[Chron] Rockets forward Battier looks to fix shooting woes

Link to Article

Dec. 5, 2007, 12:47AM
Rockets forward Battier looks to fix shooting woes
Houston hosts Memphis tonight at Toyota Center

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Shooting percentages offer, at most, a hint. Points scored never were the point. Rebounds. Assists. The usual measures of productivity might factor in, but Rockets forward Shane Battier measures his play by a more sophisticated formula.

"It's very complex, something Stephen Hawking would have a hard time with," he said.

Yet, in the next breath, when asked what needs to change for his offense to be back where he wants it, the method could not be less complicated.

"The ball needs to go through that little orange hoop," he said.

Battier's contributions could never be accurately defined by so limited a measure, but sometimes, there can be no replacement for making shots, even with the most well-rounded players.

"I think we're having some growing pains as a team offensively," Battier, 6-8, said. "I don't think it's isolated with just me. Guys are looking to see where their games fit in and just find the consistency we can count on every single night. That's knowing where the looks are going to come from.

"That's part of the beauty of this offense. It is going to be different every night. It's not set. As a result, we haven't shot well as a team, and I haven't shot well individually."

Gay brings spotlight
Battier's offensive struggles have become conspicuous because of the team's as a whole, and particularly with his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies, at Toyota Center tonight bringing comparisons to Memphis' leading scorer Rudy Gay, the player chosen with the first-round pick acquired for Battier.

But Battier serves a different role on a different team, matching up with the opposition's top perimeter scorer almost every night and offering a 3-point threat to draw some of the defense away from Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. But he never has been drawn into comparisons of his contributions and style with others'.

"I run my own race," he said. "That's the reason I got to where I was. If I listen to people's comparisons or listened to people describe what I was not, I would never have gotten to this level. I am who I am. I like who I am. I think I'm a pretty good player, and I'm going to help this team win."

Still, he does expect to make a higher percentage of shots and to get more shots from within the 3-point arc.

Since the first meeting with the Grizzlies, when the Rockets' slump began, Battier has made just 30.7 percent (16-of-52) of his 3-pointers.

Long-distance calling
Battier made 44.6 percent of his shots last season and a career-best 42.1 percent of his 3s, averaging 10.1 points per game. This season, he has made 38 percent of his shots, 33.3 percent of his 3s, averaging 7.8 points. Last season, 57 percent of his shots were 3-pointers; this season 65.1 percent of Battier's shots have come from beyond the arc.

"He can't just shoot 3s; he's got to find something else besides 3s," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "It's the way we're running right now. If we're running our corner (play, a basic part of the Rockets' offense) he's not getting opportunities. We're trying to talk about ways to do that. I think it's a matter of as we get further along in what we're trying to do offensively, he'll find ways to get there. Right now, he's not finding it."

But Battier said he was confident he will be able to generate more offense in and around the paint. Though he said some of that will come with time as the Rockets grow accustomed to their offense, there are ways to get better shots now.

"That's on me," Battier said. "I need to work on getting early post-ups, trying to grab more offensive rebounds, trying to find more ways to score.

"We should get more easy layups. That's part of our struggles. We have to earn every basket we get, instead of getting easy baskets."

Filling that hoop
Still, Battier's contributions cannot be so easily defined, leaving him no doubt that he has given the Rockets much of what they need from him. He never was supposed to be a high scorer. The Rockets have that. The key is to do all that he does, and get the ball through that "little orange hoop" a bit more.

"My entire career has never been based on offense," Battier said. "If it was, I would have been out of the league a long time ago. When it's not going well for me offensively, I still feel I'm contributing and finding ways to affect the game.

"I still think I'm being productive out there, even though I'm not shooting the ball well, and that's a measure of a basketball player. If I was brought here for offense I would be worried. I'm here to be a basketball player and make winning plays."

I don't know if this has been already been posted. Excellant perspective in Battier's struggles. This offence is relatively complex. I think the complexity of what Adelman is trying to do is on par with the Triangle. In terms of installing it at least. Give it some time boys and girls.