Shane needs to work on his handles. Scola dribbles better than him. If Shane could get his dribble working, he could actually become a very good offensive thread. Skip to my lou needs to help out out.
If I hear this one more time I am going to puke. Seriously, NO HE CAN'T! He's NOT an offensive player, he's a spot up shooter, and a good one. Battier's calling card is his defense and his spot up shooting, he's not, has never been and will never be an offensive juggernaut. Enough of this silliness about how he "can score IF he wants to," as if somehow the circumstances never called for him to step up on offense to help the team win games. He's a ROLE player, so yes he was an important part much like Landry or Scola or Rafer, but to me he isn't any more 'special' than any of those guys and -- in fact -- I would rather see him go in a trade than see at least two of the three aforementioned leave town. Battier is not irreplaceable, I value him but that's precisely why I think he will be the key player in any package deal to improve our roster or get that elusive third option player. That being said, should he remain in Rockets unis well into next season I won't be shedding any tears over it. He's a solid player on a championship calibre team, but his role should be no bigger than that of Bruce Bowen's, and he should NEVER be called upon to help carry the team offensively, if that ever happens then it just means that your team isn't nearly good enough for a title run.
Alright, now we got Ron Artest on the mix, do you all think that we can afford signing Ron at the same time looking for a perfect fit PG like Calderon on this team. I don't think so! Better yet, better let Battier, Landry, Rafer and Head part of the package. So much to give just to make all cylinders work on this team.
the problem with this way of thinking is that there is no way you get better if you fix one weak spot by creating another one. so basically there is no way a trade of battier for calderon will make us better if we don't get a replacement for shane as well. i doubt this is possible. the way to go is simple. if you have the chance to upgrade shane or rafer without creating another hole on the roster you do it. if you can't do that you have to live with both and add minor pieces. and that's the way the rockets hopefully will go. it's stupid that people keep on telling us that shane and rafer suck. they are both incredibly good role players. they are no 2nd or 3rd scoring option, though. in my mind we'll only getting better if we're able to keep our core intact AND add another good player AND some minor pieces. i hope we can get an important minor piece (add talent and athelticism) with our draft pick. if we can get a good wing player or backup center that would be huge. after this we should try to get a guy like mike miller for maybe bobby jackson + luther head. if memphis won't do this trade and we find no other option we should look into the free agent class to get a player for the mle that can help us. even if it's freakin' ricky davis.
This board underrates Shane's value to this team. Everyone is drooling over the possibility of getting Calderon. Many suggest we trade Battier, but is anyone aware of how much our team defense would suffer if we were to do this? Although Battier is not a lock down type defender, he still makes opponents shoot much worst percentages than the usual. His blocking ability has improved; his timing is great and he is getting some nice weak-side blocking. I know he is one of our tradeable assets, but in no freakin way do you trade defense for offense. Calderon, although a great PG, also comes with the downside of not being able to guard a broom. The reason our team is so good defensively is because of Battier. He rarely makes mistakes covering up for others downfalls. Another thing, signing Landry is going to more than likely take away our MLE. Signing other swingmen is going to be difficult. Trading for them will be even harder since none is worth giving up our two headed monster (Carluis Scolandry).
Sorry but I think that Battier is over rated. Only once this last season did I see him play great defence and it was our last game against LA when he defended Bryant.I am not saying that he isn't a contributor to the team's overall success but I think we can do better.
I have the feeling that Landry with his athleticism and court smarts will become a lockdown defender as he develops. Battier will become expendable if Landry can also develop a 3 pt shot.
I had thought of this as well but getting a young and improving PG although not an all-star by any means is very hard to get.In the short-term this could be difficult for us and I wouldn't give up either Luis or Landry for Calderon but in the long term getting a swingman is easier than a PG. I doubt very much that anything like this is going to happen anyway because the Raptors can add a swingman and keep their team intact.
