Artest in....Keep Battier or trade to upgrade pg position?

I'm one of the few people actually holding out hope for Steve Francis to contribute meaningfully at backup point next season.

But it isn't even that important. Outside of the late season injury situation last year, Rafer has shown a lot of durability and endurance for this team, and he's such a good leader on the floor that with a team as talented as this, it's rational enough to assert that they're probably best off with him running the show for majority of the time. Plus you have enough flexibility that even if Brooks/Francis aren't subbing in, you could go big and move McGrady to the point and still have plenty of size on the wings. Why sacrifice part of this incredible roster for what isn't exactly a vital need anymore? Neither of last season's finals teams had a point guard that is better than Rafer Alston, and neither had a roster that is this deep. (Yes, Rondo is more athletic and is probably a more creative playmaker than Alston, but he certainly proved that he's not nearly as good at floor leadership and team management).

Think of all the flexibility you'd have on defense. With Alston, Battier, Artest, McGrady and Yao on the floor, you don't even need your guys to bother trying to stay with their man on screens most of the time. Just switch, switch, switch and still have 2, 3 or 4 lock down defenders on the other team's best players at all times regardless. Maybe even 5. And that's not even considering that this team was already the 2nd best defensive team in the league last season. These guys will be flat out unstoppable on offense and nearly impenetrable on defense.

No further changes needed. No, really.

 

I dont see any reason to have Battier here anymore when we are so weak at PG. Artest or not, we're still gonna have probelms if we run Rafer our there for 40 minutes against the likes of Deron Williams and Chris Paul and Tony Parker.

 

Keeping Battier is a must. Don't forget that Ron Artest is only on contract for 1 more year. I honestly have no clue how much he'll ask for or get next season, but we likely won't be able to afford it.

If we don't win the championship this year, Artest likely leaves. Even *if* we do, he will probably go for the money if he can get it. We have to keep Battier just in case. Alston will be fine running the point since he doesn't have to do more than he's capable of now. All he has to do is run the team, which he is good at. Make sure people get the ball where they are comfortable, make sure they get the ball enough, and keep the flow of the offense going. They're harder to do than they sound, but Alston is good at it. Shooting and scoring is his weak point, and now he won't have to worry too much about it.

Artest could leave even if we do win the championship. He could stay even if we don't. No matter what, his contract is over after this year and I doubt he will be looking for LESS money. If we can't afford to sign him to a contract he likes, we lose him for nothing. Then we lose Battier AND Artest and all we pick up is a solid PG (at best).

However, if we stick with Alston (who should be good enough now that his role on the team in terms of scoring has been largely diminished), we get to keep Battier as insurance on Artest just in case he decides to leave.

I think betting on Alston being good enough for his new role is a better bet than one on Artest NOT leaving after next season.

I know Artest likes Adelman, but I don't think he likes him enough to take a paycut or not to sign with someone else if he gets a decent contract (bigger than we can offer, of course).

 

My first instinct was to try to trade Battier for a PG and minimize our weaknesses. However, with Hinrich as the only realistic target that has been mentioned, I'm leaning back towards holding onto Shane for a few reasons:

1) He's a great defender at the wing position but in a different way than Artest. He is more harassing and willing to chase people around, whereas Artest is more of a physical defender. The 2 could be substitutted for each other or played together.

2) He's a leader and a glue-guy. Yes, it looks great to line up All-Stars at every position, but this isn't fantasy basketball, and every team needs guys like Battier to

3) He's got the perfect mentality to go to the bench and be a 6th man and do whatever it takes to help the team win.

4) A Rafer Alston who shoots less is just what this team needs to complement the rest of the team. He is a veteran who knows how to run the offense and find guys in their comfort zone. He had to shoot a lot more last year because he was often the 2nd offensive option (how sad is that?) when T-Mac or Yao was injured. In this line-up, with the continued improvement of Scola, he is the 5th option, which allows him to focus on being a real PG.

