Here's the analysis you need to make: C: Yao >> improved since Mavs series PF: Battier >> Better than Howard, Bowen, Padgett, Swift SF: T-Mac >> Same, maybe healthier SG: Wells >> IMO, better than Wesley, but we'll see PG: Alston >> I personally prefer Sura, but they bring around the same production in totally different ways * That may not be the starting line up, but I think we can agree that the line up will see the floor more than any other. Bench: Lucas, Snyder, Head, Spanoulis, Novak, Howard, Hayes, Deke should be better than any bench we've had in the last 6 or 7 years. Coach is still the same. We made 51 wins with a roster that was re-tooled after a poor start, and lit the league on fire the second half of the season. We followed that up by taking hte heavily favored Mavericks to 7 games, losing because, well, no one but Yao and Mac showed up in game 7. IMO, our roster is much better this time, and will have a full training camp rather than being brought in during the season. I can see this team winning 55-58, and making it to the Western Finals. Battier is by far the best value PF we could get. Did anyone here think that we could replace Juwan and improve the position without overpaying someone? IMO, we did good.
Shane Battier is from the same mold as a young AC Green or Dennis Rodman. They can excel at playing possibly all 5 positions on the floor because of their excellent court awareness and techniques. I have no doubt about it that Shane can and will perform for us at the 4 spot.
I like this post and I'm going to add to the idea. I think the effects that Battier will have on offensive rebounding will be bigger than in other realms. The best rebounder on most teams in the league play the PF position. If Shane plays on the perimeter while he plays the four, a rebounder will have to guard him. He has to hit shots when the defender sags down or if the team moves to zone. If he does hit 3ptrs while he is at 4, I imagine that offensive rebounding will go way up. Considering that we just got Bonzi, he, Tracy and Yao can crash the boards with the opposite team's best rebounder at the 3 pt line.
I wouldnt necessarily agree the bench is better than 04. mike james, barry, deke, padgett, weatherspoon may not be the most specatular players but they were smart vets who did their job. right now our bench has better depth than last year that is for sure but they are a lot of unprovens. ideally is if (a big if) sura comes back to play as he did in the 04 season for 15 mins a game, bonzi willing to come off the bench to be the sixth man of the year. given the roster we have right now I would like to see starting lineup of: yao-c battier-pf t-mac-sf snyder-sg rafer-pg that would leave bonzi, howard, vspan,head,deke, padgett,jl3, jacobsen, novak, possibly sura off the bench. that bench would be good...if sura can play 15 mins/game at the same level he did in 04 that would be just pure gravy but right now i believe him to be gone. when it comes to injuries no news is bad news because the media will report any good news for sure
the rockets would be moronic to continue trotting howard out there when an option like battier is available. it's pretty simple really. they can either: A) keep playing howard for the sole reason of adhering to some set requirement of "having" to start a big low post player at pf, even when he's giving you absolutely nothing. B) play battier while where he has his warts in size deficiency, he atleast gives you SOMETHING in spacing the floor and IQ. comparing him to a young robert horry in that situation completely illegitimizes this argument though because it's so laughable, so please stop going there. horry was long and explosive and had possibly the best defensive big man of the modern era playing alongside him. let's leave that comparison out of this.
It's off-topic, but Gay was an excellent college defender. His passiveness was all on offense. Battier's advantage over Gay is that he is a proven excellent Pro defender, and he is a better offensive player (efficiency, not volume).
Im all for Batman at the 4 spot, we should have our 5 best players as our starting 5, and Shane is better than Howard. Cant wait until the game tomorrow night. Down with the Grizz!!
Dennis Rodman the same mold as Shane Battier?? Have you ever seen him play?? The guy can play defense and rebound.....and that is about it. He had barely any offense and played lots of mind games on the court. Rodman is pretty close to Big Ben right now, except Rodman had a better shooting form.
I agree with what you're saying; but technically, if he hits 3's at the 4 spot there's no offensive rebounds.
My bet is that Battier splits time with Juwan, like MJ and Sura split time at the PG in 2005. That year Sura and James played alternating quarters and I think thats what happens this year with Battier and Juwan. With 24 minutels at the 4, that leaves 12 minutes for Battier to spell TMac at the 3.
Um...i think the conversation is basically on what Battier provides for us on the defensive end...as like everyone has said, nearly anyone can suit up and play a particular position on offense. And when I refer to Dennis Rodman...i'm talking about a young Detroit Piston Dennis Rodman. When Rodman was skinny...there is no way he would be compared to Ben Wallace. Back in the late 80s early 90s, Dennis could guard pretty much any position on the floor. He was pretty much built just like Shane Battier. If Shane can give us 70% of the impact a young Dennis Rodman gave on defense, i think we will say we robbed Memphis.
no offense to Shane but Rodman was much quicker in those days than battier is now and more physical. battier is a good defender but i dont think he is quick enough to gaurd a PG or physical enough to handle a center. i do think he is capable of defending the other 3 positions
