Mission: Lasso LeBron
As Cleveland’s James Gang hits town, an Artest/Battier posse is preparing to get after the leader
By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 25, 2009, 11:10PM
They are the city kid fiercely proud of his roots in the projects and a child of the suburbs who mines his private-school, front-yard youth for humor.
One is feted in the New York Times Magazine, the other in Slam. One brings brute strength and fearless resolve, the other the meditative approach of a tactics savant.
They are as distinct as their reputations, the NBA’s brawl protagonist and its All-American poster child. Yet on the court, they share a devotion to defense that makes the Rockets’ Batt-man and Ron Ron not just like-minded in their priorities but somehow able to make one another better because of their differences.
Never will that be more valuable than tonight, when Shane Battier and Ron Artest take turns matched up with Cleveland’s LeBron James, the league’s most dynamic force.
They will alternate like the most oddly matched tag team, mixing Battier’s methods and Artest’s muscle as if alternating a well-placed left jab and a haymaker right cross.
“I’m never going to be able to do the things Ron does, and I don’t think Ron wants to do the things I do,” Battier said. “Combined, we make a pretty good duo.
“He’s purely instinctual. I’m the opposite. I’m all analytical and not as instinctual.”
It is a testament to how great a challenge James poses that the Rockets hope all of that is enough to merely keep him off-balance. The Rockets would not even hint that their unusual combination of defensive aces provides an advantage. Rather, they said, it helps.
“It certainly gives us more of a chance,” coach Rick Adelman said of rotating Battier and Artest and their different styles on James. “He’s so strong and so big. I think Shane will play him differently than Ron will, and that maybe will make him do things he’s not as comfortable (with) or make him go some other direction. That’s what you have to do because he’s so good. It certainly helps us.”
James has become more unstoppable than ever, with an improved shooting technique removing much of a defense’s hope that if kept on the perimeter he might have an off night from the field.
He leads the Cavaliers in per-game scoring (28.5 points), rebounds (7.3), assists (7.2) and steals (1.76). In February, he has averaged 31.7 points, making 49.5 percent of his shots, and 6.5 rebounds .
Consistent foe
James had a fairly typical game against the Rockets in December. He made 11 of 23 shots in totaling 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a nine-point Cleveland win, roughly the same numbers he averaged the previous two seasons against them. But as with Portland’s Brandon Roy on Tuesday, the Rockets’ hope is to make James less efficient and to limit him down the stretch by using a relatively fresh defender.
“It gives the guy a little bit of a break when you have someone else who can guard him,” Adelman said. “It also gives the guy you are guarding a different look. Against some of these guys, sometimes it doesn’t matter. I think it does benefit us. It doesn’t put so much pressure on one guy. If he gets in foul trouble, you have somebody else you can put there. It really helps us having two chances to mix it up.”
The Rockets also have the rare chance of making James play against someone close to his own size. James, who is said to carry 270 pounds (rather than the listed 250) on his 6-8 frame, is accustomed to playing with a 20- to 50-pound advantage. At 6-7, 257, Artest can at least come close to James’ bulk.
“I put the work in in the summertime,” Artest said. “I actually work on my defense more than my offense. I would hope that would make me a better defender.
“I guess the one difference between me and LeBron is he’s just so much more athletic than I am on the explosive end.”
The Rockets are likely to want Artest on James most often, particularly with Delonte West back for Cleveland. That would enable Battier to roam and still get back to close out on a shooter.
Assignments could at times be based on the Cavaliers’ matchup decisions so that Battier or Artest isn’t cross-matched and out of position, particularly with James keeping an eye on every chance to fast break.
After that, no matter what they do, the Rockets will often choose to do something else, if only to use their defensive versatility and variety to keep from throwing James the same pitch.
Pick your poison
“We have an amazing luxury where we can give a guy different looks,” Battier said. “It really is a great luxury to for me to say, ‘Ron, chase around this guy for a couple plays.’
“At the end of the day, LeBron is a great player. Playing him is like, which way do you want to die? Do you want to get the lethal injection, or do you want to face the firing squad? You try to pick the least painful option.”
The Rockets hope, however, there is a recourse. If they can keep changing the target, they might just be able to dodge the bullet.
jonathan.feigen@chron.com
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