 

I was thinking about this... tough call, but I think I want to keep Battier unless we get a CLEAR upgrade at PG.

 

We trade Bobby Jackson. Who will be our backup pg besides Brooks? I don't think Rafer + Brooks are deep enough for the pg position.

Does this mean the rockets want to give Barrera a chance? I really like this kid.

 

i would trade battier only if they were bringing in a clearly better player.

felton, hinrich, iverson, etc...

 

V span... can come back now..

JK!

 

We do not need a scoring PG. We got enough enough PPG already. Rafer needs to concentrate on distribution.

 

He would be GREAT on this team.

DD

 

Why trade Battier now?

This move pushes Alston down as our 5th option on offense after Yao, Mac, Artest and Scola. That's pretty similar to how Rondo is for the Celts. I'll be damned if Rafer can't do better than Rondo in that role, especially since Scola is obviously a much better player than Kendrick Perkins is.

He's adequate in spacing the floor and getting the ball to our other guys. Getting another guy like Iverson is just asking for trouble since he isn't a prototypical point.

 

keep battier
excited to see defense by Yao ,battier,Artest
wondering can some team easily penetrate into Our defense?
T-mac can get a good rest
rafel can concentrate himself on running the team
also excited by Scola and SF3 with good condition

i can't wait for season coming
come on Rockets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!heart-beat season

 

No reason to trade Battier. If we lost him, we'd be fine with Artest, but it's better to have him off the bench for depth, and his great defense.

Personally, I think T-mac, Artest, and Battier are all natural 3s, but their versitility will be exciting to mix and match with as the season goes on. Add Yao, Scola, and Alston to that mix, you're talking about one of the best 6 man rotations in basketball and we're not even talking about how nice Barry and Landry would be off the bench.

I think you hope Steve recovers enough to play 10-15 a night, Brooks takes a big step forward this year, and that Rafer doesn't get injured.

Come trade deadline time, if the PG position is holding us back, you trade Luther and Stevie's expiring contracts for guy who can play.

I think we're good to start the season as our team stands right now (hopefully with Deke and Landry)

Only thing that concerns me is our overreliance on Rafer, and the fact that our starting 2guard can't shoot ... but other than that, I think we're positioned to be in the Championship game next year.

 

keep battier
excited to see defense by Yao ,battier,Artest
wondering can some team easily penetrate into Our defense?
T-mac can get a good rest
rafel can concentrate himself on running the team
also excited by Scola and SF3 with good condition

i can't wait for season coming
come on Rockets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!heart-beat season

 

can't we just use the MLE on a PG now?

what do we have left to spend?

i guess i am not sure if we should make a trade because i'm not sure where the barry deal, pending landry deal, and this trade leaves us.

at this point i think keeping shane is a bigger reward than to risk losing him...

i'm not sure we have ANY other capable backup wing players besides shane (barry is good for 3s and an occasional nifty pass... that is all... until i see otherwise).

if we can keep landry without spending the MLE, then let's go find a PG with that.

 

Keep Battier.

Lets quit dogging the PG position. Rafer played well last year and as pointed out isn't required to score as much. He is a leader on the team and doesn't turn the ball over. Lets not forget that he gives chris paul fits. That alone is worth keeping him!

Brent will be an option of the bench. I also still have hope that Steve has a little left in the tank.

If everything works out, this could be a magical year. One well overdue. Our guys have to play now.

Here's hoping to good health (at least at critical points of the season).

 

I think we need a backup center more than a starting PG

 

also, if it hasnt been mentioned yet...battier is in his prime years right now, we really should consider not tradin him.

 

Remember, our offense starts at center with Yao. All we want Rafael to do is make sure the ball gets to Yao as much as possible. AI isn't going to do that for us. Alston can also get hot beyond the arch; McGrady, Battier, Alston, Artest, Head, Novak, and Barry can absolutely torch any team who doubles Yao too much. The only concern is Yao's health next year. We need someone to back him up.

 

we still got francis and head... they need to relocate the latter asap though...