Ron Artest made the Rockets an instant contender. Look at them now. McGrady, Ming, Alston, Artest and Scola. That is impressive. Ron Artest will compliment McGrady quite a bit. Yes, the Rockets knew the volatility of Artest but didn’t let that get in the way of a good thing.

Artest needs to play his butt off and not screw up. He knew his former team wasn’t good at all. But now, he can make a difference.

This team is not the BEST team in the NBA but certainly got a whole bunch better. Good move, Rockets.

Josh Smith wants a 6 year deal worth approximately $66 million. Now I am not a math whiz but I believe that is $11 million a year. Actually, he wants a bit more than that since Golden State gave that contract to Monta Ellis last week.

What can Josh Smith do? We know he can score. Also, last year alone he average over 8 rebounds a game and block over 2.5 shots per games. Those are really good NBA numbers. What is up with management not wanting to religuish the dough?

The Hawks have him for the cheap one more year. Look for them to work up a deal or he will be a very unhappy player during this last year of his lower salary.

With the salaries the league has been paying, Josh Smith should expect and has earned a $66 million dollar salary.

Lebron, Kobe, Melo and DWade make up the nucleus for what might be the best EVER USA basketball team. They have virtually guaranteed to bring home the GOLD medal from China. It is likely they are the best. But they have some issue to overcome.

What are those issues? Let’s try meshing They have to be cohesive in their quest for this medal. That can be difficult with many egos that believe basketball GODS have smiled on them solely. They will get all fancified with oops and behind the backers. But can they get together and decide HOW and WHO will close out a close game?

They certainly are lacking the real bigman type of depth. Boozer, bosh and Howard will have to log heavy minutes. Many of them are usally looking for relief a lot sooner than will be given in the Olympics.

These other teams are not grade school teams. Manu Ginobili and his Argentina team will most definitely make a run at the USA. There are 4 other NBA players on this team. Spain offers Pau Gasol and some other very good teams as competition.

Let’s see if the GOLD comes to the USA. After the embarrassing third place finish 4 years ago when many of these guy were NBA rookies and got very little playing time, I think you will see them GO FOR THE GOLD!

I expect that from my guys!

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