I agree that he doesn't need to be an offensive presence. But damn, he needs to hit WIDE OPEN 3Ps. He was like 0-1000 last night.
What's so funny to me is how the haters are so sure Battier won't last much longer as a rocket, or that he may be pushed to the bench once they find a "replacement". Did y'all forget the REAL experts coach and manage the team? Morey said THIS season that without shane they were a bubble playoff team and with him they were a legit playoff team, yeah sure sounds like Morey is busy finding his replacement. The idea that Adelman is wanting to phase out Shane like he did with chuck and Rafer Is really laughable. Chuck was not only offensively challenged, but short, and it's clear he's not a starter, had been overachieving, and he was just a temporary fix until Houston got a legit 4, which they do now. with Rafer it wasn't as simple as he shot a bad %, it was about his POSITION, his play wasn't cutting it for the point guard spot, he took too many shots, and he was 2-3 years older than everyone else, so he would HAVE to be replaced soon anyway. Another funny thing is how all off a sudden everythig is shane's fault. Like i said before, fans get upset because the rockets aren't achieving what everyone hoped for, and since the only suggestion fans can make to fix the REAL problem, injuries, is something lame like hiring the Phoenix staff, then they feel like they need to find something else to fix, they see this thread, and they all jump on it, and they WANT to believe all the failures have been due to shane, they desperately look for anything that hints to it, even if its very minor, unsupported, and illogical. Now apparently Shane is going to lose the playoffs for us, even though there's no real history backing that up since in the playoffs with Houston he's always raised his average some. If you are PREDICTING he will be an issue because of how he is playing today, then that's fine, then talk about THIS season only, don't use this season's below average performance to say he's sucked his whole career. There's also talk about how he's lost it and how he's declining. Yeah i'm sure his foot couldn't have possibly slowed him down, right? I guess chuck and his bad shoulder are declining as well. Better hope landry's ankle doesn't slow him down some because we'll have to trade him too, since it must mean he's declining. RIGHT No one says, he's declining because this happened on this specific play, no proof no data, no observations, just rants and opinions used to support a false allegation. Defensively he's close to his old self, and that area has definitely been improving consistently since he last came back, which was when he was finally ready to play. It hasn't dipped back down, its rising, so how is that a decline? The only decline is his shooting %, which he had raised for OVER A MONTH, so it's not something he can get back up again, especially when he's shot better for his career, it's not like he's going to forget how to shoot all of a sudden and never regain the touch, it's obviously just mental. Someone also said shane needs to step up incase someone has an off game in the playoffs. Well, we have won with players having bad game. shane doesnt HAVE TO step up if someone has a bad game, we have others who can and have done so and therefore we've still won. Now if several guys are having bad games, i'm sure you'd use that to blame Shane for not playing above his average and "stepping up", but ever think that maybe the problem would be THE GUYS WHO ARE HAVING BAD GAMES! Why would shane be blame for playing his average game, yet the guys who are playing below average get a pass? Finally. We're winning. Let me repeat that. WE are WINNING. You know, the most important thing in this league. What decides everything. This team, is very capable of actually advancing in the first round. VERY CAPABLE. Without their second go to guy, their other superstar, they could very well get into the second round, which would be a STEP UP, and yet y'all are so sure Battier is on his way out? Wouldn't it be logical to say, hey, if this team is a second round team without tmac, imagine what they'd be with him, or with his replacement? So why in the world would management take out a guy who's playing 30 mins a game, on a winning team, who who's missing a superstar? You don't have to be a coach or ball player to know that's the wrong way to go. Les knows shane is a big part of the team, and taking him out of the equation would affect the results.
Not really, once again, think deeper than what's in front of you. With all the injuries we've had, we're not suppose to win. We're suppose to suck, according to outsiders. We're suppose to be packing it in and thinking about next year, tanking the season and giving up our playoff spot. You cant really blame them for having that view though, since it reasonable to think that and it would happen for most teams in the league who lost their second best player. So if we win, we're stepping up. Anyone, including shane, who contributes deserves praise for helping us overachieve. But if we lose, then yeah technically the same players deserve blame, BUT, looking at the big picture, we are suppose to be losing with the guys we have, so its useless to blame anyone to the point of saying they need to go. It's like blaming guys after we lost on the 23rd game of the streak, and saying they need to be gone. We were overachieving and missing a big piece, doesn't make sense..The team isn't complete, and until the team isn't complete it doesn't make sense to make big changes. Our biggest issue was adding scorers, we got that now, Y'all are scorer-happy and want to phase out the defense as well by trading shane. There must be a balance, you cant have scorers only. What happens if shane is gone, or benched, like many of you want, and next year tmac isn't traded and by the time the playoffs roll around he's barely out of rehab, and therefore he's out of shape for the playoffs and we get knocked out of the first? Who will you blame then? The issue is health, you fix that and you fix all of the team's problems because this team, when healthy, is a title contender. The only minor hole would be lack of another big, which has nothing to do with shane.
those people pulling out all kinda reports forget something: no one says bad things about shane's defense and his importance or contribution to the team. the topic here concerns his offense game. he must hit the open shots. he doesn't do that right now. this will put more pressure on his teammates. and will make opponent's defense so much easier. we don't have the luxury of having a 0 offense player. we expect a lot of close games.
