Battier's work ethic and Swift's work ethic are just a tad bit different. Swift is a career underacheiver ...Battier isn't. Isn't it the norm for players to progress in their careers? Don't players sometimes excel after a change of scenery? Battier himself said he looks forward to re-energizing his career. If JVG told Battier we need to score more points to be successful, Battier would work hard to find ways to score. No doubt in my mind. Now whether he can actually get that done is a different story but we'll see.
I would normally agree with you and Dr. Phil, but Battier is a "stay in your role" kind of player. Most NBA players could probably score more, if they were told to do so. Well, maybe not Rybo, but, most. If he is instructed to be more offensively minded, he will do it. Last year was an embarassing display of horrendous shooting. I expect some improvement in this area and Battier will probably be part of it. The Rockets are a shooters paradise. Open shots are plentiful as pine cones. I am talking, sit on stool, read the label on the ball, and clear your throat kind of shots. Last year's scrub club just couldn't make them. We will see how this year's crop fares.
Let me get this straight, people think the Grizzlies had so much scoring that Battier wasn't needed to score more?
Will Battier average 15 ppg? It comes down to how many shot attempts he is going to have, doesn't it? Who should get the most shot attempts after Yao and McGrady? Should it be Rafer, or Juwan, or Snyder?? Or should it be Battier?? I'm telling you that if anybody else on our current roster gets up more shots than Shane Battier following Yao and Tracy, then we've got problems. If Shane gets the 3rd most shots on this team, he SHOULD average 15 ppg. The last 2 years Shane has averaged over 1.3 PPS. He did that on a mediocre Memphis team where he got about 2.5 3 point shots a game. The rest of his shots were midrange jumpers, layups, and maybe a little bit of garbage clean up thrown in there, but not much. In Houston, he should get 4 or 5 3 point shot attempts a game. If he doesn't, it just means that Yao is having an easier time in the paint. But, back to Shane. If he averages 1.25 PPS, all he needs is 12 shots per game to get his 15. He's averaged over 1.3 PPS the last 2 seasons. He should get more open looks from 3 point land this year. If he shoots anywhere close to what he has shot for his career, and if he gets 12 shots per game, he'll get 15. Is there any other player that should get more shots than Shane behind Yao and Tracy on this current roster??? IMO, barring a major player acquisition that would bring in an offensive player that would become the 3rd option over Shane, then Shane should get his 15. If he doesn't, if Juwan is getting more shots, or if Rafer or anybody else on this current roster outside of 111 is taking more shots than Shane, then we aren't going very far. Bet the over on Shane.
MemphisX is probably right. He did score over 14 per game in his rookie season, but there isn't too good a reason to think he'll completely change his stripes. If he is steady and professional and the rest that we think he is, then there isn't much extra potential to unlock here. I do think he'll get slightly more than the 10 he'd get in Memphis because he'll see more minutes and a lot of trust from Van Gundy, but 15 is a bit much.
Battier's game will shine for all to see.This Rockets team is a long ways from the Grizzlies.He'll be concducting shooting drills on a nightly basis.But that doesn't necessarily mean he'll average 15.There will be many games where Battier has a monster defensive assignment..and his shot just isn't falling.These will hurt that average,but help us win a title eventually.
You are correct here, but this why people expected SS to blossom in Houston. He has loads of untapped potential, is very athletically gifted, and the feeling was that under the right coach (JVG), he would blossom into a great player. Battier on the other hand, while not as athletically gifted, is a hustle player who gives his all everynight. Thus, we can assume that there isn't some "next level" for battier. That, if only he were more motivated, he could be a big scorer. He is playing up to his potential. Now, while he won't suddenly change, his situation will. He is on a new team, new coach, new system. However, I believe that all three of those things will adversely affect his scoring. New team... Yao and T-Mac will shoulder the brunt of the scoring here. They are options 1 and 2 (or 1 and 1a). While Battier should be option 3, he is a very unselfish player who takes pride in his role. Thus, while he will shoot the open jumpers (and im sure yao/mac/alston will give him alot of those), he wont be looking to create his own shot, and I doubt that many plays will be designed for him (the crux of the plays going to mac/yao). New coach and new system... The slow it down, grind it out, van gundy style will most definately affect his scoring along with every other Rocket (including T-Mac and Yao). You can't put up 15 points when you are running down the clock. Finally, to the guy who said all he needs is 12 shots to get his 15 ppg, thats assuming that he makes 100% of his shots. Last year he shot 49% from the field and 39% from the arc. For arguments sake, lets round up to 50%. That means he'd actually need 24 shots to get his 15 ppg.
I think there will be some nights where Battier is just not needed to score much and others where he will have to score more than usual. I think the games where his scoring is not needed, his overall PPG average will suffer for it. There might be plenty of 8 point nights although that is hard to imagine given the fact Shane should be able to play off of two superstarts better than anyone. It just depends on if we have any other consistent firepower on this team.
Whoops, I thought u meant points per shot made, not points per shot taken. My bad. That said, I'm still sayin under for all the reasons posted before my little math error.
I expect Shane to get somewhere around 13 ppg depending in how much the young Rockets step up and McGrady's availability due to injuries. This team is, atleast on paper, better then anything Memphis has ever fielded. Shane will need to hit 5-7 of the 12 or so open opportunities he'll get in a typical game. 40-50% isn't an unreasonable assumption for a solid shooter with a high basketball IQ to get playing with guys who will constantly demand double-teams.
If Yao and Tracy are both healthy and average 50 pts/game between them, Battier has very little chance to average 15 because he doesn't have a scorers mentality. I thinks it's unlikely a #3 scorer averages 15 on most teams. When you factor in 2 superstars, forget it. The fact of the matter is any player joining Tracy and Yao is likely to score less than their career average because T&Y soak up so many of the shots. IF we had traded for or signed a sweet shooting SG with a track record, that player would feast playing off our 2 guys. Battier can shoot the 3 at a good % but that's because he's selective and smart with his shots. He will continue doing that as a Rocket which means his scoring average will probably go down. After the first 5-6 games of the season, this will be very obvious. If I was a betting person, I'd bet a good chunk of money and give a person 2-1 odds on this.
Needed to score more and specifically asked to score more are two different things. In Memphis, Battier would have had to create many of his own shots. In Houston, Battier will have WIDE OPEN looks that he never had in Memphis and it will be REQUIRED that Battier takes open jumpers when presented. I realize it is a stretch for him to score 15ppg but I'll take the over anyway.
this is a funny situation - hasn't every player that comes into van gundy's system averages fewer points because of the defensive minded coach - I wonder what will happen to battier's numbers. Although i think 15 is a stretch, i think his pts will go up. Yao and t-mac demand doubles, and someones gotta knock down open shots. Big problem last year
