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Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

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  • Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

    Very interesting read




    http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southt...i/x10-lad1.htm


    Picture this Artest as a Bull


    Tuesday, February 10, 2004



    So, where does the trade that sent two All-Stars in Ron Artest and Brad Miller plus Ron Mercer and Kevin Ollie to the Indiana Pacers in return for Travis Best and Jalen Rose rank among the worst boo-boos in Chicago sports history? In the same zip code as Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio? Somewhere between the mindless release of Bobby Hull and the premature farewell to Greg Maddux?


    Judge for yourself tonight, when Artest and the Pacers visit the United Center for the final time this season. What you will see in Artest is everything the Bulls can use more of these days, a lot of what head coach Scott Skiles and general manager John Paxson want them to be like in the future. A guy who defends like a Doberman on the Raw Food Diet, rebounds, passes, shoots and absolutely hates to lose.


    And to think the Bulls drafted Artest with the 16th overall pick five years ago (take a bow, Jerry Krause), only to dump him in a panic move only three years later (take a hike, Jerry Krause).


    "It's nothing like, 'Yeah, I proved everyone wrong,' '' said Artest, whose $7 million salary makes him one of the biggest steals in the league. "I'm happy because the team is playing well. That's the reason (for his selection). If you think about it, there are a lot of people putting up big numbers, but they're not winning."


    In the two-plus seasons Artest spent here, only ORD had more baggage. He lived with his wife near the team practice facility, while his ex-girlfriend and their three kids resided in New York. Deerfield police answered so many emergency calls to his residence, the village considered an express lane. When they arrived, Artest often was found locked up alone in a bedroom.


    If there's one thing Artest loves more than basketball — nay, the only thing — then it's his family. One day his young daughter called on the phone. Daddy, I haven't seen you in a long time. I miss you so much. Can you come home now? Pleeeeeze? Sure enough, Artest was on the next flight to New York. Trouble was, he blew off practice in the process. Didn't tell a soul, either. It wasn't until hours later that Artest contacted the team to let them know of his whereabouts.


    You want bizarre? There was the halftime at the United Center two years ago, shortly after Bill Cartwright took over as head coach. While Cartwright discussed the game plan with his players in the locker room, one of them suddenly took off his sneakers ... socks ... jersey ... shorts ... jock. Faster than you could say Chippendale, who but Artest stood buck naked in front of his locker while stunned teammates picked their jaws up off the floor.


    Yet, the biggest problem wasn't that Artest brought so many demons with him from the streets of Queensbridge, N.Y. After all, if the NBA consisted of only players without issues, then it would be a two-team league. No, the problem was that Krause and head coach Tim Floyd — especially Krause — avoided the problems rather than look them in the face.


    At a time when Artest desperately needed some tough love, he was allowed to veer out of control. Floyd made half-hearted attempts to get through to him — one time Artest was benched after he wore a headband against team rules in support of a teammate — but the coach never had the respect of his players or support from above to lay down the hammer.


    "There are certain things I did in Chicago that should have been handled," Artest said. "When you're under the microscope, that's when a lot of things tend to get publicized a little bit more. I was doing a lot of things in Chicago the same way I was doing here."


    Then again, from Toni Kukoc to Eddy Curry, that was always the way it was with Krause and his pet draft picks, wasn't it? If you were a Krause guy, you got kid-glove treatment, pure and simple. Now you know why Curry and Tyson Chandler are still so Bounty-soft three years after they became lottery picks.


    So it should have come as no surprise that Artest was still up to no good after he was traded to the Pacers two years ago. Last season Artest was suspended three games without pay by the league and fined $35,000 after he heaved a television monitor and smashed a camera after a defeat in New York. (Wouldn't you love to see somebody on the current Bulls team get hacked off like that after a loss? Other than Skiles, I mean?). In Miami only days later, Artest confronted Heat head coach Pat Riley and flashed an obscene gesture toward the crowd. He was suspended by the league four games without pay as a result.


