HoopsHype.com Columns

Artest's intensity not the key to his greatness
by Dennis Hans / December 5, 2004

Nevertheless, my advice to Post editors is to fire Wise and Jenkins from the sports department and rehire them (with raises) as reporters and feature writers on non-sports matters. On the one hand, the story showcases their intelligence, sensitivity, writing skill and investigative zeal. On the other hand, the brief passages that deal with Artest the basketball player reveal a profound ignorance about the player and the game.

Consider this paragraph:

“Unlike so many of his physically gifted all-star peers, Artest was not blessed with a great vertical leap or a potent offensive arsenal. His calling card became his combativeness, his tenacity. From Dirk Nowitzki to Allan Houston, he pasted cut-out pictures of prolific scorers he had shut down in his locker cubicle.”

First of all, no one is “blessed with” a “potent offensive arsenal.” Not Kobe or LeBron, Jordan or Hakeem, Bird or Kareem, Kiki or Dantley, Gervin or Westphal. A “great vertical leap” is indeed a blessing, or natural gift, but a potent offensive arsenal is something you develop. You may be “blessed with” quickness, hops and even a soft touch. But the bank shots, finger rolls, sky hooks, leaping leaners, runners, long-range bombs, pull-up jumpers, jumphooks, “Dream shakes” and so on are the product of imagination, creativity, trial-and-error, and countless hours on the court, sometimes with friends or teammates, sometimes alone. Not for a few months, but for many years. That’s how you become the Iceman, the Logo or the Mailman.

Secondly, Artest, who’s barely 25 years old, has already developed his own “potent offensive arsenal.” He has gotten better with each passing year, but even two seasons ago, when he repeatedly ran afoul of the league office for unacceptable conduct on and off the court, Artest was displaying a fabulous all-around offensive game. He could drive with both hands and finish with either (few righthanders can drive left and finish with the left hand as well as Ron); he was a good passer, whether stationary or on the move, with either hand or both; he could catch-and-shoot and he could shoot off the dribble; he could shoot from beyond the arc and from mid-range.

In his previous three seasons with Indiana, he maintained respectable shooting percentages while raising his scoring average from 10.9 to 15.5 to 18.3. This season, he was off to the best start of his career prior to the suspension, dramatically increasing his percentages while upping his average to 24.6. Of course, seven games do not a season make, and only time will tell if that was merely a hot streak or proof of improved strokes from the floor and the stripe.

When Wise and Jenkins write that “Unlike so many of his physically gifted all-star peers, Artest was not blessed with a great vertical leap. . . ”, the implication is that Artest is not “physically gifted,” at least compared to fellow all-stars. The reporters even suggest that without his “calling card” – “combativeness” and “tenacity” – he’d be
just another player.

That is nonsense. First, Ron is not glued to the ground. Second, the NBA has produced countless stars – black and white – who lacked a “great vertical leap.” Third, one can be incredibly “physically gifted” without that trait. To play basketball, you need to be quick off your feet and light on your feet. Being able to jump like Jordan is a wonderful bonus, but it is not a pre-requisite.

Ron is indeed combative and tenacious, but he’s also supremely gifted in ways that forecast defensive excellence. He’s among the league leaders in steals every year because he has the quickest hands this side of
Jackie Chan. Turning to the lower extremities, Ron has great lateral quickness, and his low center of gravity helps him retain balance and body control even when moving rapidly, regardless of direction. The reason Bruce Bowen and Ron can hound their guy 25 feet from the hoop – that is, get in the guy’s face and be “combative” and “tenacious” – is because they can stay with him if he tries to drive. The reason Carmelo Anthony, Antawn Jamison, Keith Van Horn, Glenn Robinson and Vince Carter don’t defend that way has little to do with attitude and almost everything to do with lateral slowness.

Every night Ron takes the floor, he has a tremendous strength advantage in his individual matchup. Ron is a very broad 6-7. He weighs 247, and you can tell that that is what he’s supposed to weigh; he’s not carrying around a lot of pumped-up bulk that a muscles-obsessed coach has ordered. When you’re a wide load and have quicker hands and feet than your foe, you have one heck of an advantage. Just ask Shaq.

If basketball hadn’t been invented, Ron might well be the first 6-7 running back in NFL history. Or he might be a strong safety in the mold of John Lynch, who moves a lot like Ron. John packs a wallop because he’s naturally low to the ground, despite standing 6-2. That accounts for his leverage and body control, which make him a sure tackler and a crunching one. You would not want to come across the middle and encounter strong safety Ron Artest – even if he were certifiably sane.

Ron is a great hoopster because he’s supremely talented and has worked hard and intelligently to develop and polish all aspects of his game. Many of his contemporaries who are merely good have worked just as hard, but their package of natural attributes simply don’t make for All-Star potential.

One hears from Charles Barkley and other superstars that there were plenty of guys back in the neighborhood who had as much or more talent as they did, but something was missing. Maybe the ones who didn’t make it lacked dedication; maybe they got into drugs; maybe they didn’t have the right mentor.

Perhaps there’s a grain of truth in such statements, but I think it’s more a reflection of the speaker’s inability or unwillingness to acknowledge just how supremely talented he is. America’s cities are not teeming with Barkleys and Artests. Argentina’s cities don’t have a Ginobili on every block. There aren’t thirty guys in Germany who could have been “better than Dirk” if only they had gone easy on the bratwurst and beer. Phenoms are rare.

I’ll leave it to the experts to diagnose and prescribe treatment for what may well be a five-alarm fire burning inside Ron. But even if there is an out-of-control fire, it’s not the reason he’s an NBA superstar.

Dennis Hans’s essays on basketball – including the styles, rhythms and fundamentals of free-throw shooting – have appeared online at the Sporting News and Slate. His writings on other topics have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and Miami Herald, among other outlets.

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