Ron Artest throws away Ariza's Shoe after loosing it

Trevor Ariza accidentally lost his shoe during a play when Ron-Ron was

there and threw it away. Defensive tactic or unsportsmanlike behavior or

simply hilarious? You'll be the judge. Well I he'd not apologize in the

same manner as to what he did to Paul Pierce which was quite hilarious.

Ball Points (10-30-2009)

• It was Freaky Friday for the PBA last night and the broadcasters were asked to wear costumes. Ateanan Mico Halili wore a DLSU jacket but could not take the color of green for a whole game as choose to take it off by halftime. Chiqui Reyes wore some sort of wizard outfit. Of course, I will not forget to mention the beautiful Lia Cruz. (Click on her name to see her in costume.) She was having difficulty picking out a costume before settling on dressing up as Mico Halili. Hey, this girl would look great in ANY type of costume. Onto some real basketball talk now. Anybody who said they believe that Josh Urbiztondo and Dennis Daa can lead the SLR Realtors in scoring in a official PBA game is lying. Josh led the team a team-high and career-high 24 points and 4 assists while Dennis Daa finished with 15 points and 4 rebounds. My biggest concern for the Realtors is their depth. Their best 5 of Gabby Espinas, Kelly Williams, Bitoy Omolon, Ryan Reyes and Joseph Yeo can compete with any team in the league but the same can't be said for their bench. Guys like Urbiztondo, Daa, Ardy Larong and Chris Pacana have to contribute on a consistent basis if the Realtors expect to contend for the All-Filipino Cup title. In the 1st game of the double-header in the PBA, the Coca-Cola Tigers were able to earn their 1st win despite trailing by double-digit in the 3rd.
• It looks like the games against Smart-Gilas will not count in the standings after all. The PBA commissioner has already sent a letter to SBP director Noli Eala notifying him of the decision of the PBA officials. Of course, the PBA ordered the change due to the lack of playing time of Gilas import CJ Giles when they played against TNT (Smart-Gilas' sister team). Their theory is that Rajko benched Giles to help boost their sister team's standing which I don't get at all. Can you blame Toroman for benching his import because his best player's head wasn't in the game? He didn't even play a single second against BGK. As far as I can remember, BGK is not a sister team of Smart-Gilas. Hey, Toroman fielded Giles as much as possible in their against BK and his boss Manny V. Pangilinan is actually a part owner of BK. If Toroman did try to help improve TNT's record by benching Giles, why didn't he do it for MVP's other team? Noli's not happy at all as well. He's saying that this latest development is a message from the PBA that they do not want the Smart-Gilas team playing in the commercial league. I'm pretty sure that this is not a objective comment at all from Eala. He has taken every opportunity to bash the PBA in the past because of what happened in 2007. What's done is done. Eala has to move on. At least the PBA is still willing to let them play with the PBA teams. Besides, the Gilas team needs international competition and not local competition. I fear that they might get sucked in the brand of play of the PBA if they play with them extensively. PBA teams employ so much isolation plays and let their star players "gumawa ng diskarte." I'm not saying the style of play of PBA players is ugly. In fact, it's a nice treat to watch. It's just that the 2 previous RP teams have not reached a respectable finish in FIBA-Asia with this style.
• I got treated to a very lengthy game when I watched the battle between the 2 best teams of the Northwest Divison of the NBA last year, the Denver Nuggets and the Portland Trailblazers. The game took so long because of the 90 combined free throws attempts by both teams. I don't think you can blame the refs for calling so much fouls. The stars of both teams, Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Roy, were just both very aggressive driving down the lane. They actually combined for 37 FT attempts in the game. I guess the refs thought that it was also fitting to just let FTs decide the game. With 4.6 seconds remaining and Denver holding a 1 point lead, Kenyon Martin was called for a very soft foul for holding on Greg Oden. It looked like Portland got lucky as they were rewarded a golden opportunity to take the lead. Unfortunately for them, FTs ultimately gave the Nuggets the win as Greg Oden missed his two FTs. On the other end, Melo knocked down his pair of charity shots after he was fouled as he got the rebound off Oden's miss. I never liked seeing a ball game be decided on FTs. Let the players play. Melo was very aggressive in the game and the commentators said that the Melo of this year is different from the Melo of past years. I'll have to agree to that after seeing him in action. Now, if he can only turn himself into an all-around performer. That means he needs to get better at the defensive end and he needs to be a better passer. He showed some signs of that last year but he has to do it consistently if he wants to win a ring for himself. Does his team have enough to get past the Lakers and the Spurs? I don't think so but nobody expected them to be in the Western Conference Finals last year.
• How about the blowout win of the Mavs over the defending champions, the LA Lakers? And they did it in Kobe's house, the Staples Center. The Lakers just could not buy a basket in the 2nd half. The Mavs really looked good on both ends of the floor as they were getting open shots while they forced the Lakers into difficult, contested shots. Ron Artest looked lost in his 1st 2 games as a Laker. He's shooting 4-16 from the field so far. Not a very encouraging sign if you're a Laker fan. If these Lakers come up with anything less than a championship at the end of the year, Ron-Ron is going to be unfairly blamed for it. It's not his fault the Celtics have a healthy KG this year and some new quality recruits in Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels. He also shouldn't be blamed for making other contenders like the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks a lot deeper this year. I just hope that Ron Artest will find a way to incorporate himself into the Lakers' system without causing so much headache. Jeff Van Gundy also remarked (repeatedly, maybe 10 times?) how having Dirk Nowitzki play as the center while putting Marion at the power forward position will create so much headache for the opposing teams' defense. I agree with him on that but if Dirk does play the 5, that would mean the either Dirk or Shawn Marion will have to defend the likes of Tim Duncan, David West, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, etc. That doesn't really quite equate to a successful playoff run in my book.
  

