Battier update

thanks for the find. i was hoping to hopefully see battier play soon against the lakers but looks like my original guess of the hornets game will be somewhat accurate.

cant wait to see how this team looks at full strength

 

When Morey spoke to the No Layups guys the other day (or maybe it was the 610 guys? Sorry can't remember which) he guessed the middle of the month for Shane to come back. Which would coincide with the NOH game next weekend.

But I wouldn't expect him to play a lot of minutes right away.

 

Imagine our defense with Artest and Battier on the floor at the same time. How many teams can say they have TWO lockdown defenders.

 

I'm more worried about how the injury will affect his lightning quick first step and superior jumping skills. He may not have had them in the first place, but after this injury we may never know...

Will he have much time anyway when he returns? We seem pretty deep as it is. I don't see any glaring weakness due to his absence. If he comes back and we find out that is the case and he's expendable, maybe we could start looking at available pgs for a trade?

Not that I see Battier as expendable, but I like the way our swing positions are playing at the 2/3. We'd be lucky to have such a good "expendable" player.

 

you kidding me? do you watch what goes on on the defensive end? this is rockets basketball we're talkin about. if we want to be considered championship caliber, it all starts with the defense.

 

getting back shane is like the lakers getting back bynum.

 

All I care about is his ability to give Ron Ron a rest on D and not have to concentrate on both. With Ron Ron at full tilt, he wouldn't have shot 3 - 16 against the C's. Also Ron could have stayed on Pierce and Battier could have shut down Allen. Leaving Tmac to play point and hold no shooting Rondo.

 

Sad thing is, Rondo would probably drive past TMac every other play for easy two. TMac really needs to get healthy, or he'll remain a defensive liability for us.

 

Don't mean to be a downer, but I remember reading a recent blog of either Fran or Johnathan (sp?) and one of them said somethign about Battier isn't even at practice yet, just shooting around and stuff. He also commented that basically it was a long way still.

 

Getting Battier some minutes will let us rest TMac a lot more.

 

Battier is not a lockdown defender. Every once in a while he'll play good one on one defense, but his strength is being a good team defender. Battier doesn't have the strength and quickness (especially lateral quickness of the Tru Warrier. Ron Artest is the best one on one defender in this league.

 

Really I don't think so. T-Mac is not a roamer. So he'd at least force Rondo to take a 18-20ft jumper or at least steer him towards Yao. He could do this while staying 5 steps back.

 

Rondo is quick. Rafer's "great defense" couldn't stop him. Now, I know Tracy is probably a better defender, but when you see Tracy not going through picks to put a hand up on the defender's face, more likely than not, you'll see Rondo go right by him.

And this maybe because he is injured, but I remember last playoffs, where Ronnie Brewer had shooting drills in the game.

 

Yeah, I am not sure what to do about tmac's defense on certain matchups like the Celtics. The best options seem to be either for him to guard (sag off) Rondo or to guard KG. Rondo is still very quick; Pierce can use his athleticism and strength advantage; and Jesus can just run through screens all night. Hopefully tmac and battier will get healthy soon.

 

A part of defense especially with quicker players is to steer him into the direction of someone who alters shots. This is where the Yao bashing begins. But it really was a failed effort on the teams part in that case.

 

our defense misses battier... i've been extremely unimpressed with what i've seen on that end other than a few glimpses here and there.

if battier is the glue to the suffocating defense that we're used to, and i suspect he is, he should be right up there on the yao, tracy, artest, untouchable list.

 

Battier will reduce the minutes for T-Mac, Ron, and Yao.(and probably Barry too) His return will allow Artest to be needed less at a wing position, and capable of taking a post spot, which would allow Scola or Hayes to man the 5 and rest Yao a bit more.

 

yeah,when we have Battier and on the floor at the same time,Artest can defend Pierce,Battier can defend Ray Allen,and still,Hayes can defend Garnett,maybe next game vs Celtics Adelman should let Hayes start