Budinger was guarding Crawford and was beat a few times. There were very few oppurtunities for the Rockets to drive to the basket off the rotation. Atlanta did a good job sealing the paint. Of coarse that happens when 4 players (Ariza, Budinger, Battier, Brooks) shoot the same shot - 3 pointer. I think Brooks has done a better job showing his mid-range game since taking Drogic off the dribble in Phoenix. Now if only guys like Ariza and Budinger could work a pump fake, extra step and mid-range shot into their game.
what is up with all the thread and complain about our players let just trade everybody on our team and get lebron why can't y'all think about the positive thing on our team rather than the negative things we are fine where we are right now, no one expected our team to be this good without our stars
Anybody that thinks Battier isn't an asset or Morey doesn't know what he's doing should read this New York Times article from the beginning of this year. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html?_r=1 There are all kinds of intangible assets Morey is considering that Battier brings that don't show up anywhere in the box score and aren't even noticed when watching the game. Morey acknowledged in the article that he didn't even understand a lot of what he added until he got here. In the article, here's what he said about Battier, “I call him Lego. When he’s on the court, all the pieces start to fit together..." My favorite quote from Morey in the article is this, “Someone created the box score,” Morey says, “and he should be shot.” There's so much negativity on this board about so many players, but Morey and Adelman know what they're doing.
I hear what you are saying, but somehow I worry about life without Battier. I wonder if all the other players would become somewhat less effective, mostly on the defensive end.
The biggest concern about Shane is that he's at -19 this season which is far and away the worst on the team. Yes, he's an awful fit, as far as his skillset, for this team. Is it worth waiting it out until Yao gets back next year or should we move on? He does what Ariza does and Ariza is better at it (at this point in their respective careers). You don't just deal Shane to deal him but I think you consider it if somebody makes an offer. You have to get a wing guy back, though.
What's surprising to me is that Shane was in the top 50 in my league before tonight. He was closer to 40, if I'm not mistaken. He dropped to 53 overall in my league after the Hawks game (9 category league).
Shane was brought here for his defense and to complement Yao's offensive game. Without a good post player, he is forced into doing things he's not particularly good at on offense. I think he'll adjust eventually but offensively hes nothing more than a guy who spaces the floor with his shooting.
Trade Shane Battier and Brian Cook to the clippers for Marcus Camby, So we can have more money for free agents in 2010.
Shane's value increases the closer a team is to winning it all. Remember when we were about to take out LA and Shane was huge. The more important every possession is the greater Shane's impact. Mr.Intangible is still a key component as long as we have a window.
yeah. I am fine with a winning record early in the year. We will begin to wear teams down because they tend to lose their hustle throughout the season.
Concerning his overall +/- this season, Morey did warn Battier might take a dip w/o having a center in the caliber of Mutombo and Yao backing him up defensively. The team played 8 games in 12 days as of yesterday, that might be contributing to his overall performance too. He did seem a whole more involved last year offensively. He's not getting as many kick-outs from the center position this year and he is not posting up much himself this season either.
I don't think Shane should be traded. I think he is crucial to the chemistry of this team and is a valuable mentor to our younger players, but as I said I think he should be limited to a role that better fits his strengths at this stage in his career.
