As I said many times before, Bateer is fine if he plays in a system he understands. But he never got to understand the system of any NBA team he played on. He wasn't a high pick and didn't get attention. That, and his difficulty with language, really hurt his chance in NBA. If Rox gets Bateer, he will understand what is going on much better with the help of Yao. And he is going to be a great bargain.
There are degrees of stiffness for sure. My definition of "stiff" is probably the same as yours... a player who is a "stiff" has a combination of the following attributes: slow, plodding, inflexible, unathletic, gangly, lack of quickness. My reference to Shaq was actually a compliment... it was a Shaq-like move without the same quality finishing technique. Bateer's spin itself is actually suprisingly quick. From the list above, I'll say that Calvin Booth and Olowokandi aren't stiffs. You can be big without being a stiff. They move very well for their size. Olowokandi has a variety of low post moves. MacCulloch had great footwork and moves but nevertheless was so slow that you'd have to label him a stiff. What has made a stiff like Ostertag (and MacCulloch) a success in NBA is a special ability that makes him useful on the court. For Ostertag, it's his shotblocking, rebounding, and willingness to be a tough guy (thug). MacCulloch had great moves down low. Mutombo was a supreme rebounder and shotblocker. Bateer has no distinguishing ability. His arms are short, which limits his rebounding and shotblocking skills. It's great that Bateer can shoot from 15 feet, but that can be taken away from him by a quicker player. In today's NBA game size certainly helps but size and size alone cannot get a player playing time. Skills matter. I'd change my opinion of him if he developed a goto low post move. For a stiff to be successful in the NBA he has to have some type of ability that distinguishes himself from the rest of the stiffs.
From what I've seen, he's an even better passer than Yao! So that's one of his strengths.. He's okay at rebounding too.. but No, we don't need him on our roster.. Some teams might though, it all comes down to his Olympic performance i guess.
Every team needs a mongolian warrior. bateer will stomp on shaq when rox meet heat. theres a pic of bateer stomping on shaq floating somewhere. anyone have it?
How about we just let bateer come to camp and duke it out for a roster spot? Surely at least give the guy a chance to earn his spot in in the eyes of the coaching staff. No need to sign him straight up w/o checking out the goods up close. For the most part I trust our coaching staff's analysis on what would fit our system and what wouldn't.
Yeah, at least we have Bateer to fall back on. Dirt cheap contract at least. The man can shoot (inside, outside, FTs), rebound and pass. He is laterally slow, but he has got a solid 300lb body, perfect for post defense. His contract is definitely worth it for all the things he can do.
Menk wouldn't be playing any minutes. An because of that, he's more of a liability. If the price is right, bring in Ostertag. He'll mix it up.
