I think he means that having battier on the floor doesnt really spread the D that much cause they aren't really worried about him putting up big numbers...maybe?
If you're considered a proffesional athlete is it that extreme to be expectected to improve your game little by little. im not asking for scola to shot 500 3s a day. I'm looking at our weakest offensive player in the starting line-up and wondering why hes so one dimensional. Even chuck hayes worked on a low post spin hook ( or something like that) that he didnt have when he entered the NBA. In my opinion battier is getting too comfortable. its only a matter of time before he and his defense becomes expendable.
Call Adelman and tell him to stop telling him to do it. It's like all the criticsm Battier got for going to the corner on fast breaks....now Martin does the same, but there's no criticism there. It's what the coach has them do, not Battier being stubborn. I remember someone once said battier would eventually not start in the next few years....DUH comes to mind. He's not a young guy and is obviously towards the end of his starting days. He's not going to be traded or benched because he failed to improve, but because he's no longer the same player. Not all pro athletes are potential guys, some are what they are from start to finish. If you look at ball players, you rarely have any come into the NBA and learn fundamental they didnt have before. They polish what they already have. Some fans assume that it was completely learned simply because they didnt do it a lot before. It's all just them expanding the basic skills they already had before being a pro.
No one is above criticism, Martin is terrible on defense. Shane is not being singled out. I know he isn't as talented as some of the others,but following the coach's orders to the letter doesn't do much good either. He plays within the system,but he can do more. He can try to post up against some threes,get to the line. He even managed to dunk the other day.
The assumption here by the OP is that somehow somehow Battier just never thought to work hard at his offensive game because he doesn't want to put in the effort. You should twitter him this brilliant insight. Given how hard Battier works and the fact that Battier used to play a much bigger role in Memphis' offense (he scored 14+ppg in his rookie season), I'm pretty sure his lack of other offense is not due to a) lack of effort or b) that it never occurred to him that there was more to playing offense than hitting the corner 3. Given the fact that he studies the game way more than most professionals, much less keyboard warriors on this board, I'm pretty sure the real explanation is that he simply has the self-awareness to know his strengths and limitations and that the team can do better by having him maintain offensive efficiency and stretching the floor in his limited role. The appropriate analogy here is opportunity cost. What is the opportunity cost of Battier taking a dribble for a long 2? A much higher TS% from just taking a wide-open 3 or passing it to someone with a higher TS% shot. I know that if I were ever on a team with the same teammates as Battier, no matter how much I worked on my offensive game, my best contribution to the team would be to leg sweep the best player on the other team rather than to think I should think to hoist a shot.
Why Carl no work on 3rd joke? Why no work on more homo game? Why he make fun on asian FOB? Make better poster! More fun to read! 2 Dimensional Clutchfan no can make funny! :grin:
He's been in the league, what, 10 years? If he hasn't developed them by now, then he's never going to.
This is the typical excuse presented for him. He should be able to take advantages of mismatches against weaker 3's on offense. He is capable of getting more than 3-4 points when his outside shot is not falling.No one disputes his value on defense.
We have Brooks, Martin, Scola, and Yao (not to mention all our bench players). There is one ball. Not everyone needs to specialize on offense.
Where did I even mention his defense in my post? Your logic is really compelling. You're right, 32 yr olds invariably have plenty of potential to grow their game, especially slackers like Battier who never put in the effort.
He does not need to shoot the ball. Some of clutchfans members can realize why, but others are just talking about decline and other BS Morey throwed away cause he cannot realize that Rockets doesn't need shooting and ball hoggin for SF in a start with Brooks, Martin, Scola and Yao. AB and K-Mart are just an offensive players, Scola and Yao are valuable ones. Everyone of them can score around 20 ppg but they just can't have enough number of shots for doing that. Adelman tries to give them much more opportunities with Shane cause offensive players will have much more chances to score with Battier than with brick-shot all star. If you have two one sided players in your team, especially in a backcourt, you've got to use them as much as you can to prove their worth cause they are coming on the floor not for the playing D or getting rebs. They are coming for scoring and reducing number of attempts in SF is givin them this chance. If you want to give 10 shots: you'll give them to Ariza or to other 4 valuable and proven scoring options? That's all. Adelman realized that. That why he'll be in HOF. And if Ariza's salary is rising - it's an epic fail situation to keep him there. Battier will just do a dirty work and he'll not cry if he doesn't have 1 shot attempt but we will win. Ariza or someone else except JJ, Chuck or Ish Smith? Hell no
Oh noes! Battier will be top defensive wing for decades to come, even centuries! Nobody can stop convicted rapist Kobe Bean Bryant like Battier! You can call Battier SVU detective! No Stats superstar is Rocket 4 life!
I still believe your starting small forward on a championshi contending team needs to be some sort of a threat offensively meaning he should be able to face up and make at least your basic fundamental moves and drive to the basket. Battier doesn't cut it right now. Maybe during the regular season he can surprise us. All we can do is hope... I have been hoping for years he would elevate his offensive game.
Last night one of the other Rockets made a bad inbound pass. Bill or Bull commented something about Battier being the usual inbound passer. That got me to thinking - it seems like Battier is a great inbound passer. Correct? And a great asset because of that?
