Ariza is putting up 11, 5, and 2 while shooting 38% and 29% from 3. That is not "clearly better" than Lee (at a different position) who is putting up 7 and 2 in 15 fewer minutes a game while shooting 44% and 40% from 3. In general, Ariza is better, but it is not huge. I think both have been adjusting to new teams and Lee certainly has struggled but seems to be coming around lately. Ariza is missed because he is better than Battier and they have nothing else to put at the 3. I was and still am OK with the trade because I like Lee better overall and long term and it shouldn't be that hard to find a 3 better than Ariza either through trade at the deadline or in the next offseason.
I agree with the last part. Used to agree with the first part. Now, I'm wondering. Unless you are really saying Budinger can't possibly play worse than he is right now.
I was refering to him constantly asking me to back up that i'm critical of battier, not what he was saying about battier himself. That's what he keeps bringing up, over and over for the last week or two, even going into game threads to ask me. There's always going to be bad things to say about just any player. I could go into an OKC forum and act like i was a fan, yet make all of my posts about the negative things durant does. While technically i'd have some credibility on the subject, what kind of credibility would i have as an OKC fan? I dont know about you, but eventually that person would have very little, if any, on that forum. He might as well be a fan from another team coming in to stir up trouble. These comments aren't focused on helping the team, possibly by trading battier, but are just about how bad battier is or how better another player is than him. That's what i'd expect a jazz fan to do. To come in here and just attack attack attack. I dont care if it's battier, scola, yao or our ball boy he's attacking. If you care about the team that shouldn't be your one and only approach on this forum.
To be true, the whole team suck....we're not as good without Yao and Brooks. Players like Battier, Budinger, Lee, ect...are just fillers.
i think this thread has been beaten to death. battier no longer is a 25 minute a game player. at most he's a 10 minute a game player. it tells you how bad our team is that he still plays big minutes.
Thing with Budinger is he could become another Luther Head. From the way he is playing now, who is to say if he was ever in the playoffs that he might completely drop out the picture? This whole mental wall thing scares me, and what scares me more is his lack of focus and drive. We have played 15 games so far, and he still hasn't rediscovered his stroke. He was hitting his shots in the first half of the bobcats game, but he dropped out the picture once again in the second. Chase needs more consistency, otherwise he is nothing more than what we picked him up as, a simple second rounder who never reached his potential.
Bratna, Although his shooting percentage has been down, Battier is one of the few players on the Rockets who has been giving consistent effort each game. He and Scola are still big parts of this team to keep things together while the struggles continue. If you want to single out players, Battier isn't the guy for most of the blame. Guide your frustrations to Kyle Lowry, the lackluster energy and effort on D from Kevin and the player rotations that Rick Adelman is failing at thus far. Batman isn't the problem.
we won't get much at this point for battier but i think some changes are definitely needed in this team we look too slow.
Yep, he used to be a real basketball player, but now and since he's been in houston, he"s a specialist. In memphis, only 1/3 of his shots used to be 3's now, its over 60% and has been close to that number since he's been here. Thats been my biggest issue with shane in general. If you're struggling, run the floor,get a layup, post,cut,do something. Too often with shane his offensive output is entirely based on him hitting 3's.
Agreed. I am incredibly confused about why Battier is starting. He is nowhere near the defensive force he once was, and is now less valuable on offense than Chuck Hayes. I understand his veteran leadership is still important and useful, but not so much on the court. He shouldn't be seeing nearly as many minutes. We aren't going to make the playoffs (barring a miraculous turnaround) so why not let some younger guy like Bud (finally out of his slump hopefully) get some valuable experience. Bud can't play D for **** either, but at least he can score (he really needs to utilize his driving ability and hops by throwing down the rock more often).
yah adelman's decisions and rotations have been out of whack, but he's not responsible for players making shots or playing defense, i dont understand why you pack the paint and then force a guy baseline? that can't be the coaching staff, that's on the players they have to know where the help is and force them into it. i wonder what the chances are when yao returns they just say to hell with the restrictions its all or nothing. it's pretty much our only shot of making the playoffs imo somehow we need to find a way to trade for gerald wallace
Because he supports factual evidence. Gerald was bricking like a mother****er. And Houston as a whole just looked lost on offense. It's not Shane's fault entirely, it's the fact that we have no go-to guy.... like Melo.
Nah, no way you exclude Battier. He is DEFINITELY part of the problem. If max effort was all we graded the league on, Battier would be 1st team All NBA. Talent and actual production factors in heavily though... He just doesn't fit into the philosophy as a starting 30+ minutes forward. Perhaps he WOULD if he hit his shots, but he's not doing that. Whats troubling is even when he is posting up, cutting and slashing doing other things besides outside shooting, he's more earthbound and more easily neutralized than ever before. So he's trending downward with not much hope of coming back up.
Except Budinger has gotten worse, not better. The problem is that while Battier has struggled, and fellow starter Kevin Martin has struggled on the defensive end, the two guys counted on to replace them when they don't perform well, Budinger and Lee, have struggled even worse (aside from a few stretches). Getting rid of either of the starters won't help unless your backups are showing signs they can step up or if you have someone you can acquire that is better. The backups are not showing any signs and there are no clear upgrades to be acquired.
in other words <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ICdXAmd1TWA?rel=0" frameborder="0"></iframe> i think our best bet is to clear cap space and acquire draft picks. time to plan for the future because there is nothing in the present worth fighting for.
Iv'e never gotten over Rockets trading for this guy .. he's never been great at rebounding, steals, playmaking, scoring, blocks he doesn't bring athleticismor speed to the team nor was he ever a lockdown defender like a bruce bowen he's know better than guys like david wesley, matt barnes, greg buckner yet they cherish this guy like he's a franchise player because he's constantly professional ... what does that have to do with basketball.
Have you ever been supportive of Battier for anything he's done or are you just a blind hater? If it's the former, please provide an example. If it's the latter, why should we take your posts seriously since you lack objectivity?
Here you go: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=4447533&postcount=33 I still say the same thing that I said in that thread: criticism doesn't equal hate. I've attempted (with arguably some degree of success) to respond to the apologists and blind supporters who engage in hero worship and uncritical devotion to a player. I've praised Battier when he's played well and criticized him when he has not. Unfortunately, however, Battier playing well is something that doesn't happen too often for the Rockets. Thus, it seems like "hate" or whatever label you want to attach to it. Now I've answered your question and provided supporting evidence to back it up. Will you ask those that defend Battier in an unquestioned manner to do the same? Do you think they will? Does that evidence even exist, despite what they say? Let's see if they step up and answer the questions I posed to them...the same question I answered when you posed it to me. They know exactly who they are. Hopefully, they aren't spineless, but I won't be holding my breath. Getting back to the topic at hand, Battier the player has no real value, he's essentially a $7 million expiring corpse. He shouldn't be playing at all. The younger guys should be playing and taking all his minutes so that they can develop. Either way, it doesn't matter, because if Battier plays or if the Rockets decided to develop their younger talent, the team will get a high draft pick. As far as the future goes, letting the young guys play is the better overall option.