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Actually, that SHOULD be the only argument here, you're right. Unfortunately it's not what has been said. There's been all kinds of irrelevant topics like him not showing up in the playoffs, being washed up and on the decline, Ryan Bowen with a 3 point shot, and others. There's no real consistent proof, true facts, or even observations being brought up to back those up, other than how he performed WHILE INJURED. Now that he's pretty close to feeling back to normal physically and showing on the court he's moving like he always did, the only complaint shouls be about his current shooting woes. Given that we have about a month until the playoffs and he showed for over a month he could get his shot back, at most fans should be asking for his minutes to be reduced until he's shooting well again, not that he be traded, benched, or replaced long term. Wait until at least the end of the season, or even the playoffs, before making those suggestions.
NO its not. I thought I saw Matt Harpring's name in this thread. That's perfect. I saw an article where based on height, weight and stats He was the most average median NBA player. Confirms what most of us already knew about him. The one thing that separates Harpring from Battier on offense is he has a stronger frame and he asserts himself into the offense...I think Battier's max could be 4/5's Harpring offense with better shooting. 12 PPG slipping to 9, not 9 PPG slipping to 6. But whatever, Battier's BEEN broke. I dont hate Battier. In a way I'm interjecting myself into this, my own experiences. I would actually describe myself as a Battier/Mario Elie glue guy type. I used to get ROASTED for not taking slower fat guys guarding me off the dribble, not taking short spindly shrimps inside. And I have NO left hand and sometimes a right one. Though I'll admit organized ball with refs is different.
i've defended tracy in what people said about his character and things like that (he's selfish, doesn't care about winning...). i've never defended tracy's play ON THE COURT. i've said HE SUCKED numerous times and overall way subpar on what is expected.
doug christie with the kings is 10x what battier has done for us. like i said, if we had tha doug christie right now playing for us, shane battier would be in the doghouse with brian cook. unfortunately, wafer's too raw to take up minutes. goodness wafer, grow up fast.
this team hasn't gotten out of the first round in a decade. i'm sure there are some things we all like to improve on my brother. all i'm asking of a professional NBA player is to make his open shots. is that too much to ask? goodness. they've been shooting all their lives.
I remembered Yao said Battier is the perfect compliment player or teammate( 补钉球员 ) when we acquired him-- meaning that if you are sailing on the high sea and suddenly you find the ship is sinking, you would find Battier is the guy to fix the hole for you. He is the one that does all the handy job and dirty job for you. again, the ones that criticized Battier are too lopsided using raw numbers. Battier comes to work everyday and pours himself all over the court to defend players capable of dropping 30+ point on any given day. His competitive spirit and professional attitude far outweight a few more points from him. His contribution will never show up on the stats. You know, most people focus on the star players when they watch basketball, but it's the players like Battier that help the team to win.
Except you aren't. You want Battier to be an aggresive offense player and perform outside his skill set. You want more ppg and more stats to show up on the box score. Shane is a defensive sepcialist who can hit open shots in certain spots. Go check his hot spots on nba.com for this season, he takes the bulk of his shots in 3 locations: right corner 3, right wing 3, and at the basket. We will call these spots his "comfort zone". Just because he has been in a slump the past few games, everyone wants to crucify him for some reason. Shane is an awesome player, Adelman knows it, JVG knows it, Morey knows it, but for some reason couch coaches seem to think they know better than anyone else. I am telling you, the reason his ppg is down is because in this new McGrady-less offensive set he is out of his comfort zone and it is going to take time for him to adjust. He ends up closer to the top of they key, when it is obvious he prefers to be more towards the corner. Why you people keep trying to throw him under the bus baffles me.
Yeah but like i've been saying all along, Battier's already overachieving with his physical abilities. He's got the height and solid size for his position, but he's not very athletic. Even he has said that and that it's just being consistent and working hard. I believe Harpring was like a star football player, the guy had/has some good athleticism and that sets him apart offensively from Battier. Just look at the way Battier shoots, the way he runs, jumps, etc. His movements aren't very fluid or athletic. Physically, he's like the stiff businessman at the YMCA who runs 40 miles a week and does some light weight training, ain't a ball player, but he can jump into a pick up game and still be competitive.
I guess you didn't hear when he said Dorsey was nba ready and could backup yao this year. Yes, he said that while passing on big projects like deandre jordan. Morey lies just like every other gm and his job is to keep a players value up. If he came out and said shane is a avg player right now, you kill any trade value. Go and listen to the praise he was singing about rafer, but he was traded.
