Battier's offensive liability can no longer be ignored

1. Small sample size is small.
2. Holding Kobe and Carmelo under 30 points is doing a good job.
3. The GS loss was overall bad team D.
4. Did you just say that Battier used to lock down Kobe? That is laughable.
5. He is getting older and we should try to trade his expiring contract for value.

 

We're scoring enough points. We need to get more defensive stops, as a team. That falls on Battier and everyone else too.

 

The key to Battier's defense has always been for him to funnel the player to the paint.

And Yao would be there to block it or affect the shot.

Right now though, funneling them to the rim is a bad idea 75% of the time, because Yao is not there, or when he is, he is just not the same.

I agree Battier is struggling, and his minutes need to be reduced, there is no reason that Chase and Lee should be getting so little run...both offer more than Shane on offense and Lee is nearly as good on D, and CBud is not that far behind anymore either.

This is part of what I was talking about in my comfort foods thread, the coach plays the players he has trusted forever, and somehow ignores that they are actually declining in abilities, quite a bit.

DD

 

Watching Battier is incredibly fustrating right now BUT he isn't one of our main issues IMHO. Saying that, a little more Bud wouldn't be all that bad, now would it?

 

Yes, we are giving up 110+ points per game.

We should definately sit our only defensive player.

 

How much does he owe?

 

I'm not worried because he'll be gone before the end of the year to sing karaoke, cheer and be overrated somewhere else.

defensive? he's been getting lit up more than a blut at a Phish concert.

 

Battier-Man says:

 

Shane gets the hardest assignments every game and the players he's guarding will not be shut down but can only be contained from having huge nights.

But he clearly is not the same player as a couple of years ago. I'd like to see his minutes reduced and see Lee and Bud get more. It would be nice to see Shane as more as a mentor roll, teaching the others on how to guard certain players. I really like Shane but sometimes as a team you can't let your personal feelings dictate who sees the time on the floor.

Offensively, he has none.

 

He isn't the problem.

 

Wil Chandler is a good Battier replacement..if we're gonna help the Knicks land Melo, we better get him...if we're goin for a bigger salary trade, Iggy is okay..

 

1. Very true
2. That is their scoring average.
3. Monta Jesus dropping 46% while shooting 75%, not Battier's problem.
4. Battier NEVER locked down Kobe; Kobe NEVER has a bad shooting night against us. Battier only usually manages to disrupt Kobe's passing game. Hate to say it but Kobe is at least a top 15 greatest of all time, borderline top 10.
5. Not a bad idea, expiring could be good after the new CBA.

 

^This

 

Brilliant thread.

The team is averaging over 110 ppg and you want to trade the only guy in the starting lineup who plays defense. Not only that, but you use his defensive performance against two guys who are arguably the best scorers in the game as a sample of how his defense has slipped.

I'm all for shipping Shane out if it brings us a better player who actually plays defense (like Iguodala) but his lack of offense is way down the list of problems for this team.

 

I like Battier but those saying he is not part of the problem are wrong.

He is clearly part of the problem.

DD

 

Does he rank ahead of behind:

Yao not playing enough/being rusty
Morey not getting Yao a suitable backup who plays defense
Aaron Brooks attempting to get WDPOY (Worst Defensive Player of the Year)

 

sounds like a Houston Sports problem all together...

 

Did you even watch the games?

Bud guarded Carmelo a good amount of the game and Martin guarded Kobe most of the first two quarters.

We still held two of the top five scorers in the NBA to below 30 points.

They had average games.

Our team defense is what is incredibly terrible.