Is Battier's defense overrated?

His defense isn't overrated, he just gets scored on a lot.

 

2nd camera angle didn't clearly show anything, other than he might have had some incidental contact. Did not affect the shot.

 

The question should be is Shane Battier's defense worth more than Rudy Gay? The answer is no.

 

At his age, yes. At age 33, he is not as good as those guys, and there was plenty of talk from fans/commentators about this fact. However, he can still do it in bursts as a part of a good defensive team (nobody, especially not a perimeter guy, can really shut down the opposing offense without good D being played by teammate) -- as evidenced by Carmelo's struggles during games 1, 2 and 3. It's actually pretty good work to have limited Melo to having 1 good game out of 4 against your team. I figure part of Battier not looking like himself during the regular season was the fact that neither he nor the Miami Heat was giving maximum effort during the 66-game compressed schedule.

Anyhow, maybe someone who hasn't paid attention to him this season would still talk about him as if he hasn't aged. Not sure that many of them exist other than among casual fans.

I'm not arguing that he hasn't slipped, just find it asinine for this thread to be made after 1 good game by Melo given that Melo struggled in games 1-3. Just knee jerk reaction.

 

The replay showed that he did hit Melo's arm.

 

Was decent in his prime

But age is the big factor here

 

Tom Haberstroh‏@tomhaberstroh

You don't need stats to see Carmelo has torn Battier apart, but the effect has been enormous. LeBron has size/quickness to match.

Per NBA.com, Carmelo scores just 17.7 points per 36 minutes with Battier OFF court this series. Battier ON court? 31.4 points.

 

Battier is parsons lite.

 

I mean he WAS Parsons lite (in his prime)

 

nope and nope

Did people even watch Rockets games while he was here. Battier always gets lit up by Melo. Battier's defense becomes more effective against people like Kobe, Roy, or even smaller shooting guards/PG. He's a good position defender, plays smart, and forces players to low percentage areas. But he has never been strong enough to guard stronger and bigger players like Melo who uses their body so effectively to create space.

I remember when Kobe posted Battier up, he scored a lot more on him than facing up in the perimeter because Battier was simply not strong enough to maintain good positions.

 

Shoulda put a afterwards. My bad

 

(All cases for this year)
If people are calling him the best defender on the Heat, then yes.

If people are calling him first-team defense, then yes.

If people are calling him a solid defender that knows his role and can still guard the opponents best player better than 85% of the other guys at their position, then no.

If people are calling him a bad defender, then no.

If people are saying he isn't what he used to be (which was a great defender that was underrated) and because he isn't that anymore, but is getting credit for being an elite defender because he is playing for the Heat, then that would be a fair assessment to make.

 

This. Shane's body is letting him down due to age, but he's still one of the smartest defenders in the league, in my opinion. I'm hoping that eventually he'll be an assistant with the Rockets, but I won't hold my breath. I'd welcome Battier in that role with open arms, but I have a feeling he's more likely to get into broadcasting. Just don't let him sing!

 

Basically this.

IMO he's a good defender. Not elite but good.

 

Battier plays defense that looks good but isn't actually effective (raising up and face-guarding AFTER he puts up the shot doesn't do a lot against the better players)

 

I haven't been following him much as a Heat, but I can't imagine he'd be in there if he wasn't showing something to the team/coach, especially with two alpha dogs in Wade and Lebron on the team. They would have said something by now, especially Lebron.

As for the hand defense...if you put your hand up too early, Melo's going to Kmart him and draw a foul by swinging his arms through. He'll get that call 9 out of 10 times.

 

He is the Teflon Don on this board. The blind people can't see that he has been gradually declining over the past 1 year because of their bias. He is not an elite defender anymore. He can bring it only on a few occasions. If it wasn't for LeBron and Wade,he would look worse.

 

the guys old...'nuff said.

 

Depends on what he's 'rated'. I don't personally still know of any sportswriters calling him a top defender in the league. If that's the level we're talking, then duh. We all saw him slipping in Houston. If we're just talking about his ref as a smart player who gives defensive effort and veteran presence, he's still just fine.

 

Why wasn't Lebron guarding melo there at the end? Lebron is hands down the best defender in the league. Coaching fail.