Dunno- if I was the GM of one of the top teams in the NBA, I'd have a lot better things to do with my time than read a message board. Oh, I supposed I'd read it every once in a while for fun- but I'm certainly not using it for statistical analysis or anything like that. I think he has plenty of people helping him out in that regard who do it for a living. I mean, I post, too, but I'm not expecting nor wanting the team to follow my advice. They know way more about the team and all its specifics than I am privy to. If they do a really, really crappy job like the Clippers, then it's my right not to support them. But the Rockets, with a few missteps, have been one of the better franchises over the past 20+ years.
I don't think it's a stretch for anybody to guess that I've not been the biggest fan of Shane Battier. And the largest reason for that is that Battier was never going to be worth what the Rockets gave up in order to get him. And that should never have been the case. Battier is who he is. Most of that, basketball-wise, is pretty darn good. A little bit of it isn't so good. But it's something I've found I can live with. Battier's being here isn't any more his fault than his reluctance or indifference on the offensive end of the court. Because, again, Battier is who he is. When the Rockets had that LOTTTERY pick (read: guy who should come in and automatically make your team better), they were saying that Battier would compliment both Yao and McGrady. He'd be a ferocious defender. He'd pick up the scoring slack. He'd make the difference. It's hard to gauge if that's true or not because of Yao and McGrady's injury history. But the Rockets essentially thought Shane Battier was worth 2 players (Stromile Swift and the #8 pick in the draft), when it's taken two more players (Ron Artest and Von Wafer) to fill out Battier's responsibilities. That right there makes that a bad move. The Rockets had just done the same thing with Tracy McGrady...sending Orlando three players while the Rockets only got two worth keeping, and never really getting anybody else). McGrady's talent was such that he kept the Rockets competitive in a loaded Western Conference the last few years, where winning 50 games barely got you an 8 seed in the playoffs. And as much respect as I have for Shane Battier and what he does, all he's done is make sure the Rockets held serve. That's not good enough. All that being said, I don't trade Battier for Ron Artest, just on general principle. Maybe Artest has grown up. Maybe he's finally figured out how to coexist with the rest of the species. But I would hate to have this team follow his lead. Ron Artest DID NOT make the Rockets tougher. Battier is tough enough. Luis Scola and Carl Landry are tough. All Chuck Hayes is is tough. Dikembe Mutombo was tougher than beef jerky. You don't play defense at the level the Rockets have the past few seasons if you're not tough. All Artest brought here was a guy who could score more than those other guys. Something the Rockets haven't had for a while. I like Shane Battier. I do. Really. But Battier, by his own admission, isn't going to be anything more than a specialist. You give a specialist in this league too much court time, and you'll pay for it. You have to have balance. Battier doesn't give the Rockets that, and that's not his fault. We should have gotten another big man or something as well if we were going to give up a top-ten draft pick for him. That's how you make good players look bad. And how you keep good teams from getting any better...
Having S.Jackson,Ron and Battier is going to be difficult but I'm in favor of it. Ron is not a selfish player,he appears that way because of his poor shot selection. S.Jackson is better than Ron at that,and is a decent passer,pretty good defender. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ron and Jackson sacrifice their games for the good of the team. Getting Turiaf would be nice too. The problem here is the size of McGrady's contract and the number of years that Jackson,Maggette,and Crawford have on their respective contracts. I also think GS will prefer to trade either Maggette or Crawford instead. DM should also look towards other teams to see if he can get a better deal, but the Rockets can't wait to let Tracy's contract expire and expect to get anything significant out of it,which is something I just learned recently.
In the Simmons interview he did in March, I think, he admitted that he does read message boards ("I read everything"). Maybe Clutchfans is part of his reading list.
I don't care what Kobe averaged. If you watched the games you would know that Battier played solid D on Kobe, much better than Artest did. True he gives up offensive production, but so does Artest. The bottom line is that we can't have both of them in the lineup at the same time, or we can but we will be very reliant on Yao, Scola and Brooks for offense.
trade Battier??????????????? idiot!!!!!!!! there is 2 players can't and have no reason to be traded. 1.YAO 2.Battier u haven't saw his value.
Battier is not going anywhere. He's just a winner and an intense competitor. Morey likes those kind of guys.
I agree that prince is a better player for dirty kobe and battier is better for lbj. but now prince is getting old and have back problem. his defense look not good as several year ago.
Some people just don't get it. Oh well, you'll have to live with Battier next season as well. Sucks for you guys.
Shane offers more then Offense to the Rockets. He's a strong defender and most importantly, a Leader that provides motivation during and after the game. Maybe we should get rid of Yao? I mean, for the past 3 years, he's been injured. The Rox need to evaluate their lineup and find out what to do with Yao Ming. Either find a backup center and limit Yao Ming's playing time, or just retire him. Maybe trade Yao and Tmac for Dirk and little Mexican lol.
Go on any NBA fan forum and you'll see how many people like Battier and want him on their team. Even if he only scores 1 point a game he still grabs for his leadership and teamwork. You need to move out!
It's time to consider not coming back here and starting a thread about trading one of our best player.
