If You are Cleveland and you could pick one Rockets ROLE player, who would you pick?

I think Battier might make the most sense. It would give them more size on the perimeter. He and Lebron would be the wings with Mo at the point.

Starting 5:

Mo
Lebron
Battier
Vareajo
Z

with Delonte, Gibson, Wally, Smith, Wallace coming off the bench.

Mo, lebron and Z would give them plenty of offense in the starting lineup while Battier and Vareajo would be solid, defensive-oriented role players.

Scola would probably be the second best choice.

 

This is too easy.

Scola. I would take him just because he's the best role player. Add that to the fact that Varejao and Wallace lack any offensive abilities, it's a no brainer. Varejao owes half his paycheck to Lebron because every single one of his points comes from a Lebron pass. Scola would get tons of open layups and jumpshots and he'd put up 18 a game.

I know there is a loss at defense, but Scola is a scrappy rebounder so it's a wash there.

 

DELETE: i don't wanna deal with it.

 

Luis Scola - good solid 14/10 power forward and would take pressure off Lebron and other Cleveland players. He also is much tougher and more skilled than Anderson Flopojuo. He'd benefit from Big Z's shooting range and Lebron's attention from defenses.

Shane Battier - He'd perfect in Cleveland that means Lebron probably wouldn't have to guard the other team's best defender. While, the Cavs would also have a perfect glue with good leadership skills. Also, another factor is versatility. The Cavs would be able to go small (James at PF and Battier SF) or big (LBJ at point guard or SB at SG). But, the Cavs could go small with Hayes and Scola as well.

Chuck Hayes - Like the other two, he might be an instant starter on the Cavs. Even though he lacks offense, the Cavs would have shutdown defender at power forward for the KGs and Chris Boshs of the world.

 

Battier, first. Then Scola.

 

1. Battier - Defense and can knock down the open 3 that LeBron creates for his teammates.
2. Scola- Post up game and upgrade over the flop king Varejao (offense, anyway)...

 

Battier....because cavs have issues with slowing down wing players. Hedo would not have played this great in the series if Battier was on him.

my next selection would be landry because they don't have any athletic big men...wallace has lost his athleticism

 

Agreed

 

Not really the point, if the Cavs had Battier or player, like him. It would simply mean LeBron (and Delonte West) wouldn't have to guard the other teams best wing player. Also, it would be great attribute for them to also have Battier as help defender, imagine a player like Roy or Kobe trying to get by LeBron and then suddenly have to deal with Battier or vice versa.

Scola would make them better offensively and rebounding, but defensively I am not sure they would improve a great deal (which is really the Cavs true achilles heel). They can already score points with the current cast and even get rebounds, but they need some more quality defenders on their team.

That's the only reason why I would take Battier over Scola. If it were a team that struggles to score and had no true inside presence...I would take Scola. This argument is very much situational.

 

It would allow LeBron to conserve more energy on the defensive end, and in the half-court Battier will get all the open 3s he wants. Luis Scola doesn't bring much on the offensive end that the Cavs don't already have with Ilgauskas, and nothing on the defensive end that the Cavs don't already have with Varejao/Wallace.

I like a Williams-West-Battier-LeBron-Ilgauskas lineup more than Williams-West-LeBron-Scola-Ilgauskas.

 

I think im with the taking Battier contingent. The reason is not to move Lebron to the 2 spot but simply due to need, spacing, shooting and defense.

battier defensively would be playing the 2 spot and guard the opposing teams best wing player. Imagine trying to penetrate into the paint against a team with Battier and Lebron defending the perimeter. Imagine Battiers ability to help defend by taking charges, filling the open spot and rotating combine with Lebrons ability to provide weakside blocks, and this is just from the two defending wings.

Offensively the cavs have no shooting guard and rely on either undersize delonte west or the slumping Pavlovic. With Battier as the shooting guard, the cavs have a reliable spot up shooter, 3 point threat and spacing but is also good at moving the ball and most importantly, does not need the ball to be effective.

Combine team need with the "intangibles" Battier provides, i think its an easy choice.

 

I'm a big fan of Battier, but I would not pick him for Cleveland. Cleveland needs someone that can get their own shot to relieve LBJ somewhat. I picked Scola because he can get his own shot and get garbage points, you know Scola's not going to be just standing around watching LBJ all the time, he'd be fighting for rebounds and everything. Brooks is good too but Mo Williams is kind of a similar guy, if Brooks was on Cleveland he might be reduced to someone like Gibson, just standing there waiting for Lebron to make a play. Scola would take initiative and make the play himself.

 

I thought Scola.

They need some post scoring, big Z is giving them nothing.

 

chuck hayes?

 

You could also argue that they have no true point guard. Mo, West and Gibson are all closer to combo guards. If anything, Lebron is the closest thing to a true PG. Mo and Delonte are both entirely capable of playing point though.

The point about Battier not needing the ball to be effective is a really good one. His willingness to go all out defensively no matter what is happening at the other end and the fact that he adds size to their perimeter defense are the reasons why I would pick him.

Offensively, he is actually a downgrade from Delonte or Mo. Those guys can both stand in the corners and shoot 3s plus they can create their own shots, the latter being something Battier can't do. I just think what Battier would provide defensively outweighs his offensive limitations since they would have Mo, Lebron and Z in the starting lineup, particularly Lebron.

When the Rockets traded for Battier, they envisioned McGrady being like Lebron and Battier doing roughly what he is doing now without hurting our offense. Obviously it didn't work out that way. McGrady has been on the steady decline over the past few years, throwing a wrench into our plan. Now we need more offense from other perimeter players, making Battier more of a liability and causing us to start a full blown scoring PG in Brooks (or a SG in PG's body if that makes you happy ).

 

Every thread leads to a heated debate on McGrady, can you please stop!!

I don't know why Brooks is in this poll, Mo can shoot the three better than Brooks and can pass better.

I select Battier. They dont have good 1 on 1 defenders.

 

Actually, Delonte is a pretty solid 1-on-1 defender. The problem is he is often guarding someone bigger than him. That's why I agree with you about Battier. Mo would start in that scenario with Delonte coming off the bench.

 

Every championship team needs a Battier, and having him would do wonders for them on the offensive end in terms of eliminating stagnancy on offense and spacing the floor effectively for LeBron.

I chose Scola, though, because their greatest weakness is in the front court, and he is a huge offensive upgrade over everyone else they've got including Big Z. Scola would give them a legitimate offensive option and take a huge load off LeBron. He wouldn't help their matchup problems with Dwight Howard, but he'd certainly do a much better job against shooting fours like Lewis on defense and can be tremendous on pick and roll defense (which has been the #1 downfall of the Cavs so far).