Amick is a Golden God. Family 1st. I love the fact that Ron 1. thinks Josh Howard needs better education, 2. uses this as a platform to complain about Team USA not unleashing him upon China where he obviously would have fought the Great Wall and won and 3. comes off seeming sane and rational. Ron does this, and it’s my favorite part about him. He’s not like Rodman where everything he says is nonsensical to the point it’s boring and predictable. It’s like he’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine, BAM! CRAZY PILLS SNAKE EGGS! He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine. It’s the best part about Ron and why I cannot wait for him to be in the national spotlight with the Rockets.

What’s Eating Gilbert’s Knee: Do you ever stop and think about how you react to a guy’s injury? I mean essentially, we express anxiety, displeasure, or glee over the pain and damage of another human being. Gilbert’s a great example of this. Honestly, my big reaction is that Arenas needs to STFU up until he can put together a quality stretch of playing time equaling at least three months. He’s a huge star that wanted to get paid, wanted his big pool, loves being in the spotlight, but hasn’t actually played for a significant stretch in two years. I mean, at some point, you need to actually play the game, you know? But then I realize that essentially, I’m mad at Arenas for his behavior regarding actual pain he’s going through. I’m a Chiefs fan, so I’ve lobbed around my fair share of jokes about Brodie Croyle’s inability to stay healthy. But man, if I had a shoulder injury and people were making jokes about it? That’s not cool.

But outside of the social context of injury discussions, this doesn’t suck that bad for the Wizards. They made it a year without Arenas last year, they can make it a month this year. The only problem is that they’re between a rock and a hard place. If they don’t do reasonably well that first month, it could cost them homecourt in the 1st round, which they desperately, desperately need. If they burn the candle at both ends, though, you’re going to end up with durability issues like Caron suffered last year, and Caron Butler is the most important player on that team. Jamison is the most productive, but Butler is the focal point, the nexus, the engine for that squad. They need him healthy. Pick your poison.

Arenas, no jumping in the pool. Rest the freaking knee.

Make sure you check out Ridiculous Upside for the 2001 ReDraft.

Oh, It’s Already Gold. Gooey, Snake Eggy Gold.

July 30, 2008 in by with 3 Comments

Ron Artest is on his way to the Lonestar State. Next stop, Houston! This is Plano. But hey.

Sam Amick, you’re our hero of the day.

Sure, we could focus on the possibility of Artest sabotaging this deal after Yao got all uppity, and believe me, if Artest gets stranded in Sacramento for what I can only imagine will be the most uncomfortable situation in NBA history, but really, that will come on its own terms.

No, what we’d like to talk about right now is this little beautiful segment of Crazy Pills’ ramblings from his conversation with the delightful Mr. Amick (who also frequents the Cheesecake Factory in Vegas it turns out. The plot thickens.)…

“My first few years weren’t as good as my last few years and my last seven years have been really consistent, so if they want me I’m gone and even if they don’t want me, I still love Tracy McGrady.”

Besides the fact that last year wasn’t as good as some of his previous ones, and that the Malice was in the last seven years, there’s still the amazing stream of consciousness here. Note how the thoughts don’t follow any linear path, but instead seem to flow like a beautiful river through a city of ruin.

What’s next, you ask?

“This is Tracy and Yao’s team, you know. I’m not going to take it personal. I understand what Yao said, but I’m still ghetto. That’s not going to change. I’m never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don’t think he’s ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture.”

So you pretty much are taking it personal, aren’t you Crazy Pills? Furthermore, Yao didn’t mention anything about you being ghetto. You running into the fans and assaulting the guy didn’t have anything to do with you being ghetto. It had a lot to do with you being completely batsh*t insane. Which is why we love you. Don’t sell yourself short. Also, after that last sentence, the NAACP just set itself on fire. I think we know who Obama’s VP will be!

Obama/Arest 08: “We’re still ghetto.”

I also love how even in print, you can see Amick essentially cocking his head and asking “Wait… what?” And that’s before…

“He probably reads all the headlines and doesn’t understand. He automatically believes all the propaganda. He probably should’ve called me first. But at the same time, it’s Yao Ming’s team. If he tells me to jump off the building, I’ll jump off the building.”

Come on, Yao. You can do it. Nothing tall. Just, like, a shack or something. We’ll put a trampoline under him. Come on. You know you want to know, Yao. You know.

But my favorite?

“Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he’ll understand what I’m about. Sometimes it’s hard to get to know Ron Artest because I’m so down to earth to a fault.”

That’s exactly what I thin of when I think of Ron Artest. “Down to earth to a fault.”

God Bless you, Sam Amick. You’ve brought a very special dose of Crazy Pills into our lives.

And Ron, we can’t wait for your arrival in Texas. Can’t wait. After all, Texas is the ghetto-ist of the states.