Didn't see anything posted yet about this but if so feel free to lock it up. I stood up last night to watch most of the US vs Puerto Rico game just to get an idea of how Battier plays. I think the best way to explain Battier is Mr. Intangibles. He in no way tries to dominate a game from an offensive perspective. He does however stick his nose in almost every defensive play. The guy flat out hustles all over the court. I know a lot of ppl are not going to like this but the guy plays like a controlled Ryan Bowen. He never backs down. In the second quarter with the game tight, Battier took a charge which he got called for (Bad call). On a play a couple of possessions later he does the same exact play and he gets the charge. Later in the game even though he has no chance of stopping the player he jumps in trying to block (i believe Santiago?). Just watching how he plays defensively is soo impressive and exciting to watch. He was very much a part of the US unit that led the US team to the eventual beat down of puerto rico. Offensively, he seemed to just pass the ball around, and look to set up picks. He made an open 3 (college) and it was a perfect shot that touched nothing. I'm still wondering what position he will play for the Rockets next season though.
i would guess mostly SF... i liked his game tonight. rockets got a "5 tool" player. but then again, i am stoned off my ass right now.
At first I was thinking he would be the PF, but then it appears obvious Juwan isn't going anywhere. As long as Juwan is here, with this current roster, I think it's more than obvious Juwan is starting at PF.
I liked Battier's performance. On offense, total team guy, sets screens, spots up, makes good passes, and made a three. On defense, he was hustling all over the place. A bit foul-happy today, but that's probably atypical. He certainly outplayed Bruce Bowen, who airballed a three with no pressure and got beat off the dribble a couple times. Maybe with a few more good performances like this and Bowen will get the boot instead of Battier.
I watched the game. The description is pretty much dead-on ... the ultimate team/role player and hustler on defense. Got one open look at the top of the key, swished it smoothly. Man. I'm still trying to get over that 3 pointer D-Wade drained from way out in the parking lot like a layup. I had to hit replay a couple of times to convince myself it really was him.
Neither McGrady or Battier are 2 guards at this point in their career. Juwan Howard will do fine coming off the bench. The 2 biggest misconceptions I've seen this offseason are how Battier is not capable of defending 4's and how McGrady will do fine playing at the 2. Tracy McGrady Player 48-Minute Production by Position 2005-06 SG: 31.6% FG, 9.0 PER SF: 44.6% FG, 24.8 PER Source 2004-05 SG: 45% FG, 21.3 PER SF: 48.6% FG, 26.1 PER Source 2003-04 (Orlando) SG: 43.8% FG, 23.9 PER SF: 47.0% FG, 25.7 PER Source He also doesn't have the stamina to be chasing around quick 2 guards on the defensive end. We want to give him as many minutes as possible at the 3 during the first 42 minutes of the game. Battier was extremely impressive playing PF last year. Extremely strong body, sticks to his man and while he won't be a shutdown defensive PF, he makes opponents take high % shots. As everyone has begun to notice, has the intangibles and bball IQ to make up for his lack of athleticism. Battier opponent counterpart production (2005-06) SF: 44.6% FG, 13.9 PER PF: 45.4% FG, 16.7 PER Juwan Howard opponent counterpart production (2005-06) PF: 48.4% FG, 16.4 PER With Shane Battier easily being the better team defender (Juwan's team defense is non-existant, help defense and rotations are frighteningly slow). As of now, our starting lineup looks like: Alston, Snyder, McGrady, Battier, Yao
Seeing Shane play the limited minutes he did tonight did a lot for me in terms of my confidence in him. It was the first time I actively tried to see everything he did on the court and he "did all the little things" The only thing I would want from him is to be a bit more aggressive offensively, but that is a bit hard on the USA team with the players they have. He'll be fine here in houston. It was great to see him go aggressive for some of those rebounds and even that block he got called for a foul.
Didn't check 82games.com good enough? http://82games.com/04MEM7C.HTM http://82games.com/03MEM7C.HTM McGrady will do fine at 2. It is completely irrelevant if we list him as a SG or SF, his offensive game will always be the same. And Battier gives us flexibility to assign T-Mac to weaker opposing perimeter player, regardless is it a SG or SF. So I don't see what's the deal with T-Mac at '2'.
Care to explain if the stats and JVG say otherwise? Battier doesn't have the lateral movement anymore to guard most SG's. Offensively he is a great fit to play the 4 for this team because of the spacing he gives Yao in the post. When Yao has room to work with in single coverage, he is THE most efficient player in the league. I feel much better with Battier at the 4 than the 2. You'll just have to wait for November and find out for yourself.
Battier is 27 years old and just said he'd take on the toucher perimeter assignment to take pressuer off TMac this summer. What makes people think he's lost it at age 27?
Believe it or not, some people watch teams outside of the Rockets! That being said, I can definitely see McGrady and Battier toggling between the 3 and 4 at times.
i don't really care what position battier plays but you're right, way too many people seem to think battier is an old man. he's still a young guy who hasn't even entered the "prime" of his career. pulling numbers out of my ass that seems to be about 28-32 or so.
What stats? The negligible amount of time he played at '3' in Orlando? Or the fact that he played along David Wesley in the past two seasons? Like I said, T-Mac's offensive game is the same whether he's paired with David Wesley or Shane Battier, it's completely irrelevant what position we list T-Mac at. That other player will always play on the wing, and off the ball. Defensively, with Battier we have more flexibility, because we can always throw T-Mac at the opposing weaker swingman, which certainly wasn't the case with 6-1 Wesley on our team. And BTW I don't buy that 'chasing smaller players' argument either. Ppl should check other rosters a bit and see what are the actual SG/SF combo's around the league. Yet somehow numbers show he's perfectly capable of defending perimeter players, and is very good at it. Hubie Brown, who used him extensively there, said Battier was key in making Memphis a winning team. Also Wesley wasn't some ultra quick player, but nevertheless he was considered our top perimeter defender. And Battier IMHO is better than him in every possible way. Don't get me wrong, I see Battier playing some PF, but most of the time he'll be playing his natural position, and that's SF. Phoenix & Dallas don't make the enitre NBA, but those are the likes of teams Battier will see more PF time.
Dude none of that explains why you would pay $6.4 million to have a backup PF, who in actuality is a PF which T-Mac and Battier are not.
Contracts are a non-factor in this discussion. Dallas came within 2 games of becoming champions with $15M Keith Van Horn playing scrub minutes.
