If statistics are the sole reflection of Artest’s impact on the defensive end, he is being done an incorrigible injustice. Numbers are numbers, but as we all know, when it comes to basketball, you cannot measure or weigh hustle and effort. Those are the intangibles that every coach and team leader desires from all 12 men across the board.
The “number” Artest did on Carmelo in the previous meeting against the Nuggets could easily end up being, all things considered, his best performance of the season, and hopefully a precursor of what’s to come if the Lakers and Nuggets meet again in the playoffs. Forget about Melo’s shooting percentage and turnovers and consider the overall effect Ron had on the NBA’s third leading scorer.
As George Karl lamented after the game, “They turned it into a wrestling match.”
It was Ron who again, subtly initiated the theme of the second half for the Lakers. He wanted it to be physical and he was not about to let Carmelo bust 40 on him. Obviously, with genetic anomalies like LeBron James, it’s easy to overlook a more traditional strong body like Artest’s. I think his strength and physique are quite underrated aspects of his game.
Anyone who has played basketball knows that when you’re guarding and being checked by a flat out bigger dude, it becomes increasingly irritating and tiresome as the game wears on. Now Carmelo is by no means McLovin or Gilligan, we know that. It seems to be more that Ron simply has mastered how to use his size and strength against any player and body them up with his massive chest as opposed to his arms, which would more often than not, result in a cheap foul being called.
Like I said before, the will and desire to be a great defender is what separates the real stoppers in the NBA from the rest of the pack, but it does take a great amount of technique and fundamental discipline as well.
“Some people get in a defensive rhythm,” Artest said. “I can get into a defensive rhythm. I think I’m in a little rhythm right now defensively. That’s what I’m going to try to do, keep people under their average and keep my strength.”
The Lakers as a team may be struggling as of late and clearly every player has to step it up, but I have no doubt that they will build that rhythm on defense together and ride it all the way back down Figueroa in late June.
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