    After another loss at Washington last February, Artest smashed a framed picture of himself. Finally, with the blessing of team management, then-Pacers head coach Isiah Thomas did what should have been done years earlier. Artest was ordered to sit out one game, which marked the first time in his career he had been disciplined by his team. Artest also was ordered to seek anger management counseling and called on the carpet by the league office.


    The far more mature Artest who has showed up this season isn't the same guy who was suspended for 12 games a season ago. More like the Artest Formerly Known as Ron. Here it is four months into the season and he has all of three technical fouls. And get this: The next flagrant foul Artest commits will be his first of the season.


    Otherwise, he has been pretty much the same havoc-wreaker. When Artest is in the lineup, opposing small forwards average only 10.2 points per game, the lowest total for any non-center in the league. When you consider that Artest averages 17.9 points and 38.1 minutes, he's worth nearly 10 points per game.


    Still, not everyone is convinced. Critics contend that Artest will forever be one step away from the deep end, but he sounds like a man who has been there and is done with that. "I don't want to get suspended anymore," he said. "Everything I did got worse. The suspensions were more games. I don't want it to happen."


    Say, does the NBA do mulligans?

  • #2
    Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

    Eh.

    The Pacers seem like a fairly well-rounded group of folks, at least in NBA terms. If they can get along with Artest, and he can keep his temper under control, that's good enough for me.

    It's not like he's Rasheed Wallace. Or Shaq. Or Latrell Sprewell. Or Dennis Rodman. Or Kobe. Or...

    Hopefully you get my point.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

      And what's disturbing there?
      Uhh how about

      In the two-plus seasons Artest spent here, only ORD had more baggage. He lived with his wife near the team practice facility, while his ex-girlfriend and their three kids resided in New York. Deerfield police answered so many emergency calls to his residence, the village considered an express lane. When they arrived, Artest often was found locked up alone in a bedroom.

      or

      You want bizarre? There was the halftime at the United Center two years ago, shortly after Bill Cartwright took over as head coach. While Cartwright discussed the game plan with his players in the locker room, one of them suddenly took off his sneakers ... socks ... jersey ... shorts ... jock. Faster than you could say Chippendale, who but Artest stood buck naked in front of his locker while stunned teammates picked their jaws up off the floor.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

        Picture this Artest as a Bull
        And picture him playing with this Elton Brand and this Brad Miller.....not too bad of a front line......
        PSN: MRat731 XBL: MRat0731

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

          Great article. It's great to see someone write (besides those on this forum) that what Artest needed was some discipline. He needed someone to force him to behave and get help. He needed an organization to care about him as a person AND as a player. So many times these guys are basically 'meat' and no one cares as long as they put the ball in the basket. The Pacers showed him that they care as much about him as a person as a player.
          "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
          - Benjamin Franklin

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

            Relating to why Ron has matured in Indiana, this from a Sam Smith column today about Reggie Miller:

            Ron Artest had been suspended again, and the Indiana Pacers were splintering like a windshield hit by a rock. Management gathered the players and talked and talked. It was all wrong, it couldn't go on.

            After a while, Reggie Miller stood up and looked at Artest.

            "I'll tell you something," Miller said. "I did all those things you did. I spit at the crowd. No matter what you do, I'll back all of you."

            And with that Miller got up and left the room.

            "Obviously, Ronnie was wrong," team president Donnie Walsh says of the combustible Artest. "But Reggie was saying he was there for him."

            Not the way he once was. Certainly not at 38 years old and in his 17th NBA season, all with the Pacers. But the brash kid once best known for being Cheryl Miller's little brother has been a big brother to these Indiana Pacers, and a big reason why the Pacers are the best team in the Eastern Conference as they come in to play the Bulls today.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

              Man, that article really put how far Artest has come this year into perspective. All of last year's antics seem like they happened a decade ago.

