[Chron] Rockets forward Battier looks to fix shooting woes

It's a new offense.

With a new offense your constantly "thinking" about what you should be doing and what your teammates are doing.

Once guys get comfortable, the system becomes second nature and they only need to concentrate on making plays rather than what the play is.

In the miltary, they simulate real world events and how to respond. This way when the soldier encounters that situation, they only need to concentrate on escaping/reacting.

Our guys are still "thinking about reacting" rather than reacting. When they get to that point, FG% will inevitably increase. Despite that, we're still .500 ball club. It's gotta get better from here, right?

 

Agreed. I've mentioned nearly this exact same sentiment before. If Shane, who seems like the smartest guy (not sure basketball wise) on the team is having trouble adjusting, then you can imagine how much trouble other guys are having too.

 

Bullseye. Once they get it, we'll have liftoff. I really believe that. Still, Battier needs to bring it on the court offensively. Just really a prolonged slump, or distraction from being anal over learning the new system? Whatever it is, if he's shooting like he did last year, you could add a couple of wins, imo. He's always been an amazing orator. How about putting words to action, starting tonight?

 

i understand the "new offense" idea, but no matter what offense you run a shot is still a shot. A jump shot is a jump shot! I'm sorry, but i just don't buy the "they are thinking too much". When you are shooting the ball you are shooting it...you arent thinking about the offense and where you should be.

Now maybe the "flow" of the offense, or more accurately, lack there of, can be attributed to learning a new scheme but the actual act of shooting a shot...sorry, thats just a missed shot and has nothing to do with learning a new offense. It reminds me of how people would blame the poor shooting because the team was playing good defense...now its blaming it on a new offense.

keep it simple...they are just missing shots. Doesnt matter what offense, doesnt matter how hard they play defense. Its just missing.

 

Shane will shut down Rudy Gay tonight

 

I think this new offense excuse is WAY OVERBLOWN. If you have an open shot, take it with confidence. Jesus, you're professional basketball players.

How much of an adjustment-period-excuse do we give them? IMO, not nearly as much as some of the "oh it'll come around" people.

There's only 24 seconds to run an "offense," and in the NBA you rely more on sets and plays. On any given possession, you generally have less than 5 passes. If you screw up this many possessions after that little amount of passes and seconds, that's a serious red flag. But be that as it may, if it really and truly is a motion offense based on reads that they are trying to run, you should have more of it down by now. If the defense is playing you a certain way, you need a counter for it. A motion offense depends on other people moving. Example, if a guy passes to somebody, he cuts to a certain spot. Another guy may cut or move to a certain spot based on the previous guy's spot, and so on. There should be rules about where guys cut and move to based on what another guy does. So yes, it's free-flowing, but it's not like it's a streetball offense...you still have X's and O's, and rules about those X's and O's based on what and where your teammates are moving and what the defense is doing. I would think these are things you talk about and continuously harp on in training camp, practice, during timeouts, at halftime, on the plane, on the bus to the arena, over dinner, in the hotel rooms hanging out, etc.

And while it's an adjustment, you can't tell me that these PRO players haven't seen something like this at some point in their basketball lives. It may not be at cut and dried as a set play, but it still should be simpler than how painful it looks right now.

When and where do we draw the line IF this doesn't get better very soon. I think it will turn around and am still trying to give the benefit of the doubt, but I think there are some people being way too leniant about all of this.

 

Clearly you're an idiot. Just because the guy can string together 3 intelligent sentences and can make a joke about a guy (Hawking) who's forgotten more than you will ever know does not make him an "Uncle Tom." I wish we could trade posters like YOU to another message board after December 15.

 

Just because i post in a manner that doesnt please your desired taste, does not mean in any capacity that i cannot string 3 intelligent sentences together. You do not know me from the inside of your mothers womb since birth, with this being a message board, and me being a die-hard Rockets fan for as long as i've resided in harris county; including the short time i have lived in East Baton Rouge Parish, La. and Fulton County, Ga. And if i feel Shane is an Uncle Tom then thats my own opinion and feeling, now unless we're about 150 years in the past, and you are my "massah" i suggest you trade this size 14 across your prostate and allow me to have my opinion.

And i'm far from and idiot at 16 i graduated high school and by 19 i had a degree

 

We should have been about gay rights instead of Batty-man... get rid of him and Brick to my lou

 

If Battier could play as well as he talks, he'd be the league's first-ever 7-time MVP.

 

All that may be valid, but a jump shot is still a jumpshot. Wide open nonetheles. Were talking professionals here. These guys have been doing this for most of their lives. As complex as the offense may be, there shouldn't be too much "thinking" when taking a wide open jumper. And I've played the game. It shouldn't be that hard.. In the military, its life or death. Split second decision making is crucial when your life is on the line. We just talking about basketball. I don't think thats a good comparison..

 

I hope that wasn't your attempt to "string 3 intelligent sentences together."

 

Battier needs to hire that shooting coach LeBron had this past summer.

 

Advice:

1. Your Uncle Tom comment will be intepreted as racist regardless of your intent. This will never be recieved well here.

2. You were attacked. Because you are new it is always advisable to see why you were attacked and possibly remedy the situation. The attempt to right the situation typically diffuses it and sometimes shames your attacker.

3. Your intelligence will be assessed based on your posts not your education.

Take it or leave it.

 

to me, battier has very little value if he isn't hitting that three point shot. its the only part of his game that helps yao and tracy because it spreads the court. he is a good finisher, but so is bonzi, and snyder.

I appreciate the statistical arguments for his value, but what statistical arguments in the case of a battier type player fail to take into account is that an nba game has an ebb and flow.

if battier average two charges a game, but those charges came in the first half, it really makes no difference. a couple of deflections, charges, etc. happen in the course of an nba game. because a certain player specializes in this does not make him special. when battier hits clutch threes, then he is doing something tangible.

 

my opinion and feeling is that you are a classless piece of trash. By your reasoning, you have no right to attack or come back at me because it's jsut my opinion and you don't know me.

 

Would you think starting another person (Bonzi, Francis, or even Scola) would be better? I think it would because of what you stated--Battier's not hitting, hence, he's not helping. Lineup change time.

 

Why must they be termed as "statistical" arguments? Before advanced stats were referred to commonly by us fans, coaches/scouts were raving about the way Battier plays the game. The stats are merely an attempt to describe what these people have been saying with evidence. Battier's reputation isn't built on stats, it's based on how he's appreciated by basketball people.

This is something I definitely agree with. But it's a critique that applies to almost all references to stats. I believe some people have looked at weighting collected stats based on game context like time remaining and point differential, though I haven't seen anything published on it. And people who compare PPG of Gay and Battier aren't considering game flow either.

 

If we are talking about Glue Guys, I would rather have Eric Snow. At least he's a very good floor leader with some fire in him.