Steals are a joke when players like CP3 or AI or even Rudy Gay are at the top on steal it tell you everything you need to know about the stats. Many of the good players in steals gamble a lot. In blocks only AK47 (1.51) and J. Moon (1.35) are better shot blockers at the SF position than Battier(1.12) and not but much . Just look at Bruce Bowen and see why some of this stats are a joke for perimeters defender and Battier have better defensive stats.
if you want to quote someone, then read the whole post and read the part where I already said steals aren't that important of a stat.
I understand Batman's value... I also understand that to get something good, you'll have to give up something good. And I don't know if his value could get any higher than it is right now... It would hurt to see him go - he's got great character, but he does have his shortcomings on the basketball court.
Beyond Shane's individual qualities as a basketball player (great defense, solid 3 point shooting, decent post-up game, etc.), let's consider his impact on the Rockets team, because team chemistry is extremely important. Besides being known for his defense, Shane Battier is also known for his great sportsmanship. His great attitude, work ethic, and veteran leadership brings a positive influence on the team as a whole. Battier has often been called "a coach's dream," and a great teammate. He may not be as able offensively as someone with his similar defensive capabilities (such as Ron Artest), but what he brings the Rockets team is more important. Let's assume we do trade Battier for someone like Artest. Artest may provide better offense and decent defense, but I'm willing to bet that the Rockets team will lose a lot of chemistry. The players won't feel as comfortable playing on the court with one another, and this is detrimental to team dynamics. Personally, I think what we'd be giving up in intangibles is not worth the gain in points per game.
I love battier but if can bring us a player such as artest... then I wouldn't mind. I love the guy. I love his work ethic. He's someone I really would not like to see go but if need be.... then so be it. I honestly think we are just two players away from being the scariest team in the league. Get us a true quality starting pg, a serious back up wing man to help take the load off the the mac... and we are set.
are you joking, or what? shane battier is the best shot blocker of all elite perimeter defenders (by far). it's amazing how he can average 1.1 bpg while face guarding elite perimeter players. that's pretty sensational. and btw shane is a lot better at team defense than at individual defense.
josh smith???? kirilenko???? marion???? tayshaun prince???? he might be a better team defender than those guys, but he's certainly not the better shot blocker and definitely not "by far".
josh smith, kirilenko and marion aren't elite perimeter defenders. they're all good defenders (certainly not elite) but mostly against sfs and pfs. tayshaun prince is probably on battier's level individually or even better but he had 0.4 bpg as his average last season. when i wrote elite perimeter defenders i was talking about guys like bruce bowen, raja bell, tayshaun prince, ron artest, maybe kobe bryant. that are elite perimeter defenders and not the players you named. and i repeat it again, battier averages 1.1 bpg while face guarding the elite perimeter players. that means he's always facing the toughest players to guard in this league and his main goal on defense isn't to block their shots. yet, he's still averaging 1.1 bpg. and that's just sensational. so, either you joked when you said shane "is not a great shot blocker" or you just don't know what you are talking about. battier really is an incredible defender just like the op said. he's good at everything. he's a good one-on-one defender, probably the best team defender of any wing players, a tremendous shot blocker at his position, great at taking charges and he's very versatile (i've seen him being assigned to leandro barbosa, kobe bryant, lebron james or even dirk nowitzki...).
it is because of Battier's GREAT value, that we are trading him (for someone better). i LOVE and will miss how Battier portrays himself. -NO TATTOOS -ALWAYS WILLING TO DO INTERVIEWS -SPEAKS WITH OPTIMISM -CLEAN LOOKING GUY he's pretty much the opposite of Carmelo Anthony and the type of guy that should represent the NBA. HOWEVER, the main goal for the rockets is someone who can take the load off of T-mac and Yao! As great of a defensive player/teammate Battier is, thats not what we need right now in order for the rockets to contend for the finals.
so you're saying Battier is a better shot blocker than a bunch of guys who aren't good at blocking shots. not really saying much at all I know what I'm talking about. find me a list of the league's best shot blockers. shane battier will not be on this list. he is not a great shot blocker. being a good shot blocker at your relative position does not mean you are a good shot blocker. I agree that he's a great defender. I've stated it in this post. But I'm not going to make Battier into something he's not. He's an excellent perimeter defender and great at team defense. He is not the sort of game changing presence that some of the league's best defender's have been in the past.
