Battier's offensive liability can no longer be ignored

Totally agree, let him match Yao's minutes.



DD

 

Come on, you know better than this. Coming off the bench, Battier will be guarding their backup sf, theoretically an easier task.

 

My friend, that ship has really sailed. I harped on it long enough during the summer. It is too late for that.

 

There are legit arguments for bringing Battier off the bench, but that is definately NOT one of them.

 

If we somehow bring in a better starting player than Battier at the small forward who can play well on both sides of the floor... then there is no reason for Battier to even be on this roster anymore. Problem is it seems nobody wants Battier for that significant player.

 

What? I hadn't noticed ....

 

Maybe we would try to consider that Battier has always been the team defense captain, and that lately, he has been acting like a fireman who has to go from one fire to another to cover for his teammates who blow their defensive assignments.

If we try to look more closely at what he does, the subtle shifts in position, both on offense and defense, to help out his teammates, then maybe the anti Battier's will have some second thoughts. I am sure coaches see these things and their overall effect on the team so much so that they still play him in the starting line up. Folks, just look beyond the scoring, and for once, try to observe him more closely in games and maybe, just maybe, you might just have a change of heart about him.

 

He hasn't been able to put out anyone's fire. He has clearly lost his own man on many occasions. Melo shot 3's with great ease while he was on him. Not everyone is anti-Battier,when his weaknesses are pointed out. He is slowing down. He is still a good defender,but he is clearly struggling and making mistakes. You need to have a change of heart.

 

Not trying to go anywhere with this... You can see from my comment.. that I said "I don't think I will ever get over that trade" thats all .. Nothing more ..

 

if we got Marc maybe Yao will be his backup. At this point Marc Gasol = Yao except he can play the whole game

 

yeah this doesnt make much sense....bud is guarding their better sf. Did you not see Melo spin off of him for the dunk? I don't think Bud can keep his offense up AND put the effort on defense against a better SF. He'd end up averaging not many more points than battier and giving up more. It maight just cancel out at that spot, but i think the momentum and spark will definitely not be in our favor.

 

He's struggling, but making mistakes? Anything more than the average starter makes? I dont see that.

 

I think we should trade Battier straight up for Melo!

 

Really, the way to accourately gauge the value of his offense vs his defense would be the difference between the star he's guarding's typical points to points against battier (say Battier knocks 10 pts off his average) vs the differnce between average output you usually get out a starting wing who isn't a primary scorer (say 12) vs Battier's offense (about 2), for a difference of 10.

In this scenerio, it's a wash...accept for the intangibles. Problem is, Battier isn't knocking off 10 pts, if he ever was, although you use to get about 8. He was a plus, now he's not.

 

He is making mistakes that he normally wouldn't be doing. I expect him to improve.

 

yeah...melo and kobe's shooting % during those games? /thread.

 

Never have been a Shane fan, still not over that fateful draft night. Mr. Intangible has so many intangibles that they are not even tangible. I really don't know what that means, but basically Shane has never been as good as advertised. Pleasant, smart, great guy, has played some decent defense now and again, but, IMO has never been the lock down defender that he has been portrayed to be, and offensively, forget about it. I have always believed Shane to be a role player that comes off the bench. The starting role has grown very, very old. BUT, he is the type of player that coaches love and Adelman is old. There is a connection there somewhere.

 

But what are these mistakes? He's not as quick as he used to be laterally, but he's still done a good job of being in their face on jumpshots. I don't see what mistakes you're refering to. Defensive actions have to be pretty natural to him by now, especially being in the same role for quite a while now. He's gone against these guys before as well.

 

He left Melo unguarded on two occasions in the 1st quarter,he was the man assigned to defend him. His hand was no where near his face. Later on,he corrected himself.

 

why did he leave him unguarded? What about the other games?