again, name me one player who guards kobe better than shane did this series. i guess we shall see in the wcf.
You dont get it. The lakers win in two ways. Kobe gets his average and the rest contribute as well, or Kobe takes over big time and the rest suck (less likely to win). For the majority of the series, the others guys weren't stepping up to help Kobe, that usually tels Kobe he has to go out and score 50 to win, but that didnt happen, primarily because of shane's d. So the fact that he still scored his avg is a good thing, because the other guys weren't playing well. Getting his avg is a bad thing when the other guys play well.
I would look to trade Battier then resign Artest if that's possible. Adelman likes having 5 capable scorers on the court. I really don't see Battier as an Adelman-type player despite all his positive attributes. We might lose a little defensively replacing Battier with Ron but Artest can do things at the other end that Battier can't. His FG% was awful this year but he is simply a more capable offensive player. The bottom line is we need a legit SG in the starting lineup. Neither Artest or Battier are SGs and both of them are too good and too well payed to be backups. With a real SG in the lineup, Artest won't need to try to do too much offensively.
I agree that we should seek to get better, but you don't try to do that at the cost of the pieces that got you there. Battier is one of them.
I'd think about moving Battier. Not because he's not good, but because he just may be "overvalued" at this point. He's been hyped up so much that I can see a contender overpaying for him. One thing about Battier is that he's not young anymore, and his age will likely show. That said, his defense is NOT overrated. Kobe got his points. But he was not able to find open looks for his teammates. The fact that the Rockets did not have to double Kobe much in the series is the reason why people started talking about how Lakers role players suck.
Hell no! Battier was amazing this year and will continue to be! He is our vocal leader! People take waaaay too much crack!
While his value might be at a peak right now, Battier's the kind of guy who coaches always want. He's likely to still have high value for a couple more years until he starts to break down physically. Still, rather than worry about whether his defensive ability and intangibles outweigh his sporadic offense, I'm content to let Morey and his Database O' Doom make that call. I'm convinced that his approach can determine Shane's true value to the team much better than any of us FANS can. And Morey's system is all about value -- finding guys who are UNDERvalued. If Shane still fits that category in Morey's eyes, we'll keep him. If not, we'll shop him. Simple as that.
Did I add that Battier would probably have no problem coming off the bench as well? lol Battier is a great player every team would love.
I know you're just playin' but you do realize that Manu is only a year older than Shane, right? Even as a joke, that doesn't make much sense since that trade would effectively be Battier for Manu and Battier wouldn't help the Spurs if their goal was to rebuild. Battier will be 31 at the start of next season.
I just opposite to your view .if i have to choose between Battier and Artest ,I 'd choose former !Aside From his D ,I think he is the most suitable player in Princeton .He is the best player of running without a ball in this team .Did you remember the first 15 games we played without him ?We Need Him If We Really Want A Championship !!!
This team without Battier would drop off from being in the top 5 defensive teams to about middle of the pack in the NBA. Shane is our point guard on defense, he sets the tone and is usually the guy calling stuff out. It isn't just him going one on one against his assignment that we are losing. Our team defense would drop off considerably.
bowen is too old. battier can be the defensive cornerstone that pop always wants in his system. since they already gave us scola, why not let manu and him, the 2 best friends from argentina, reunite in the same team? we rockets fans will very much appreciate it.
wow ,I don't see you are a true Rox Fan .there is no "friendship "on court .besides ,we don't have too many PG in our team ,its time to fix our paint ,not to destroy it!
Yao, Scola, Artest, Battier, Brooks. Now, we need to start a "trade Scola" thread to complete our respect to our team.
Bingo. "Somewhere there's a man that invented the box score...and that man should be shot." - Daryl Morey talking about why stats don't reflect players' true value
Sure, Battier will move off the ball if that is what the coach asks him to do but the question is can he do anything effectively other than shoot spot up jump shots? People like to talk about how good Battier is at passing the ball but I wonder how well he would do in a more dynamic offense, assuming we ever reach that level with Yao as our cornerstone. In a static half-court set, Battier is pretty good at feeding Yao and rotating the ball but how would he do in a much more dynamic, read and react type environment? Does he have the ability to hang in that kind of offense? Battier strikes me as a very deliberate, mechanical type thinker. That goes completely against the type of offenses Adelman likes best. I may be wrong. Perhaps Battier just hasn't had the chance in a long time to show what he can do offensively because of the type of system he grew accustomed to since coming to Houston. Plus, as long as Yao is here, I'm not sure we will ever run the kind of offense Adelman knows best.
We held the Lakers to 89 and didnt have YAO or Tmac. But the whole entire team was playing horrible shooting wise. Kobe had like 14 pts right?
