AB not jacking up shots. His fg% was atrocious but he compounded it by being a high volume shooter. Dragic can play D too. It's like night and day. Aside from that, everyone knows their role. Lowry is stepping up his game big time and Lee has been a stud off the bench. Patterson is getting better every game and Miller has helped the second unit some.
You are wrong again. AB was vastly overrated by you, not Battier. 1st unit doesn't do much better than before, difference is 2nd unit.
And our ball movement on offense seems better. Very often I see four or five passes with no dribbling at all. I can hardly keep track of the ball, so I'm sure the opposing defense gets somewhat thrown off as well.
I do agree that our second unit has been our weakness. Over the past few games that seems to be much improved.
So, you are saying, loosing AB was a positive? That it improved team chemistry? Hmmm. Do you think it was it his attitude, or more his style of play? Or just that he was injured and not back to 100%?
That would certainly explain why they seem to be playing harder. It is difficult to keep giving your 110% effort out there knowing on offense there will be someone chucking away at a low % no matter how hard you run it, and on defense there will be a gaping hole open to penetration no matter how hard you try to plug it. Okay, run with that, Carl.
The uncertainty is gone. The players know they wont be traded. They have peace of mind. Remember when "no one was untouchable" - not good. And now, we as fans can also enjoy the team on the floor without worrying about a dramatic change.
I really hate to nitpick at AB but that was another reason I couldn't wait to see him shipped out. Pounding the rock on the floor for 20 seconds rarely ends in a good look. He was killing the second unit.
I will be honest, i didn't see him play much college ball (living in Australia makes that hard) but people i have spoken to say the scouting report made him out to be a slasher.. in our 2nd unit he was a sharp shooter, mostly settling for outside shots. In the starting lineup, Bud seems to take the ball to the cup a lot more and he is moving well without the ball - i believe we didn't see this much with the second unit. Also i think Bud really benefits with Kyle Lowry running the point - Bud played his best last season whilst KL was running the point in the 2nd unit. The confidence in his offensive game is translating to the defensive game where he has gone from awful to at least average.
What he said is true. Battier was vastly overrated. People thought that this team would fall apart defensively without Battier. He was their proverbial glue holding things together. Those same people failed to recognize that the team was already atrocious on defense and Battier wasn't making a difference on either end of the court. Combine that with the fact that Budinger is an active participant in the offense, and it makes a huge difference in terms of what the team is capable of doing. We have gone from having a below average offensivee player to a guy who is a threat to hit open shots and attack the basket. I don't know if Budinger can maintain his current pace, but these past 6 games should show all the Battier fans what is possible when you have a capable scorer on the wing. It opens up things for other players. The other difference is the shift in minutes from AB to Lee. Lee is shooting the ball well, and he's another active player on both offense and defense. His motion off the ball forces defenses to react whereas AB would hold the ball and try to break down his own man. When that happened, defenses could just watch and wait. When Lee is out there, they have to chase him around. The difference between AB and Lee defensively is too obvious to mention.
It's his performance. He was eating the clock on the iso, and not producing anything because he was missing. Nothing wrong with iso if you produce at the end of the day, either by scoring or making a pass, but he wasn't scoring and was eating valuable clock time. On the defensive end, he was also suckier than usual. I don't know if it was the injury and I don't care. He was playing badly and hurting the team.
Bullard mentioned it in the broadcast, the 3 man rotation for Bud -CL-Martin. That royston had been solid. CL comes in for Bud moving Martin to the 3. Then Bud comes back in for Martin,.then martin chimes back in for lee.
Two more reasons: Battier and Hayes separated. (On the court together they greatly reduced our offensive threats -- even though Hayes is an "offensive machine"). Lowry and Bud reunited. (When Lowry got promoted to the first unit, Bud suffered. Now Bud is in the first unit, they are reunited).
And Battier continues to get credit for minimal impact. Memphis was playing outstanding basketball well before the trade was made.
Kyle Lowry Minus Brook add Dragic Minus Battier Chase fills in the spot More Lee More Patterson Less Hill Trade deadline over/ chip off their shoulders Easier Schedule defensive effort has picked up as a whole defense got better because of more lee/dragic Chase defense although not Battier makes up with better offense and creating opportunity with better spacing for others. No more 4 on 5. and Kyle Lowry again. Players that replaced the exited fits in better with Adelman's system. Motion offense thrives when you have cutters and players that runs off ball well. Lee, Bud, Martin, Dragic is exactly these types of players. Brooks was an iso type aka ball stopper (mini mcgrady wannabe in earl boykins shell). Inefficient and disrupts the flow of the team. A small frame poor defender that would instantly give up points to the other team. Any cushion built will be vanished quickly with Mr. Brooks. Battier was making stops to cover up his deficiencies on the other end. (offense) But, " He is a true leader and a professional and It's a shame he didn't retire as a Rocket." Rockets had the players (minus Goran), speed, and athleticism this whole time. It just took them after the trade deadline to wake up and utilize these players more properly. Of course you must showcase your "goods" to have them traded.