              In the two-plus seasons Artest spent here, only ORD had more baggage. He lived with his wife near the team practice facility, while his ex-girlfriend and their three kids resided in New York. Deerfield police answered so many emergency calls to his residence, the village considered an express lane. When they arrived, Artest often was found locked up alone in a bedroom.

              or

              You want bizarre? There was the halftime at the United Center two years ago, shortly after Bill Cartwright took over as head coach. While Cartwright discussed the game plan with his players in the locker room, one of them suddenly took off his sneakers ... socks ... jersey ... shorts ... jock. Faster than you could say Chippendale, who but Artest stood buck naked in front of his locker while stunned teammates picked their jaws up off the floor.

              Wow. I also remember all those stories of how Artest was supposed to take lithium (I believe he's manic-depressive), but refused to do it because of the way it made him feel. No question Ron has some snakes in his head. I don't think he's been given enough credit for his behavior so far this year. It's much like alcoholism, in that Ron can't just flip a switch and transform into the "good" Ron. This is something he battles every day. His behavior this year is nothing short of amazing.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

                Relating to why Ron has matured in Indiana, this from a Sam Smith column today about Reggie Miller:

                Ron Artest had been suspended again, and the Indiana Pacers were splintering like a windshield hit by a rock. Management gathered the players and talked and talked. It was all wrong, it couldn't go on.

                After a while, Reggie Miller stood up and looked at Artest.

                "I'll tell you something," Miller said. "I did all those things you did. I spit at the crowd. No matter what you do, I'll back all of you."

                And with that Miller got up and left the room.

                "Obviously, Ronnie was wrong," team president Donnie Walsh says of the combustible Artest. "But Reggie was saying he was there for him."

                Not the way he once was. Certainly not at 38 years old and in his 17th NBA season, all with the Pacers. But the brash kid once best known for being Cheryl Miller's little brother has been a big brother to these Indiana Pacers, and a big reason why the Pacers are the best team in the Eastern Conference as they come in to play the Bulls today.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

                  Yes link please.









                  I hope this put to rest the theory that many had last season that Ronnie was fine in Chicago and only acted up last season. he was worse in Chicago and actually improved a little last season

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

                    Nevermind I got it I just could not remember who Sam Smith worked for. But then .

                    http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....-bulls-utility

                    Other things from the article

                    2. 1998 conference finals vs. Bulls: Miller won Game 4 with less than a second left on a three-pointer. Michael Jordan claimed Miller pushed off. Bryon Russell had no comment.

                    "I think we're good enough to get back to the Finals," Miller said. "We match up well against Western teams. The only thing that can hold us back is whether we're mentally ready. Last year's team wasn't. Mentally, can we take the punch? We haven't faced much adversity yet, so I want to see how we react. But we've lost a few in a row and last year it would snowball into five or six. This year it's not happening."

                    "But I don't want to be here coming off the bench playing spot minutes," he said. "To me that would be stealing. So I'm taking it year by year."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

                      I just remembered that you have to register it is free but a pain in the @ss. So here is the whole thing.

                      Miller still Pacers' backbone


                      Ron Artest had been suspended again, and the Indiana Pacers were splintering like a windshield hit by a rock. Management gathered the players and talked and talked. It was all wrong, it couldn't go on.

                      After a while, Reggie Miller stood up and looked at Artest.

                      "I'll tell you something," Miller said. "I did all those things you did. I spit at the crowd. No matter what you do, I'll back all of you."

                      And with that Miller left the room.

                      "Obviously, Ronnie was wrong," team President Donnie Walsh said of the combustible Artest. "But Reggie was saying he was there for him."

                      Not the way Miller once was. Certainly not at 38 years old and in his 17th NBA season, all with the Pacers. But the brash kid once best known for being Cheryl Miller's little brother has been a big brother to these Indiana Pacers, and a big reason why the Pacers are the best team in the Eastern Conference as they come in to play the Bulls on Tuesday.

                      "I look at Reggie," teammate Jermaine O'Neal said. "He rolls his ankle, he still plays. He goes through so much and is still there. I try to pattern myself after him."