Some Early Thougths on the Young NBA Season

• Other than his combustibility, another disadvantage for the Lakers of having Ron Artest instead of Trevor Ariza is the spacing. With Trevor last year, the Lakers had at least 2 and at most 3 dependable 3-point shooters on the hard court. It's not just because Trevor is better shooter. Adding Ron-Ron to the mix also means that the Lakers will now have 3 guys who need to post up to be effective on the floor. Let's take the current starting five of the Lakers. Bynum, Odom, Artest, Kobe, Fisher. Now, Phil Jackson can not afford to make Ron a spot shooter 100% of the time he's on the floor. He has to place Ron on the block occasionally. Now, if Ron is on the block, Odom and Bynum will be forced to hang out around and become spot up shooters and they will left with only 2 guys outside the arc.(Kobe and Fisher). Odom is an able shooter but he is not a natural shooter. Bynum? You be the judge. Yes, those 2 guys can cut more to solve the issue a little bit but they can't cut endlessly. If Pau Gasol returns, he'll replace Bynum and the Lakers will have another perimeter shooter. Pau's still not a Ray Allen though. There's a big difference in having a midrange shooter than a 3-point shooter. Avoiding to post up Ron is not the solution. Ron can hit outside shots but I don't think he can hit at a consistent rate. Plus, it would be a waste if you made Ron Artest play like James Posey.
• A lot of people are making a fuss about the 0-2 start of the Cleveland Cavaliers and I can see where they're coming from. Their new acquisitions were suppose to make life easier for the King but they haven't so far. Anthony Parker is averaging 11ppg but on 33% FG shooting. Jamario Moon is averaging 5.5 ppg and 37.5% FG shooting. Not really nice shooting. Shaq's averaging 11ppg and 8.5rpg but I feel he hasn't been much of an impact so far. Defense is also not quite there. Their opponents averaged 98ppg and 44.9% FG shooting in the their 1st 2 games. The most important thing (guy) they're lacking is Delonte West. Other than Lebron, I believe he's the most consistent player of the Cavs last year on both ends of the floor. Hey, even Paul Pierce thinks they really miss him.
• What about the rookie class of this season? Dejuan Blair, 14 points and 11 rebounds. I've always been a big fan of undersized, hardworking, 2nd round draft pick power forwards. Paul Millsap? Carl Landry? They have always found a way to produce for their teams despite their size. I don't think the Spurs did a great job in drafting this guy. They just got lucky that most of the teams were scared of his past ACL injury. Chase Budinger, 11 points and 3-6 from beyond the arc. Who needs Brent Barry if you can have a younger version of him? (and I'm hoping he can be more) Ty Lawson, 17 points and 6 assists. I've been fan of this guy since I saw him play for the UNC Tar Heels. He might be small but this can run with anyone in the NBA and he's fearless.
• I might have made a mistake in my fantasy league when I picked D-Wade over CP3. My rational for the move was that CP3 has more help now that he has a Emaka Okafor. I was wrong. The NO Hornets still look like a one-man team even with the Chandler-Okafor swap. As JVG said, the Hornets need a wingman who can create his own shot. S-Jack is a possibility but is GS willing to part with him for the Hornets' junk? And is he enough to take NO to the next level? Micheal Redd is an intriguing option but there are still no signs the the Bucks are going to try to move him.