If his defense was substandard he would be benched. If you think his only defensive move is face guarding, then you either arent watching or don't know what to look for. He covered Artest in the Laker game and held him to nothing. He covered Ariza in the Hornets game and held him to nothing. He covered Jefferson in the Spurs game and got lit up by open threes. He covered Anthony in the Nugget game and he was okay, not great. He covered Ellis in the GS game and contested all of his shots, but Ellis was doing a Jesus imitation and still hitting. He covered Granger in the Pacer game and shut him down. He covered Durant in the Thunder game and was okay, not great. Washington/NY didnt really have a stud wing. Are you watching the games, because to say he is substandard is insulting. Is he going to shut down all superstars every night? No, but that is unreasonable to expect. As I said, he is still rock solid defensively. And to the poster who said he needs to know he isnt first, second or third option....are you kidding me? Half of his shots are end of the shotclock shots from broken plays, because as of right now we have ZERO players on the team who can create for themselves.
It's more like, I don't understand why a team last in the NBA in defense would bring back a defensive player who's way past his prime when they have no hope of contending with the current group.
Thats more of an argument I can agree with. If you look at the random trade thread you will notice I suggested a rebuilding plan w/o Shane. What matters, however, is the direction management decides to go with.
And that's why people have been guaranteeing Battier would be gone very soon for the last 2 years and it hasnt happened. They don't understand or refuse to see the direction the team is going in.
Shane is playing because we don't have much choice with Bud injured. The other choice is Jeffries, who at least would have a height advantage on the players he guards. Shane is a team leader -- and that's what keeps him on the floor, not his defense and certainly not his offense. As I said earlier, he will be a great coach.
^Yes...If Yao is here, and still the "franchise" I have no doubt Battier will be back, unless of course they land Iggy.
Solid theory, however when Budinger wasnt injured, he was still playing. So there goes that. Obviously since Battier is declining and substandard defensively, while also smaller than Jeffries, its no wonder JJ is getting so much playing time. Its almost as if there is zero evidence to support your theory. I am sorry, but you are just incorrect.
dude for the last 4 games, hes been playing good. Its just our team sucks right now. Why blame him where you can blame other players? Hes been good in defense, without him our defense sucks. He brings defense not offense. Championship brings defense not offense.
Why the **** would the Rockets want Steve Nash?!?!?!? He doesn't make us a contender, and he is getting up there in age! It would be idiotic to trade young players for someone like him unless you actually have a chance at winning a championship!!! Chris Paul is a different story, but we aren't gonna get him either! The only thing the Rockets should be doing is figuring out how to get a high draft pick, and with the way they are looking, they might not have to do much except keep playing...
Offense isn't just scoring. Spacing that can totally make or break an offensive play. That's why he gets so many shots at the end of the shot clock, unless the play says otherwise, he moves constantly to keep that spacing and stay in view of the guy with the ball, so he's the one they see when they're stuck with the shot clock at 2-3 seconds. He's also the best entry passer to the post, and only Miller and chuck pass just as well or better, inside to cutters. A good argument is we don't have enough guys who think on their feet like battier, but are also more talented. Chuck's not that person. Miller is just battier on offense. Scola is, but he's just one guy. Like i've said before, they went overboard with the youth movement. We need more experienced vets in significant roles.
What direction IS this team going in? Everything we've done for the past 16 years has been a failure and as of right now, we're as bad as ever.
So you want to make personell idecisions due to the teams performance when arguably our 2 best players are injured?
Why are you bouncing off the walls? Calm down.. We have a short window opportunity before we're forced to rebuild. Right now it's still an option. Nash fits that window and improves our offense and we'd probably not give up anything that makes our defense worse. Then you make another move to improve the defense. Great offense, solid defense. It's our most realistic shot for now. Rebuilding now is for quitters. I'm sure the team doesnt want that and fans don't either. Some of us only want it because we think that's the only option. As of now, it's too early for that to be the case.
When our two best players are Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks...yes, I want to make new personnel decisions. Yao will never be the Yao of old and to be honest, Yao of old was never a cornerstone anyway considering his propensity to get injured. Brooks is simply not a player you can rely on to lead a team and likely never will be. Besides, he's WAY too one-dimensional to be considered "best player" on a good team.
The direction that isn't throwing in the towel yet. That'll be the case as long as we have a team anchored primarily by 30 yr olds.
LOL, I love the guy, but I have to agree with that. I wonder how that can be...he is not THAT unathletic...it's like he has forgotten how to make offensive moves. It looks pathetically funny sometimes.
YES... Someone is watching the games besides me! Everything you said is what I see. I am still of the camp where I think we need a more all around player at the 3 like Iguodala. But barring that big trade Battier knows his role and has been playing as good as he did last year. His D is solid if not spectacular. He started the season off slow. But after Brooks went down he stepped up. It was almost like he felt with Yao, Scola, Brooks and martin on the floor he was supposed to just hide on offense and concentrate. Now he is playing his game. That is the role on this team he needs. Pass to the open man, shoot the open 3 and if the clock is running down and he has the ball he needs to take it to the hoop no matter how pathetic he looks doing it. He has picked up a couple of fouls doing that. The only problem I have with what he is doing on offense is not making better passes. But I see that he gets that and hopefully he will improve a bit. Overall I would Battier understands his role on this team better than anyone. And of course his D is solid albeit a bit overrated.
he tends to play the refs at times, rather than the game itself...sometimes its better, sometimes it's worse...