                      Reggie Miller was a spindly kid who couldn't even walk right until he was 5 years old. Born into a family of athletic achievers, including Cheryl and older brother Darrell, a future major-league catcher, he had to wear braces to bed to straighten his twisted legs.

                      Hard work enabled him to overcome that obstacle, just as it helped him to an All-American career at UCLA and a productive pro career.

                      It began in the back yard under the direction of his Air Force father Saul, and it hasn't stopped. The first Pacer at the arena every game is Miller. The first Pacer to stand up and take a big shot is Miller. Not every shot--that's left to the kids, O'Neal, Artest and Al Harrington, all of whom average more points per game than Miller.

                      But when it's time . . .

                      "Throughout his career, I've never felt Reggie shot enough," said Walsh, who was booed heavily when he chose Miller at No. 11 in the 1987 draft over hometown hero Steve Alford. "But the one thing he does is when he senses the game is on the line, he goes after the ball. He really wants that."

                      Few seem less qualified to be an NBA star than Miller. His 6-foot-7-inch frame barely carries 190 pounds. He's not particularly quick and not known for beating players off the dribble. He's not particularly athletic, not a leaper with spectacular moves. He just wins games.

                      There probably has never been a better clutch player in NBA history than Reggie Miller. You can look it up.

                      None of the big stars--Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Shaquille O'Neal, Oscar Roberston, Bill Russell--has a bigger margin between playoff and regular-season scoring averages. It might be the best way to gauge a pressure player, because in the playoffs, scoring goes down as defensive intensity goes up.

                      And it's not like Miller was a regular-season failure. His career average was just below 20 points for a dozen seasons.

                      But his playoff scoring average hovered near 25 per game and still is almost 23 per game, a striking difference of some four points per game. That ranks among the best ever in the NBA. He ranks in the NBA's top 25 in career playoff scoring.

                      "He wants that responsibility," Walsh said.

                      That makes him a rarity in the NBA, even among many of the so-called stars. Few want that big-shot responsibility. Perhaps no one has asked for it more often than Miller.

                      "I think he's the most unappreciated star ever," Walsh said.

                      Miller will have none of it, though he remains a model of team play and decorum. He has never criticized a coach or management and remains committed to fundamental play and hard work.

                      "Players play, coaches coach, general managers manage," Miller said simply. "It doesn't do the team any good to complain and cry over minutes or shots, a reduced role, changes. All you can do is go to practice and work harder."

                      Actually, few top players would have more reason to complain than Miller.

                      After suffering with lesser teams for years, the Pacers finally reached the NBA Finals in 2000.

                      "It was a series we had every right to win," Miller said. "We could easily have won Games 2 and 6, and we had Game 4 (a two-point OT loss at home after the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal fouled out). That was tough when those guys left."

                      Rik Smits retired, Dale Davis was traded and Miller's close friend, Mark Jackson, was let go.

                      "I was worried," Walsh conceded. "He didn't have anyone to hang out with anymore."

                      But Miller didn't complain. He just played.

                      "I saw Jermaine with his work ethic and how much he wanted it," Miller said. "I was excited by the opportunity."

                      An opportunity to return to the NBA Finals? Perhaps. Miller wants it badly. He has hit the big shots and put up the statistics. He's the NBA's career leader in three-point shots and is among the best free-throw shooters ever. He has played for winning U.S. national teams.

                      "My job here is to nurture, teach and help these kids," Miller said.

                      He hopes to play through the end of his three-year, $19 million contract that runs through the 2005-06 season. "But I don't want to be here coming off the bench playing spot minutes," he said. "To me that would be stealing. So I'm taking it year by year."

                      Miller ranks among the league leaders in three-point shooting, free-throw shooting and assist/turnover ratio. And defenses still "honor" him.

                      "I'm having fun and still playing well," he said. "[Defenses] don't leave me. They play me coming off screens, they double-team me. If they play me the same way, they obviously respect me."

                      It speaks to the Pacers' depth that their longtime go-to guy is flourishing in the role of third or fourth scorer.

