Is he fighting some sort of nagging injury or something? He did not start against the Mavs the other night and I was checking his stats and his minutes are way down along with his production. I thought that a front line of Battier, Gooden and Gasol was going to be a serious headache for teams this year but no one is rebounding. Gooden was a rebounding machine in the pre-season but is only getting about 3 a game now.
I heard from someone that his minutes have gone down not because he has started sucking but because that one dude, Gordan Giricek, has been playing so well. Take it with a grain of salt, I suppose.
"Air" Gordan Giricek is Jerry West's pet project. I haven't watched much of their games, but I'm sure that his presence is taking away from Battier's minutes - it'll definitely take away from Dickerson's minutes.
The Grizz like Battier off of the bench; they feel he can anchor that squad, in effect freeing up time for Dickerson and Giricek in the starting 5 and adding some depth and leadership to their bench. Can't say I necessarily agree with it, but it's working so far and that's what the Grizz say they are going to keep doing.
Memphis is really crowded now - PG: Jason Williams, Brevin Knight (I personally think they'd be better off with Knight - by the way, I think that guy would be a nice backup for the Rockets) SG/SF: Person, Dickerson, Battier, Giricek PF/C: Gasol, Gooden, Swift, Wright And I am sure I have still forgotten some people.
Battier suffered corneal abrasions to both of his eyes because of a problem with his contact lenses. Hopefully that was why he's been performing so badly lately. He's on my fantasy team too!
Fade, i am pretty sure he suffered this injury in the middle of the sac game. He lost his contact on a blow to the face. This injury is NOT why he is not getting his stats or mins. Also, the starting lineup has been and I suspect will continue to be changed according to matchups. The reason is at least two fold: one they seem to like Giricek's offensive ability on the wing. Two they like battiers leadership off the bench. Both have been stated before i know. With that said, however, battier started the last two games to replace dickerson. When dickerson gets heathier, then battier will move to the bench. Some other reasons to get rid of battier , the grizz's depth is so much stronger this year that battier has become somewhat of a defensive specialist. It also has to do with the grizz running their offensive through gasol and the general lack of passing by the grizz around the horn. There are long stretches where battier never even touches the ball on offense. Take this for what it's worth.
Memphis has some real talent on that team. In fact, they looked to be overcrowded at a few positions, and Im sure Mr. West will take advantage of that when it comes to trades. Personally, I would love to see Andre Miller on this team instead of Jason Williams. Gasol/Gooden/Battier/Giricek/Miller with a backup unit of Wright/Swift/Dickerson/Knight. Not a bad team at all!!!!!! I dont care how under control Williams looks at times, this team isnt going anywhere with him at the 1.
No way Battier gets the minutes or offensive focus to put up close to the numbers he did last year unless he gets traded to a really horrible team. Battier = young Rick Fox.
Exactly what I wanted to post. You know that team will be poised to make a major trade somewhere down the road, possibly this season. Gasol, Gooden, Swift, Battier, Dickerson? Yeah, they'll be a player in the market. Not enough minutes for those guys.
Its nice to have talent at your disposal to work with. Memphis is deep. A good coach and a capable PG would do them wonders.
There was an article on ESPN.com about Jerry West. The article insinuated that West didn't care for Battier much at all. West sees Gasol and Gooden as the future and Battier is the odd man out. I'd love to pull Battier from them. Who knows.
