It's not just the hand-in-the-face, either. Battier forces Kobe into inefficient locations on the floor. Battier is also a vocal leader on defense, as well, on the court and off the court. Several Rockets players have adhered to the hand-in-the-face defense (I've seen it from Chuck, Scola, Landry, and even Wafer). They listen to Battier and they believe in him. (note: this is mostly directed towards Illmatic, I just wanted to add onto what you said, Carl) Yeah, it was painful seeing Artest on Kobe. Kobe just blew past him almost every time, getting an easy stop-and-pop type of shot. It was never that case with Shane. Kobe can go off on anyone, and he does on Shane occasionally, but it's far less often than anyone else I've ever seen guard him (including Raja Bell).
Man, you just dig your self a hole that just becomes deeper and deeper, lol. Trevor Ariza is an okay role player at the absolute best with decent athleticism and long arms. He is not a good defender. He's good at playing the passing lanes, but when you have 3 players over 6'10 behind you (including 7'2 Bynum and 7'1 Gasol), gambling for a steal isn't a risk. He was allowed to cheat/gamble as much as he wanted to in LA. He's an okay defender, but Battier is wayy ahead of him in that department. So is Bowen, Udoka, Rondo, Prince, Dahntay Jones, Travis Outlaw, Delonte West, just to name a few...that aren't star players. Also, Trevor Ariza is 24 years old now, he's been in the league 5 years already...if you got skill/talent, you usually show atleast flashes of it your 1st 5 years in the league. He was a nobody in New York and Orlando, and all he had to do in LA WITH Kobe, Gasol, Odom, Bynum, and Fisher was hit WIDE OPEN 3's, run the floor and finish on fast breaks, and gamble for steals. He's never led any team, not even been close. He can't create his own shot, even though he's a 5 year pro. He doesn't have great handles. Plus he's a poor rebounder for being 6'8. (4rpg). Tracy McGrady accomplished MUCH more in his 1st 3 seasons than Trevor Ariza in his entire career, and that was when Tmac wasn't getting minutes and wasn't even a 2nd option in Toronto. What makes you think he'll become remotely close to any star player in the NBA? If he's lucky, he'll become half as good as Battier on defense, he'll shoot over 32% from the 3 point line for an enitre season, develop the slightest ability to create his own shot... At the very best, he becomes similar to Marvin Williams, and thats being kind.
lol'd at this, btw....can anyone tell me why the_real_shane on twitter keeps trying to get me to go to some website to make money off of twitter? im beginning to think its a a fake account
Do you not remember how badly we got beaten in Game 5 (40 points) and Game 7 (20 points)...you wanna know why that was?? Our outside shots weren't falling, Luis Scola is still only 6'9 and unathletic, and can't consistently score over 7'1 and 7'2 guys. We had nobody to create shots for others. Also remember that Artest is gone (a good move in my opinion), and he was the leader of our team once Yao went down. Also, Yao and Tmac were to ONLY 2 guys who could create their own shot AND create for others. Yao can do that without even having the balll (he draws fronting defenses, with 2-3 players surrounding him at times), and Tmac can do that by penetrating and at 6'8, can see the floor better than most perimeter players who can handle the ball. In games 4 and 6, the Rockets defense played well, and we hit long jump shots...we couldnt do that 2 out of 4 games without Yao, vs. the same team...try winning against 29 other teams for 82 games on nothing but long jumpers...you'll have the Memphis Grizzlies, lol. Thats why making the playoffs would be considered a success for the Rockets without Yao for the whole year and without Tmac for a portion of the year, and losing Artest.
Shane is grounded in the fundamentals of the full court offense. He was taught by Coach K for 4 years What a class act
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If anyone's wondering, Battier is playing in a celebrity golf tournament in lake Tahoe with some other current and former nba players as well...including antoine walker coincidentally.