                      "I think we're good enough to get back to the Finals," Miller said. "We match up well against Western teams. The only thing that can hold us back is whether we're mentally ready. Last year's team wasn't. Mentally, can we take the punch? We haven't faced much adversity yet, so I want to see how we react. But we've lost a few in a row and last year it would snowball into five or six. This year it's not happening."

                      Miller realizes he's running out of chances.

                      "I feel for guys like Scottie Pippen," he said. "Guys like Charles Barkley, who had to retire prematurely. Guys I've played with, guys who have played after me who are gone. I've kept my body in shape and work out hard all summer and I've been lucky."

                      And very good.

                      Reggie Miller's Top 10 playoff performances

                      1. 1995 conference semifinals vs. Knicks: Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to win Game 1. He hit a three-pointer, stole the inbounds pass and stepped back for another three-pointer, then made two free throws.

                      2. 1998 conference finals vs. Bulls: Miller won Game 4 with less than a second left on a three-pointer. Michael Jordan claimed Miller pushed off. Bryon Russell had no comment.

                      3. 1994 conference finals vs. Knicks: Miller hit five three-pointers and scored 25 points in the fourth quarter of Game 5.

                      4. 2002 first round vs. Nets: Miller hit a 40-foot three-pointer to send the deciding game into overtime and then a driving dunk to force a second overtime before the Pacers lost to the eventual conference champions.

                      5. 1998 conference semifinals vs. Knicks: Miller forced overtime in Game 4 with a three-pointer with 5.9 seconds left and had 38 points in the win.

                      6. 2000 first round: Miller scored 41 points in the Game 5 clincher and then 40 points in the conference semifinals opener as the Pacers went on to the Finals.

                      7. 2000 Finals vs. Lakers: Miller averaged 29.5 points the last four games as the Pacers fell in six games.

                      8. 1996 first round vs. Atlanta: Scored 16 points in the fourth quarter of the deciding fifth game after missing the first four games with injuries.

                      9. 2000 playoffs: Averaged 31.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in the deciding game in each series through the NBA Finals.

                      10. 2001 first round vs. Philadelphia: Averaged 31.3 points and five rebounds in series against eventual conference champions.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Interesting and disturbing article about Artest

                        At one time, there was a lot of effort on these boards to ignore that he was as much of a distraction up here before the trade as he was in Indy after the trade - as if the incidents from last season were isolated instead of part of a disturbing, long-term trend.

                        He has a very long history of selfish and bizarre behavior - this article didn't even touch on the Circuit City episode, or the times he claimed he was "hurt" and refused to dress for the games because he was mad at Floyd, or some of the boneheaded things he's done on the court when he helped the Bulls lose games more than he helped them win.

                        Every time I think about going down to the UC, I think of the Bulls/ Heat game I went to shortly after the trade. I didn't even get a chance to introduce myself to the people sitting around me as a long-time Pacers season ticket holder before they jumped in and told me how much better the Bulls would be just beause they found somebody foolish enough to give them anything for Artest.

                        I've said since he arrived in Indy that I really won't jump on his bandwagon until he proves he can behave for an entire season - he's on his way but it always scares me when the Pacers come back to Chicago because I'm afraid one of those demons will get ahold of him...

                        I've rambled on for a while now, but my point is this:

                        His improvement in behavior this season has been remarkable. But it still disturbs me a little bit that everyone is gushing over the fact that he's finally just acting like an adult that's a member of a team. Does he realize that he has to maintain this level of good behavior every day from now until the end of his playing days - or preferable, for the rest of his life? That this is the expectation, not the exception? That his teammates, coaches, fans, and media are going to stop patting him on the back at some time because all he's really doing is the same thing the other fourteen players in that lockerrom figured out years ago?

                        I think there is some similarity to the 'alcoholic' example cited above - in that his behavior was so bad for so long that he really has to make a conscious effort to behave every single day. Good luck, Ronnie.
                        Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
                        Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
                        Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
                        Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
                        And life itself, rushing over me
                        Life itself, the wind in black elms,
                        Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

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