It's funny that it was brought up here that Artest is such an incredible defender and he has an amazing reputation around the NBA for defense. However, he was absolutely thrashed by Brandon Roy in the Rockets' 1st round series and that prompted Adelman to start Battier against Kobe in round 2.
Fact of the matter is that Ron Ron did not guard the top wingmen last year, Battier did. He is still a good defender but is not nearly as fast as he used to be and is prone to blow-ups if things aren't going his way. He is also a complete liability at times on offense considering he's known to hoist up ridiculous 20 footers on consecutive possessions.
It'll be interesting to see how it works with Kobe because for the 15 minutes that McLady was healthy last year Ron Ron was lost on the court. He didn't know where he fit in and his numbers kind of sagged (could have had something to do with his ankle). He is a great team player and hustles, which makes him so likeable, but he is now in the Carlos Beltran category in Houston.
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