This question involves two things, skills, and mindset. When Bob Sura finally joined the team in 04 we saw an immediate impact. An improvement in team defense, an improvement in hustle, and improvement in ball movement. Can Battier provide these things to the level that Bob did? If he can, is his impact gonna be just as effective. there is no question that the rockets lacked intensity with Yao and Tracy on the court at the beginning of the 04-05 season. The question is how much of the improvement they saw with bob sura was due to sura, and how much of it was due to chemistry. I'm not a supporter of this trade, either way the rockets didn't get value, but there is a lot to be said for adding an intangible guy to a team. also, just to note, I have not doubt that bob sura will NOT play again. the rockets have to add player like that regardless of a you movement. even if you ignore gay's shortcomings, you're not gonna get that from a rookie. so what does battier bring that sura brought, toughness, and rebounding. what does he bring that sura didin't, a more realiable three point shot threat and a solid defenisive player, and a body we count on in the rotation. what does he lack that sura brought, a good ball handler, and guy who could get to the basket. Also factor in how much the team has changed since Sura. Yao Ming is a better rebounder, but you still are stuck with Howard, and Mutumbo probably is less of a factor. Now we have "true" point guard who can run the team who probably is much of a scorer as sura, but obviously doesn't bring the intangibles. now we have luther head. a somewhat more realiable shooter, and no jon barry and most likely no more david wesley. also there is chuck hayes but that's really another issue at pf even though the rockets claim that battier will play some pf. in looking at the the differences I think the rockets definitely had to make up for the toughness and rebounding, that sura brought, and we can all agree that the shooting is gonna be a drastic improvement. the minuses are we still lack size and atheleticism, but if this trade works out, the rockets can probably be just as good as they were two seasons ago. is that good enough considering they have created themselves an exception to hopefully get a better athlete? if they eventually get that athlete will they be better than the 04-05 team?
I think Battier will be able to provide a lot of those things, though Sura controlled the ball/tempo and was aggressive attacking the basket at times. Battier is just solid in so many areas -- very efficient when he shoots, particularly from long range (which is very, very big for this team), and he's a very good defender. He's been well-coached his entire career and he's worked under a defensive-minded system in Memphis. He will clearly be JVG's right-hand man on the floor (similar to Jim Jackson when JVG first got here). If anyone had asked before the draft what the Rockets need, I think most of us would have said an athletic wing who plays with defensive intensity and can knock down the three-ball. Battier isn't the athletic leaper-type, but he has the last two traits down atleast... that he will be an asset to this team I don't think is in doubt. But when I think of the price we paid for him though, I absolutely cringe. I view Battier as more of a final piece to a solid puzzle .... a good fundamentals guy who could help push a very good team to contending status (similar to a Tayshaun Prince-type role). The Rockets have a lot more assets to acquire before they get to that stage though.
Battier is a great asset to the Rockets, no one doubts that, so was sura when he first joined the team, but if you had told anyone you would be trading your lottery pick and your possible starting PF for him they woulda flipped.
Battier helps us, but we gave up way too much. I do believe he can add some intangibles and be similiar to how Sura was two years ago. However, the NBA has actually seemed to change a good deal since then. Namely athleticism and quickness are at even more a premium. Do we have to be like the Mavs or the Heat? No, but even the Spurs and Heat are far more athletic and quicker than us. The shooting that Battier brings help, but I think we're vastly overrating what it'll mean to us. He's a solid shooter, but he's not all of a sudden going to start launching 3s in bulk. Have any of the players we've added improved their offensive game when joining us. Usually the reverse happens, when you join a team with two superstars your offense take a major back seat. I hope we are better than 04-05, but right now it doesn't look good at all. This trade is a horrible move now and it's scary to think that it can look a lot worse in the coming years.
Sura creates offense and shots for teammates. I don't see Battier doing that. We're not going to let Battier create his own shot and run the offense like Sura did. He's gonna be asked to hit the open shot and hustle and that's probably about it on the offensive side.
Can the absence of Stromile be the new healthy T-mac's defense? Yes, our guys won't have to guard their zones and Stro's zone. It's like adding a whole other defender.
Miami is hardly a quick team and they just won the championship. Clutch, Would you agree that Stromile would probably not be a component on an NBA championship team? At least not a major one? I look at it as we gave up a player who was never going to get it, and one who MIGHT get it, for one that clearly gets it. The team obviously thinks that Yao and Tmac will be healthy and are banking on it. Us fans are worried that Tmac will not be the same and we want some future....truthfully, I want to win now......if we can't win with Tmac in the next 3 -4 years than it will be time to build more around Yao. But for now, they are recharging for a run THIS YEAR ! IMHO. DD
My whole problem with this trade is we gave up too high a pick for Battier. I view Battier is a Bowen/Prince/Posey-type player that every elite team needs-- a defender that can guard the 2-4 and who can drain the open 3. The issue is though, you dont give up a possible future star in this league (Gay) just because he is young and needs to be developed to get what amounts to an important role player. I would trade Swift and Head for Battier, or Swift and a future conditional 1st rounder (20th pick or below) but West owned us yesterday.
I was going to post something similar but I'll piggyback onto your comment. Sura was not fast or particularly athletic. But at 6'5", Sura could back down smaller guards and shoot over them. I don't see Battier having a similar advantage. The SG and SF position are IMO the two deepest positions in the NBA and I just don't see a physical advantage for Battier anywhere I look. We're going to have to use him as a spot-up shooter and that worries me.
More like Battier is a taller Wesley. He'll be there to shoot open jumpers and take the tougher SG/SF defensive assignment away from Mcgrady. Not a bad player to have, but we gave up way too much unless there's more to the deal than has been reported.
They are still a lot quicker than us and their best player is one of the quickest players in the league and he has the ball in his hands more than any other player on that team. In turn he's constantly putting pressure on the other team's defense and getting to the line all the time.