Battier is struggling mightily, is he a poor fit? I think the whole T-Mac situation and big change in the rotation has taken some focus off the guys who were here. I had a quick look at very very basic stats for returning rotation players, and the following stuck out to me: - Scola is doing well. His FG% is down, but he is taking way more shots than last season. He's averaging 9.8 rebounds per game despite no change in minutes. I'm a tiny bot concerned at his asst/to ratio. Landry is in a similar boat - his rebounding rate is something to keep an eye on (5.5 in 24 minutes). - Ariza is beginning to struggle to the point where, if he is not defending the top guy every night or providing great help defense, his value is quite low. He seems to have one of three things: either a great FG% game, a great 3pt% game, or a great non-scoring game. Still, we're paying the MLE and we expect Ariza to grow throughout this season. I'm pleasantly surprised by his performances this season and am optimistic that he will achieve consistency over the different facets of his game. I hope he won't have to handle the ball as much next season, but will still be better at doing it after this season. - Brooks is scoring more efficiently but passing less efficiently. Lowry is shooting worse from the field, better from the 3, going to the line more and passing more efficiently. The two of them, as a team, have improved since last season. - Chuck is a Hall of Famer. - Battier on the other hand is struggling offensively. Thankfully, he brings lots of intangibles to the team - leadership, motivation, defense, help defense, defensive and offensive communication, and effort. He's also someone the young guys can ask a lot of questions. However, his overall statistics look bad and I'm beginning to wonder about his ability to fit into this offense. Please note that I said "beginning" because I understand that stats can be misleading. However, his numbers look like (keep in mind virtually no change in minutes): This Season Last Season FG 39.8% of 7.2 shots 41% of 5.9 shots 3PT 34.5% of 4.5 shots 38.4% of 4 shots FT 88% of 1.9 shots 82% of 1.1 shots REB 2.7 4.8 Ast/TO 2.3/0.8 2.6/0.8 STL 0.8 1.1 BLK 0.9 0.7 A couple of issues I see are that: 1) When you play as hard as Battier, there will never be improvement in a tough season. I.E., we heard him saying he needs to score more. But if he was going 100% since he's been here, then there's nothing in the tank which he can use this season. This is good and bad - it means he literally always gives his all, but doesn't have another gear (he faces this issue in playoffs as well). 2) Maybe the fit is no good. I was particularly concerned by his rebounding. Everything else makes sense - more shots, lower %. He makes the corner 3 but nearly nearly as much as we need him to. Why doesn't his hustle translate into rebounds? Is he running for the outlet pass? Then why are there not transition points to fortify his FG%? I think we've reached the point where his value to us and our value to him needs to be reconsidered. We need his veteran presence and influence on the team, but do we need it past the deadline? Would we not be better off acquiring another young player, maybe a big? An expiring deal? To me his value right now is to keep the team motivated through a tough season and to be a mentor to Ariza in the Defense and effort departments. Is that worth 2 years and 14m? I don't think so. At the same time, if we are sticking to the system, he deserves to be on a contender. He would have tremendous value on the Clippers, Heat, Cavs, Hornets, Thunder, etc.. These people can let Battier focus on his strenghts because he is not going to develop any new ones. Thoughts?
His strategy isn't being a true individual stopper, but rather to let his assignment take low probability shots with the team's defense. Battier is a beast with Yao to anchor the defense. I don't think Morey will trade Battier when Battier would be a piece Morey looks for when building a championship team. ...Disagree on Hayes being a HoF.
Since we don’t have any height this year, Battier has to rebound more and be perfect at blocking out. Also, the Rockets frantic offensive pace does take its toll, especially since he has to guard the other teams best player. What’s happening is that he is putting more emphasis on other aspects of the game compared to previous years.
I think all it boils down to is the team has zero consistency right now. The only thing we can be sure of is that Ariza and Brooks will take up about 2/3 of the offense right now, everything else is up to debate. I think Shane along with other players are just trying to find their roles. That coupled with the fact that both Ariza and Budinger are thriving right now doesn't help Shane fit on this team. Give it time, we are 13 games deep into the season. I love the fact that 13 games in people are demanding trades. There are teams that don't hit their mark till later. Look at GS the year they upset Dallas. The components of that team were good, but they still placed 8th, why? They weren't realistically an 8th seed team, but they needed time to adjust from the trades. We are in a similar boat. We have a totally new team, not all the cogs will fit together immediately, if Battier is still struggling by the time we hit the All-Star break then we have a problem. Until then, let's see how far this team can go..
Shane Battier has not lost a step and he is not an albatross. He was never what I would consider a "lock down" defender. He just never had that athleticism and was never dirty enough to make up for it. Shane plays the percentages and shades his man to the big post defender. It is usually Yao (earlier it was Pau Gasol, a very underrated defender) now he has Chuck Hayes. You can't funnel players into Chuck because that gives up an easy layup to his man. You must play great man defense. The thing is that Battier, while an elite overall defender, he is NOT and has never been an elite man defender. Unless the rockets don't see him in their future plans, it would be a false move to trade him this season or this offseason. His value is at an all time low. It would be much smarter to trade him next season's trade deadline when he looks better playing around Yao and he is an expiring contract.