Look! Shane is a good guy to have on the team, but he is very expendable. He is our only trade bait! I would trade him in a heartbeat to get the scorer that we need. Memphis let him go because of the same thing. We are in desperate need of another go to type of player, and we need to do whatever it takes to get him without giving up our 2 stars!
Battier has value but it's highest to this team. There is no fair trade out there for him. You are not getting a trade of Battier for Artest. And Mike Miller for Battier also not likely. So if you can't get value for the trade, why do it? He has value on this team when all the players are healthy. The problems is Yao and TMac is not healthy. If you trade Battier for a supposed 3rd scorer, you will lose on the defensive side unless you get Artest. Besides, even if you can get Artest, I don't know if it will be good for the team. He can blow up and be a mess. You just don't know.
I've often wondered if Shane wasn't such a media darling would fans be as attached to him as they are? My hope this offseasoon is for numerous GMs to overrate his value to Houston like many rocket fans. Houston's defense doesn't begin and end with Battier.....it begins and ends with Yao and to certain extent Deke. Having bigmen who can contest shots around the basket IS defense in the NBA. Unless you have a Jordan/Pippen combo...defensive schemes are based around bigmen not wing players...and even then Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman completed Chicago's defense. Cato 5 yrs ago was the last "shot blocker" Yao played next to, yet Houston has been one of the best in defending the paint....why? The Rockets were Top 5 defensively before Shane Battier. He's really a bigger version of Bruce Bowen right down to the corner 3 and his inability to create his own shot. SA would love to have him but I have a hard time believing Popaviach would make a player like Battier a priority if the Spurs didn't already have 3 primary scorers. This is whats wrong with Shane Battier being a Houston Rocket ....the summer of '06 the Rockets needed more than a role player.
That really hurts. We actually traded Battier for a TOP 8 PICK. Whats worse is we have nothing to show for it...nothing. We would be better with Rudy Gay. Shane your a good defender(Pierce is better).Your a good guy. However, your time is up. Goodbye.
i agree wholeheartedly why does everyone demand changes when we didnt have a healthy squad and still won as many as we did. we were a yao away from winning that series, i believe. i just want battier to move around and maybe get a little help at 2 off the bench, and a pg would be nice, but if we didnt make a single change i still believe we can win our season is all about HEALTH
'The problem is, the teams expecting to compete for a title who would want him won't trade talent. Instead they will offer up youth that will take years to develop, expiring contract trash players, or low draft picks. None of those are of any value to the Rockets now so although he is a valuable asset to a contending team, he won't get your team any better talent necessarily which makes him of less value to your team trying to get better'. that's what I was thinking with the original post... its not that there aren't guys I wouldn't trade him for, just that those teams wouldn't do the deal, and that our team is knocking on the door(health permitting), yet many seem willing to trade Battier just because we couldn't beat Utah without Yao. I really thought we would have beat the Lakers and lost to Boston, but then again I thought the Pats were going to destroy the Giants, so what do I know...
battier would be valuable to a contender. but he would also be valuable to a team with a lot of young talent that wants to surround those players with a solid veteran presence in the locker room. portland has enough young talent that I could see them parting with some of their players. those players wouldn't be projects that you have to wait for, they can play now. I could easily see them wanting to surround roy, aldrdidge, and oden with a solid guy like battier. milwaukee also might be interested. sounds like their whole roster is available and skiles wants to create a tough winning culture which battier fits. redd and mo williams could both help with the scoring issues. there are other markets for battier besides just contending teams.
Short of a Ron Artest or some other impact player (and rudy gay is not impact on my book, not while he puts up numbers onthe Grizzlies) I would rather get a 3rd scorer instead of trading the batman.
