Both sides are making good points in this thread, and it's been a good read. Shane Battier has been perfect for THIS team---sans Yao, sans McLazy---because he's the guy who's giving the pep talks, he's the coach on the floor, he can keep some of our younger, more mistake-prone players (Brooks, Ariza, Landry) from totally screwing up. At the same time, let's not kid ourselves too much. Morey has included Shane in trade proposals before. I know that not all proposals that surface are legitimate, but where there's smoke, there's fire. Shane and Brooks for the #2 pick (Rubio, which MIGHT have yielded something had Morey supposedly not asked for Rudy Gay also; good Lord, Morey, Shane no longer has much upside, you know?) Shane and whomever to Charlotte for Jason Richardson (Phoenix made a sexier offer). Now, at the same time, if Morey doesn't like the offer, he'll turn it down. Andre Miller for Shane, he didn't pull the trigger. (Probably one of the few guys Portland's GM would put up for auction, considering how he holds onto young if redundant players). When all this shakes out, don't be surprised if Shane is included in a trade that brings us the player(s) the Rockets need to have any sort of a future. Because if Morey can replace his +/- value with even better +/- AND talent (Bosh? Iggy? whomever), then Morey will give him a hug on his way out the door and say, Don't be surprised if we call you up down the road and see if you want to coach the team, IF politics doesn't come calling first.
lee, how often do you make it to rockets practices or inside the huddles during a time out? How often do you mic' up the team? I'm guessing pretty much never. You love talking about how you can SEE whats going on with your won eyes and you dont need stats or articles or whatvr, but uness your eyes have xray vision, super zoom, and a built in hearing device, then you don't really see everything that's needed to know what battier's contributions are. None of us do. That's why i'm rolling with what Morey plans until he starts to mess up. So far he's made all the right moves. What went wrong for this time was beyong his control (injuries).
I generally ignore the opinion of those who have no idea what they're talking about, so I should not have said "most" as I realize there are a lot of people here who don't have a clue. What's the worry that a player is in decline? His offensive abilities are already limited, and the one thing he does do well wouldn't be there anymore - Battier would be worthless if he didn't contribute defensively. As he declines, his defensive contributions will decline likewise. The thinking is that we can capitalize on his perceived value now to get a player that will improve in the future and help this team vs. one that will continue to decline and contribute less. Neither I nor you know what Morey still thinks about Battier or whether or not he's on the decline - I'm just giving my opinion that from watching the team, I feel that he's past his peak. I'd like him moved while he's still valuable, because right now he only contributes on one side of the ball, and that's slowly fading. This is kind of a cop out on your part. You're not making any points of Battier's decline or lack of - you're just saying that if he is on the decline Morey will trade him, and if he isn't traded, then he must not be on the decline. It isn't that simple. I wasn't arguing that Battier wasn't a contributor - just that his contributions aren't as great as they were a few years ago. I never once questioned Morey's ability to evaluate players or make roster moves? All I said was that I think Battier is on the decline and I'd like to see him moved while his value is still high. Keeping Battier is, IMO, short-sighted, as I believe he'll continue to decline and contribute less. Of course, this is all dependent on who we could possibly get back for him -- you don't trade Battier for the sake of trading him. Of that, I have no idea what Shane's market is. I think a lot of people people still believe him to be the elite defender he was a few years ago, and I just no longer see it. My thinking is more of taking advantage of others perceptions of him, but who knows what his value really is.
Ah, come on now, you can't be whining now because you were spouting that your inside sources said Tmac would sign her for $10 million a year, in fact you practically guaranteed it. You have shown some inside source type stuff, but I think your TMac stuff was only INSIDE YOUR HEAD... DD
Outside of spot up threes, I'm not so sure that Battier is capable of taking on a larger role offensively.
The same goes for leeb. Just mention something negative about Tracy and he'll get his panties all up in a bunch.
You're spot on about this one. He himself is the inside source. He really really really wanted Tracy to sign here b/c of his man crush. He can't hide.
I know this doesn't prove anything but I thought this was interesting. in this season: Win-loss record when Battier scores more than 10 points: 9-4 Win-loss record when Battier scores 10 points: 1-2 Win-loss record when Battier scores fewer than 10 points: 12-12 I know he's in there for other things than his scoring, but I always felt the team does a lot better when Battier is looking for his shots and making them.
yeah i'm not sure there's enough there...but if you look at the stats for the other players, we probably win more than lose if they score above their average as well. I rather see him gettign boards, assists, and blocks than points because he's not a well rounded offensive player. He needs to focus on the dirty work, we have enough scorers to win most games. Find ways to make those scorers more efficient by giving them better or more opportunities.
Reread your first paragraph and ask yourself who should stop making excuses for their favorite players......
Yeah, i'm pretty sure i haven't been saying trade tracy for awhile now.At least get your facts straight
C'mon backstabber, i do it for the love, not for the rep. If tracy had played the good soldier, the decision would've been made at the end of the year. I don't like the way he handled the situation nor the team, but i will always roll with the rockets, regardless and you know this. I've been on hiere awhile, and i didn't guarantee anything because nothing is guaranteed. Hell, i don't even gaurantee anything with my wife and kids, but word is bond. We still have our sig bet, right? I guess we will see how everything shakes out.
Honest assessment? Really? I'm replying to this thread just so I can give it what it deserves - 1 star.
I'm waiting for durvasa to ask all the people in this thread that have said Shane Battier is a leader, heart and soul of this team, etc... to provide statistical evidence of these things and quantify their claims.
The point is Morey knows better than you or I could ever hope to. If it's an issue, then he'll take care of it. Do you think the idea of selling a player while their value is high is an unknown concept to Morey? Of course not. He knows what's going on so if he's not making a move, then maybe theres a reason for that? Also, it's unfair to say that Battier only contributes on one side of the ball. He does things that allows teammates to be better on both offense and defense. Lot's of elite NBA players aren't as good as they use to be, that's just the toll of the wear and tear of the NBA game. The question isn't if they are as good as they once were, it's if they are good enough now. First of all, there have been so many changes to the personel and approach this season, that's it's almost impossible to tell if it's the enviornment or a change in skills. If you put Yao and another quality player back in the lineup, how does Battier perform? I'm guessing that it will be similar to what he always has. Let's turn that around: You think Battier is in decline. Ok, assuming that's true, do you believe that Morey would also know that? I'm guessing that you'll say yes, so then if Battier is in decline and Morey knows it, then why do you think that he hasn't been moved (and I'm guessing won't be moved in the near future). Sorry, you don't like the logic, but why would you assume a bright guy like Morey is making a bad move? Either he's not as knowledgeable as some of the poster here or he doesn't think it's a problem. I choose to believe the latter. We're talking about a guy who's contributions are overlooked by almost everyone except for a statistical genius. If the average guy can't understand his contributions, then how the heck can you evaluate whether or not they've slipped? Sorry for not jumping into that pointless argument. So, let me get this straight. Morey has obviously not traded Battier, but you feel that keeping Battier is "short sighted"? You're not questioning Morey's decision making?
