I clicked on this thread, and I began to read the first post, then started wondering to myself what I believed Battier would average this season, and then... ...I spit my forty of Steel Reserve 211 all over the keyboard.
Obviously, I don't agree. No, he hasn't had a scorer's mentality. But I would expect JVG to clearly define his role on this team as the definitive 3rd offensive presence with the 3 ball. Look at it this way. Stro got up 7 shots a game in his 20 minutes. Battier gets most of those minutes. Howard got up almost 11 shots a game and average 31 minutes per game. If Battier is who JVG thinks he is, he should be getting Stro's 20 minutes plus between 5-10 of Howard's minutes. That's another 3 shots or so. So, that's 10 shots a game. Now factor in Wesley's absense and the fact that Rafer instead of being a distributor was forced to take more shots than he normally does. Shane should get his 12-13 shots per game. Look at shot distribution folks. Give McGrady 22 shots. Last year, Yao had less than 16 shots. Oh, he accounted for way more shots because he routinely caused the opponents to commit 15-20 fouls per game single handedly. I would expect McGrady's attempts to go down slightly to maybe 20. But for argument's sake let's give him 22 shots per game. Next let's give Yao a very generous 20 shots per game. He'll probably only get up about 18 but whatever. That's 42 shots between them. That leaves somewhere around 30-35 shots for everybody else. I think Shane should get at least 12 of those, don't you? Your third best offensive and defensive player playing probably the most minutes or at least in the top 3 in minutes. You don't think he is going to get off 12 shots. Once again, who should have the 3rd most shots on this team as currently constructed??? TMac-22 shots Yao-20 shots (this would be 4 more shots per game than he took last year) Battier-12 shots Snyder (hopefully) - 6 shots Rafer (hopefuly at the most) -5 shots Span -4 shots (once again hopefully) Head -4 shots Novak -2 shots Howard - 2 shots Hayes -2 shots Lucas -1 shot Deke -1 shot Barring a trade, the first 3 shot takers should be set. Everybody below Battier is just picking up scraps. Tell me what player on this roster outside of 111 should get up more shots than Shane. There isn't even an argument at this point for equal distribution of shots. Rafer is not a shooter. And everybody else is pretty much unproven save Howard and Head. And once again, if Howard is playing 30 minutes per game, and putting up the third most shots, then we are in trouble. I just don't see it happening. The thing with Yao, Tracy, and SHane is they are so unselfish. They are so team oriented that I firmly believe JVG is going to have to work on Shane to take shots. He has had to work on both TMac and Yao to get their shot counts up since joining the Rox. But JVG will establish that Battier is to get all those kick out shots and he is to take him. JVG is not going to allow him to swing the ball when he is standing there at the 3 point line with the ball, wide open. JVG is going to make him shoot it. Obviously I am convinced Battier is going to get his ppg up there. I think 15 is a good number.
Scoring Yao-25 McGrady-25 Battier-15 Rafer-10 Snyder-8 Head-8 Span-8 Howard-6 Everybody else ------ We will average 100 ppg.
I understand your point but doubt that Battier will be jumping from 7.7 to 12 shots per game. Very very unlikely. I say you are dreaming but hope to be wrong. Rafer's shots went up last year because of Yao and Tracy being injured. His shots will go down because of THEM, not Battier.
More like: McGrady-28 Yao-25 Battier-12 Rafer-11 Howard-8 Snyder-8 Head-6 Span-4 Everybody else-3 105ppg. 60 wins??
Amen! Would anybody here be excited if we knew Juwan was going to score 15ppg next year? If Battier gets 15ppg next year it's a huge red flag that something's wrong and we're probably lottery bound.
We have lost Stro and Wesley along with Bogans who combined for about 21-22 shots last year. You have to give Battier Stro's 7 shots at least. Now, who are you going to distribute Wesley and BOgan's shots to? You gonna give them all to Yao and McGrady?? I doubt it. No team is going to let Yao and McGrady get off 25-28 shots a night and average 30 ppg each. They are going to rotate onto those guys and try to force everybody else to beat them. So, we have 22 shots that are gone from the team and we have Rafer, Howard, and Head, three other shot takers whose shot attempts should go down as their minutes decrease this year. Who should get the 3rd most shots on this team??? You haven't answered that yet. If Shane doesn't get 12 shots a game we've got serious problems. Do you really want to see Howard throwing up the 3rd most shots. Realistically, some of Howard's and Rafer's attempts are the shots that are going to go to Yao and Tracy. And Battier's shots are going to come from Stro's minutes, plus a few of Howard's minutes, plus a few of Wesley, Head's, and Bogan's minutes. Who is going to get the 3rd most shots up on this team?
memphisX....are you hoping he doesn't succeed? we here hope and pray he scores 15+ pts so we can finally say we screwed over somebody in a trade...I BET THE OVER
Answering who gets the 3rd most shots is a moot point, IMO, because whoever it is won't average 15 pts/game (which was the initial question). My first guess is Battier would be #3. But it's a long season and it's possible that Rafer could end up being a more effective scorer or it could be someone at the SG position steps up huge. I'm sure you remember last summer's heated debates. My whole issue with the Rockets is that a Yao/McGrady combo absolutely SCREAMS for a 3rd option at the SG position (or maybe even at PG). You have a dominant C. Your SF is the most versatile scorer in the NBA. Question: Where is the vacuum? IN THE BACKCOURT! The laws of physics almost demand one of our guards step up and be the #3 option. So what have we done the last 2 summers? Target the PF position. The difference is this summer we didn't sign a pathetic loser like Stromile Swift. Battier will definitely make us better. He's our 3rd best player so he could end up our #3 scorer as you say. It just shouldn't be that way. We have 3 rocks on our team, all in the frontcourt. The imbalance is troubling and I feel our guards will be a flat tire. Our C/PF/SF positions are definitely championship caliber while our PG/SG situation is lottery. This is why the flaky Mike James could have been such a good fit. None of Rafer/Head/V-Span/Snyder/JL3 can be called a very good outside shooter.
i dont care what he scores! if he can shut down the best on the opposite team then i will be very happy!
Oh man, that was funny, typo or not that made my morning, "I thing your stupid"...classic. I'm going to take the under on this, I can see a two or three point swing in his average but how many players raise their average 5 or 6 points a game from one season to the next. Even Joe Johnson last season, given all the shots he could want couldn't do it.
We're easily swayed by Jerry West's mojo, and the magic of Fratello inflating the talents of Grizzlies players.
