The title of this thread should be changed to "An honest one-sided bash of Shane Battier." It would definitely be the correct one. Needless to say, the OP left out just about all the good things Battier does. I think someone is watching too much ESPN and expecting the Batman to carry this team offensively. Battier is a role player in this team. The person who deserves an honest assessment of their offensive skills is "Horriza" who absolutely blows chunks offensively but still takes as many shots as a superstar caliber player. If nothing else Battier knows his role and limitations and plays within them.
Shane Battier didn't have a good game defensively by his standards yesterday. Obviously. But I would not put primary blame on him for Wade's production. Scola, Landry, and Andersen were all pretty horrible in their help defense.
Battier has immense value to this team, he does a lot of the little things that win ball games. Yes, he got lit up by Wade last night, maybe if his coach didn't play him 55 minutes 2 days before he would have been better able to keep up. Shane plays great team D, plays within his strengths on offense and defers to better players (don't we wish Trevor did the same?). If you have a problem with Shane Battier, then the problem is really YOU. DD
I think Shane's reluctance/inability to take on a bigger role in the offense is arguably as detrimental to the offense as what Ariza is doing. After all, if Shane did more, Ariza would not be put in a position to make bad decisions as often.
I think Shane knows that if he tried to do more, he would look as bad as Trevor, so he stays within his strengths. Knowing who you are as a basketball player is liberating, it allows you to maximize your performance. Shane knows who he is, and what he can and can not do......that is very valuable. DD
I think you're making assumptions about all of these things, without a lot of evidence. What makes his picks better than most players? You say he has off the ball movement, but I rarely see him make a sharp backdoor cut for a layup. These are the "smart" basketball plays that guys who aren't as athletic usually rely on to help out offensively. His low post game is pretty poor. I can't see why we would ever put him on the low block regardless of the matchup, when Landry, Scola, and even David Anderson are options. Most of all, he is not a good shooter. He is shooting under 40% for the season. For a roleplayer, even a defensive minded one, that is abysmal. I know that you need defensive players, but there are two sides to the game of basketball. You need players who can make contributions of some sort on both ends. I don't think that Battier gives you this.
I could go out on the court, and just play keep away from the ball. Whenever I get it, pass it to someone else like a hot potato. Maybe I end up not looking so bad either, but would I not be hurting the offense even more than Ariza? Its not just what you do which determines how much you're hurting the offense. Its also what you don't do.
Certainly, but his role, or job is to space the floor, shoot the 3, and make the post entry pass, and also occasionally post up against smaller players. He does all of that, pretty well. He does not move well off the ball, does not have enough explosion or jump to get to the rim, so he doesn't do that. Could he do better, sure he could, but he stays within his comfort zone and plays hard all over the floor....and let's not forget all those weakside blocks he gets.... The guy is not a problem......Trevor is far worse this year than Shane...FAR FAR worse... Shane is a role player, and he is playing his role.... DD
I think Durvasa makes an excellent point above. Battier himself has said that everyone on this team needs to step up offensively to help carry the load. But, he's actually performing worse than he has in previous years. Do you really consider shooting less than 40%, as a role player, to be Battier "maximizing his performance"?
Battier's positives outweigh his negatives. Positives His help defense/perimeter defense is excellent Good leadership/rookie coach His 3s aren't bad he's kind of clutch Negatives He's aging and his athleticism is declining. Battier's getting a lot of flack because he's kind of the opposite of what the Rockets need right now. The Rockets do need defense but they lack athleticism, scoring, playmaking, length/height. But if you're looking at him for these things then you're looking at the wrong guy. He's here for his positives^. ...or in short what DD said.
Do you have a Master's degree in propaganda??? These kinds of comments don't really help the discussion. But they are great for getting the weak minded to follow your cause.
Your below 40% point is disengenious and I suspect you know that....he is shooting 39.9%, but when you consider that a majority of his shots are 3pt shots, and he is shooting...36.2% which is pretty danged solid....then yeah...I think it is ok. I don't think Shane is honestly capable of much more, he is not quick enough, and doesn't explode through people, he just plays smart, intelligent, solid basketball. He plays his given role....we need better players around him....a contrast if you will. If you started Budinger, or Von Wafer instead of Trevor, Shane would be looking a lot better....as would the team..... Our problem all year has been that our wings are redundant....and I find it laughable that you make a thread about Shane, when Ariza is flat out stinking up the joint..... I mean let's look at the elephant in the room before you talk about the mouse at his feet. DD
It is all he can do, what they need is to replace either Shane or Trevor with a contrasting offensive wing like CBud or Von. If Shane tried to do more, he would look as bad as Trevor does....... It is a JVG quote, genius. DD
If we're splitting hairs about numbers, Battier's currently shooting 35.5% from the 3 point line. That puts him at #78 in the league. Considering that the majority of his looks come when he has been spotted up while someone else has drawn away his defender, I think that this is a pretty pedestrian number. You might be able to call it solid....but I certainly don't think it qualifies as "pretty danged solid". People here have successfully raked Ariza over the coals already. They seem to forget that he was brought here to be a role player too. Ariza isn't getting paid star player money. He's trying to step up and do more than he was originally asked. Granted, he's not doing a very good job, but at least he's active.
The current Rockets are an abnormailty to the Yao era Rockets. Shane is an excellent fit as a part of Yao's Rockets, while his weaknesses are more apparent with our two primary creators of offense missing. Right now the Rockets have personell issues. We lack our post up center, and an offense creating SG. Sure, Shane not being able to adjust his game and fill those roles hurts the team right now, but those expectations are unrealistic. Why is Chuck not getting similar flack?
There are alot of guys that do what shane do and are either bench players or make less. Raja Bell, Matt Barnes,Ima Udoka,James Posey, Pietrus, and i could go on and on. All of those are glue/role players and none cost a lotto pick and make 7m a yr. Now DD, will spin it annd put a happy face on it and trevor is the bum, but just like rafer, if the next highest oaid, highest drafted guy would do sometging, those guys might be inclined not to. Look at his games on the road and tell me how is that stepping up.
None of those guys are leaders. Those are utility mercenaries that dont stick with teams. Shane Battier didnt cost a lotto pick, dumping a bad contract cost a lotto pick, in a year when the luxury tax payout was out of this world due to mismanagement by the Knicks.
