We Have a Third Option, or Battier Needs to Shoot More

man, I'm getting tired of this 3rd option talk. First, right now, we are talking about a SECOND option, since TMac is down. (B) Bonzi is the 3rd option to be. (iii), Snyder is a pretty good driver, and that will help as well.

Lastly, Battier is going to do what he does best. Play hard and wait for his moments.

Besides, as someone said yesterday, Battier is not a very good dribbler. No better than Shandon Anderson was (to name a past Rocket who some thought should score more). He's not going to be able to create from the perimeter, which would be required for him to be a conistent 3rd option.

I agree that he could look for the baby hook when he has a mismatch down low, but that's not going to happen enough for him to be considered a 3rd option. He's just an opportunistic offensive player...not a 3rd option.

 

He was given a lot of opportunities last night butwhen he was double he passes to Alston. Rafer made one trey.

He is no doubt an option but when he gets doubled, he needs to pass it. His stat last night is already more than what we expect from him offensively. And probably that's the reason why his defense was not so good last night. So there should be a little balance of both.

 

Battier is what he is...a high-end role player with an inexpensive price tag...a spot up shooter with no dunks, a tip or two and 3 out of every 4 shots being jumpers...an opportunist on offense when possible.

He never was intended to be and never will become a scoring option. If you ask Battier to go beyond the confines of his comfort level, you are asking for trouble. If he can't punish Luke Walton with a post up, it's not something you want to see a whole lot of.

Battier hasn't scored more 14.4 ppg since his rookie season. In the absence of either Yao or TMac, the Rockets will have to live with Battier's intangibles and hope Wells and/or Snyder provide some offensive. And that Rafer somehow finds a degree of consistency.

 

What was Marcus Fizer and Jarron Collins doing in a 3pt shootout? Hilarious!

Back to the subject....pretty much what Gater said...Battier is going to look for his spots. I would like to see him post more and use that hook shot but other than that, he just scores in the flow. Battier never is, and never will be a "3rd scoring option." He pretty much is similar to Bruce Bowen of SA. Plays defense, intangibles and hits a few shots here and there.

I think it's obvious right now that Luther Head is the defacto 3rd option right now with Bonzi waiting in the wings.

 

Bonzi will definetely be the 3rd option wants he gets his timing and conditioning back. I don't think it will take him that long either.

 

Ditto, except I don't know how long Luther will remain a good 2nd option once teams adjust. We must wait on Bonzi to burn the fat and rust off. What makes Battier so effective is he never forces anything and only takes high percentage shots. Moving him outside this "box" on offense would be a mistake.

What I want to see is how Luther reacts when Tracy comes back and Bonzi rounds (heh heh) into form. I hope he continues to be fearless in the clutch and doesn't defer too much when he's wide open.

 

saying what he did in college is silly. playing among boys, yeah, you can turn it on when asked.

plus, the way I remember the Coach K quote was he asked him going into his last year to become leading scorer of the team, not going into his junior year.. The soph to junior jump in stats was just natural and also due to 300+ more minutes.

Besides, The stats between junior and senior reveals how Battier increased scoring...by shooting more 3s. He shot 150 more FGs overall, and 120 of them were 3s. I don't want him doing that to increase scoring on this team.

 

Did he really win a 3pt contest? Dman. The Grizzlies mgt is really sick. I wouldn't even trade Battier for Tmac.

 

But Battier is shooting more 3's. I broke down his play in a thread a few weeks ago...too lazy to find it. Battier is shooting like twice as many 3's or something like that than last year, but getting way fewer post ups, cuts, and tip ins. He's capable of going off for 20, but I'm not sure if he can do 16 on a consistent basis...even if Yao AND T-Mac weren't playing.

 

battier can't create his own shot and his post up crap hook isn't that great. he can't just "shoot more" and score more. scorers are scorers because they can create shots.

 

did somebody just say Battier's "inexpensive price tag"??
will you look at the salary sheet?

 

We do have a third option but his name is not BATTIER.
It is BONZI WELLS! Once Bonzi gets his court legs and learns the plays he will be the one to step up and substitute when one of the main two stars are unable to play.
We must accept the fact that Battier has limitations when it comes to being a significant game in and game out scorer. Batter is the GLUE Man that does all the dirty work that make the game easier for his team mates. This is his role and it is unfair to expect him to become anything else.

 

While we're on the subject...I found this hilarious!!!

"I like the old NBA ball," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "I like the smell of the leather. I like the feel. I like when you're away from the game and you come back and caress that orange, baby. It's something about the leather ball that I get a little nostalgic about it. So I'm happy."

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Notes_Rockets_ready_to_welcom-199894-34.html

 

If Battier ever pursues a political career after basketball, that quote could come back to haunt him.

 

Just a wild arse guess here...you have absolutely no clue how much the MLE is...correct?

 

I really liked the fact that in the Warriors game, Battier shot threes from different spots, not only his regular left corner spot, and he hit most of them. I like to see us mobilize Battier and let him go to work, at least to reward him for working his a$$ off on D and getting all the loose balls/ hustle plays.

btw, I would rather have a Battier who doesn't score a single point than Rudy Gay.

Battier takes about 4 charges a game. if u think about it, every charge he takes is taking away easy 2 points from the opponents (since most of the charges he draws from aggressive offensive players driving to the basket or running the break), that's not mentioning the great momentum swing for the other team. imagine the Phoenix Suns going on a fastbreak and expecting easy 2 just to have Battier take a charge from them, they will start hesitating and they will think about it once and twice before they try to go aggressively to the basket.

Battier is one hell of a player.