I know a lot of member on this forum are talking about different scenario involving Battier as one of the trade bait. But in reality Battier was a big part of this team success, he can score if wants to and we all know that he is a big defensive player and i never seen anyone with such a great instinct on stopping any player, almost, when he does defensive rotation. I don't think Adelman would like Shane to go anywhere else but play in his roster, Htown!
I hope we dont trade him even if its getting Calderon.. Just sign a Pietrus or a Maggette and I think we can make it farther next year, if we can manage to stay healthy
Yet, not enough and seemingly not when we need him to. True. I'm pretty sure he would if it meant getting a better player in return.
It's not that Shane "scores when he wants to" as if he chooses to rest and space around the perimeter in lieu of taking it to the whole every posession like Tracy can. He's got little if any hops, and his top speed is average at best. Of course, Shane has one hell of a motor, and a can-do professionalism, but the man has physical limitations that prevent him from imposing his will offensively on a game. I truly think he scores when given the opportunity, which is more of a function of Tracy and Yao's play than anything. I agree that he is an underratted part of our success, and if we move him then we had better be getting a hell of a defender in return.
Battier's value is obvious when you compare Peja's numbers in the playoffs against those he had against us in the four games this season.
lololo how do we just "sign magette". lol we dont have that kind of cash. Once we sign Landry we wont have money for Magette. We need to trade battier + head for a third scorer
Yep. There are so many people who were "shut down" by Shane's great D. Some that comes to mind... Brandon Roy, Peja, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, etc... He even gave Kobe fits in the last game we played against them. He's definitely a great defensive player.
He has hit a few big shots for us. For example the game winner vs the Lakers, and a few big 3s in the Denver OT game and the Jazz playoff games but we still lost both games. Battier is the kinda guy who wont be afraid to shoot the 3 when the game is one the line. The problem is that he inst a consistent scorer.
If we can improve our PG position enough, I'm fine with giving up Shane. We cannot go another season with Rafer as our MVP because we don't have a backup worthy of NBA basketball. My question is whether Calderon is all that good and worth giving up Shane. Quick answer: Yes. Compared to Rafer, he is bigger, stronger, finishes better, a MUCH better shooter and he's about 6 years younger. For that matter, he's 3 years younger than Shane and should be going into his peak years. At what point does Shane start declining? He will be 30 in September and this summer may be the best time to get max value for him. I would do this trade. Depending on the kind of money Calderon is demanding, I'd be willing to give up Luther too. With Calderon as our starter and Rafer as his backup, our PG position would be significantly upgraded from the last two years. Just imagine what might have been if Calderon was on this season's Rockets. He's no All-Star, but he's a big improvement.
How would you know what I prefer? Ron Artest v.s. Shane Battier. If you look at who's a better player it's obviously Ron Artest, but how stable is the guy? He's a big risk. He's a knucklehead - even though he has skills i'd still be really careful to trade Shane Battier for a guy like Ron Artest. At any moment Ron Artest could decide to hang his basketball career up for let's say his rap album. He could get suspended for doing all the stupid stuff he does. He could get thrown out of games just because he doesn't feel like playing anymore. Basically he's the opposite of Shane Battier... Better offensive player but not reliable. Mike Miller - he's not as good on D but he's a really good shooter - could be the third scorer we're looking for. I'd really really consider this trade.
You are forgetting that when the rockets get flustered, which they do all the time, you almost always see Shane calming people down and getting the job done. He is the unsung hero of the entire team. And he hits his threes. I think without his brain, which is why he's one of the best D players, the rockets would be hard pressed to find a better contributor than Shane. Plus our new coach hasn't had enough time to work on the offensive strategy with the team. He has had one year. Give him another year to get his team in swing when they are actually all healthy. Implying that we have a weak offense is making an early judgment based off faulty research. How are we suppose to make a judgment when the team has been on the injury listed and his line up has been changed constantly, from bench, to starter, and back and forth 800 times. Also you ignore the fact that this team proved itself capable of hitting 22 without Yao. With Yao, imagine what will happen next year. Shooters are good, but the rockets are a team that doesn't need to sacrifice D right now. Don't fix what isn't broken. With a healthy line up the rockets would have gone to conference finals. They need a new set or trainers and doctors, that's what they need to get. It seems like the injury bug hits the rockets all the time. Maybe some conditioning is needed, some better diets? Who knows, maybe that could be a preventive measure that's been over looked by eager people thinking trades are the only way to improve a team. The rockets have great players. Experienced vets and budding rookies. Battier is the brain behind the defense and the spirit when times look tough. He hits those shot a lot under pressure. Don't under estimate his place in Clutch City just because he isn't scoring as many points as Kobe. Look at how many points he has prevented instead and you'll see why trading him would be a bigger mistake than trading for Barkley. Battier is the thinking man's basketball player. He went to Duke and it shows. He's smarter than most players and uses it to rain on their offensive parade. Watch more closely, don't just look at point stats and throw out stupid trade ideas that would ruin a great team dynamic.
Good - his trade value should be up so that we can now package Shane in a sign and trade deal for Ron Artest, who is certainly an upgrade over Battier. Thanks for everything Shane - even though to get you, we gave up a young, athletic, multi-tool basketball player who's gonna be a star for the next 10-12 years.
Too many people knock Battier's offensive contribution. Face it, without Yao we can't win a championship. With Yao we have plenty of offense. So when Yao is the lineup Battier isn't a liability. The Spurs have 3 championships with Bruce Bowen starting, and 4 with him on the team. Bowen sure as hell can't create his own shot. A healthy Yao and a healthy Francis or free agent signing negate Battier's offensive shortcomings. Defense >>>>> offense. Let Yao and McGrady, two of the most potent offensive players in the NBA handle putting the ball in the basket. Finding a 3rd scorer shouldn't be too hard. Not this year. No Shane Battier, no 22 game win streak. What, 60 teams have NBA championships? 2 have won 22 games in a row.
this year's team made history, how fickle do you have to be to not realize the significance of that? ahh winning the nba championship would be so sweet but you've got to at least acknowledge the fact that only two teams have won 20+ games and thats us and the lakers (of the past, 33 if i remember correctly). and i also would like to point out the fact that we're steadily improving, eventually we'll maintain a healthy lineup with a balanced attack of offense and defense. more so offense because we all know the rockets can play Defense but if you dont score you will still lose. =( heres to next season
PG was not why we did not advance in the playoffs. It was lack of size and rebounding, we need size, athleticism and a 3rd scorer before upgrading the PG position by trading a key piece like Battier. Yes, Battier is no Caron Butler at the offensive end but we're not paying him 8M a year either, Battier will be a good complementery piece like Bowen if we get the right players around him. Lot of hate for Rafer but there are 30 starting PGs in the NBA and to me Rafer is a top 15 player which ain't bad. Watch Brooks next year, I see him stepping up. I think he is the fastest PG in the NBA, just needs to develop a move where he drives, pulls up and knocks down a mid-range jumper.
I guess you missed games 1 & 2 and the 2nd half of game 6. Bobby Jackson and AB were horrible. Simple as that. The fact is we don't know how much AB will develop and the way he completely crumbled in the 3 games at Utah shows we cannot just hope he gets better. If he had played well in the playoffs, I'd have more faith in him. I like Shane a lot but we cannot tie our fortunes to Rafer again. That would be insane.
